Page 6 of Penthouse Prince
Ten bucks says he’s wishing me a happy last day of school. That or asking for a last-minute pair of hands at his bar tonight. I’m sure the place will be packed with teachers from this district, toasting to the end of the school year, just like Sarah Jo and I will be doing very soon.
“Quit texting and let’s get out of here,” Sarah Jo says with a whine, dragging a disinfecting wipe across the ledge of the chalkboard. “I can practically taste the tequila already.”
“It’s my brother. Just give me a second.”
But once I nudge the text open with my thumb, my stomach plummets all the way to the soles of my shoes. I think I’m going to need more than a second. A minute, maybe. Or a few weeks. Actually, no amount of time would be enough for me to fully process this news staring back at me. News I never would have predicted I’d receive.
Hey, IDK if you know, but Lex is back in town.
Lexington Dane. Once upon a time, he was my everything. Now just his name sends my good mood plummeting.
I suck in a slow, controlled breath, pushing down the anger and confusion bubbling within me, then scan the screen to see what else Dak has to say. Turns out, his second text is just as insane as the first.
He mentioned he might need some kind of favor from you.
“Everything okay?”
I snap my head up to see Sarah Jo looking at me, her head cocked and a disinfectant wipe in her hand.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing,” I lie, managing a tight-lipped smile despite the pounding in my chest.
Knock, knock, it’s me, your heart. Reminding you of how freaking broken I ended up the last time we dealt with Lexington Dane.
Unconvinced, my best friend narrows her eyes at me. “If it’s nothing, then why do you look like you just saw a ghost?”
Because I did.
“Dak is just being weird, as usual.” I shrug, avoiding eye contact as I pocket my phone. “He caught me off guard.”
It’s not a complete lie. My guard was absolutely, totally down before Dak dropped the atomic bomb of news. My high school boyfriend, the one I gave my entire heart to, only to have him kick it to the curb on his way to college, is back in town. And apparently, he needs some sort of favor from me, of all people. The same ex-boyfriend who I haven’t seen or spoken to in ten years. Oh and yep, you guessed it, the same ex-boyfriend who I compare every guy I meet to… even if I don’t want to.
So, yeah, that guard that was down? Time to build it all the way back up again and hang up a sign that reads NO SCUMBAGS ALLOWED.
Sarah Jo has a stern look in her eyes as she marches across the room and presses the back of her hand against my forehead. “You feel a little warm. Maybe we should skip drinks tonight.”
“No way, José.” I duck out of her reach, shaking my head. “I’m fine. And I’ll be even better after a frozen strawberry margarita with extra salt.”
She looks skeptical, an unamused frown tugging at her lips. But after some gentle pleading from me, she throws in the towel, um, disinfecting wipe. “Fine. But only because it’s been so long since we’ve been to Pepe’s.”
“We were there a week ago,” I remind her. “And the week before that.”
“Yeah.” She scoffs. “And a week is a long time.”
With everything boxed away until next year, I wave good-bye to my classroom, flipping the row of light switches one by one until the whole room goes dark. I’ve dealt with a lot in this little room over the years. Peanut allergies. Lice outbreaks. Skinned knees from recesses gone wrong. All of which I’ve navigated with the ease of an expert.
But one little text from my brother, three little letters spelling out one name, and suddenly, it’s like I forgot how to stand on my own two feet.
I don’t know what my problem is. It’s not like I’m going to see Lexington. Well not on purpose, anyway. I have absolutely no plans to do him any kind of favor after what he did to me. And even if we do run into each other, my first graders have taught me everything I need to know about the silent treatment. So, what is there to get worked up about?
In the parking lot, Sarah Jo and I each hop in our cars, and although it seems ridiculous to drive separately, I’m grateful for the alone time. It gives me a few minutes to collect my thoughts about this Lexington thing, without trying to keep a poker face in front of my best friend.
It’s weird enough that he’s back in North Carolina, but the fact that he needs a favor specifically from me is almost too wild to be true. It’s been ten years since we’ve spoken, and even longer since I’ve seen him. And if his memory is the same as mine, he has to know how badly he hurt me and it shouldn’t be a secret that I would be pissed.
