Page 17 of Fight for Me
“Lexie,” Olivia said, letting her name hang in the air. “Guys don’t play keep-away soccer with girls just for the fun of it. And then he asked you on a date!”
“It wasn’t a date! We’re just friends. We work together. That’s all,” Lexie protested, though it was too much, even to her own ears.
“Did he drive?”
“No.”
“Did he pay?”
“No!” Lexie said, feeling vindicated.
“Did he try to?”
Lexie paused, remembering Jake’s insistence that she let him buy her cone. He’d even gone so far as to snatch her five-dollar bill and hold it above her head. But she’d put her foot down and demanded to pay for herself, and he’d eventually given in—albeit reluctantly.
“Yes,” she said miserably, unable to ignore the truth any longer.
Olivia lifted one eyebrow. “Does he know you have a boyfriend?” she asked.
“No,” Lexie moaned, dropping her face into her hands. “It’s never come up.”
“What do you mean, ‘It’s never come up’?” Olivia repeated. “There’s never been a place to simply drop Colt’s name into conversation with a guy who is obviously interested in you?”
“It’s not . . . He isn’t . . . It’s just that . . .” Lexie stammered, searching for a way out.
She just hadn’t wanted it to end. The way Jake always looked at her like she was something worth having, the way he acted like spending time with her was more important than anywhere else he needed to be.... It had been so long since anyone had treated her that way. She’d only wanted to hold on to that feeling for a little while longer.
Olivia just smiled. “He seems like a good guy.”
“Coltis a good guy,” Lexie said reflexively.
Olivia patted her friend’s knee. “Maybe sleep on it,” she suggested. “But either way, you’re going to have to tell Jake the truth. It’s not fair for him not to know.”
Lexie felt another sharp pang of guilt. She wasn’t the kind of girl to play games or string a guy along; it had just gotten out of hand. She sighed, tilting her head back against the couch.
Leave it to her to ruin a good thing.
Jake narrowed hiseyes, concentrating on the advertisement he was creating for the university magazine. He nudged the photo three clicks to the right, then four clicks back to the left. Truth be told, he’d been done for twenty minutes. Now he was just stalling.
Get up!he told himself, but somehow, the instructions weren’t reaching his legs.
“I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with me sometime,” he mumbled under his breath, testing the words. “Is there any chance you’d... No, that sounds worse.”
“Ask her to gooutwith you, not just to dinner.”
Jake jumped to his feet and turned around, surprised to find Andy standing with his shoulder against the edge of the partition.
“There’s less ambiguity that way. Dinner could be a friend thing, but ‘out with you’ is definitely a date,” Andy added with a grin, his arms crossed over his chest.
“How long have you been standing there?” Jake demanded.
“Long enough.”
Jake groaned, wiping one hand down his face. “Is there any chance you could stop sneaking up on me? Maybe announce yourself when a guy’s obviously thinking out loud?” he snapped, yanking his bag off the floor.
“As your boss, I am outraged by your attitude. As your friend, I advise you not to yell at your boss.”
“He’ll get over it,” Jake muttered as he pushed past him.
