Page 22 of Fight for Me
“Well, I mean, you’re not me, but you’re alright.”
Jake reached over and socked his friend in the arm, but Conner only laughed as he rose to his feet.
“Just think about it. If you’re interested, I can get you her number.”
Jake took a deep breath and tipped his face toward the dark sky. “I’ll think about it.”
“Lex? Lexie? Alexis!”
Lexie jumped, hearing her name repeated with rising irritation as Robin smacked her palm on the tabletop between them.
“Are you even listening?”
“Yes! No. Sorry,” Lexie stammered, rubbing her fingertips across her forehead. All she could focus on these days was the growing knot in her stomach. A crease formed down the center of Robin’s brow, but she didn’t press the issue. Instead, she simply picked up where she’d left off.
“As I was saying, we need to reserve our cabin if we’re going to the mountains this year. Is everyone still okay with leaving right after finals?”
“I’ve already told my parents I won’t be home that week,” Olivia said, sliding into the raised booth beside Lexie. She was lucky to have a seat at all since the Hawk’s Nest was particularly packed, even for a Friday evening. The humid September night seemed to have driven everyone inside for ice cream floats and burgers in old-fashioned plastic baskets.
Robin nodded, obviously pleased. “What about you, Lex?”
“I’ll have to check with Colt,” Lexie answered, swirling her straw in her chocolate milkshake.
Robin, Kate and Olivia shared a glance that was as heavy as it was silent, and Lexie pasted on a too-bright smile.
“We might be going to see his parents that weekend. Have you ever met the Derricks?”
“Have you ever met Colt?” Kate muttered, taking a long pull from her straw.
“What’s wrong with Colt?” Lexie asked, feeling her smile wobble. All three of her friends answered at the same time.
“Well . . . he’s just . . .”
“Very charming! Gorgeous, of course . . .”
“But he can be a little . . .”
“Sometimes he’s . . .”
“Oh, just spit it out!” Lexie snapped, looking at the girls around her. Robin and Kate gave Olivia pointed stares, and Lexie’s best friend sighed.
“We just think Colt could be nicer to you sometimes,” Olivia said, obviously choosing her words with care.
“Remember when you wererockingthat orange dress at your birthday bash, and his first words when he saw you were ‘that’s not your best color’? What boyfriend says that?” Kate blurted, waving her hands in the air emphatically.
Lexie’s chest tightened with the memory.
“And didn’t he tell you your new job was good playtime? Like you’re a child he sends to daycare?” Robin butt in, dunking a few crispy french fries into a puddle of ketchup.
“He didn’t mean it that way,” Lexie mumbled, feeling her face get hot.
Kate opened her mouth to say something else, but the jukebox in the corner interrupted with the opening notes of “Sweet Home Alabama.”
“I love this one!” Robin gasped as she latched onto Kate’s forearm. “Dance with me!” she demanded, half-dragging her friend out of the booth with another look at Olivia—one Lexie heard loud and clear. It said “You handle this.”
The girls joined a growing crowd of Cypress Valley students on the makeshift dance floor between the restaurant booths and the pool hall. Olivia and Lexie watched them go.
“You know they mean well. We wouldn’t say anything if we weren’t concerned,” Olivia said, squeezing the top of Lexie’s leg.
