Chapter 22 #2
I offer E first dibs since Alicia will be there all week.
He immediately accepts, so I have a plan before seeing Zander at home.
“E is going to stay with me,” I inform Alex as he pulls into his driveway.
After he parks, I hop out with my backpack.
The rest of the guys come out the front door as we get out of the vehicle.
I throw my bag into the backseat of the Jeep as Seb adds my overnight bag and dress for me. “Thanks, Hurry,” I smile.
“Hug goodbye, Sunshine,” he says, wrapping me up in his arms as he lifts me off the floor. He sets me down to get into the Jeep as E steps up.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” E smiles, giving me his own hug, then stepping back.
Seb hangs out of the Jeep, waving as Nick drives them away. I wave back, then turn to Alex. “Thank you again, Alex. I’ll see you at school in the morning?”
He nods, but has a strange look on his face. “Have a wonderful evening, Summer,” he says.
I toss my keys to Bay, then walk around my Jeep to get into the passenger seat. I wave to Alex and E as Bay drives us off. “So, how was your day?” I ask Bay.
“Good, quiet, except when Alicia wanted into Alex’s apartment this morning.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. We ignored her until she went away.”
“We ran into her and Reesa when we were leaving this morning. She wanted Alex to have brunch with them.”
“Ah. That was probably why she was upset. Did Alex forget to tell Reesa he was busy?”
“Nope, she knew apparently, but came over anyway.”
Bay shakes his head. “So why aren’t you staying here anymore?”
“Alex said it would be better if I asked one of you guys to stay with me because Alicia is home.”
“What the hell?” He mutters.
“It’s really bothering me,” I say.
“It’s bothering me, and I’m not you,” he replies.
I change the subject to Olivia for the rest of the ride home. After Bay parks my Jeep, I hop out and walk over to the driver’s side to give him a hug. “Thank you for asking me to the prom. I had a great time,” I tell him.
“Thank you for saying yes. You were so beautiful. Not that you aren’t all the time, I mean. Just with the dress...”
“I know what you meant, Bay,” I chuckle. He steps back, and his cheeks become tinted red. “Say hi to Olivia for me.”
“I will,” he smiles and waves as he gets into his car.
Grabbing my stuff from the Jeep, I head inside. I wave to Zander in his office before dropping my stuff in my bedroom. In the kitchen, I dig around in the fridge for a snack before joining him.
“Hi Summer. How were the labs?”
“They went well. I’m all caught up now,” I say before eating a chunk of pineapple.
“That good. How about prom?”
“It was so much fun,” I say excitedly. “We had an amazing meal first at a restaurant where E knew the chef. Then we danced almost all night. My feet were killing me by the time we got to Alex’s house.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, darling,” he smiles.
“So, there’s a slight change of plans for the next few days. E is going to stay here instead of my going to Alex’s house,” I tell him.
“That works,” he shrugs. “I was thinking we could go to the diner tonight, just the two of us?”
“Sounds good. I’ll let you get back to work. Let me know when you want to leave.” Back in my room, I sort through my bags, then put a load of laundry on. My phone rings as I’m hanging up my dress. “Hey Hurry.”
“Sunshine, tell me what’s going on between you and Alex. Why aren’t you staying there? Did you have a fight? Do I need to beat Alex up?”
“Okay, I’ll explain. No. No,” I say as I kick off my shoes and get comfortable on the bed before I fill him in on the details. “I’m upset with Alex, but I can’t explain why.”
“You’re upset because he offered for you to stay at his place for the next 6 months as needed, then rescinded the offer.”
“But I have the rest of you to stay here instead.”
“True, but you were depending on him, and he let you down.”
I contemplate that, but I don’t think that’s it exactly.
“I hear ya, but I think it’s more that he’s not acting like the Alex I know.
He was explaining how Reesa didn’t like to ruffle people’s feathers, but he’s doing the same thing.
He didn’t want me to stay there, so he didn’t have to deal with Alicia’s reaction, and that’s not right.
Am I going to have to stay away now when she’s around? It doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Shit Sunshine. I’m sorry you’re hurting, and I do need to kick his ass for making you feel that way.
I’ve seen Alex tear a strip off Alicia before, but he’s never confronted his dad about her behavior.
When we were sophomores, she was hitting on Nick pretty hard, and she’d wear skimpy lingerie if she knew any of us were around.
We refused to go to his house for a while.
She cornered Nick while he was in the gym one night.
Nick picked her up and locked her in the changing room, then came upstairs and said he was leaving.
Alex confronted her after that and threatened her with something, and we haven’t had an issue since then. ”
“Damn, that’s messed up. Alex said Alicia thinks I’m a threat to Reesa and him. Maybe I’m overreacting. I was concerned when I stayed there after the kidnapping while Zander did night training that it would bother Reesa, but he assured me it didn’t. Do you think this is about Reesa’s comfort?”
“No, I don’t. This is about Alex and Alicia,” Seb replies.
“Knock knock,” Zander says, sticking his head into my room. “Ready for dinner?”
“I’ll let you go, Sunshine,” Seb says.
“Okay, bye, Hurry,” I respond, hanging up. I slip my feet back into my sneakers and stand up. “Ready.”
Zander and I enjoy a nice meal out. He seems really excited about this new job since he’ll be flying a lot. “You should meet up with Sarah while you’re there, Zander,” I say.
“That’s a great idea,” he smiles. “I’d love to meet the Summer whisperer. I’ll call her when I get there.”
After our meal, we head home, and I get my homework done.