The Queen B* Strikes Back (25 page)

“So now you know why I became who I am today.” I crawled back into the passenger seat, but sat sideways with the door open. “Did they tell you that we were best friends once?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah,” I repeated, my voice haunted by the memory of her betrayal. “I trusted her with my secrets once, and after that day…well, let’s just say I have trouble letting people get too close to me.”

“Understandably.” He reached for my hand, his attention fixed on my fingers instead of my face. “Do you trust me?”

I could’ve told him no. I could’ve called him out for being an idiot and falling for Summer’s lies all this time. I could’ve pushed him away for all the heartache he’d caused me already. But my dad’s words echoed through my mind.

I refuse to dwell on the past and the things I can’t change. I can only control the present and my place in it
.

Maybe it was time for me to let go of the past and focus on the present.

When I needed him the most, Brett had come through. When I was in trouble, he’d been there for me. And when I was around him, I noticed how happy and carefree I felt.

I curled my fingers around his. “I’m starting to.”

He gave me a hopeful half-smile before letting go. He picked up my feet and spun me around so I was in the car and facing front. “Let’s get you home.”

“But my car—”

“We’ll pick it up tomorrow. You’re in no condition to drive.”

I wasn’t going to argue with him. My head wavered from floating to pounding, and I still didn’t trust my body to react quickly.

I glanced in the side-view mirror at my streaked makeup. “Do you have another baby wipe?”

“Yep. I keep a pack on hand for when I have to drive the twins somewhere.” He tossed the package to me before starting up the engine. I spent the rest of the drive home scrubbing my face, and by the time we pulled into the driveway, I looked a little more like myself.

Brett came around and helped me out of the truck. My legs still wobbled as I walked, and even though I’d thrown up all the beer, I could still feel its effects.

Before I could stop him, Brett rang the doorbell.

Mom answered in her bathrobe. She took one look at me and pulled me inside. “Alexis, what happened?”

“Some jerk tried to go too far with me, but Brett took care of him.”

She turned to Brett and studied him as though she were trying to form an opinion based on everything she’d heard about him over the last two days. “Well, thank you for taking care of her and bringing her home.”

“Of course.” He tapped my arm to get my attention. “Call me when you’re ready to get your car in the morning.”

I caught a glimpse of him waving before Mom closed the door and hurried me up the stairs. “Tell me everything that happened this evening.”

“I already did.” I pulled off Brett’s jacket when I got to my room and realized I hadn’t returned it to him. Of course, he hadn’t asked for it back, either.

“From the beginning.” She sat next to me on the edge of the bed, her hand on my shoulder.

I fully expected to cry as I hugged my pillow and told my mom about the date from hell, but I must’ve exhausted my tear supply for the week because not a single drop spilled over. I admitted that I’d been stupid and lost track of how much I’d been drinking while playing beer pong. Then I discovered how stupid I’d been to allow myself to be alone in a guy’s bedroom when I was drunk. And by the time I got to the part where Brett came to my rescue, I’d spared Mom most of her lecture.

That didn’t excuse me from the question I knew she’d ask. “And what did you learn from tonight?”

“I learned not to drink on first dates. I learned to trust my gut once again and to never go out with guys who give me the asshole vibe, especially out of retaliation.” I paused and remembered the one highlight of this disastrous evening. “And I learned I could count on Brett to be there when I need him.”

My mom leaned back, one brow arched with suspicion. “Even after last night?”

“We were set up. Summer waited until she knew I’d catch them together so I’d see her jump his bones.”

“And you believe him?”

I paused and tried to make sense of my thought process, but I was still too drunk to explain it. But there was one thing I knew for certain. “If he wanted her and not me, would he have come to my rescue when Josh called him to let him know I was with that scumbag? Would he have beat Gavin senseless when he saw what he tried to do?”

A mixture of remorse and pity flickered across my mom’s face, and she gave me a fierce hug. “You poor baby.”

“I’m not a baby. I’m just a teenager who did something very stupid and now I know not to do it again.” I stood, noticing that even though the room wasn’t spinning as badly as before, my head was starting to pound. I grabbed my pajamas. “I think I need a shower.”

Not to mention, I wanted to brush the taste of vomit from my mouth.

“Wait.” Mom cut off my route to the bathroom. “Are you sure you won’t be washing away any evidence?”

“Mom, my pants stayed on. No penetration. I was lucky.”

“Very lucky.” She let me pass and was waiting for me when I emerged from the shower.

I was too tired to say anything more about tonight. All I wanted to do was sleep.

She helped me into bed and tucked me in the same way she did when I was little. She pointed to the bottle on my nightstand. “Make sure you drink some Gatorade. It will help with the hangover.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She kissed my forehead and left the room.

I lay in bed for what felt like hours, too exhausted to move, and yet unable to shut my mind off.

Brett still cared about me.

Maybe there was still a chance to salvage our relationship.

But it would involve a leap of courage…and trust.

Chapter Twenty-Two

I awoke to a headache that was the equivalent of someone bashing me over the head with a load of bricks. I reached for the bottle of Gatorade my mom had left and took a few sips. It tasted like salty, watered-down Kool-Aid, but I had to trust the doc on this. I glanced beyond the Gatorade and noticed she’d also left me a little foil packet with a meltaway nausea pill. I took it and waited for the room to stop spinning before venturing out of bed.

Note to self: avoid beer pong in the future.

Half a bottle later, I was starting to feel human enough to get dressed. Then I looked at my alarm clock.

1:24 p.m.

Damn it! I’d slept most of the day away. My car was still in the U-District and was probably in danger of getting towed. I found my nearly dead cell phone and called Brett.

“Good morning, Lexi,” he said as soon as he answered.

I groaned. “You’re way too chipper for my hangover.”

“Are you saying I should take it down a notch?”

“Maybe.” I paused and let the awkwardness of the last few days seep in. “Um, are you still up for giving me a ride to pick up my car?”

“Sure. Are you ready to go now?”

“Can you give me a few minutes to finish getting ready?”

“Sure. See you then.” He hung up, and I made my way downstairs, still clutching my bottle of electrolytes.

Taylor was sprawled out on the couch, flipping through the channels on the TV. She spotted me and stopped. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks. I love you, too.”

She gave me a wry smile and sat up. “Thanks to you, I had to endure an hour-long lecture from Mom about being safe at parties and on dates and not drinking too much so some guy could take advantage of me.”

“You mean the way Sanchez tried to do last week.”

“Hello? That was totally consensual.” She pulled her knees up to her chest. “But did that really happen last night?”

“Depends on what you’re talking about. If you mean the part where I was drunk and some guy tried to rape me, then yes, that was true.”

I paused to wonder if the same thing had happened to Morgan. Maybe that would explain her ho-hum reaction to her date with Gavin. I made a note to ask her once the thought of last night didn’t send shivers down my spine.

“And as much as I hate to admit my own stupidity in the matter, if Brett hadn’t come to the rescue, he might have succeeded.”

She perked up. “Brett came to your rescue?”

“Yes, and you can pass that on to Summer, since I know you will anyway.”

But Taylor didn’t pull out her phone to start texting right away. Instead, she cocked her head and studied me. “What really is going on with you and Brett?”

“Hell if I know.” But if I hadn’t destroyed my chances with him, maybe I could still salvage a relationship with a great guy.

“He went over to Summer’s last night and chewed her out. He broke her heart, you know. She was dead set on going to Homecoming with him.”

I’d lost all sympathy for Summer five years ago when she stabbed me in the back. “I guess she’ll have to settle for someone else.”

“Unfortunately, that means she’s going after Sanchez.”

“They deserve each other.” I tried to slip away from the soap opera drama of the popular kids, but Taylor kept going.

“You know, I won’t tell her about last night. I’m even sort of rooting for you and Brett to be a couple now.”

That caught my attention, and for my sister not to feed information to her master, she had to have a good reason. “Why?”

Taylor shrugged. “It’s all about power. You think I don’t get tired of Summer and her
me, me, me
attitude? And since she decided last night to go after the guy I wanted to go to Homecoming with, I figured I could play a few head games with her, too.”

I narrowed my eyes, being reminded that my sister as something more than an airhead cheerleader. “What are you up to?”

“I want to be head cheerleader, and I’m not above screwing over Summer to get there.” Taylor grinned.

“And what is your master plan?”

“I’ll spare you the details, but the only reason I put up with Summer’s bullshit is that it establishes me as a member of her inner circle and secures my place in the line of succession. I kiss her ass this year, then I kiss Jordyn’s ass next year, and poof, I’m sure to be voted head cheerleader my senior year. Hell, I might even give Jordyn a run for her money next year, and I have you to thank for it.”

I never thought my name would be associated with the inner workings of cheerleading politics. It intrigued me enough to ask, “How so?”

“Summer is so pissed off that Brett chose you over her that she’ll want to know every detail of your relationship with him. And since I’m your sister, I’m in an ideal position to gather that information for her.”

“So you’re admitting to spying on me to win Summer’s approval?”

Taylor replied with a smug nod. “Of course, I have the option to filter what she hears, and I’m going to make sure she finds me indispensable.”

“By tattling on me?”

“By supplying her with information I deem worthwhile.” Taylor tossed her hair over her shoulder. “You see, I’m just going to tease her with what’s going on between you two. It’ll be enough to piss her off and she’s going to demand I keep reporting back to her. And in turn, I’ll become one of her trusted confidantes and secure my place the line of succession for head cheerleader.”

“So again, where do I fit into all this, and why are you telling me that you’ll be reporting my every move to the one person I loathe above all else?”

“Because I can.” She gave me a simpering smile and hopped off the couch. “I think I hear Brett’s truck in the driveway.”

She scampered up the stairs just as the doorbell rang, leaving me filled with a mixture of awe and disgust over her genius scheme to manipulate Summer.

I made sure to look out the window before opening the door. Thankfully, I was glad to see Brett standing there this time.

He held out a bottle of water. “I figured you could use this.”

“Thanks.” It had to taste better than what I’d been drinking. “And thanks again for the ride.”

“No problem.” He ran ahead and opened up the passenger door. “And in case you felt up to some food, I saved you a few pancakes from breakfast.” He held up a foil-covered plate.

A faint citrus scent wafted from inside, and my stomach rumbled. “What kind?”

“Lemon raspberry.” He peeled back the foil, and a cloud of lemon-scented steam billowed out. “I even kept them warm for you.”

“You are a saint.” I paused to place a kiss on his cheek before taking the plate and climbing into the truck. “Are you okay with me eating them along the way?”

“Why do you think I brought them?”

I had inhaled the pancakes by the time we got to the lake road, but instead of getting on the freeway that led to the university, Brett pulled into Marymoor Park.

“Um, U-Dub is that way,” I pointed out.

“I know, but since I have you alone for a few minutes, I figured now would the best time to straighten out some things.”

“So you’re kidnapping me?”

He grinned. “In a sense.”