Page 6 of Lightning Angel

“He’s already treading on thin ice,” she mumbled under her breath.

But Brandon’s ear didn’t miss it. “I beg your pardon?”

Alexa spared a glance at Cassie and saw her staring out the windshield with pursed lips. Her sister hadn’t told Brandon about her failing relationship.

Ever the loyal sister.

When Alexa refused to answer, Cassie spoke for her. “It’s… nothing, Brandon. Nothing to worry about.”

“Of course it’s something I should worry about,” Brandon retorted, narrowing his eyes at Cassie. “You twoare hiding something from me. What is it? Did he hurt Lexi?”

“No, of course not!” Alexa ejaculated. She and Jude might not be in a thriving relationship, but Jude was a good guy. He had never hurt her, and he never would. They just weren’t the match; he never really did check off the list of what Alexa wanted inherman.

And he had been pressuring her lately, trying to take her out for a date, to which she kept sayinglater.

Cassie told her she was being Charlotte fromThe Princess and the Frog, teasing her by reciting Charlotte’s dialogue, ‘when a girl says later she means never’.

Apparently, she was not wrong.

But Alexa didn’t knowhowto end things with Jude, how to make him understand that she wasn’t the same girl who had looked at him with puppy-dog eyes; that the girl he had known died with her dad three months ago. Jude was good at making puppy-dog eyes too, not that she’d melt at them or fall for him anymore, but she couldn’t let him make her feel bad for her decision.

Alexa met Brandon’s blue eyes in the mirror. He arched an eyebrow.

She sighed. There was no escaping Brandon when he felt protective. “We’re just… not working out, that’s all.”

“Oh,” Brandon drew out the syllable, his gaze dropping to the windshield. A moment later he said, “I’m so sorry, Lex.”

“Don’t be,” she muttered and stared out the window again.

“Speak of the devil,” Brandon muttered suddenly. “Isn’t that his car outside your yard?”

Alexa’s heart dropped to her stomach. As Cassiecommented on his choice of words, saying his mother should’ve heard that, she leaned forward and squinted at the flashy red car parked down the sidewalk in front of their yard. It was unmistakably Jude’s sports car.

Was he here to convince her for a date, again?

Alexa heaved a tired sigh. Judedidgive her space and time to grieve her dad in the first month. But right after what he called as themourning monthwas over, he said he was taking her for a date. Alexa declined, saying she needed more time. His smiling face had crumbled then, and instead of understanding, he had been disappointed. Since then, every time she told himlater, he had tried to conceal his displeasure under fake smiles, but Alexa wasn’t oblivious.

It was then she realized that their relationship wasn’t a functional one; she had long lost her butterflies and heart-flutters too. There were even times shehopedhe would confront her saying he couldn’t dothisand save her from feeling bad. But it never came.

Either this was that day or she was going to decline his date offer again.

Jude wasn’t in the car, so she assumed he was on the porch. She refused to glance over there as she got out of Brandon’s car in front of his Lamborghini. Cassie caught her eye in a silent promise that she would chase off Jude if Alexa wanted her to.

While she wanted to fight her own battles, Alexa knew without a doubt that if it did get out of her hands, her overprotective big sister would step in and defend her.

Alexa faced the house. As she expected, Jude walked down the stone path across the lawn to meet her. He wore a white tee which contrasted with his honey-brownskin and ripped jeans. His hair, that he preferred to dye all shades of blond, was platinum-blond today and gelled up in spikes—his signature hairstyle that had nearly every girl in their school drooling over him.

His dark brown eyes locked with hers and he smiled, pleased. Alexa smiled back, tight and forced. Only a few months ago she had smiled like a giddy girl at his sight, heart fluttering when he smiled back at her. It all seemed a distant memory now.

“Hello, beautiful.” The silver chains on his right wrist jingled as Jude raised his hand to stroke her cheekbone. In a flash, he leaned down and captured her lips.

Alexa stiffened. Was it her, or had he always been this possessive and she had been oblivious to notice because she was too excited to have a boyfriend?

“I didn’t expect to find you here,” Alexa said when he pulled away two seconds later. “You didn’t tell me you’d be coming.”

Jude smirked, and Alexa wasn’t surprised that her heart didn’t flip or flutter. The old Alexa had truly died. “Can’t a boy visit his girl whenever he wants to see her?”

“If said boy didn’t study in the same school as the girl, and didn’t have five classes together, yes.” Alexa forced her tone into a teasing one. “So, what brings you here?”