Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen

Songs for this chapter:
• Begin Again - Taylor Swift

Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen:

Lexi's POV

My whole body is trembling so badly that Mac has to haul me in his arms through the lobby, up the elevator, and into our apartment, where he deposits me on the couch.

I hit the couch cushion with a thud and end up sprawled in an unceremonious heap. "Hey! What was that about?"

James is in the kitchen filling a glass with chocolate milk, and so I have to deal with Mac and his confusing anger alone as he stands above me, arms crossed against his chest.

"What the hell was that about? Since when do you have a boyfriend?" he hisses.

I groan and rest my head on the couch cushions behind me. My eyes are focused on the ceiling when I say, "I don't. I thought Bryce was my sort-of-boyfriend until this afternoon, but now I don't even have him, so no, no boyfriend."

Mac lets out the most exaggerated sigh I have ever heard, and I can't help but to wince.

"Then why would you lie and tell her you have one?" he exclaims, taking a seat on the coffee table across from me and burying his face into his hands.

"Because I didn't want to look like a loser!" I exclaim. "How pathetic would it seem for me to be hopelessly in love with Bryce and still waiting for him to come swoop me off my feet when he's already started dating another girl?"

Mac shoots up from his seat on the coffee table. "You don't look like a loser for being single! That is the least rational thing I have ever heard you say. You love him! Why would you ever date a guy when you're still in love with another man?"

I grab the pillow beside me, bury my face into it, and shriek.

Someone rips the pillow from my hands and I look up to find James now standing beside me. He tosses the pillow onto the carpet and takes a seat beside me.

When he holds the glass of chocolate milk out towards me, I take it from his hands and take a huge gulp.

He snorts and tugs Mac down onto the couch on his other side. "Sometimes we love people even when we know we shouldn't. You can't control how you feel about him, Lexi, and that's okay. I still have no clue why he's dating her, bur he'll come around. He has to."

I take another sip from my chocolate milk. "Doesn't matter. I don't love him."

Mac rolls his eyes at me. "Yes, you do. You loved him before I even met you. I saw the you looked at him when you visited my university. You looked at him as though you've loved him your whole life."

I groan again. "I did love him, but I don't anymore. I haven't for awhile."

Mac and James both open their mouths to speak, but I cut them off.

"Know what? I'm getting Tinder again. I'm going on a date. I'm not dealing with Bryce's bullshit anymore. I deserve better than this," I tell them proudly.

They glance at each other nervously and sigh.

🌸🌸🌸

"You ready to go in?" Mac asks me gently.

I nod. "You guys promise not to leave without me, right? And that you'll keep your eye on us just in case he tries to do something?"

James squeezes my shoulder. "Of course. We'll try and sit only a couple tables away. You can text either of us if there's a problem, but if there isn't, just enjoy your date and don't worry about us."