The Strings Attached

Chapter 20 - Loni

Loni

For the rest of my meeting, I couldn't focus. I didn't plan on seeing Jace ever again, except for maybe at practice. But here I am, walking up to his front door.

I barely place a knock on it before it swings open and he's standing behind it, grinning at me.

"Hey," he says cheerfully. He widens the door, expecting me to come in. I don't budge.

"The boots?" I say bluntly, holding out my hand. 

Just give them to me so I can leave and never see you again. 

He laughs. "Not so fast. I have something that you want, and you have something that I want." He pauses and I raise my brows at him, waiting for what he has to say. "Answers."

"Answers to what?" I ask dumbly, knowing fully well what question he wants answered.

"Why did you kiss me? Was it to make that guy jealous? Or were you tired of resisting me?" He waggles his perfect dark brows while giving me a smirk he's probably flashed at a thousand other girls.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." 

Explaining myself makes me feel pathetic. Yes, I wanted to make my ex jealous because seeing him with another woman really fucking hurt. And maybe it was easy to do that with a guy like Jace standing right next to me. If I were with someone else, would I have kissed them too? Probably not.

"You can either tell me or kiss me again. Then, I'll give you the boots."

I scoff. "You're disgusting." I'll buy Bethany a million pairs of boots. I turn on my heels to storm away.

"Wait." Jace grabs my arm and my head snaps around. He looks at me with his wide dark brown eyes and there is not an ounce of sarcasm on his expression. "I'm sorry. That was fucked up. I'm sorry."

My body relaxes, but he's still holding onto me. For some reason, I don't want him to let go.

"You are going through something and I have no right to pry." He bends over, reaching behind the door and when he returns, he's holding the boots. He hands them to me. "I don't know what happened. But you did confide in me once when you kissed me. Just know you can actually talk to me. Despite what you might have heard, I am a good guy."

I let out a quick laugh. "Most good guys don't refer to themselves as good guys." 

I take a step back and walk down the hall but my feet skid to a stop. Maybe it was the look in his eye or the little dimple in his cheek that would show every time he smiled at me, but something makes me stop, turn around, and walk back up towards the door. 

"Eric is my ex. He used me and he broke me. He tossed me aside like I was nothing to him. No more than a couple of weeks later he's with someone else. So, yes, I wanted to make him jealous. I know, I'm pathetic."

I don't give Jace a chance to respond. I don't want his pity or that sorrow-filled look he was giving me. Because not only did it want to make me cry in his arms, it made me want to kiss him again.