𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐩𝐬 ✓

22

I watch as Lexi climbs into the back of Maddox's Escalade, her jean shorts hugging her ass perfectly. Shaking my head, the image of her opening her door only to be wearing fucking lingerie pops back into it.

It's impossible to forget how I felt when Maddox went into her room and locked the door. Even knowing that it was jealousy, I would never admit it out loud. Anger was all I felt, and I wanted to rip that door off its hinges. Thinking about anybody's hands on Lexi's body but mine drives me insane.

Irrationally, I want to be the only one to see her how I have. I know she isn't mine to think about like that, but I want her to myself and I can't help it. I'm possessive and borderline neurotic when it comes to this girl.

Lexi is resisting whatever it is going on between us because we both have responsibilities that we feel obligated to see through to the end, and a relationship would only complicate things, but I can't help but imagine how good it would be if we dropped the act.

Spending time with her is a breath of fresh air and though I have very limited free time, I want to spend it all with her. Climbing in after her, I sit right next to her. She grumbles and crosses her arms. I smirk at her attitude, loving every bit of it.

Being around Lexi is something that I am quickly growing to love. We have such a fun dynamic, the kind with teasing and sexual tension, but also just feeling comfortable around one another. We could do something simple and have it turn out to be one of the best days I remember having.

"So where are we going?" I hear her voice speak up from the seat beside me.

"You'll see." We hear Maddox say from up front. Reece opens Lexi's door and peeks in, as Faye climbs into the passenger seat.

"Move your ass, Lex," Reece says as he motions for Lexi to move closer to me with his hands. Doing as she's told, she presses up against me so that I move over as well. She looks uncomfortable being squished between the two of us, but I hope that it's not because of lack of space.

"Where's Luke?" She asks. I put my hand on her leg comfortably and her muscles flex.

"He's visiting his family this weekend," Reece answers her question. I grin cheekily over at her and she looks at me stoically. Faye starts playing music on the radio and turns it up when Reece asks her to.

As everyone else starts chatting away, Lexi only joins in when the conversation is directed at her. I pay close attention to the way she nibbles at her bottom lip as if she's nervous, and how she fiddles with the hem of her shorts and darts her eyes around but never meets mine.

"We're here!" Faye yells excitedly while jumping up and down in her seat. I have no clue where we are because my eyes were focused on Lexi during the whole short drive here, but as I take in the surroundings outside of the window, I see that we've arrived at the local fair.

Lexi begins to smile and pushes at Reece to get out of the car once we've parked. As soon as he opens the door, she practically climbs over his lap and runs over to hug Faye. "Thank you thank you thank you!" She says, obviously loving the choice in venue.

"And thank you, Maddox, for driving us all here." Maddox sasses.

"I knew you'd love it, now let's go," Faye says while walking ahead of us, practically being dragged by an over-excited Lexi. We all follow and catch up to them once they've stopped at the gates, Lexi already having paid for her tickets, the two of them go ahead and don't bother to wait.

Lexi is just staring at everything in awe as if she's never been to a fair before. "Where to first, Angel?" I ask her and she snaps out of her reverie, blinking. She purses her lips and shrugs before her eyes widen at something behind me. I turn to see what caught her attention and she runs past me, dragging Faye with her to the bumper cars. Laughing at her childish excitement, we're all completely amused and follow them.

We all wait in line for our turn. Lexi tells us that indeed, she has never been to a fair, not elaborating on why not. When we finally get to the front of the line, the guy at the rope lets us in, including a few others and we rush to find the car that we want. Not surprisingly, Faye is willing to fight over the red one.

We wait for the cars to start working and immediately drive at each other when they do. I try to go after Lexi but I'm intercepted by others who hit my car first. Seeing her out of the corner of my eye, I watch as she laughs every time she hits someone, and every time she gets hit by someone. She pretends to pout before going after them.

We all laugh and enjoy ourselves but I find myself watching her more often than actually participating in the game. The time runs out and we exit the cars to go in search of whatever game or ride is to be conquered next.

Lexi and Faye hold each other as a breeze rushes past and I nudge Reece with my elbow and nod my head at the girls, shrugging off my jacket as he does the same. I speed up and tap Lexi on the shoulder, holding out my jacket to her. She looks hesitant but as another breeze picks up, she shivers and smiles gratefully, allowing me to help her put it on.

"Thanks, Chase." She looks so damn adorable in my jacket that swallows her figure. We walk side by side and I can see Maddox looking at me from the corner of his eye. Turning my head to look at him, he mouths "Get it" and smirks. I roll my eyes and continue walking.

We continue on like that, stopping at rides whenever the girls are interested and buying them whatever snacks they feel like having. After Lexi and Faye finish their cotton candy, we decide to go play some games before calling it quits. Maddox has wandered off so I text him, reminding him that he's our ride.

"I wanna play this one!" Lexi yells, running over to the ring toss game and paying the guy for three rings to throw. She misses each one and turns around pouting. Taking a quick look around, I spot a football game so I grab her and drag her over to it.

"Which prize do you want?" I ask her, pointing at all the really big ones hanging from the sides. She points to a giant, blue turtle with a purple shell and comically tired eyes and I nod, paying the guy for five footballs.

"Okay, so to win one of the big prizes, you gotta get at least 450 points, the medium-sized one is 200, and the small one is 75. Ready when you are." The guy running the game explains.

I set the ball down and look up at Lexi who looks nervous because it's not likely for anyone to win. Luckily for her, she has the captain of the footy team playing for her. Stepping back, I shoot the first ball straight through the most difficult opening that is worth 100 points. Then the second, third, fourth, and finally, I shoot the fifth one straight through as well as the surprised guy gives a squealing Lexi her turtle.

"Thank you so much! Oh my god, he's so cute!" Lexi exclaims with pure joy in her eyes as she jumps on me in a hug.

After that, we decide to go eat some real food. The smile is permanently stuck on my face from the sight of Lexi not being able to let go of her new turtle. I hope that it makes her think of me.