Trust in Love

70. Truth or Consequence

Logan looked at Alex in alarm. He grabbed her arms and leaned down to meet her eyes, "You got into trouble? What kind?"

Jae raised his eyebrows, "I see you haven't told him, Alex."

Alex felt lightheaded. The party seemed like a long time ago based on what had happened since then. Now, she found herself cornered by twin siblings.

She turned to Logan first, "I'm fine. Nothing happened. Lauren had been around to help me."

"And you..." Alex glared at Jae, "Why can't you just say you wanted to know where he had been that night?"

"What makes you think he'll answer that?" Jae snorted, "Unless the reason had something to do with his so-called new best friend?"

"Tell me what it is and I'll decide for myself if it was fine or not" Logan demanded, tightening his grip on Alex's arms.

Alex widened her eyes at him. He had his nostrils flared and his jaw locked. If he had been shaking, Alex would say he had been close to exploding.

"It's a party. People get laid. Max thought I missed out. He had this whole thing called making me the most eligible bachelor on campus."

"He locked you in a room?"

"No, no, no" Alex shook her head as pain shot up her arms, "He wanted me to flirt with girls and get one of them to bed. Lauren stopped him before he could really do anything about it."

"Why are you defending him?!" Logan exasperated.

"Because! It happened but it also didn't! It's now over! I want to move on because I really don't see it as a big deal! If it was, wouldn't I have asked you where you were that night? Didn't you keep telling me to go? And how you said you would be around so I had nothing to worry about?"

"Okay, lovebirds. No need to get into an argument about it" Jae tried to interfere.

Logan let go of Alex's arms and pushed him in the chest, "Stay out of it, Jaelin."

Jae scoffed, "Using my full name? Real mature, Logan."

"Stop it!" Alex yelled, jogging up to them. She stood between them with her arms stretched to keep the two boys apart, "This is your house. There's no need to drag the rest of your family into this mess right now."

"What is going on here?" Aunt Tim asked as soon as she reached the top of the stairs.

Alex gulped. The way Aunt Tim looked earlier barely compared to how she looked now. She bowed her head low, her eyes up like a predator hunting its prey. Her shoes clicked against the floor, adding to her intimidating aura. When she reached them, she straightened her back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't know what teenagers learn in school these days but when I was your age, I learned that manners make a man. The two of you will turn 18 soon enough. By then, the law considers you as legal adults. Would you act like one, please? Whatever you are arguing about right now can wait until the three of you have cooled off."

Only Alex had her eyes on Aunt Tim while Logan and Jae stared off into space. None of them spoke up.

Aunt Tim sighed but her voice remained firm, "If you have nothing to say then, Logan, go back to your room and rest. Jae, take Alex home. No more discussion about this until tomorrow, at least. Be alone with your thoughts for some time. Are we clear?"

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"I said, are we clear?"