all american | lance tucker

ch. 17 • broken hearts club

The next morning, I woke up in Lance's arms. At first I panicked because I had no idea who I was with or where I was, but then slowly my headache and body aches, the first signs of a hangover, reminded me of the night before. Or what I could remember.

Lance was still gently snoring next to me, his arms wrapped around my shoulder and his chin resting on my shoulder. No way I was getting up any time soon. I looked at the clock. 6:30. The kids wouldn't up for about another hour. Hopefully more.

I searched around, and finally spotted my phone on the opposite bedside table. As gently as I could, I sat up, detaching Lance from myself, and grabbed it. As the screen lit up, a notification surprised me. 4 missed calls from Thea. I clicked on the notification, calling her. She picked up immediately.

"Hey, uh Cara. How's life?" Her voice was shaky, concerning me.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Listen, I uh, gotta tell you about something." Her voice was quiet. What the hell?

"What's up?"

"Well, uh...funny story..."

"Spit it out, Thea." I said sharply. When she didn't want to tell me something, she would start stalling. "I swear to god, if you're pregnant, I'm going to fucking kill you." I threatened.

"No, uh, definitely not that. There is something though."

"Well, what is it? You drop out of college or something?"

"No! It's just that uh...I have a new boyfriend." She gulped. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, and?" I groaned. Sometimes, she was so fucking annoying.

"We've been dating for about as long as you and Roman have." She continued. I decided I wouldn't tell her that we had broken up last night.

"What about him? Why are you acting so weird?"

"Promise you won't get mad?" Her voice was small, and it showed how much effect I had on her and her decisions.

"Depends on what it is you're refraining from telling me." I said, clenching my jaw. I already knew it was going to be something I wouldn't like.

"Well, you may or may not know him." She stalled.

"Thea. Who. Is. It." I pressed, starting to get annoyed.

"It's Jack." She said it so quickly, I almost didn't hear her. But I did. And it shook me way harder than I thought it would. I almost dropped my phone.

"What." I said quietly, my jaw clenched so tightly it hurt. For sure, she didn't mean my ex fiancé Jack, right? My baby sister wouldn't do that to me, right?

"I know, he was your ex and everything, but like ...we have a strong connection, and he really makes me happy. And I don't want to hide anything from you."

I was wrong. Makes her happy, huh?

"Seriously, Thea? You couldn't find anyone else?"

"I can't help who I fall in love with, Cara. You have Roman, why can't I have someone too?" Fall in love? Hold the fuck up.

"Actually, Roman and I broke up." I said tightly, tears starting to well in my eyes. I had no idea why. No idea who to be madder at, Thea or Jack. "He's too old for you."

"He's the same age as you. That's only five years."

"Thea, you're not even old enough to legally drink, let alone fall in love with some guy you don't even know." I argued. She was making a big mistake.