Aced (Blocked #2)

by Jennifer Lane

  I winced.

  “You didn’t even vote?” His voice rose. “And you call yourself an American?”

  Lucia touched my arm as she leaned across me. “Don’t give her a hard time, Alex. We had our conference tournament on election day.”

  His lips pressed together. “Hmm.” He patted his thigh. “If you’re not following the news, maybe you shouldn’t vote, anyway.”

  Lucia cheered when Highbanks won a long rally, and I leaned closer to Alejandro. “We did have a match that day, but I still could’ve voted. Honestly, I didn’t feel right choosing between Lucia’s dad and Dane’s mom. They’re both my friends.”

  “Why do you like Dane?”

  His tone was more curious than mean. “He’s hilarious.” I grinned, thinking back to a particularly funny incident last spring. “Jaylon and I were out last April—”

  “Who’s Jaylon?”

  When I paused, he nodded grimly. “The ex.”

  I tried to block thoughts of him. “We had a few drinks with dinner.” When Alejandro’s eyebrow dipped, I added, “You know, celebrating the off-season.” Mr. Straight Edge doesn’t drink, either? Then I remembered Dane’s public intoxication from last year, and figured out why Alejandro looked so disapproving. I glanced at Lucia, but her attention was focused on an elderly couple standing at the end of the row, likely asking about her father. She couldn’t go anywhere without getting stopped. I turned back to Alejandro. “Don’t worry, Lucia doesn’t drink.”

  “She better not.”

  I shook my head. “I think that’s for her to decide. Anyway, Dane and Nina were there…”

  His dark eyes narrowed. “Nina was with Dane?”

  “You know about Nina?”

  “Another reason premarital sex is a bad idea,” he grumbled.

  Evidently he knew about her abortion, too. My voice rose. “Will you let me tell this story?” I thought I caught a half-smile before it disappeared from his face. “Anyway, it was karaoke night, and all the sudden the MC said, ‘Next up’s Jaylon Hart, performing Killing Me Softly.’” I cracked up, remembering his murderous expression.

  Alejandro stared at my mouth when I laughed, which made me feel self-conscious. I swallowed, then continued the story. “When Jaylon figured out it was Dane who set him up, he was ready to kill. But everyone cheered for him to get onstage so he didn’t have a choice.” Giggles overtook me as I recalled his awkward, tone-deaf performance. “Jaylon was so bad. It was the Roberta Flack song, but I guess all he knew was The Fugees’ version, so he kept trying to rap. He didn’t have a damn clue. The crowd started to boo, and I couldn’t wait for the song to end. But then Dane ran up there, grabbed the other microphone, and started singing falsetto. They turned it into a duet and by the end everyone was laughing at these big jocks hamming it up.”

  “Dane better not ever try that with me,” Alejandro said, his voice stern but his eyes smiling.

  “I never heard that story,” Lucia said, and I realized she’d been listening. “I wonder if I could get Dane to do karaoke—that’d be a riot.”

  I frowned as the rest of that night replayed in my head. Jaylon had wanted me to spend the night, but I’d left because of an early-morning lab. Now that I thought about it, we’d had quite a few spats about me not spending the night. His injured brown eyes as I left his apartment…hadn’t he understood I needed sleep? My throat tightened. Had I turned him away?

  “Woohoo!” Lucia yelled as she popped out of her seat. “We won!” I looked behind me to see the agents bolt up as well, their eyes scanning the crowd. When I glanced at the court, the teams were passing each other single file as they shook hands.

  Alejandro tilted his head toward me, sending over a waft of spicy aftershave. “So Great Dane leads his team to victory.”

  I tried to smile at his disdainful tone, but to my horror, my eyes filled with tears. “Sorry.” I sniffed.

  “You’re thinking about Jaylon?”

  All I could do was nod.

  “Hey.” His eyebrows knit together. “Your ex is an idiot.” The look of concern on his handsome face made me cry harder. With his thumb, he brushed a tear from my eye. “You’re a strong girl, Maddie. You’ll get through this.”

  I took a shaky breath. I hadn’t realized Lucia’s sweetness was genetic.

  Allison and Frank went ahead to scope out the restaurant, and the rest of us waited for Dane to emerge from the locker room. Once I recovered from my emotional freakout, Lucia had convinced me to join them, of course. And maybe I didn’t hate the idea of getting to know Alejandro better. I felt my phone buzz again; this time it was a text from my brother:

  Are you alive?

  What a stupid question. If I wasn’t alive, how would texting me help figure it out? Alejandro and Lucia were absorbed in conversation—I’d overheard them say Mateo—so I decided to reply.

  No. There was a plague at Highbanks.

  This is Zombie Maddie.

  Oh. Don’t munch on my brain, Zomdie.

  I grinned.

  Why’d you disappear on me? You know I hate that.

  My grin vanished. I guess I hadn’t wanted to tell anyone about the breakup so it wouldn’t seem real. But Lucia and Alejandro had made it less awful to admit the truth.

  Jaylon broke up with me.

  His return texts showed up instantly.

  WHAT?

  Want me to come kick his ass?

  I rolled my eyes. Braxton was a little taller than me, but he had nowhere near Jay’s muscle mass. His next text arrived:

  Probably for the best, anyway.

  Rude. I knew I shouldn’t have expected emotional support from him.

  Thanks for the sympathy.

  You know what I mean. Nana never liked Jaylon.

  Nana never liked ANY of my boyfriends.

  She thinks they’ll mess up my career.

  I gulped, deciding not to add the reason for my grandmother’s fear: Just like Mom messed up Dad’s career. Messed up his life, really. Braxton didn’t like me to mention our mother. When Mom left us right before my second birthday, Nana had become our true mother, and she’d done an awesome job filling in.

  I realized I hadn’t asked my brother about himself.

  How are your classes?

  I’m done with classes, remember?

  Whoops. Braxton studied political science, and I tried to remember the next step in the never-ending pursuit of his doctorate.

  When are doctoral exams?

  February 15. I’ll ace them.

  I smiled. He never lacked confidence.

  How’s p-chem?

  I groaned. Physical chemistry was my toughest class. Hmm. I wondered if Alejandro could help me with it?

  I’m surviving.

  Call Dad. He’s worried about you.

  Yes, sir, I wanted to type. I hated how Braxton ordered me around. When Dane emerged from the locker room, I typed a quick Gotta go, bye! instead.

  Dane’s hair was still damp and his face flushed from the shower. He smiled brightly when he saw Lucia.

  “Love this coat on you,” he said as he lifted her up and kissed her. She squealed. He put her down and clasped my shoulder. “Thanks for being here, Maddie.”

  “Good match, GD.”

  “Thanks.” He turned to my right. “Well, lookie here, my babysitters are back.” Dane reached out to pump Brad’s hand.

  “Danester,” Brad said with a grin.

  “Sure missed you, China.” Dane wrapped his right arm around her neck and hovered his left fist over her head. “Can I give you a noogie, for old time’s sake?”

  “Not if you want to keep your balls,” she answered.

  When Alejandro laughed, Dane’s eyes shot to him. The laughter stopped.

  “And why are you here, Alex?”

  Chapter Four

  “JUST CHECKING IN ON LUCY,” I told Dane. I glanced at Lucia, whose huge eyes and pink cheeks warned me not to say more. I wanted to confront him for sticking it to my baby si
ster. But everyone else seemed to have other ideas.

  “Hey, Dane.” Maddie stepped closer to me. “Did you know Alejandro played baseball at TCU?” Her smile disarmed me.

  “Yup,” he said. “He had a good shot of going pro till he blew out his elbow.”

  My eyebrows lifted. How’d he know?

  “Luz told me,” he explained.

  Of course. I wondered what else she’d told him. I watched Dane drape his arm over Lucia’s shoulders, and she sighed as she tucked into him. They seemed to fit together well—both so tall and strong. When Lucia’s eyes continued to plead with me, my resolve to comment grew even weaker. Seeing how happy she was with Dane, I wondered what right I had to interfere with their relationship.

  Maddie punched my arm. “You didn’t tell me that. You could’ve gone to the bigs?”

  I clenched my teeth—I didn’t like talking about my injury. Unsuccessful surgery freshman year had squashed my pro baseball dreams, moving me from first-string pitcher to third-string infielder. Dad hadn’t said anything, but I knew he’d been disappointed. The hope of playing major league baseball had been my biggest connection to my father, and we’d had less to talk about since my surgery.

  “Time to move out,” China said. “Brad’s got the SUV waiting.” She pointed to the exit, but extended her arm to stop Dane from opening the door. “Hold on. Brad’s going to escort you two at a time to the vehicle.”

  Maddie took a step back. “Maybe I should leave? I don’t want to make it harder for them to protect you guys.”

  She can’t leave. The sudden thought surprised me. “Don’t worry. China’s a great agent. She can handle it.”

  China narrowed her eyes at me, probably trying to figure out why I’d said something nice.

  “Yeah, Maddie,” Dane said. “Don’t go. We’ll help you feel better after that dickwad dumped you.”

  Maddie shook her head, but smiled. “Always the king of tact, Great Dane.”

  “That’s me.” He smirked as he gestured to the door. “Okay, you two first. Age before beauty.”

  It took me a second to realize he meant Maddie and I should go first. Me old? I was about to make a crack about his immaturity when Maddie’s laugh cut in.

  “Wow, Dane. Really boosting my self-esteem here. C’mon, Alex.” Her brown eyes shone as she cocked her head toward the door.

  Like a mindless idiot, I followed her. I guess Brad walked next to us the short distance to the vehicle; I didn’t really notice him because Maddie’s exquisite butt captured my full attention. Just like the rest of her, her derriere was lean and muscular, but just curvy enough to make black jeans my new favorite article of clothing.

  Once we sat in the private dining room of the city’s top seafood spot—the entire restaurant had whispered and pointed as the agents ushered us in—I finally relaxed. We were like normal people having a normal dinner. Well, minus the Secret Service hovering nearby. Most of my meals were hurried affairs, alone in my condo fortress between classes or after workouts, because I didn’t want the hassle of security in the public. I hated eating alone in restaurants, too.

  Lucia had placed herself across the round table, as far away from me as she could get, leaving Maddie to my left and Dane to my right.

  After we ordered, Maddie fidgeted in her chair. She whispered something to Lucia, and their hushed conversation left Dane and me to stare at each other. He gave me a tight smile. Awkward.

  “So, uh…” I shrugged. “Great match tonight.”

  His mouth relaxed a bit. “Gracias.”

  I continued in Spanish. “Lucy told me you learned Spanish on a mission trip to Guatemala?”

  Dane nodded and went on to tell me about his experiences there. He made a few grammatical errors, but his accent and fluency impressed me. He’d clearly studied the language for years.

  “No estoy seguro…pero creo que los aldeanos estaban comiéndose con los ojos a Jessica,” he said, his eyes darkening.

  I shuddered. “You thought the villagers were ogling your sister?”

  “Sí. When I tried to call them out on it, one guy looked offended. So I told him, ‘Me echaré un rapidín con tu madre.’”

  “¿Qué?” I laughed. “For the love of God, why’d you tell the villager you wanted a quickie with his mother?”

  Dane laughed, too. “When my mom and I got there, that’s what one of our hosts said to me. I thought it was a way to welcome us, and I wanted to smooth things over with the villagers.” He pointed to a scar over his eyebrow. “The cabrón welcomed me with a busted pipe after that comment.”

  “I can’t believe you said that.” I shook my head with a chuckle. I looked up to see Lucia gaping at us, her eyes glowing. A smile spread across her face, replacing her typical look of worry. A brief conversation with Dane could make her that happy? I wanted her to look that way all the time. If giving Dane a chance meant my sister would feel such joy, maybe I could do that. After coming all the way here, I was leaning toward not telling my father about Lucia and Dane now. However, Dad expected me to protect my siblings. I just wasn’t sure how to do that.

  Maddie had resumed fidgeting.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  Lucia tossed her hair over one shoulder. “I was just telling Maddie how you’re picking up the tab tonight.”

  “I am?” What was my sister up to?

  “Rez!” Maddie whispered, looking down. She seemed embarrassed.

  Oh. This place was likely too expensive for Maddie. How insensitive of me to insist that she join us.

  “I’ll get it,” Dane said.

  “No. I’m the oldest here, as you so kindly pointed out, Dane, so I’ll get the tab. My dad can certainly afford it. Maybe he’s not as loaded as Dane’s grandfather…” I raised my eyebrows at him. “But Dad can pay for this one meal. He gave me a credit card for just this type of situation.”

  “What?” Lucia’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t have a credit card.”

  “That’s because your scholarship pays for everything. I, however, am totally mooching off Mom and Dad.”

  Maddie set down her water glass. “Of course your parents are helping you; you’re in med school.”

  I winced. Most of my classmates were incurring heavy debt, but my parents handled the bills for my tuition. They could easily afford it.

  “Dude, why feel guilty for being wealthy? Republicans love money.” Dane bit off a hunk of bread and smiled as he leaned back in his chair. “Nothing wrong with being rich.”

  I knew Dane had grown up in wealth. But my family had been middle class until my dad struck it rich with an ingenious oil drilling technique when I was six. “This conversation has taken a strange turn.” I nodded at Dane. “Usually your party’s the one maligning millionaires. ‘Pay your fair share’ and all that.”

  “If the millionaires steal from their employees, they should be maligned,” Dane said. “But my grandfather earned his money fair and square.”

  “And our dad did too.” I met Lucia’s eyes, then looked back at Dane. “I guess what I feel guilty about is not paying my own way. I’m a big believer in self-reliance. I want to take care of myself, not rely on my parents or the government to do it for me. I plan to pay back my parents when I can.”

  “But you’ve had some opportunities that most people don’t,” Dane said. “Sometimes people can’t take care of themselves. They need the government.”

  “Some people do need help to get back on their feet,” I admitted. “But not half the population.”

  Lucia groaned. “Let’s not turn this dinner into a political debate.”

  “Really?” Maddie grinned. “I’m kind of enjoying this. You and Dane never argue like you used to, and I miss it.”

  “You never argue?” I frowned at Lucia. “Don’t tell me you’ve become a liberal sycophant.”

  “Alex.” She huffed out a breath. “I have no idea what you just said, but give me a break. Dane and I have agreed not to discuss politics, for the most part.
We get too mad at each other when we do.” She peeked at him and returned his smile.

  “Though you are hot when you’re mad,” he murmured. “Caliente.”

  TMI. I made a face at Maddie, and she chuckled.

  “I don’t want to stress you out, Rez, but I do want to hear what the guys think about this,” Maddie said. “Alejandro pointed out how ill-informed I am, so I want to change that.”

  “You don’t have to change, Maddie.” I shook my head. “I meant what I said. It’s refreshing that you’re not involved in politics like everyone else I deal with.”

  “You think it’s refreshing because I haven’t shot down your views, like Dane does.”

  As I considered her words, I looked at Dane, who smirked as he chewed more bread.

  “For the people who don’t have privileges and opportunities, how do you help them?” she asked. “What works to get them back on their feet?”

  “We know what works,” Dane said, looking smug. “Government programs, job creation, student loan forgiveness. Education’s so important.”

  “Education is important for creating a better life, but everything else you said isn’t accurate.” How could he be so misinformed? “Government programs have only made the poor poorer, because they create a culture of dependency. Making people dependent on the government is not compassion.”

  “But—”

  “Secondly,” I cut him off. “The government doesn’t create jobs; the private sector does. The government only serves to spend the money created by private companies.” Dane looked ready to rebut, so I forged ahead. “And thirdly, forgiving student loans? Really, Dane? Who’s going to pay for that? My dad inherited twenty trillion in debt! The taxpayers can’t afford that.”

  “Wow.” Maddie nodded. “You’re pretty passionate about this stuff, huh?”

  I looked down at my hands clenched in my lap and felt hotness on my face. I had leaned forward in my seat like I was about to pounce on Dane. As I exhaled, I slouched back a few inches.