CHAPTER 11: Save The Best For The Last
1015 Words
Jax Harlan
I should have known better than to get mixed up in any of Brianna's dirty games. But Lila's reputation was on the line, and that was on me.
We were inside the locker room, and all I could feel was the tight tension she'd dragged in with her. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead like they were laughing at me. I didn't even push her away.
"Kiss me like you need me, Jaxxie... and I'll spare Lila from this mess," she said, voice all sugary and poisonous.
Brianna had that look in her eyes. The same look that always meant she was about to f**k someone over for fun.
Somehow... It reminded me of myself.
I used that f**k-boy energy too. God damn it.
"Don't f**k with me, Bree!" I took a step closer, trying to get some space. Today was supposed to be my birthday, not the worst day of my life. I wanted to ask Lila out on a real date. And Bree somehow managed to ruin that idea too.
"Don't make me ask twice." Bree didn't even flinch. She just pulled out her phone, tapped the screen, and held it up so I could see. My stomach dropped straight through the f*****g floor.
It was the video from Tyler's after-party. Right after I dropped Lila off at her dorm.
We were all still hyped, cheering for the second round of shots, and I was running my mouth like the biggest asshole here, bragging about how I was finally gonna f**k the nerd I'd glow-up'd. The same girl I'd dragged into this whole fake-dating mess.
"That's..." I didn't even know how to react.
"You said you were gonna fake date her. That she was nothing. Just another charity case to win and toss aside whenever you got bored," Brianna repeated my own words, smirking.
Yeah. My own f*****g words. And now they were being thrown right back in my face.
My chest felt tight. I remember that night too clearly now. I thought she was just another puck bunny I was gonna ruin for fun. I'd been so f*****g stupid. So goddamn arrogant.
"It's you who created this mess. Not me. Don't twist the facts," Bree explained.
I didn't even argue. Because she was right. I was the one who said that s**t. I was the one who started digging my own grave the second I decided to use Lila like some pawn.
The guilt hit me like a body check into the boards. Hard, fast, and Lila didn't deserve any of this. She was the only good thing that came out of this whole disaster. The one person who made me want to stop being such a d**k. And now her reputation was getting dragged through the mud because of me.
"So... let's save her ass and f**k me, Captain," Bree said, throwing herself at me, clinging to my neck like a sloth. Before I could shove her off, she stole the kiss like she meant it.
"f**k off, Bree!"
"Your choice, Capt!" she smirked, stepping back just enough to dangle the phone again like a f*****g grenade.
I could feel how wrong this was. Totally wrong. But that video getting out would destroy Lila. Everything she'd worked for, everything she was... gone. All because I opened my big drunk mouth at a party. Everyone would know about the fake contract and how I planned to break her from the start.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier you knew?" I growled.
"I'm saving the best for the last."
"So you knew the whole time?"
"We all knew, Jax! Me, Tyler, Matty... everyone at the after-party."
"f**k!" I slammed my hand against the wall. This was so far out of line.
Bree took another step closer, wobbling her chest like she thought that s**t would tempt me. "So... what's it gonna be, Captain?"
I had no choice.
I didn't care if this ruined me. But Lila? I didn't want her walking through this mess with me. I couldn't let that video destroy her.
So I did what I had to do.
I leaned in and kissed her.
It was the only way to shut her up. The only way to keep that video from destroying Lila. But the second my lips touched Bree's, it felt like swallowing glass. Wrong in every f*****g way. Her hands on my chest, her tongue pushing in like she'd won something.
I wanted to shove her off, but I didn't. I couldn't. Not if it meant protecting Lila.
I kissed her like I meant it, even though every second of it made me hate myself more.
When I finally pulled back, Bree's eyes were gleaming with victory. She wiped her lip with her thumb, smirking like she'd just scored the game-winning goal.
"Good boy, Jaxxie," she whispered. "See? That wasn't so hard."
I didn't say anything. My jaw was locked so tight it hurt. All I could think about was Lila. How she'd looked at me lately, like maybe I wasn't completely irredeemable. How I'd started to believe maybe I could be better for her.
And now I'd just f****d it all up worse than before. The result really didn't come out as expected.
I heard something break behind me.
A wet thud and a little gasp startled both of us. I turned around... only to see Lila standing there, eyes wide, in that soft pink dress that made everything ten times worse.
The cake box she'd been holding was on the floor, chocolate frosting splattered across the tiles like a f*****g crime scene.
"Lila—"
She didn't move. Just stood there in that pretty pink dress she'd clearly worn for me, looking like I'd just ripped her heart out with my bare hands. Her eyes were glassy, lips parted like she couldn't breathe.
Lila now staring at me like I was the monster I'd always been.
And I was.
I'd kissed Bree to save her.
But standing there, watching the devastation hit Lila's face, I realized I'd just destroyed her anyway.
"Lila! Listen to me!!!"
- Writer
