Aced (Blocked #2) (13 page)

Later, when Lucy had pranced out of the locker room with Maddie following her, she’d said, “C’mon, we’re picking up Dane at Josh’s.”

Maddie had shrugged and given me a smile.

Now that we were tucked into a booth in the corner of the restaurant, I glanced over at Maddie next to me. She stared at the thick menu in her hands, and her delicate eyelashes cast tiny shadows on her cheeks. When she turned the page, she must have felt my stare, because she looked right at me.

“So many choices,” she said as she shook her head. “Do you know what you want, Alex?”

Yes.
The light blue eye shadow she’d used made her eyes sparkle.
You.

When I didn’t respond, she cleared her throat. “Have you been to The Cheesecake Factory before?”

“A few times. There’s one in Houston…at a mall called The Galleria.”

“The fifth largest mall in the country,” Lucia added.

“Really?” Dane’s straw gurgled as he polished off his coke. “Who knew Texas could be so civilized.”

Lucia elbowed him.

The waitress approached. “Another Fresca, sir?”

Dane nodded.

“And are we ready to order?”

Once she’d taken our orders and disappeared into the bustling restaurant, Lucia looked at Dane. “I can’t believe you’ve never been to Texas. We should go.”

“Want to show me cows? Rodeos? Your old house?”

“Well, there’s another governor living in the mansion now,” Lucia said. “But I could show you the house we lived in before that. And there’s more to Texas than cows and rodeos.”

“Oh, right. There’re lots of guns, too.” Dane rolled his eyes. “Figures Texas elected
another
Republican governor.”

“I’m proud of my home state,” I said.

“And I’m proud
my
state put a Democrat in charge.” Dane smiled.

“It’s too bad for your economy, then.”

Lucia glared at me for riling up her boyfriend, but I couldn’t help myself.

Dane’s mouth tightened. “It’s great for human rights to have Democrats in charge. We’re not letting the police take target practice on African-Americans just for the fun of it. Right, Maddie?”

She looked up from peeling oats off a slice of pumpernickel bread. “Huh?”

“Braxton texted me about what he’s been doing.” Dane leaned closer to the table. “I think it’s awesome.”

Maddie seemed to freeze, then her eyes darted to mine.

“Your brother?” I asked. “What
has
he been doing?” If Dane thought it was awesome, I probably wouldn’t like it.

“Uh…He, um—”

“He’s been protesting at that Cleveland police station about the shooting last month,” Dane supplied.

Lucia placed her hand on her chest. “That sounds dangerous.”

And idiotic.
“But the trial’s still going on,” I said. “The officer hasn’t been convicted. Justice hasn’t been served. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?”

“Justice can’t be served when the system’s stacked against you,” Dane said.

Maddie remained quiet, and I asked her, “Is that what you believe? Do you think the system’s unjust?” She squirmed. “Do you agree with your brother?”

“I think I see both sides?”

“Jeez, Alex.” Lucia frowned at me. “It’s her birthday. Give her a break.”

I blew out a breath. “You’re right.” I looked at Maddie. “Sorry.” Why did it matter what her brother did? It wasn’t like Maddie and I were dating or anything. “I seem to commit countless peccadillos in your presence.”

Dane snorted. “Feeling nervous, Alex?”

“Why do you say that?”

“You’ve got your defenses up.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m having a good time at Maddie’s birthday dinner.” I raised my glass of water with lime and nodded at her.

“Defense mechanisms, I mean,” Dane said. “We’ve all got ’em.”

I studied him. What was the psychologist’s son up to? “So what is my supposed defense mechanism, then?”

“Intellectualization.” Dane smiled. “When you have an uncomfortable emotion, you unleash a big vocab word.”

Lucia’s mouth popped open. “He
does
do that!”

“Shut up, Lucy,” I warned.

Dane smirked. “Don’t you mean, cease your chicanery and verbosity, sister Lucia?”

When Lucia chortled, he laughed. It wasn’t long before Maddie joined in, and her giggles lit up her face—the way she should have looked at her birthday dinner. I couldn’t watch the three of them laughing without my own smile breaking through.

“Okay, Mr. Psych Major,” Maddie said. “What’s
your
defense mechanism?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Dane held out his arms, revealing an impressive wingspan. “Regression. I regress to adolescence often.”

Lucia and Maddie laughed.

I marveled at how my anger toward Dane lessened with his self-deprecating comment.

“Oh.” He raised his finger. “And sublimation. That’s another defense mechanism I use.”

“What’s that?” Lucia asked.

“It’s when you channel difficult impulses into more acceptable behavior. Like when you have sexual fantasies that you can’t act on, so you exercise like crazy.”

Or throw yourself into school.
Mierda
. I used that one, too.

Dane brushed strands of hair off Lucia’s face, then cradled her chin. Her cheeks burned crimson as she looked at me.

And…the anger returns.
I muttered under my breath, “Guess he doesn’t have to use sublimation anymore.”

When Maddie vibrated next to me in the booth, I turned to find her shaking with suppressed laughter. I scowled, and she shook harder—her lips glued together, her eyes alight with mirth. And then her hand clasped mine. In an instant I stopped thinking about Lucia and focused only on the feel of Maddie’s warm, soft fingers. I squeezed back.

“Here we are.” The waitress swooped in to place huge plates in front of us.

An hour later, Dane collapsed back into the booth. “Food baby,” he moaned as he cradled his belly.

“You didn’t have to eat the whole plate of pasta
and
the whole piece of cheesecake,” Maddie chided.

“But it was so
good
.”

Dane hadn’t eaten the entire piece—Lucia had taken a couple of bites. But I wasn’t going to point that out since Mom had told me not to comment on what Lucia ate. Other than Dane helping her order when she’d seemed mired in indecision, my sister had managed the meal without much evident anxiety. I was proud of her.

“So you liked my peanut butter cup cheesecake?” Maddie asked me.

I smiled and nodded. The few bites I’d stolen were tasty, though I wasn’t a big fan of desserts. I
had
enjoyed watching Maddie eat the sweet treat. Not only was her mouth the sexiest damn thing I’d ever seen, it was good to see her eat. She looked thinner than when I’d met her in January, and that was only three weeks ago.

Lucia glanced at me before she dug in her backpack and extracted an envelope. “Time to give you your present, Maddie.”

“Rez!” Maddie’s lips parted. “I told you not to get me anything. This dinner’s present enough.”

Dane’s eyebrows lifted. “Did you get her the T-shirt, Luz?”

“No, I told you that was in poor taste.”

“What shirt?” Maddie asked.

Dane stopped pouting long enough to answer. “I wanted to get you a T-shirt that said
I’m Not With Stupid Anymore
.”

Stillness settled over the table, and I braced myself for more of Maddie’s tears. But then she giggled. “Nana would love that shirt.”

“You see?” Dane railed. “I should’ve ordered it.”

Lucia shook her head at Dane. She looked back at Maddie. “I know you said you didn’t want a gift, but I got you a card to tell you what a great friend you are.”

“Oh.” Maddie nodded. “I guess that’s okay.”

Lucia fidgeted before she handed over the envelope. “And Alejandro came up with a gift idea that sounded perfect. So that’s inside the card, too. It’s from both of us.”

“But you didn’t know it was my birthday until an hour ago,” Maddie said, eyeing me.

I shrugged. My breath caught in my throat, wondering how she would react.

“Let me see this,” Maddie grumbled as she reached for the card and tore it open. She said “Aww” as she read what Lucia had written, then her mouth opened. “You guys got me an MCAT study book?” She looked at me. “And you’re offering to help me study?”

Does she like it?
“You said it’s been tough to concentrate lately, so I thought a team approach would help.”

Maddie still didn’t speak.

“Sorry for the nerdy gift,” Lucia said. “Alex thought you’d like it.”

“No, it’s perfect.” She looked up. “I
am
a nerd.”

Dane chuckled.

Maddie’s voice trembled. “But it’s too much. I don’t deserve this.”

“Nonsense.” I leaned closer. “I’d be happy to help.”

She kept looking down, and I exchanged a nervous glance with Lucia. Maddie’s voice was soft. “But what if my score doesn’t improve?”

And I thought
I
put a lot of pressure on myself. “Then we’ll buy you an MCAT prep course.”

Maddie’s head shot up. “You will not! Those are, like, over two thousand dollars.” She exhaled. “I think you Ramirez
niños
went overboard…but okay. Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

I let out a breath. When I looked at Dane, though, I tensed. He cocked his head like he was trying to figure me out. Could he see my affection for Maddie? Could Lucia tell? I looked at my sister, but she was wrapped up in her teammate. Seeing both of them happy relaxed my shoulders.

I didn’t stay relaxed for long, however. Once our agents led us out of the restaurant into the freezing night air, camera flashes blinded me. Someone had tipped off the paparazzi.

“Lucia!” one reporter said. “Do you still have your eating disorder? What did you order for dinner?”

I gasped.

“Not one word,” China warned.

Dane pivoted toward one of the cameras, showing me the hard set of his jaw. I was jealous he didn’t have to listen to Secret Service anymore.

Before he could speak, Lucia whispered, “Don’t give them the satisfaction.”

“How do you feel about your mother losing the election, Dane?” another reporter asked.

He still looked pissed off, but his mouth closed, and he started walking again.

Reporters jostled closer, and one almost tripped Maddie. I reached out for her hand to steady her. We weren’t quite to the SUVs when one reporter asked, “Who’s your date, Alejandro?”

Maddie’s eyes widened.

Lucia giggled. “She’s not his date!” Frank tucked her and Dane into the backseat of their vehicle, while China got my “date” and me into our SUV. We sped away.

“Sorry to drag you into the national spotlight.” I rolled my eyes.

“That was intense.” She laughed. “No worries. I had a great
date
.” When her thumb stroked my palm, I realized we were still holding hands.

Chapter Nine

I
C
AN’T
B
ELIEVE
he wants to tutor me.
Sure, Lucia said the present was from them both, but I had the sense it was all Alejandro’s idea. Only he had survived the ferocious, slashing claws of the MCAT. I looked over in the backseat of the SUV to find him watching me. The passing streetlights glittered in his dark eyes, sending a shiver up my spine. Was I hot for teacher?

When we arrived at my apartment building, I didn’t protest his exit from the vehicle along with me. I was getting to know his gentlemanly ways. It also wasn’t a surprise when China joined us on our brisk walk inside.

But I
was
surprised to find two hundred fifty-five pounds of chocolate muscle and cheating hustle waiting at my apartment door.

Jaylon’s eyebrows drew together when he saw my companions.

“What’re you doing here?” My throat constricted when I spoke. I felt Alejandro step closer behind me, and China didn’t appear to be leaving either.

Jaylon’s glare lingered on Alejandro before landing on me. “I got to talk to you.”

“I think your actions have said far too much already.” My heart pounded with heated indignation, which flared up my neck into my face.

“You got this all wrong!” He pointed at me as he neared. “I
told
you nothing happened with Nina—”

“Back off, Mr. Hart.” China wedged her way between us.

Jaylon’s eyes stormed. “Who the fuck are you?”

I patted China’s hard bicep. “It’s okay.” She kept her focus trained on Jaylon as she stepped to the side. I glanced over my shoulder at Alejandro, and he looked even more suspicious of Jaylon than China did. Turning back to my ex, I said, “This is Lucia’s brother Alejandro and his Secret Service agent.”

“Everything copacetic here?” Brad asked as he climbed the last few steps.

“And this is his other agent.” I dipped my hand toward Brad, who winked at me. China must have summoned him via the bat signal.

Jaylon inched back. “Why’re they with you?”

“Lucia and Dane took me out for a birthday dinner. Alejandro, too.”