Raw Deal (Beauty for Ashes: Book One) (5 page)

“Yeah, but I’m not gonna run it. Tanya’s doing it with me, so we’re taking it easy. We’ll walk a bit and jog a bit.”

I wondered who Tanya was.

“You know Tanya, right?”

“No.”

“She’s my cousin. She goes to our school.”

“Oh. I might have seen her around.” Jace’s fries were lovely and warm in my hands. They smelled heavenly too. I resisted the urge to help myself to a couple.

Jace stopped. “Is that a bus?”

I looked down the road. “Yeah.”

“Come on.” Jace took off. I ran after him, but I couldn’t keep up. The bus whizzed past, but it waited for us at the bus stop. Jace got there first and asked the driver to wait until I caught up.

“Thanks,” I breathed, sinking into a torn mangy looking seat.

Jace sat next to me. “Sorry for making you run.”

I elbowed him. “I can’t remember the last time I ran like that.”

The driver let us down just across the road from school, and we made our way to the back parking lot.

“What’s up with you and Lewis?” Jace asked.

I groaned. “Can people quit asking that? Nothing is going on.” Okay, so Monica was the only person who’d asked, but my lamentation sounded good.

“Well, if you were gonna get with any of those guys, I wouldn’t recommend Lewis anyway.”

“Why not?”

Jace shook his head. “He’s got a temper. It’s scary. We don’t tell him when we play basketball during free periods because he totally loses it if his team doesn’t win.”

“Really? Competitive huh?”

“Scarily competitive.”

“Are you just trying to put me off him?”

Jace chuckled. “Why would I do that?”

“Well, I’m not into him anyway.” It was kind of true. He was cute, but tonight, he’d been totally eclipsed by Jace.

“Good.”

“So who would you recommend?”

Jace pretended to think about it?

“What about Hayden?” I offered.

“He’s okay. He’ll flirt with other girls, but if you can deal with that, then cool.”

“Nah, I don’t think I could deal with that. Plus, Monica would kill me. How about Craig?”

“He’s cool, but isn’t he with Ashton?”

“I could steal him away from her.”

Jace laughed. “And here I was thinking you’re this innocent little British girl. Never judge a book!”

We got to my car, and I set Jace’s packet of fries on the trunk while I looked for my keys in my purse. I unlocked my doors and looked up at Jace. “What about you?”

His expression was neutral. “Well, I have to say that I may be your best bet, and as you confessed yourself, I’m a sweet guy. But that’s up to you. I know some girls like jerks.”

Jace balanced his drink and takeout bag in one hand, then picked up his packet of fries with the other. “Do me a favor, Lexi? Can you get my car keys out of my pocket? So that I don’t have to look for them when I get to my car. I don’t want to drop anything.”

“Which pocket are they in?”

“I’m not sure.”

I checked his right pocket—empty.

“Try my shirt pocket.”

I looked at his shirt. “Wouldn’t it be bulging somewhere if the keys were there?”

“It’s a deep pocket.”

I slipped my hand in his shirt pocket—empty. I checked his left trouser pocket.

“Geez, Lexi, there’s no need for that.”

“What?”

“You’re feeling me up.”

“In your dreams, Jace.”

“In my nightmares.”

I looked at him, and a slow smile spread over his face. I turned on my heel and made to get into my car. “See you Monday,” I tossed over my shoulder.

“Sorry, Lexi.”

“When you get to your car, put everything on your trunk and look for your keys yourself.”

“But I might drop something, when I try to put them down.”

I gave him a ‘do I care?’ look.

“You know, I didn’t mean what I said. You feeling me up would definitely be a dream, Lexi. Please help me find my keys.”

“Whatever, Jace.”

He turned around. “Thanks, Lexi. Back pockets?”

“Do you really expect me to go feeling around in your back pockets?” I lifted his shirt slightly so that I could see his pockets properly. The keys were in the left one. I took them out for him, and he turned around. “You see? We got there in the end.”

Jace leaned toward me, and I wasn’t sure why. I stepped back. “I bet you knew which pocket they were in all along.”

The look of pure innocence that he gave me told me he did. He smiled and I looked away. I tossed his keys and caught them a couple times. His smile was making me nervous. I knew what most people at school got up to when they were alone with the opposite gender. I just hoped Jace didn’t think I was up for anything like that.

“I don’t have any free hands. You’ll have to put them in my mouth.”

“You want me to put your keys in your mouth?”

“Yeah.” He opened his mouth slightly.

“I am not touching your mouth.”

“You don’t have to, just put the keys in.”

I laughed slightly as he bent his head as if I couldn’t reach. I held the keys between his open lips. He stood there mouth ajar, staring at me. “You can close your mouth now, Jace.”

He suddenly clamped his mouth over my fingers, and I yelped. He burst into laughter, and the keys fell to the floor.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re hilarious, Lexi.” He stooped over to get his keys and dropped his drink.

I jumped back before I got sprayed. “Look what you’ve done!”

He stuffed his keys in his pocket. “Can I get your number on Monday?”

“If you want to.”

“I’d get it now, but my battery went a few minutes ago.”

“Okay.” I looked down at his spilled drink.

He kicked the cup out of the way and stepped back. “Get into your car, then I’ll go.”

“Why?”

“In case the monsters try to get you when I turn my back.”

“Ah, good point.”

“Yeah, it’s just my natural sweetness coming into play again.”

“Of course.” I got into my car, and he slammed my door shut. I watched him walk away in my rear view mirror. I was shaking my head in amusement as I started up my car and turned the headlights on. I checked my cell phone. There was a text from my mom asking where I was. I replied, saying I’d be home soon. I switched on the radio and tuned in to a hip-hop station. They were playing some heavy rap with angry lyrics. I clicked the volume up.

Okay, so Jace wanted my number. What did that mean? I thought about how he’d said it. He’d sounded pretty casual, not like he was really that bothered about getting it.

The guy was kind of scary. It’d be my wisdom to stay away from him and not get involved with all these basketballers—Jace, Lewis, Hayden, and the rest—all hot and all trouble.

I checked my rear view again. I couldn’t see Jace in my mirror anymore. I pulled out and slowly meandered through the parking lot. On second thought, I decided to use the rear exit rather than the side one. I drove to the far end of the parking lot, and was about to drive out when I saw Jace walking back toward the school.

I eased off the gas and rolled down my window. “What’s up?” I asked, lowering the music.

“My windscreen’s been smashed.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, someone’s put a brick through it.”

“Are you kidding?”

“No.”

“Who would do that?”

Jace shrugged.

I remembered that his phone battery had died. “Do you need to use my phone?”

“Do you mind?”

“Of course not.” I passed him my phone then parked my car. I grabbed my jacket and pulled it on as I caught up with him and followed him to his car.

Jace was talking to one of his parents, and from his side of the conversation, I deduced that they were telling him to just leave the car and come home.

“No, don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ll get a taxi,” Jace said. He stopped by his black sports car. The windscreen was completely shattered. Apart from that, there was a huge dent in the passenger side door. The damage had to be deliberate.

Jace pointed at the brick in the driver’s seat. “Yeah it’s cool…No, I’ll be home soon.”

I walked around the car. The lock on the trunk had been messed with, but it was still intact.

“What a shame, this car is so nice!” I said when Jace got off the phone. “Do you have any idea who could’ve done this?”

“No, but I’ll find out, and I’ll kill them.” Jace used my phone camera to take some pictures. I wasn’t sure they’d turn out well with it being so dark, but he worked out how to get the flash on.

“Well, it’s a good thing you weren’t in the car when they threw the brick,” I said, trying to put a bit of a positive spin on things.

“I wish I was. I’d have killed them on the spot.”

“Okay, all this talk of killing is starting to scare me.”

Jace chuckled. “I’ll get these pictures off you on Monday. Do you mind if I make one more phone call? I need to call a cab.”

“Do you live far?”

“Kind of.”

“Well, is it straightforward, because I don’t mind dropping you off?” I bit my lip. Had I really just offered to take him home? What on earth was wrong with me?

“Really?”

“Uh, sure.” I snatched my phone back, and started toward my car. “Come on.”

“Wow, I’ve never had a girl offer me a ride before.”

“Well, I wouldn’t leave you out in the dark waiting for a taxi. It ain’t safe these days.”

“That’s, uh, sweet.”

“I know.” We both got into my car. “I really can’t understand why someone would do that. Are you sure you don’t know who could’ve done it?”

“I really don’t have a clue.”

“You haven’t crossed anyone up lately? Or stolen someone’s girlfriend?”

“Hey, forget what you might have heard about me. I’m not like that.”

I drove out of the parking lot and headed toward the main road. Jace switched on my headlights for me.

“Oh, thanks.”

“I’m thinking it could be someone from Los High.”

“Really? Why?”

“We beat them on Wednesday.”

“All that over a basketball game?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, that’s pretty pathetic.” I just couldn’t believe that could be the reason for such an act of felony. “Are you that good that people hate you? That’s kind of a compliment, right?”

Jace laughed lightly. “Maybe, in a twisted kind of way.”

We were quiet for a moment. I stole a look at him.

“Keep your eyes on the road, woman.”

“Don’t call me ‘woman’.”

“Well, if you’re going to be staring at me after you’ve already felt me up in the parking lot, I think I have every right to call you whatever I want.”

“You just go on telling yourself that I felt you up.”

“It’s not myself I need to tell. It’s the other guys. I’ll be warning them about you. Never get stuck in the parking lot with that Lexi chick. She’ll strike.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“So, how come you never talk to me at school?” Jace asked.

“Are you kidding? You never talk to me.”

“That’s because you just walk past like people are invisible.”

“I’m the one who’s ‘new’,” I said crooking my fingers on one hand. “You’re supposed to talk to me.”

“I’m new, too.”

“Well, I’m newer than you.”

“You’ve been here before.”

“So?”

“I smiled at you in economics on Monday, and you just looked away.”

“Were you smiling at me or Michelle?”

“Both of you.”

“Yeah, right. Anyway, you need to start directing me.”

Jace gave me directions to his house. It was on the other side of town, and his neighborhood was freakily wealthy. The kind of wealthy that makes you smell a rat. Okay, people could be rich, but this rich? Either they had links with the mafia, or they were involved in something else just as illegal.

Jace told me where to stop. I strained my eyes to see his house properly and twisted my headlights to their brightest, but there was an iron gate blocking my view.

Jace gave me a weird look. “What are you doing?”

“I’m finding it scary that you’re so rich.”

Jace yawned. “How shallow is that! My financial status shouldn’t mean anything to you.”

“Why are you rich?” Maybe his dad was a Hollywood producer or something.

“We own the Glacier hotels.”

“You mean the five star hotels that no one can afford?”

“Right.”

“Are you the heir to your dad’s billions?”