Chapter 002

•ALEXIS•

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Jasmine found me in the alley behind the diner twenty minutes later.

I was sitting on the low concrete ledge behind the diner. I still had on the same jeans and sweatshirt. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I’d wiped them on my thighs so many times that my jeans felt damp.

Jasmine didn’t say anything at first. She sat beside me, shoulder to shoulder, and held out a cigarette. She knew I’d stopped smoking, but I took it anyway. She lit it for me, and the tip glowed orange.

“Talk,” she said.

“They’re fucking.”

“Who?”

“Dylan. Sierra. Paige. On the couch. All at the same time.” I took a deep drag, burning my throat. “I walked in with his burger. He didn’t even pull out.”

Jasmine went completely still. Then she let out a long breath, like she was counting to ten to stop herself from driving to the hockey house and burning it down.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Get in line.”

“No, seriously. I’m going to cut his dick off and make him eat it. Then I’m going after those two-faced bitches.” She turned to look at me. Her usual winged eyeliner was already smudged. “You okay?”

“No.”

“Good. Being okay right now would be fucking crazy.” She bumped her knee against mine. “Have you eaten?”

“I lost my appetite somewhere between the moaning and the part where he called me pathetic for needing him.”

Jasmine muttered something filthy under her breath. Then she stood, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me toward the diner’s back door.

“You’re going to finish your shift. Then you’re coming home with me. We’re getting very drunk and making a list of everyone who ever smiled in your face while stabbing you in the back.”

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The diner was half-empty when we walked in to finish my shift as a waitress. Tuesday nights were always quiet. The bright lights buzzed above the cracked floor. The smell of old grease and stale coffee filled the diner. My manager, Darryl, looked up from the register and raised an eyebrow when he saw my face.

“You look like shit, Alexis.”

“Feel like it too.”

“Table six needs refills. And the guy at the counter keeps asking for you.”

I tied my faded apron around my waist. My fingers were still shaking. Jasmine slid into a booth near the kitchen and mouthed, I’m not leaving.

I nodded once and got to work.

I refilled drinks, took orders, and cleared plates with food still on them. People always ordered more than they could eat. I went through the motions. Smile, take the order, deliver it, wipe the table, repeat.

Every time the bell above the door rang, my stomach tightened. I kept expecting Dylan or one of the girls to walk in. But nobody came.

Around ten, my phone buzzed in my back pocket.

It was a reminder from the hospital portal again. My mom's lab payment was due in six days. $380.

I stared at the amount until my screen went dark. Then I shoved my phone back into my pocket and kept wiping the same clean table.

Jasmine watched me from the booth. She didn’t push. Just ordered coffee she didn’t drink and kept her eyes on the door like she was daring anyone from the hockey house to walk through it.

Around eleven, the door swung open with a loud bang.

Reid Brooks walked in first, his laughter filling the diner. Two other guys from the team followed him. I knew their faces from the games I'd watched for free when the stands were empty and I needed somewhere warm to sit between shifts.

Reid was the team's enforcer. He was big, always red-faced, and always looking for a reason to bully. When he spotted me behind the counter, his grin grew wider

“Well shit. Look who it is.”

I kept my eyes on the order slip in my hand. “What can I get you?”

“Dylan's leftovers, apparently.” He dropped onto a stool like he owned the place. The other two laughed. “I heard the show was free tonight. You charge extra for the afterparty or what?”

My pen stopped moving.

Jasmine sat up straighter in the booth.

Reid leaned against the counter, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Come on, Alexis. Don’t look so shocked. The whole house knew he was bored. You were walking around like a ghost with a tip jar.”

The wiry kid with the black eye snickered. “Two girls, though. Damn.”

Reid smirked. “Can’t blame him.”

I slowly put my pen down. The fluorescent light overhead flickered once. My hands had gone steady in the way they did when the anger in me finally burned through the shock.

“Do you want food or are you just here to practice being an asshole?”

Reid’s eyebrows went up, delighted. “Watch your mouth, Alexis. With that attitude, I'm surprised your heart hasn't given up on you.”

“Say that again.”

Reid grinned. "I said, watch your mouth. Or is that too difficult for you to comprehend?”

He leaned closer, his grin widening. “You're the girl who only got the hockey boyfriend because she looked sad enough to fix.”

The third guy shifted on his stool but didn’t say anything.

Jasmine was already getting out of the booth. I shook my head once without looking at her.

I leaned both hands on the counter so I wouldn’t reach across it. My voice came out low and even.

“You know what travels faster? How many times you’ve been benched for dirty hits. How many times Coach has had to pull you off some freshman you tried to put through the boards because you can’t keep your temper. You want to talk about pathetic? Let’s talk about the guy who still needs two teammates to walk into a diner with him so he feels big enough to run his mouth.”

Reid's face turned red. His smile disappeared.

“Watch it.”

“Or what? You’ll tell Dylan I was mean to you? He already knows I’m mean. That’s why he needed two of my friends to make himself feel better.” I tilted my head. “You hungry, Brooks? Or did you just come to remind me that men who can’t keep their dicks to themselves still need an audience?”

The wiry guy muttered, “Damn,” but this time, he said it quietly.

Reid stood up. His stool scraped loudly against the floor.

He was much bigger than me. Broad shoulders, thick arms, and the kind of size that made people move out of his way.

Darryl’s voice cut across the diner from the kitchen pass. “Problem out here?”

Reid held my gaze for another second. Then he laughed, short and mean, and dropped back onto the stool.

“Just ordering,” he said. “Burger. Rare. And whatever the special is. Make it quick.”

I wrote down his order without looking away. My handwriting was so sharp it could have cut through paper.

Jasmine was still watching from the booth, her eyes narrowed and her body ready to move.

I brought the guys their water myself. Reid's fingers brushed against mine as he took his glass.

“Careful, Alexis,” he said, soft enough that only I could hear. "Dylan might be done with you, but the rest of us are just getting started. The campus is small. Right now the only story anybody wants is the one where the broke girl got replaced.”

I pulled my hand away.

“Enjoy the burger,” I said. “Hope it chokes you.”

He grinned like I’d given him a gift.

I carried the order slip to the kitchen. Darryl took one look at my face but didn't ask any questions. He just started cooking.

Jasmine appeared at my elbow the second the kitchen door swung shut behind me.

“I will end him.”

“Not tonight.”

“Alexis.”

“I need the tips more than I need a fight.” My voice cracked on the last word. I swallowed hard. “My mom's lab payment is due in six days. $380. I'm short. I can't afford to get fired because Reid Brooks decided to ruin my day.”

Jasmine's expression changed. Her anger was still there, but something softer showed beneath it. She reached out and squeezed my wrist.

“We’re going to figure it out.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean it. You don't have to carry everything alone.”

I nodded because speaking felt dangerous.

Outside the kitchen door Reid’s laugh started up again, loud and careless, like the night had already moved on without me.

I wiped my hands on the apron, pushed the door open with my shoulder, and walked back out to the counter.

Reid caught my eye across the counter, still wearing that same ugly smile.

Then he lifted his glass.

"Enjoy your last peaceful night, charity case.”