Page 149 of Damaged Boys Don't Fall For Bubbly Girls
She shivers as I continue popping gentle kisses on her neck and whispering romantic things in her ear.
A sound is heard in the distance and Lexi and I pull away from each other. Is her Mom home?
But after a few seconds, no one enters the house and we don’t hear the noise again.
Lexi shrugs. “Was probably from outside.” She grabs hold of my shirt and yanks me to her, covering my lips with hers and giving me a sweet, slow kiss. My arms come around her, holding her tightly. Our mouths don’t break from one another for a long time—we just can’t seem to stop making out. And I think I know why. All this has been building up between us ever since we were eight. We didn’t understand it back then, but the second she shared her colored pens with me, we were written in the stars.
We take a break to breathe and I press my forehead to hers. My chest heaves, as does hers. Our love is so strong, it leaves us breathless. It shows just how deeply we care for each other.
“Lexi,” I whisper, my fingers wrapping around my shark pendant.
“Brock,” she whispers back, grabbing hold of her pendant as well. It’s like we’re touching each other’s hearts.
Our lips connect again and we kiss each other like there’s no tomorrow. Even though there is. There’s tomorrow and the day after and the day after that.
The rest of our lives.
Chapter Forty-Four
Lexi
Two months later
The moment has finally come. All of our hard work, blood, sweat, and tears have led to this moment right here. The Edenbury Dance Studio’s performance ofThe Nutcracker!
There’s a mix of calm and chaos backstage. Calm because the dancers who are not having any kind of crisis are all gathered together, sending good vibes, and chaos because there are a few dancers who find themselves with last-minute problems that has Dani and the rest of the instructors scrambling around to fix them.
The guys and I are trying to keep our nerves in check, with Theo making these jokes that has us rolling. Gael and I are especially nervous, though it seems I’m ten times more nervous than him. Maybe because he always danced flawlessly while I messed up a few times?
“You’re going to do great, Lexi,” Finn reassures me, putting an arm around my shoulder. “Everyone will love you.”
Each of the guys gives me similar encouraging words.
I let out a breath, which somewhat relaxes my racing heart. “Thanks.”
Finn sends me another reassuring smile before walking off to talk to Ruby. I’ve noticed the two of them have been getting quite cozy lately. Whenever I or the guys bring her up, Finn gets embarrassed. I really, really hope things work out between them. Finn deserves to have someone who will love him and make him happy.
Cooper still hasn’t had much luck with girls. He’s bummed about that, especially now that Brock and I are together andbecause we suspect something might be brewing with Finn and Ruby. But I think he’s matured a little and is trying to be patient. The right person will pop into his life at the right time.
As for the other guys? They would like girlfriends, too, but they’re not obsessed with it. They also hope it’ll happen at the right time. For now, they’re enjoying being single.
Voices from the audience snap me out of my thoughts. It sounds like it’s a full house. I peek behind the curtain and see that it is indeed a full house. Wow, I don’t see a single empty seat. My eyes roam over the people, trying to locate a familiar face, and then I see my mom. She’s sitting next to Aidan and Ava, and right next to them is Skylar and…her mystery man.
Yep, she flew in for my performance and guess who she brought with her? Her boyfriend! His name is Wesley and he’s such a kindhearted person. Sky didn’t want to tell us about him at first because she wasn’t sure if things would work out between them, but after two months, they are officially in love. They’re even holding hands, which is so darn cute. I’m so freakin’ happy for them.
Behind my family are Easton Knight and the rest of the Musketeers. Including Brock and his parents.
Brock is looking through the playbill. I wish he would lift his eyes and notice me, but he’s focusing hard on what he’s reading. Okay, he looks so freakin’ cute concentrating like that. Like, how is that guy mine?
Brock’s mom notices me. She waves and then nudges Brock, who raises his head and gives her a confused look. She nods in my direction, and when Brock sees me, his whole face lights up and he waves. I blow him a kiss.
My mom also spots me and waves both hands, which causes Aidan to notice me and then Ava. It’s not long before all the Musketeers do, too. Seeing how excited they are for the performance raises my anxiety levels, but it also pumps me up.
When I return to the others, I learn that most of the crises have been solved, and we’re ready to start. Oh my gosh, my nerves have just shot through the roof! But I can do this. I want to have fun and enjoy every second of it.
The two hours fly by like the blink of an eye. I was worried I would mess up the numbers I struggled with, but thankfully, I perform each one perfectly. The audience seems to really love the changes we made. Like I said, we’re not veering too much from the original, just a few changes to bring it to a new level.
During the curtain call, the audience cheers and claps and whistles so loudly. When Gael and I take our bows, I swear I can hear my family and all the Musketeers cheer at the top of their lungs. Then Dani and Jasmine give a short speech about how hard all of us have worked and how proud they are, and of course they thank everyone for coming. Then the dancers go backstage to change so we can greet our family and friends.
