Chapter Twelve  


"Who was that?" Alexa questioned softly, almost afraid to know the answer.  

JC rolled onto his back and pulled Alexa to him, placing her head gently against his chest. "No one*it doesn*t matter. Let*s not think about it, sweetheart."  


Her heart shivered, a feeling she had never really experienced before. She wasn*t sure that she liked it all that much. "It was Justin, wasn*t it?"  


"Lex, come on, don*t worry about it," JC continued, his voice not as pleasant as it had been before.  


"JC, we can*t forget that*well*who he is*or was*or whatever," Alexa rambled. She wasn*t even sure what she was trying to say. But she knew that Justin was going to play a large role in whatever it is that was happening between her and JC.  


"He*s not gonna ruin this moment for me," JC responded, his tone icy and his eyes dark with seriousness. He meant what he said. Justin was not going to get in the way of this.  


"For you?" she barely choked out. "How nice*he might ruin it*for YOU*" without saying another word she untangled herself from his arms and got out of bed. She quickly reached down to the floor and retrieved her nightgown.  


"Where are you going?" JC asked as she slipped it over her head, obviously flustered. "Alexa*please*come back here."  

She didn*t say a word. Just limped out of the room, favoring her injured ankle, and slammed the door behind her. It took her only a few seconds to reach the bathroom. Once she was there, she lost it. She sat down on the closed toilet seat and sobbed. It wasn*t supposed to happen like this. This wasn*t how the dream had gone. Everything had been perfect, breathtaking, wonderful. Arthur wasn*t supposed to know. Justin wasn*t supposed to know.  


A soft tapping on the bathroom door. "Lex, I*m sorry*sweetie*please open the door."  


She didn*t move. The door was unlocked, but JC hadn*t been quite bright enough to figure that out. So she sat. And cried. And waited.  

Tentatively, JC put his hand on the doorknob. He was about to turn it when he heard a commotion downstairs. He easily distinguished the voices of Chris and Alona. Surprisingly, he was relieved that they were back. He figured that Alona could get Alexa out of the bathroom so he could apologize. Things didn*t work out quite like he had hoped for.  

Alona and Chris came bounding up the stairs. Both of them stopped short at the sight of JC leaning his forehead against the bathroom door wearing nothing but his boxers. Alexa*s soft cries could be heard by all.  

"What did you do?" Alona spat out defensively, hands on her hips.  

"Nothing*I just*we*"  


"Lona?" came Alexa*s quivering voice from inside the bathroom.  

Alona pushed JC out of her way and, much to his surprise, opened the door. It was just as quickly slammed in his face.  

"Lex, I just want to talk to you," he continued through the door. "Come on! Alona, can*t you do something?"  


There were muffled whispers for a few brief seconds before the door reopened and JC found himself face to face with a very upset looking female. "You know what I*m gonna do for you?" Alona questioned harshly. JC took a step back. "I*m gonna tell you to get the hell away from this door and leave her alone. Understand? I warned you, JC. I told you that you*d hurt her. And you did. Just*go*away."  

A look of defeat written on his normally strong features, JC turned around and slunk off back to his own bedroom. Chris, feeling very uncomfortable, crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at his date.  

"I*m sorry," Alona said sincerely, leaving the bathroom and grabbing Chris* hand. "I had fun tonight. But I have to take care of this, okay?"  

"I understand," he replied; though inside he couldn*t deny that this wasn*t how he had planned their evening to end. "I*ll probably see you tomorrow, okay?"  


"Alright," she responded, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.  

At just the right moment Chris turned his head sharply. His lips brushed softly against Alona*s. She stepped back, shaking her head and trying not to laugh. Chris just winked at her.  

"Goodnight, doll."  


He retreated down the stairwell.  


~*~  

Justin paced back and forth across his bedroom. He couldn*t understand where all of this anger was coming from. What right did he have to be this jealous? And why should he be jealous, anyway? He had Britney, and half the men in the country wanted her. But, despite his best efforts, he couldn*t shake the negative vibes that were emanating from every pore of his body. He was pissed, no doubt about it.  

What frightened him more than his anger was the fact that he was also hurt. He felt like he and Alexa had grown closer over the past few days. And she had never once mentioned to him that she was flirting with the idea of sleeping with JC. Then again, would he really have wanted her to tell him that? Probably not, since from day one he hadn*t been able to get a picture of her, in his bed, calling out his name from his mind.  

Sighing, Justin sat down on his bed. He did the only thing he could think of to do. He picked up the phone and dialed Britney*s number. He knew that her soft southern voice could ease his mind, momentarily anyway. That was the last comfort he had left.  

~*~  

"Everything is in place," Jalen spoke menacingly into his small black cell phone. "Mike just called. I*ll have her back in LA by tomorrow night."  


"Tomorrow night?" Tyrell questioned, pleasantly surprised. "That*s a day earlier than we had planned."  


"Seems that things with her and her new man ain*t working out so well. Mike says they*re fighting. Might as well act on it while we*ve got the chance."  


Tyrell grimaced. He didn*t like the thought of Alexa having a new man. She was still his. And she would be finding that out very soon. "Excellent," he muttered. "I*ll be expecting your call tomorrow. And Jalen, don*t forget*keep your hands off her. She*s mine to deal with."  

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