The Freecaster Falcons are kicking ass, and even those of us who are anti-school spirit are enjoying the fuck out of this game.

Josie's screaming at the top of her lungs and bouncing around in her seat, though I'm not entirely sure she understands what the fuck is going on. But she's vibing off the rest of the crowd around us and shouting when they do. Wilder and Travis are right along with her, but they actually get the game, while Kade and I enjoy watching the three of them make fools of themselves. And then there's Lex...

She's sitting beside me at the end of the bench, curled in on herself as she gazes off. I don't think she's even looked at the field once since the game started and hasn't said a word either. Her entire behavior's got me freaking out on the inside, stressing over what the hell's going on inside her head.

"Baby," I whisper into her ear as I throw an arm around her shoulders. "What's going on? You've been quiet the whole game."

Her back stiffens and her eyebrows raise before she quickly schools her face and shakes her head. But when she opens her mouth to say something the game announcer's voice blares through the speakers around the stadium.

"And that's the game! Falcons win, twenty-eight to twenty-six!"

The crowd around us goes nuts, shutting down anything Lex has to say as she smashes her lips together and looks away. But every muscle in her face pinches when she turns to the field, her back going rod straight.

Not wanting to fully take my eyes off of her, I quickly glance to see the team jumping around number 6 and slapping his back with excitement. He's a wide receiver that's put most of the points on the board throughout the game, so I'm not surprised he made the winning touchdown. What does surprise me though is the fucking name on the back of his jersey that I'm just now noticing...Miller.

Derek fucking Miller. That son of a bitch.

With everything going on this past week, it completely slipped my mind that he's on the football team. It's not my thing to memorize which asshole plays what sport, and Derek's such a weak shit it's hard to believe he plays a rough game. But there he is, in the endzone celebrating with his teammates like he's a fucking king. It makes me sick.

Though what really twists the growing sense of unease in my gut is why Lexi would even choose to be here. She hates Derek as much as the rest of us. So why come to his game? Why bring all of us here?

"Lex," I call, my tone dropping as I turn to face her.

She refuses to look at me, biting her lip and bouncing her knee repeatedly.

"What the fuck?" Travis scoffs a few seats down.

I look over to see him watching the field with confusion. But it's not just him, our whole group is looking out with equal expressions of incredulity The tension in my stomach tightens again. I look in the same direction and immediately jump to my feet.

"Oh, boy," Wilder crows, standing up too. "This dumbass has some balls."

Broken from the pack of jocks, Derek struts across the field in our direction.

"Or a death wish," Kade sneers.

The fucking prick yanks off his helmet and drops it on the ground as he continues our way. A smirk slithers across his face and that's when I see it, the direction his eyes are locked on. He's not looking at us...he's looking at Lexi.

I gaze down at the beauty beside me, perched on the bench with tense muscles. Her huge aviator sunglasses are still hiding her face but I can feel it, her watching him, their eyes connected.

What the fuck is going on?

We put Derek in his place over a week ago. He knows we're planning to take the school from him, rule it the way it should be, and Lex helped us do it. She recorded his confession to setting us up with drugs and weapons in our lockers to get us kicked out of school. The fucker also knows to stay away from her. To stay away from what's mine.

So why the fuck is he looking at her like he has some kind of claim? And Even worse...why the fuck is she looking back?

Slowly, one by one, the student spectators go quiet around us. All of them saw the showdown between us and him. They know there's a deep-seated hatred brewing between the Guardians and Freecaster High's group of elite assholes. And they know the same thing I do...if Derek's brave enough to come this way he must have something up his sleeve.

They're waiting for a show. Practically fucking salivating for it.

"Lexi," Derek draws out her name as he stops in front of the bleachers.

The bastard raises a challenging eyebrow at her and crosses his arms expectantly. She slowly stands up and his mouth quirks with satisfaction. She takes a deep, shaky breath and sinks her teeth into her lip before making the first move...away from me.

A growl resonates low in my chest and I reach out without thinking, grabbing her wrist and keeping her from taking another step.

"What the fuck's going on?" I ask through clenched teeth.

But the question isn't directed at the dickhead standing confidently on the ground below, it's for her, the girl who has my heart in the palm of her hand and is slowly squeezing the life out of it without a single word.

"Lexi didn't tell you?" Derek asks, an eerie thrill in his voice. "She switched sides."

My gaze flicks to him, my pulse pounding in my ears like a warning alarm.

His shit-eating grin spreads wider. "She's mine now."

He's dead!

Dropping my hold on Lexi's wrist, my feet move on their own. I dart down to the railing, seconds away from jumping over it and cold-cocking the son of a bitch when Travis and Wilder appear out of nowhere. They stand in my way, blocking me while Kade and Josie hover at my back.

My cousin leans down, speaking so only us five can hear. "I know you wanna beat the shit out of him but this is not the place. Too many witnesses and we only just got back from a near expulsion. Rein it in."

Breathing down my nose, I clench my jaw, watching Derek through a red haze of blood-boiling rage. I nod to Kade's words but every instinct in my body is telling me to ignore them and fight for what's mine. To break the fuckers nose and wipe that smirk from his face.

"Come on, Lex." Derek nods in her direction but keeps his eyes on me, smiling wider when I snarl back.

From the corner of my vision, I notice Lexi walking down the bleacher steps with her head hung forward, waves of chocolate strands curtaining her face.

Not so fast, baby.

I whip around and block her path in the blink of an eye. She gasps, stopping in her tracks but keeps her head down. I don't know if she's trying to shut me out or she's just too damn scared to look at me but I don't like either option.

"Look at me, Lex."

My voice is strained, a rough and painful sound like someone who's been drug through hell and back. It's dark, agonizing, and has Lexi shuddering in front of me.

With a trembling hand, I hook my index finger under her chin and force her head up.

"Lexi..." Derek calls from behind me on the ground.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch," Wilder snaps at him.

Through the tinted shades on her face, I can feel the second she finally looks at me, her body beginning to shake like a leaf.

"Tell me." I clench my jaw, trying to fight the monster raging inside me. "I won't believe any of this shit until I hear it from your mouth."

The urge to brush my thumb across her lips is almost too much. An animalistic voice in the back of my head demands for me to claim her, show her she can't do this so easily.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

Lexi squares her shoulders and holds her head high but her lips betray her, quivering even as she sinks her teeth into the tempting flesh. She's struggling to work up the nerve and I'll be damned if I'm gonna make it simple for her.

"Come on, Alexis. Tell me," I taunt. "Tell me this is really happening. Tell me you don't wanna be with me. Tell me you don't love me," I growl and snatch her sunglasses. "Fucking tell me!"

She jumps back with a squeak as Josie's voice calls to me, warning me, but she sounds so far away. Everyone sounds so far away; the murmuring crowd, the gossiping cheerleaders on the side of the field, and even the rest of the football team that's crowded behind Derek. None of them fucking matter. All I can hear is Lexi's heavy breathing and my racing pulse.

"J-Jace..." Lex stammers as she fights to control her nerves. Her hazel eyes—no longer shielded behind shades—watch me with a tortured gleam. "I-I don't wanna be with you."

"Liar!"

She cringes but her steely gaze doesn't waver. "It's true...I can't do this anymore, Jace. I just can't."

"No. No fucking way." My voice crumbles making me sound like a weak bitch but I can't find it in me to care. Stepping towards Lexi, I cradle her face between both my hands and lean down till we're nose to nose. "You don't mean that, baby. I know you don't. Come on, what's this really about?"

My eyes silently plead with her, begging her not to do this to us—to me. Not to break me in a way that only she can.

"Jace, please. Don't make this harder than it has to be."

"Yeah, Hall, give it up," Derek shouts. "She doesn't want you anymore!"

Keeping one hand on Lex, I whip around and stab a finger in his direction. "If you wanna walk away from here tonight, you'll shut the fuck up, Miller!"

He glares daggers my way but clamps his mouth shut.

Turning back around, I rest my forehead against hers, breathing her in while my hold on her face tightens. "You said I could keep you. You said I always had you. How can you go back on that now after everything we've been through?"

"Please, don't..."

"How?" I growl in her face.

She squeezes her eyes closed, shutting me out as she hammers in the final nail to my coffin. "Caleb would still be here if we hadn't gotten involved. I won't risk losing anyone else to the Guardian's war with the Vipers. I can't do it, Jace."

I jerk back as if I've been slapped. All the air from my lungs rushes out, and my hands fall away from her face to hang limply at my sides.

Fuck...she blames me.

"I-I'm sorry, Jace," Lexi whispers before walking around me and down the steps, taking a piece of me with her.

No...fuck that. She doesn't take anything with her, 'cause there's nothing left to fucking take. Pain radiates through my chest like I've been shot, shattering everything inside me and leaving nothing behind but broken remains of the organ that's supposed to keep me going.

Guess that's only fitting.

I don't know how long I stand there, jaw hanging open and staring into the void before someone tugs on my arm.

"Come on, man," Wilder says. "Let's get outta here."

Most of the bleachers and field are empty, everyone having gotten enough of a show. But I couldn't have been standing here that long cause when I turn around, Lexi's only just reached Derek's side.

Did everyone go while I was begging her not to leave me and I just didn't see it?

Kade's the next to try and coax me out of my stupor. "Jace, let's go."

I nod as every nerve in my body goes numb and slowly trudge behind them. I can't even look over at Lexi, afraid of what I'll do if I even try. But then just as we reach the ground, I hear Derek's voice.

"Come on, babe. Let's head back to my place. I'll make you forget all about him."

My vision goes red and I snap like a whip.

One second I'm following behind the guys and the next, I'm on top of Derek, smashing my fists into his face over and over and over again. I can faintly hear Josie and Lexi telling me to stop but their voices are drowned out by his words echoing in my head.

"I'll help you forget all about him."

Over my dead fucking body he will!

Two sets of hands wrap around my arms and yank me up.

"That's enough!" Kade barks, coming around to stand face to face with me while Wilder and Travis hold me back.

Panting, I struggle against their holds, fighting to set my eyes on the fucker. "He's not gonna get away with this!"

"No, he's not," Kade agrees and wraps his hand around to grab me by the back of the head, pulling my forehead to his and forcing me to look him in the eyes. "But think smart, little cousin. Don't lose control right now. Let's get the fuck out of here before you do something you can't take back."

He doesn't give me a chance to listen, signaling Wild and Travis to drag me out to the parking lot. The last thing I see on the field is Josie giving Lexi a disappointed look before Lex helps that asshole to his feet.

Why the fuck did she do this? Why now and why like this?

The guys don't let go of me till we reach our bikes, but they stay poised to act in case I try to go back there. They're tense, their faces pinched with pain, and Wilder's common words come to mind.

You bleed, I bleed.

When I'm hurt, they are too, but I know it's more than that. Lexi had worked her way into our group, our family. They accepted her and were getting used to having her around. They liked her.

"This is bullshit." I yank my shaking hands through my hair. "That was not Alexis. Something's up. She wouldn't fucking do that."

The four of them look at each other with similar expressions of disbelief.

"She wouldn't!"

"She just did, dude," Travis says, wincing at his own words. "I'm sorry, man, but it happened."

A sharp burning travels through my veins at the truth. I snatch my helmet from my bike and chuck it across the parking lot.

"Aagh!"

Squatting down against my bike, I bury my face in my hands, hoping to hide the raw emotions ripping me apart.

She didn't mean it. I know she didn't. She can't...fuck, baby—

"You couldn't have stepped in? Stopped him from fucking up my face?" Derek snarls at me through the mirror in the boy's locker room.

The rest of his teammates are gone, giving their captain some "alone time" with his girl after the big win.

I hate to break it to them but their captain isn't getting shit from me today, tomorrow, or ever. Just the idea of doing anything more than standing here watching him clean his face makes me want to vomit.

"You're lucky that's all Jace did."

Derek scoffs before wincing as he dabs alcohol on his split eyebrow. "If you weren't in the way, I could've taken him."

I roll my eyes. Right, cause me standing three feet away kept you from defending yourself.

Fucking idiot.

"You did good though. For a second there I thought he wasn't gonna give up," he praises.

Yeah, me either.

That was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. I'm still sick to my stomach. Every lie I spewed chipped away at my heart. But it was the look in Jace's eyes, the strain in his voice, and the desperate way he touched me that really kills me.

Tears prick my eyes as the scene plays over and over again in my mind, every tortured second of it.

Don't cry, Lex. Don't you dare let him see you cry.

I wipe the moisture from my eyes with the heels of my hands before it can escape. Derek can't see how much this breaks me, but it's hard to fight back the emotion clogging my throat when I picture Jace's face.

I gasp for air. He'll never forgive me.

And he shouldn't. I don't deserve his forgiveness after this. Even if everything I said was total bullshit and I'm only doing this to protect him, I still crossed a line.

I hated bringing up Caleb, and I hope I can tell Jace the truth soon, but I knew it was the only thing that would convince him to let me go.

"So, you ready for what's next?"

I jump out of my skin at Derek's close proximity. I hadn't even seen him walk over.

Stepping back, I cross my arms over my chest. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Come on, Lex." Derek licks his busted lip and tries reaching out to touch my face, coming up short when I put more space between us. "This doesn't have to be a bad thing. We can have a good time together. After all, you did like me at one point."

"And now I hate you."

He narrows his eyes. "It's still a strong feeling and there's always a fine line between love and hate. So I'll take it."

Wow, he's fucking delusional.

Thinning his lips, Derek steps back. "I'll leave you alone this weekend. Give you some time to cry over the trash, but come Monday morning our deal needs to go into full effect."

"I won't be here. I'm taking an extra week off."

"That won't do. I need you here," Derek states firmly.

"No—"

"Lexi," he growls. "This isn't negotiable. You'll be here Monday."

He shuffles over to a nearby locker and opens it to grab an FHS varsity football jacket. Shutting the locker, he throws the jacket at me.

"And I want you wearing that."

Of course, he does. What better way to rub salt in the wound then forcing me to parade around in his jacket.

"Fuck you."

"If you're offering," he smirks.

Tossing the jacket onto a bench, I step forward with a strength I don't feel. "Let's get one thing straight, I am not your real girlfriend. If you want some action behind closed doors, you won't get it from me. But feel free to bone any chick dumb enough to let you. Hell, try and get as many as you can, cause without them, your dick is gonna get pretty lonely having your hand as it's only friend."

"Bitch!"

This time it's my turn to smirk.

His lip curls back with disgust. "Whatever, just wear the fucking jacket next week. I wanna make sure your lowlife boyfriend and the rest of the school get a good look at my name and number draped across your body."

I grit my teeth and try to ignore the dull ache in my chest that's calling out for Jace.

"I hate you."

His nasty smirk returns. "Get over it."

Bastard.

 💘____________________________________💘

Hey, lovelies, and happy early update. I didn't think I'd get this one done before Friday but I did, yay! It's not one of my longest chapters but I hope you all still enjoyed...well, as much as you can enjoy seeing Jace get his heart broken. Our poor baby. 😭

That said, I am DYING to hear what you all think of this chapter. I really wanted to hit the emotional hammer on the head, so to speak, but I'm not entirely sure if it's as strong as I wanted. Hopefully, you all can tell me if you think it needs more or if you think anything is missing that would help you better connect emotionally to this chapter.

So, on with the questions! As I just said, do you think this chapter is missing anything emotionally? What do you think of how Lexi handled the breakup? Could she have done anything—within Derek's rules of course—to make that easier for Jace? What do you think about Jace's reaction to everything? Did he overreact or are his actions understandable? What about Lexi's scene at the end? Does she seem remorseful or heartbroken enough? And what do you think Derek has planned next? What about Jace, what do you think he'll do next?

I know that's a lot of questions, but I'm super curious to hear what you all think. You can leave your thoughts in the comments and if you like what you read, please hit that star button!

As usual, the teaser for chapter 4 will be posted on my Instagram and Twitter in a day or two. Keep an eye out for it!