Meeting Alexis (Chloe PoV)

We stopped to get some snacks and drinks before heading back to his place. I was still jealous of him living alone. While I could certainly do the same with my current savings, my plans involved bouncing from the city entirely. A place would only tie me down when it came time to leave this city. My eyes followed Jake.

If that was even the plan anymore.

Jake opened the door and gestured for me to enter. Bags in hand, I headed inside. I made it to the kitchen before freezing.

“You’re ear—” The redhead matched my frozen state as we made eye contact. The woman recovered a half-second before me as she slid off the couch. Rising to her full height, I found my breath catch as she approached. This had to be Jake’s Alexis. He had mentioned a few times that she was fairly attractive. Clearly Jake’s definition of ‘fairly’ was not the same as mine.

The woman moved with the confident swagger of someone who knew she was the hottest girl in the room and it pained me to admit that she probably was. This girl had it all. The face. The firm, athletic body that her tight clothing showed off. Height. Boobs. Ass. Everything.

“You must be Chloe,” she said, offering her hand. Hearing my name shook me out of my daze. I had to shift a bag to my other hand before I reached out to take her hand.

“Alexis, I presume?”

This absolutely stunning human had seemingly won the genetic lottery yet there was a tension in her smile. The way she looked at me wasn’t from someone who was on the winning side, but from someone wishing they were in my shoes. It wasn’t until Jake spoke that it clicked. She had all this going for her, yet I was the one being introduced as his girlfriend.

“Chloe, this is my good friend Alexis. Alexis, my girlfriend, Chloe.”

“Heard a lot about you,” she said, her smile not relaxing in the slightest.

“Likewise.” There was a moment of awkward silence as we both sized each other up. It was funny how jealousy manifested. As jealous of her looks as I was, she was seemingly equally jealous of my position in Jake’s life.

“What are you doing over here?” Jake asked. The guy seemed completely oblivious to the situation here—or I thought until I remembered that he was probably the one with the clearest view. This might have been his way of diffusing the situation and breaking the stalemate.

“Ah,” Alexis said. Her smile shifted as she looked past me to Jake. It boggled my mind how Jake managed to keep her at arm's length. Her pretty face was even better when she had a natural smile. “Natalie took a half-day and has the boyfriend over so I’m giving them some space.”

“She’s not going to his place this weekend?” he asked as he moved past me. So focused on Alexis, I didn’t realize he was taking my bags until his hand brushed mine.

Alexis glanced at me briefly before answering. “No. We uh—have a doctor appointment this weekend.”

He paused to look at her. The way he did it suggested he was picking up on something. “Everything okay?”

Once more, Alexis was making it clear that my presence wasn’t welcome in this conversation. “Sure.”

“Alexis—”

“We can talk later, okay? I’ll leave you two alone.”

“You don’t have to leave,” I said as I turned sideways to let her pass. Seeing her hesitate, I pushed. “We were just going to do some studying, but to be honest, I’ll take any excuse to have a day off.”

She looked from me to Jake before settling back on me. “Okay.” She seemed to perk up slightly. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to play video games, would you? Jake tends to suck when we play.”

“Only because you play them when I’m at school.” I found myself looking over at Jake. He was as stoic as ever, yet his snappy response suggested something else. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was almost like he was a bit more relaxed than he usually was. Impossible to tell of course considering his condition, but damn if that wasn’t the feeling I was getting from him right now.

Alexis was grinning. “And I’m telling you that isn’t it. Flip our situations and I’d still kick your ass.”

Not responding to her taunt, he set the bags down on the table. “You wish.” His attention turned to me. “I’m going to change real quick. Can you put the extra drinks in the fridge?”

“Sure,” I said before he left the room. My gaze followed him, wishing I was following him back into his bedroom.

Pulling my eyes off him wasn't easy and I found I wasn’t the only one giving him a longing look. Alexis made it absolutely clear her thoughts on the matter. Seeing her openly ogle Jake made my jealousy and insecurity flare before I got them under control.

She glanced over to see me looking at her. It was the first time she gave me a genuine smile. “Can’t blame a girl for looking, right?” She was moving before I could respond, taking drinks from the bag and putting them in the fridge. “I want you to know that Jake and I are just friends.” Her voice was low as if she were afraid he would hear in the other room. She paused to look at me. “I know how it sounds, but he’s made it clear where our relationship stands. Beyond that, I don’t want to mess up what you two have. I can tell Jake likes you a lot and… He deserves the happiness you bring him.”

I was able to calm myself before speaking. “I’m not worried.” I mentally winced at how that sounded. In my head, it came out a lot differently. “I didn’t mean it like that,” I said quickly. I took a breath to steady my nerves. This whole situation wasn’t something I’d prepared myself mentally for. “I get that you are Jake’s friend and I’m not going to get in between that. To be honest, this whole relationship thing is new to me so I feel like I’m one step away from fucking it up.”

Alexis ran her eyes over the front of me. “A pretty girl like you new and your first relationship is with him?” She chuckled as I felt my heart race. Hearing someone like her call me pretty was a hell of a confidence boost. “Sounds like a story.”

I bought time by clearing my throat. “Yes, well… I guess I was popular in all the wrong circles.”

Fuck. That didn’t come out right either.

Her eyebrow rose in interest. Real interest. Her demeanor shifted and it seemed like she was looking at me in a new light. “Now that sounds like interesting stories.” I glanced away, holding my fake smile in place as I struggled to think of how to climb out of this hole I dug.

Alexis interrupted my thoughts by closing the fridge. “We should hang out,” she announced suddenly. “Just the two of us.”

Taken aback, I didn’t answer right away. Nerves aside, I realized that this was a big opportunity for me. My entire social circle was composed of Jake. He was great, but Alexis was offering companionship of another sort. The last time I had female friends was freshmen year of high school and those ended rather quickly once I started exchanging sex for money.

I gave her a smile. “I’d like that. A lot, actually.”

“Great! I know this place off-campus with the best desserts. The owner rotates new cake flavors every week. It’s actually a good thing that it’s a bit far from here or I’d be like… three hundred pounds.” She laughed as she patted her belly. Hard to believe that when there was probably not an ounce of excess fat anywhere on her.

Jake came back shortly after and the conversation moved to video games. Alexis broke out the controllers and proceeded to destroy both of us. This whole thing felt… normal. Three people hanging out having fun. There were no heavy conversation topics. No worrying about assholes trying to exploit you or make you miserable. There were a few times I noticed Alexis giving some longing looks at Jake and I as he held me, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that. I ignored it and she pretended it didn’t bother her.

It was hard to believe how much my life had changed since meeting Jake. I went from the school whore with no concrete goals or hopes beyond some nebulous ‘get away’ to having a wonderful boyfriend and a growing social circle. Without even realizing it, I found myself looking forward to the future. I had people in my life now. Good people who I wanted to be around and it was all thanks to the guy whose lap I was sitting in.