Page 67 of Damaged Boys Don't Fall For Bubbly Girls

He smiles smugly.

“So who won?” Theo asks the crowd. “Team Cooper…?” Everyone cheers. “Or Team Lexi?” They cheer harder. “Darn it.”

“Yes!” Lexi waves her arms over her head. “We won.”

All four of us gather in a group hug. Lexi holds out her hand to Cooper. “Good game, Coop.”

He scowls, but shakes her hand. “No one can beat the queen.”

“Long live the queen,” Nate says with a laugh.

Lexi raises her chin. “You mean Clara. But thanks.” She curtsies. “That was so much fun.”

“Yeah, it was, even though we lost,” Gael says. “But no more competition. Let’s all dance together.”

Dancing as a group is great and fun, but I miss when it was just Lexi and me. At the same time, I’m glad I’m spending time with my friends, just like we did when we were little.

They teach me a few more moves that they perfected over the years. Some of them are so sick and seem impossible, but I surprise myself when I’m able to pull them off.

“Nice,” Lexi says with a bright smile. “You sure you don’t want to take dance classes with us?”

I make a lame attempt at a pirouette. “I think I’ll pass.”

She and the others laugh.

We continue dancing together. Each guy has a chance to spin Lexi around, dipping her, and doing crazy moves with her. When it’s my turn, the music suddenly shifts to a slow song.

She looks at me and I look at her. Some of the guys “ooh” like they’re curious what’s going to happen next. Does Lexi want to slow dance with me? From the look in her eyes, I get the feeling that she does. But I can’t know for sure.

She steps closer to me, a shy, but sweet smile on her face. I inch close to her. I’ve never slow danced before, but I’ve seen it on TV. And anyway, I figure my brain, or at least my body, will know what to do.

Just as I’m about to raise my hands and place them on her waist, Finn’s phone blares. “Ugh! Sorry, guys, but my parents want me to come home ASAP. So lame.”

Lexi and I back away from each other, her pushing some curls behind her ear. “Oh, really?” she asks. “Did something happen?”

He scans his phone. “Not sure. Maybe they just don’t want me to be out this late. Ugh, my parents are so lame. Sorry.”

“It’s cool,” Dean reassures him. “Itisgetting late.”

We nod and walk toward the exit. I glance behind me at Lexi, who’s walking in the back, and when her eyes meet mine, she smiles. I wonder if she’s as disappointed as I am that we didn’t have a chance to slow dance together.

But if we had…what exactly would that mean? Do best friends slow dance together? Does it always mean something?

“Brock? You coming?” Finn calls.

Looking up, I realize I stopped walking and am standing outside the house. The other guys have already piled into the van.

“Yeah, coming.”

As I climb inside, I look at Lexi, but Finn’s keeping her busy with something on his phone.

Chapter Twenty

Lexi

“I actually woke up early today,” Brock tells me on the phone with a light chuckle. I’m lying on my bed, still in pajamas because it’s Saturday and I’m too lazy to get up. It’s only nine.

“What’s the occasion?” I ask him. “You told me your mom called you lazy bones last week.”