19)A Permanent Mark

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With a deep breath, I try to school my face into anything other than frantic and pathetic before turning around

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With a deep breath, I try to school my face into anything other than frantic and pathetic before turning around. Jace slows from a run to a fast-paced stalk once he sees me giving up. I might as well be waving a white flag in the air. It would almost be funny considering his costume.

"Where the hell are you going?" Jace demands, stopping just a few inches in front of me.

I step away, desperate to put more space between us. "Home."

Releasing a deep breath through his nose, Jace's bare chest rises and falls rapidly. Those deep blue eyes lock on me, trying to peel away the fake mask of indifference I'm just barely holding onto.

"What was that in there?" He nods towards the house.

I shake my head, keeping my voice level. "Nothing."

"Fuck the bullshit, Alexis! Be real with me!"

My lip trembles and my face pinches together, the hold on my emotions straining like a rubber band ready to snap and sting us both.

"Alexis," he repeats, trying to reach out to me.

Jumping back, I trip over my heel-knew this would happen- and start to tilt back before Jace catches my arm and pulls me against him. The intense heat from his chest fractures my control. I shove away and stumble back, catching myself this time without his help.

"Don't fucking touch me, Jace." The last strands of my composure snapone by one. Frustrated with my inability to stay steady on my feet, I slip my heels off. Throwing them into the dark, I allow the damp grass to soak through my thigh high stockings, freezing my toes. "Just leave me alone."

"No." He frowns, a small crack appearing in his own false exterior. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck just happened inside."

I roll my eyes to the sky. "Isn't it fucking obvious?"

"Not at all. So why don't you explain it to me."

I hang my head, feeling more exhausted than I have in a long time. "I'm sick and need to go home. That's all."

It's not a total lie.

A humorless chuckle escapes his lips. "Right. You've been having a good time all night and now all of a sudden you're not feeling good?" A blazing intensity plays across his face. "Sure it doesn't have something to do with your boy toy in there?"

Oh, I'm sure this has nothing to do with Derek and everything to do with Jace and his clingy side-chick.

It shouldn't bother me. We're friends, that's all. But telling myself that only makes me feel worse. A tightness wraps around my chest like a vice, my body's way of saying, 'nice attempt, chick. Try again'.

"Derek is not my boy toy. I just told him we're done. The only thing he'll get from me is friendship...or an attempt at one anyway."

"You ended things with him?" Jace's tone softens, shock lacing his words.

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