Losing Her

Next to the Caleb, Felix Jennings drawled, "Yeah. We tried to tell Alexander that dating you was a bad idea, but he was all game. I can't believe you thought you meant something to him.

"Where are you rushing off to anyway? Let me guess, we're not good enough for you to hang out with?"

I hardly ever hung out with any of Alexander's friends even though we had been dating for years. From what I heard, they frequently took jabs at me, saying I was prissy and that I thought myself better than them.

They didn't like me because I couldn't go all out like Sasha. Alexander had told them the reason. "Her health's pretty delicate. I can't let her join in on your idea of fun."

Needless to say, they didn't buy it and thought Alexander was being protective of me and speaking up for me. However, my health truly was delicate. I was asthmatic; under serious circumstances, I could die.

Alexander's friends were from the underworld. They had grown up together and been friends for over a decade. Cigarettes and drinks were staples during their hangouts.

And for an asthmatic like me, breathing in cigarette smoke was highly dangerous. That was why Alexander never brought me to any of his hangouts.

Presently, I was inhaling more cigarette smoke than I should with each second. My throat was already burning from the smoke. Between saving myself and staying to argue with a bunch of men, the itch in my throat forced me to choose the former.

"If that's what Alexander thinks, I'll end things with him and make room for Sasha," I said.

I reckoned Alexander must have said something to his friends. Why else would they gang up on me and drag me here just to talk down to me?

He certainly didn't have to go through the trouble of getting his friends to pass the message; I was going to break up with him tonight anyway.

The trio exchanged a thoughtful glance, though I saw the wicked glee flashing in their eyes. They didn't stop lighting new cigarettes. I was starting to choke from the smoke, and sheer panic had me bolting to my feet.

"Sorry, but I need to go. This place makes me sick," I bit out.

Felix blocked my way and shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning against the door. "We make you sick, huh?"

I held my breath and tried to explain to him, "No… I can't stand the smoke. It'll trigger my condition. My leaving has nothing to do with you."

I thought they might let me go if I made it clear that I had an underlying illness, but to my surprise, they merely guffawed. "Oh, come on, it'd be a waste for you to leave without having a drink with us first. You're already here anyway."

"You don't have to act all prim and prissy in front of us. Alex was being protective of you and didn't want you hanging out with us. He didn't want us to corrupt your pristine values.

"That said, you can't be a spoilsport and refuse our company! Drink up!"

They were so persistent that I willed myself to ignore the itching and burning in my throat.

Clapping a hand over my nose and mouth, I hurried to the table, picked up a glass of beer, and downed it in one go. I then turned and made a beeline for the door.

Caleb lounged on the couch and called out to me, "Hey, where do you think you're going? We're not done drinking. You need to have a drink with each of us, princess."

"That's right. This is what hanging out is all about. You can't drink and leave without tossing some jokes around. We're not all that bad, right?"

Breathing became difficult as if a leaden weight pressed down on my chest. At some point, I couldn't even make out what they were saying.