“No, I really don’t want to get in the middle of whatever is going on here,” I said as I waved my hand between the two of them, “but I’m exhausted and I really need some sleep. And Sasha looks like she’s had enough. So why don’t you head out and leave this for another time and place?”

“Hell no! This isn’t the kind of shit that can wait. Once she convinces me she will stay out of things that are none of her business, I’ll leave. Now run along like a good girl.” He turned his head to glare at Sasha. “I’m sure we won’t be much longer, will we, Sasha?”

“Jackson, please let me explain. You hurt me so much—” she cried, reaching out to grab his arm.

“Stop! You can’t use that as an excuse. I did nothing to hurt you that you didn’t ask me to do,” he snapped back at her. I gasped and his gaze swiveled back to me. He ran his hands through his messy hair and looked down at the floor. “Fuck! Look, I swear that I will be out of here soon. I don’t want to be here any more than you want to be awake right now.”

“Well, then you won’t mind if I wait while you wrap this up and leave,” I replied, leaning against the doorway with my arms crossed.

Jackson’s eyes trailed down to my chest, where my breasts—sans bra—were lifted up by my arms. A smirk curled the edge of his lips and he glanced back up at my face. “Really? You’re going to take Sasha’s back? No questions asked? Is that supposed to scare me into behaving or something, little girl? Because I’m a lot bigger than you are.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I can’t just leave when she’s a mess and you’re all intimidating and stuff. So just say what you’ve gotta say and let’s get this over with, okay?”

His smirk turned into a full-fledged grin. “You wanna stay for this? Feel free,” he said before turning back to Sasha. “I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking, but the stunt you pulled with Drake’s parents almost ruined his relationship with Lex.”

“But—” Sasha interrupted.

Jackson waved her off. “I’m not done yet. You need to understand that, even if your plan had worked, you still wouldn’t have ended up with him in your bed. He loves her. He wouldn’t have just forgotten about her and moved on to you, especially when he realized you were the reason he lost Lex.”

“That wasn’t what I wanted,” she protested.

‘Then why the fuck did you try to break them up if you didn’t want Drake for yourself? Was it just for shits and giggles?” Jackson asked. It was the question I had been thinking myself.

Sasha tried to defend her actions. “I don’t know! I didn’t even have a plan. I heard the rumor about her job, and I shared it with my mom. That’s all I did.”

Jackson threw his hands up in frustration. “That’s all? You had to have known that your mom would call Drake’s mom. They’re best friends. What the hell were you hoping would happen?”

“I told you! I didn’t think that far ahead! I was just pissed and I did something stupid, okay? I don’t get what you both see in her. That’s all,” Sasha explained, reaching out to try to grab Jackson’s arm.

Sasha’s answer blew me away. And it looked like Jackson felt the same. “Both? What the fuck? That’s what this was all about? You just wanted to hurt Lex because you think she’s the reason I didn’t want a relationship with you last year?”

And there it was. The elephant in the room. Clearly they’d had a fling of some kind and Sasha had wanted more when she should have known better since Jackson never did relationships. And it sounded like the rumor mill had had it right with the talk of Alexa being the reason behind his endless string of one-night stands.

Sasha looked up at him pleadingly. “It isn’t fair that Alexa has your heart wrapped around her little finger and then a guy like Drake falls for her too. I’ve known him all my life. He’s a good guy. She doesn’t deserve to have both of you falling at her feet. Maybe I wanted to knock her off the pedestal you’ve put her on a little bit. So what? Are you really going to say that you wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to make Alexa yours if things had fallen apart for them?”

“You really are a spoiled brat, Sasha. That’s exactly why neither of us fell at your feet. Maybe instead of trying to ruin Lex’s happiness, you should take a page from her book and actually give a damn about other people and not just yourself.”