I gave him a mock sympathetic face. "I'm so sorry."
"Shut up," he said, tickling me in the side and causing me to squirm away from him.
"Okay, okay, I'll be nice," I said, blocking his hands with a little laugh.
"Doubt it," he responded.
I was about to make a comeback, but then I heard what was unmistakably Alex's car pull into the driveway.
I jumped off the bed, grabbing at my clothes and throwing Derek's back at him. "Get these on," I told him, yanking my gray Grease T-shirt on over my head.
"What's going on?" he asked, confusion all over his handsome face as he caught the shirt I flung at him.
"Alex is home," I stated, hopping across the floor and attempting to pull my foot through my pant leg.
Derek merely gave me a funny look, half amused, half confused. "So?"
"So… he isn't quite as supportive of our relationship this week, and I just think it would be better if he didn't find us like this. Get up," I said, throwing his blue and white plaid boxers at him.
He muttered as he sullenly pulled his clothes on, but he did finally get dressed and come skulking out into the living room where I had already planted myself on the couch and cracked open a textbook.
Derek shook his head as he sat down beside me, asking quietly, "Since when does Alex have a problem with me?"
Before I could answer him, the door opened and Alex stepped inside. His gaze immediately fell to Derek, but instead of acknowledging him he mutely stared at him for a second, his gaze sliding over to me.
"Hey," he muttered.
"Hi," I returned brightly.
Alex glanced at the book in my lap, then briefly over to Derek. "Studying?" he directed at us.
"Oh yeah," I replied a little too fervently. "Lots of studying. We have a test this week, so…"
With a nod Alex remarked, "I hope it's not in sex ed."
My smile lost much of its momentum and I quickly glanced over at Derek, hoping he wasn’t offended.
Alex grabbed an energy drink from the refrigerator and plucked a piece of paper off the outside, casually sticking it in his pocket.
"You're on your own for dinner, I'm going out with Katrina. You know the number to the pizza place," he said, flipping his cell phone open and dialing some numbers.
I thought we were in the clear, but Alex called over his shoulder, "By the way, tell Derek he forgot to zip up his fly."
I flushed, burying my face in one of my hands and using the other one to pick up a pillow and throw it at Derek's head.
"Oops," he muttered, throwing the pillow back at me.
I made sure Derek was gone when Alex got home later that night, and I was curled up on the couch with some homework. When he walked in, I looked up as if everything was great between us, smiling and asking how his dinner was.
He gave me a dry look. "Fabulous. How was your night with the Noble kid?"
"He's the Noble kid now?" I asked, unable to maintain my smile.
"Forgive me if I don't start calling him son just yet," Alex said, opening the refrigerator and snatching a bottle of beer.
As I watched him open it, I asked a bit dryly, "Why, isn't he good enough for you?"
"Sure," he responded, looking me dead in the eyes. "But he's definitely not good enough for you."