Avoiding Commitment (47 page)

Bekah followed quickly behind, speaking
before Jack could reach Lexi. “Ramsey,” she cried wrapping her arms
around her big brother. “What took you so long?”

Ramsey smiled down on her. “I had two
gorgeous ladies to escort,” he said wiggling his eyebrows up and
down and moving to wrap his arms protectively around Lexi and
Chyna.

“You came with
him
?” Jack asked them
even though it was pretty obvious to anyone involved with the
situation that he was talking directly to Lexi. After the
conversation she had had with Jack about her date with Ramsey, she
was amazed this was all the reaction she had elicited from him.

“I did tell him that I would go with him, and
I wouldn’t want to go back on my promise,” Lexi stated pointedly.
Jack’s eyes blazed at the implications behind the statement, but
before he could react, he was shouldered out of the way from
behind.

“What the…” he trailed off.

“Lexi, baby, oh dear God. Please tell me you
are single. Please, oh please, oh please,” Seth cried running his
hands down her sides.

Lexi couldn’t help but giggle as he scooped
her up into his arms. “Seth, put me down,” she cried as he twirled
her around in place, knocking her legs into the unlucky few who
didn’t get out of the way.

“I’m never letting go,” he said setting her
on his feet, but dropping his head so that it rested on her
breasts. Lexi let out a peel of laughter at the absurdity of the
situation.

“I haven’t seen you in forever. The least you
could do would be to give me a legitimate hug,” she told Seth.

Just then someone stood behind Seth and
smacked him hard against the back of the head. “You get off her
this instant, you pig,” Sandy cried grabbing at his arms.

“Oh, sweetie, it’s just Lexi,” he said
letting go and turning to his wife.

Sandy nudged him out of the way and reached
out to hug Lexi instead of continuing her scolding. “I’m sorry,
Lexi. It really is good to see you. When Jack told me you were
coming, I flipped my shit. I was so excited.”

“I can’t believe you’re here either. Jack
didn’t tell me you two were coming up,” she said glaring over at
Jack.

“Don’t blame him,” Sandy replied swatting at
her husband’s wandering hands. “Seth didn’t think he’d be able to
get away. It was kind of last minute.”

“This is a touching reunion, but I need a
drink,” Chyna said as she wandered away towards the bar.

“I should probably follow her. You never know
what…or who is going to happen to Chyna when she is alone,” Lexi
said extracting herself from the group. As much as she loved Seth
and Sandy, it just brought back too many painful memories to be
around them, especially with Jack only a few feet away. She took
one brief glance backwards and saw him staring at her behind as she
walked away. She knew that look. It was right before his eyes
turned crystal clear blue and his desire began to peak. He wanted
her. Right now. It didn’t matter where he was at the moment. He
just wanted to have her.

One more reason for her to back away from
him. She wasn’t sure how well she would be able to resist him when
he looked so damn good, and was looking at her like he could devour
her whole.

“C, what am I doing here?” Lexi asked as she
reached Chyna and latched onto her elbow.

“Because you want him,” she stated simply,
ordering a round of dirty martinis for them. The bartender almost
instantly had the drinks before them. He was cute, roguish looking
with a strong jaw line masked by stubble and dark hungry eyes. She
smiled at him taking in the way his large, callused hands poured
the drinks into triangle-shaped glasses. He pushed the drinks
towards her on blue and white napkins. Chyna produced a twenty from
her billfold and tossed it into the blue glass tip container. He
winked at her. Lexi knew Chyna could have his number any minute
now.

“Yeah, you’re right. That is what I want,”
Lexi agreed reaching for the martini.

“Did you say you wanted something?” Ramsey
asked coming up next to them. He raised two fingers and nodding at
the man behind the bar.

“Uh…yeah. Well, I already have my drink,”
Lexi replied.

“Steven,” Ramsey said in greeting. The two
men shook hands across the bar. “Good to see you. It’s been awhile.
You here now?”

“A couple places now,” Steven replied pouring
a drinking for Ramsey and sliding it across the table.

“I was wondering where you had gone.”

“Wherever the money is.”

“Well, if you need anything, you let me
know,” Ramsey told him.

Lexi analyzed the situation before speaking.
“Do you know everyone?”

Ramsey chuckled. “Pretty much. It’s my job to
know everyone.”

“Uh huh,” she humped. “And what do you
do?”

His face paled at the question, but he
quickly recovered. “I know people, that’s what I do,” he said
sending a full-watted smile her way. Her eyes narrowed at his
backhanded way of telling her to back-off. But her curiosity had
been peaked, and now she really wanted to know what he did.

For tonight, though, she needed to focus on
Jack. It was his big night after all, and she needed to find out
what he was actually going to be doing about Bekah. She would be
leaving on Sunday for New York, and she needed a more definitive
answer about their situation. They had talked a few times on the
phone since she had fled his apartment, but she hadn’t gone to
visit him again. Too much temptation in one week wasn’t good for
her. He had respected her wishes thus far, but she wasn’t going to
hold her breath that it would continue.

Lexi gritted her teeth as she watched Bekah
saunter across the room with a trio of other blonde-headed bimbos.
“You know them?” Lexi asked Ramsey nodding her head in their
direction.

“Ahh…yes. The fearsome four was what my
friends used to call them in high school. They’ve been inseparable
since then too. They all went to Duke, spent four years there, and
came back to Atlanta together,” he told her knocking back his
drink.

The girls stood a few feet from Lexi as they
ordered drinks. She heard them giggling and then eventually began
to pick out the voices from each other. She didn’t glance their
way, but soon learned the gist of the conversation. They were
talking about a guy…Jack.

“I wish I could find one like him,” a mousy
voice squeaked.

“He is so handsome and charming,” another
girl spoke up. Her voice was more of an alto compared to the last
girl.

“And I bet he fucks great,” the last one
drawled, her thick southern accent marring her voice and grating on
Lexi’s eardrums.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lexi could just
make out the devilish smirk that played across Bekah’s
innocent-looking face. “Oh God, he is amazing. Girls, I don’t think
I can delve into it enough, but last night was unlike anything I’ve
ever
experienced.”

Lexi blanched at the words. Jack had been
with Bekah last night. She hadn’t thought he would stop seeing
Bekah, but she certainly hadn’t thought he would sleep with Bekah
after what he had promised Lexi.

“The way he fucks me,” she cooed, “it’s
better than any other guy I’ve been with.”

“No need to be so crude, Bek,” the mousy girl
retorted giggling.

“I like it,” the southern drawl sounded
again. “Is he fast and wild? Does he just pound into you? Or is he
gentle and smooth, pushing his cock in and out of you forcing you
to scream with pleasure?”

“Amber,” the mousy girl shrieked, “think
about where we are!”

“I was just wunderin’,” she replied her
accent getting deep and throaty.

“I don’t mind talking about it since he does
all of the above. Last night he just took me fast and wild like you
were talking about Amber. He took me as if I was the only person he
ever wanted to be with, as if he was claiming me for his own.”

Lexi leaned forward away from the bar feeling
all the blood rush to her face as nausea took over her body. This
couldn’t be happening. Had she been this stupid? Could he have done
this to her? She hated that the answer was yes. He wasn’t exactly
strong on keeping his promises. The only exception being that he
had never lied to her, and sometimes she wished that he did.

“Whoa, are you okay?” Ramsey asked wrapping
his arm around her shoulders and hauling her back to a standing
position.

“Um, yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled putting one
hand on her stomach and the other over her mouth.

“You don’t look fine. Chyna, look at her,” he
commanded.

Chyna pulled herself away from the hot
bartender to give Lexi a cursory glance. “Oh, you do look sick.
Maybe you should go get her some air,” Chyna suggested.

“That’s a great idea,” he said supporting her
as they began to cross the room towards the open balcony. The
farther away she got from Bekah the easier it was to walk and not
feel like her stomach was about to erupt. But dwelling on Bekah’s
words was completely counterproductive to any ease she might have
been feeling.

“Ladies and gentleman, if you will join us
over here, we have a bit of a tribute to the birthday boy over the
years,” Seth announced into the microphone. The crowd began to
reassemble in front of a projection display.

“Will you be okay to watch this? I don’t want
you to get sick,” he said anxious about her well-being.

Her curiosity stalled the feeling in her
stomach. She stepped forward with Ramsey clearing the way for her
to pass through. A series of pictures began to flash across the
screen in quick succession. The first few she didn’t recognize. She
figured, from the looks of them, that they were bachelor party
pictures. Coveted images that girlfriends were never supposed to
see. As the slideshow progressed, Lexi started noticing more and
more pictures. Suddenly, the film stopped on a close-up of her and
Jack huddled together on the beach. They were showing off their
tanned bodies. Lexi could vividly remember them goofing off that
afternoon. It was the day before they had made love for the first
time.

She didn’t know that there were still
pictures from that time of her life. Another series of photographs
shot across the screen of her and Jack along with dozens of other
friends. She was as much of a constant through the pictures as he
was.

Her eyes scanned the room and landed on the
baby blues that had already located her. The emotion that welled
inside of her was completely different than what she had earlier
been feeling. She was still angry, but with her past flashing
before her eyes all she could see was Jack. Jack had been as much
of a constant in her life as she was in his. And they would get
through this…whether or not he was currently sleeping with his
girlfriend. They had gotten through everything before, and they
would get through it now.

Lexi watched Jack snake an arm around Bekah’s
waist and pull her in close like she had felt him do to her so many
times before. She smiled lovingly up at him, and the same feeling
began to creep over Lexi.

The only way things could be okay now is if
she didn’t watch them together like this. She grabbed Ramsey’s hand
and pulled him back towards the balcony. “Maybe I’m not feeling as
well as I thought. I’d rather not be in here,” she whispered to
him.

“You don’t want to watch the end? I think
you’re in the end,” he told her.

She shook her head fiercely. “I think I
better not.”

“Alright,” he said guiding her to the
outside.

This time when she took one glance over her
shoulder, Jack wasn’t there, and he wasn’t watching.

CHAPTER 20

DECEMBER ONE AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER

“Shush,” Lexi cried for what felt like the
hundredth time. “Guys, you have to cut it out and be quiet. He’ll
be here soon, and then you’ll just be embarrassing me...again.”

Rachelle gave her a half-smile. Elizabeth’s
freckled face darkened, but she couldn’t keep from giggling. Her
red hair was flying as she let her head tilt backwards with the
laughter that was overtaking her. Claire, never too far from
Elizabeth’s state of emotions, ran her fingers through the thin
blonde strands that curled under her chin. Her answering giggle
only egged Elizabeth on.

“But I can’t wait for him to get here,”
Elizabeth muttered.

Lexi’s eyes narrowed. “He’s here all the
time. There’s nothing special about tonight.”

“Ah, ah, ah...” Rachelle interrupted.
“Tonight is special. Finals are officially over.”

“And we’re going out with you,” Claire added
her dull grey eyes searching Lexi’s face for a reaction.

“And Jack will be all dressed up,” Elizabeth
mumbled closing her eyes and imagining him in much less
clothing.

The two girls had been badgering her about
Jack since he arrived. Even though they saw him nearly every day
for the past month, they couldn’t stop their endless discussion of
him. Lexi was beginning to think they did it just to get a reaction
from her. And they hated that, despite their horrible finals
preparation for the past couple weeks, Lexi had been in a constant
state of euphoria.

Jack and Lexi had held to their word. They
were not a couple. They were lovers and most definitely in love.
Yet, they weren’t together. It was easier that way so far. She was
busy with law school, and he had been desperately searching for a
job where he would be able to use his degree. With all that, he
still had to work as a waiter and sometimes performed with a piano
or guitar to make money to pay the bills that were piling up in the
tiny broken-down apartment.

It made the time they were afforded together
that much sweeter. And somehow they had formed a friendship
different from any they had ever had before. Now they spent long,
late afternoons in Central Park discussing anything that came to
mind. In their past, they had been careful with the precious time
they were allotted and even more careful with the time they shared
around others. They never wanted to appear too friendly.