Keeping Her (The Lexington Series Book 2) (3 page)

She cleared her throat, “So you’re
her date?” she croaked out.

I nodded, “something wrong with your
throat?” I asked egging her on. Come on Lucy, show me your hand. I need to see
how you feel baby don’t fucking let me down. I knew that if I could see that
this is really affecting her there’s still a chance for us.

She closed her eyes and dropped her
head. She gave me a small headshake and walked to the kitchen and poured a
glass of water. I walked that way and took a seat on one of the stools. Her
digs were definitely better than mine it was like an apartment. It was still
small as hell but they got a bit more privacy. She put down her half drank
glass of water and peered at me.

“You’re going out with Naiyla
tonight?” she asked again.

I nodded, “You going to tell her I’m
here?” I asked her.

She tried to fight her scowl but I
still saw it. Oh yea, I knew she had a bite to her and I was going to poke the
bear. When Lucy is pissed she doesn’t hold any punches. That’s what I need, for
her to start talking. She tried to smile but it looked more like she was baring
her teeth.

“You don’t look handicap, get your
own date.” She threw at me and drained her glass before refilling. She placed
it down on the counter harder than necessary.

“I don’t live here. I wouldn’t want
to be rude and get kicked out.” I said with a shrug, and reached for her glass
of water. She tried to snatch it but I was faster. I drank half the cup and put
it back down. I didn’t really want the water but I took it because it was hers.

She gritted her teeth and hissed at
me, “stop taking my shit.”

I rolled my eyes, “would you be a
good hostess and get my date so we can get going I’m hungry.”

She shrugged and turned to go to the
fridge. She wasn’t going to tell her I was there and that was just fine with
me. I’d prefer to sit here and watch her pissed off for the next few days. She
pulled out some tuber ware from the fridge and threw it into the microwave. She
pulled out a bottle of lemonade and stood with her back to me while she waited
for the food to heat up. I propped my elbow up on the counter and placed my
head into my hand and just stared at her. I know she could feel my gaze burning
a hole in her because her ears were turning bright red. The microwave pinged
and she removed the container and took off the lid. The smell hit me instantly
and my stomach rumbled, loudly. This evil bitch.

She walked back and plopped the food
down on the counter with her lemonade. She turned to get a fork and added an
extra sway in her hips. She knew I wouldn’t miss it because my eyes are always
on her. I checked out her ass and my jeans became uncomfortable. I haven’t had
sex in a long damn time, and it seems like she’s the only one that can get my
boy excited. It appears I’m not the only one that misses her. I debated whether
I should just stick my hand in her food and snag some. The bitch had spaghetti
and meatballs my fucking favorite, and she cooked the shit out of it.

She leaned her elbows on the counter
and picked up her fork. She was pushing her breasts up and they were
practically spilling out her top. I licked my lips, I wonder how bad it would
be if I caved just this once and tossed her over my shoulder took her to her
room and had my way. The girl was playing with fire. I adjusted myself in my
pants beyond the point of caring about being discreet and I saw her eyes lower
to my crotch area. I stood up and walked to where she was standing and her body
froze. I kept going until I was right behind her. She tried to continue eating
but I know I was distracting her. I leaned down over her but kept from touching
her. Just as she was about to put the fork in her mouth I leaned over and ate
the forkful. I didn’t pull my face back immediately. I moved my head so that
our faces were closer and our lips were almost touching from both reaching for
the fork. I could feel her breath against my mouth and her breathing was
irregular. I saw her close her eyes and inhale deeply. She just fucking sniffed
me. I wanted to close the space between us and rub my hard on against her plump
ass to get some relief but I wouldn’t. She began to lean back like she was
going to lean on me and I stood to my full height. Her eyes snapped open and I
sighed. This is getting dangerous, I needed to get away from her before I did
something stupid. Not to mention I’m still fucking pissed as hell at her for everything
but I guess I miss her more.

I walked over to Naiyla’s room door
and knocked.

“COMING OUT!” she screamed through
the door. I moved back a few steps and leaned against the wall and kept my head
angled down. The door opened and Naiyla came out. I looked up at her and saw
her smile then headed towards the door.

“Oh I want to introduce you to my
roommate.” She said trying to catch up to me.

I shook my head and opened the door
for her, “she answered the door.” Was what I said as an explanation I just needed
distance and fast.

I heard Lucy’s whisper “you were
serious” but I couldn’t look at her. The hurt was evident in her voice and I
don’t think she meant to say that out loud.

 Naiyla walked out the door first and
I left behind her. I took one last glance at Lucy before closing the door. She
was standing in the same spot with both elbows on the counter. Her face was
buried in her hands and her shoulders were shaking. She was fucking crying,
shit. I closed the door softly to give her some privacy.

Naiyla gave me the directions to some
little Italian spot. We got seated right away and ordered. I wanted this to be
over as fast as possible. I already got what I wanted out of this date and that
was to be next to Lucy. After we placed our orders I realized I could get more
information from her.

“So, how’s college life so far? You
girls been partying and stuff” I asked.

She sighed, “I’ve been to a few but
not many with some of the girls on our floor. My roommate prefers to stay in I
have only been able to drag her out of the room for that party when I met you.
I wish she’d come out more cause she’s a ton of fun. That’s why I wanted to
introduce you guys so maybe we can all hang out together or something.” She
said with a shrug.

I shrugged, “I didn’t want to meet
her.” I told her sourly. She raised an eyebrow and I shrugged.

“She’s cool you would totally love
her trust me. So tell me about yourself.” She urged.

I groaned internally because I didn’t
want to do this shit. I was saved by our drinks being brought over. I got
lemonade and I’m sure you can guess why. I took a large gulp before I spoke
again. “So you two girls are just over there living the single life?” I asked.
Yes I know that was fucking corny but I couldn’t just come out and ask her what
I really wanted to know. It would be weird as shit to ask straight out if Lucy
was seeing anyone.

She scoffed, “I guess you can say
that. We’ve gotten hit on by plenty of guys here but nothing has worked out for
me. She doesn’t even give it a chance. I don’t know her deal cause the guys
love her and she told me she wasn’t seeing anyone but never elaborated anymore.
I don’t get it but I’m trying to change her mind though. I’m confident I can do
it.” A small growl escaped me and I wanted to toss this girl somewhere. How the
fuck dare she try to hook up my girl – I mean
Lucy
, up with another guy.
She’s going down as an accomplice for murder for setting this shit in motion.
Her brows rose, “are you ok?” she asked. So she had heard it.

I shrugged, “was just clearing my
throat. Anyway do you cook?” I asked. Yes, ever since Lucy bust out that
spaghetti in the back of my head I thought about all the meals I’ve missed out
on. I wanted to know if she cooked frequently.

She nodded. “I cook, but my roommate
cooks most of the time. She cooks so much better than I do and she always makes
too much. When I asked her about it she shrugged and said she’s used to feeding
the football team. She laughed but I didn’t get it… but come to think about it,
I’m pretty sure that cute football guy that was at the dorm for her on our
first day has something to do with it. Maybe you know him?” she snapped her
fingers, “He was actually next to you at the party. Big guy built like a truck
with pretty like green hazel eyes.”

I felt the anger rise. This was just
not fucking cool, “Lucy is not fucking dating Ted.” I told her with a glare.

She looked startled at my reaction,
but that time I really couldn’t rein it in. I needed to stop with all things
Lucy and just get through this night. Our food came and I asked her to tell me
about herself. As soon as she started talking I zoned out and focused on this
disappointing plate of spaghetti. Why did I torture myself and order it? Lucy
should come teach them how to make it good. I thought of her crying and tried
to figure out what triggered it. I would look up at Naiyla once in a while and
nodded when I realized her lips were moving. Had I made her cry?

“Landon…?” I heard and focused in on
Naiyla.

“Yea?” I asked.

“You aren’t listening. I was talking
to you and you weren’t saying anything so I asked if you prefer men just to see
and you nodded. What’s got you so distracted?” she asked.

I choked on my food and drank some
lemonade, “I do not like men for the record. And nothing, I’m just not much of
a talker.” I admitted.

She laughed lightly, “or listener.
Why are you here?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked her with
a frown.

“The only conversation you made with
me had to do with me
and
my roommate who by the way I’m sure you know
because you called her by her name and I never told you. I also know that you
were in our room a hell of a lot earlier from when you knocked on my door. She
also looked hurt and pissed so spill.”

“Fine. Lucy and I have history, a lot
of fucking history. We live together back home. We were dating but we broke up
a couple of days before moving out here.” I told her with a shrug.

She smirked, “and you asked me out as
some type of payback I’m sure. I know when a guy is interested and you my
friend are not. So what made you go through all of this?” she asked with a wave
of her hand. She seemed genuinely curious.

I sighed. “I knew you were her
roommate, my friend from the team Ted told me. He’s from back home by the way
that’s how they knew each other. When you approached me, I thought Lucy told
you to do it or that she was ok with it and it pissed me the fuck off.” I told
her honestly.

She nodded, “I get it. I can explain
to her that I asked you and stuff when I get back.” She offered.

I shook my head, “don’t tell her
anything. But you can call me if there’s ever an emergency with her. We’re
going through shit and we’re not talking or anything but she’s still family.
She doesn’t need to know about any of this.” I told her and that I was being
serious about. After Dan fucking raping her and beat the shit out of her, then
caught up with her in the locker room and tried to get her to be with him, then
tried to kill her… well I am not taking chances. I’m not sure if Lucy’s
stubborn ass would call me or Nick right now if she were in that type of danger
and I would lose my shit if something happened to her and she could’ve been
helped had it not been for this fight we’re having. She’s still my family, so
even if we don’t work out, she won’t be able to put me completely out of her
life.

Naiyla turned out to be cool. She
didn’t speak too much which I was grateful for and she didn’t seem mad about
the fact that I kind of used her. She did admit on the ride home that she
wasn’t totally comfortable not saying anything to Lucy, but I convinced her it
was for the best. If she knew that she was talking to me she would probably
stay tight lipped. And to be honest with her not talking to me or Nick that
seems like the only friend she has out here to speak to. Naiyla told me that
she gets on well with the other girls but neither her or Lucy click with them
on that level where they trust them, at least not yet. When I got home, I had a
text from Naiyla saying that Lucy was in her room and she could hear her crying
and she would try to talk to her. I went to bed that night feeling like total
shit.

NICK

I had my first basketball game today
and I was on cloud nine. Mel called me last night to tell me that Erica
surprised her that day with roundtrip tickets to fly out here. Erica
coordinated with Lucy so that she can stay with her and Mel will stay with me.
They’re staying for the whole weekend. I miss that girl something crazy. I
sighed as I thought about what I needed to do next. I picked up my phone and
dialed Landon.

“Sup.” He answered.

“Hey, you not busy right?” I asked.
So what, I was procrastinating. I just wasn’t sure how he was going to take
this. He told me about the date he went on with her roommate last week and what
happened at the house. I wanted to ask Mel about it but knew I couldn’t, I
wasn’t supposed to know.

“Nah, I’m in my room. What’s up?” he
asked. I could hear the annoyance in his voice that was screaming for me to get
on with it. Fine.

“Erica and Mel are flying up for the
weekend today. They should be here in a few hours.”

“For real… they’re coming for your
game right?” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Does that mean you’re going
to be unavailable after your game until you need to put her back on a plane?”
he asked.

I laughed, “Probably. Although I know
she is going to want to spend some time with Lucy.” I told him trying to ease
my way into it.

I heard the sharp intake of breath,
“right so what are you telling me right now Nick? Get to the point.” He said
completely frustrated now.

“Listen, you know Erica and Mel are
going to want to spend time with
all
of us, and I’m not going to make
them choose sides. They’re only going to be here for a bit they deserve to
visit everyone they care about. This means we may need to be in the same room
as Lucy at some points this weekend. I’m going to need you to behave yourself.”
I scolded him.

“Fuck you Nick. Don’t talk to me like
I’m a child. I can
behave
around Lucy, I just don’t want to fucking be
around her. It’s like a ticking bomb waiting to go off. Take that as a warning.
If she starts her bullshit or does something to piss me off I’m not going to
hold back.” He said.

I sighed. I knew that he would only
be able to tamp it down for a little while. Truth be told I was surprised he
made it this long, but then again he’s been avoiding her. Ever since he saw her
again he’s been more on edge. He’s still waiting for her to talk and it’s
frustrating the hell out of him that she won’t. She hasn’t even tried to
contact
me
which pisses me off so I understand. I don’t know what’s
going on with her but she’s got Landon so crazy I don’t know when he explodes
if he’s going to try to knock her up or knock her out. I shook my head,
“message received.” I told him and disconnected.