Lexi, Baby

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places and incidents either are the products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance between
persons living and dead, establishments, events or location is
entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

This book is dedicated to my
wonderful husband who has graciously let me torture him and nag him
throughout the entire process of writing this book. Joey, I love
you!

I also dedicate this book to the two
most handsome and amazing little boys that a mother could ask for,
and to my incredibly sweet and beautiful step-daughter. Ethyn, Eli
& Tatiana, I love you all! You are my inspiration.

Mom & Abel, I love you both so
much. Thank you for always supporting me; even when I went through
my very odd, teenage, maroon-lipstick-wearing, gangsta phase.
HA!

Dad, there are no words to describe how much I miss
you. I love you with all my heart. I wish I could say it to you in
person just one more time.

I also have to give huge thanks to
Melissa Puckett, Keeley Giangrosso, Teresa Morris-Woodrum, Kelly
Elliott, Amanda Brown (freeromanceibooks on Facebook), Crysti
Perry, Mina Tomaro, Ashley McCartney and Maegan Loxterman. I can’t
express how much I appreciate all of your input, help and support.
Thank you!

And to Shannon Nemsi, the wonderful
woman who went through my book with a fine tooth comb, I adore
you!

Dear Diary,

Today should have been one of the best days
of my life. Instead, it was the worst. I’m
still
contemplating the murder of two people. Actually, they don’t even
deserve to be called people. Just thinking about what happened
earlier tonight makes me sick to my stomach. I just can’t believe
it. I’ll never forget it.

This is what went down...

I had been having a great time at John
Sanders’s last party of the summer. I had a smile on my face and my
best friend at my side; it was the best night any eighteen year old
could ask for. Nevertheless, in the back of my mind, the thought of
not seeing all of the people I practically grew up with since
elementary school was silently eating a hole in my heart. It was
depressing to think about us all leaving for college within the
coming weeks. It was a fact that I wouldn’t see most of these
people again.

The town I live in just outside the Houston
city limits was great to grow up in, but most people never stayed
unless they come back to raise a family.

I was at the party with my best friend
Patricia, but nobody dared call her by her real name without
getting bitch-slapped. It was
Trish or else
.

We’ve been friends since we were four years
old and we were like sisters. Actually, we were closer than
sisters; we could finish each other’s sentences. We were partners
in crime, even though I was usually only the accessory in said
crime. Trish was absolutely crazy and totally hot in her own
geektastic way.

Guys loved her and she loved them, but for
the most part, she just played with them. “Life is too short to
settle for only one,” she always said. She was beautiful and had
the figure every girl would kill for; big boobs, slim waist and
nice, pert round ass. She also had amazing dark chocolate brown
eyes and matching, long chocolate brown hair. Fortunately for her
she also had the personality to back it all up. She was a
firecracker. On top of all that, she was a genius; literally, a
genius!

Then there was Landyn; Lan, as only I called
him. He was the typical high school quarterback and most popular
guy in school. He was at the party too, but I lost him somewhere
between beer pong with the baseball team and keg stands with the
football team.

Just the thought of him brought a smile to
my face. No matter how popular he was, he wasn’t the classic
clichéd jerk jock. He meant everything to me. We started dating
sophomore year and he was my first love in every sense of the word.
When I first saw Landyn James walking down the hall like he owned
the school, I thought he was so gorgeous it was scary. At sixteen
he was already over six feet tall and two hundred twenty pounds of
rock hard muscle.

His face alone took my breath away. It
wasn’t pretty or beautiful; it was ruggedly handsome, intimidating,
and sexy as hell. He had a strong, square jaw line and blinding
smile bordered by plump, juicy, lickable lips. He had short, spiky,
jet black hair and amber eyes so vibrant they were like looking
into a jar of honey. Every time his eyes met mine I was hypnotized;
stuck like a bee to honey. It helped that his eyes were outlined by
wicked long, thick black eyelashes.

His arms alone should be listed as lethal
weapons with the local PD and I knew this for a fact because he was
constantly fighting. Granted, the fighting was always in “my
honor,” but to me, that was a silly excuse. He was strong and
excessively muscular for his age and I loved being wrapped up in
his arms. He made me feel safe.

If anyone looked at me in a way he didn’t
like, he made a big deal of it. If that included beat downs, that’s
what happened and it didn’t faze him one bit. We fought about this
all the time because,
come on
, I was nothing special, but
his hunger for me was insanely drop-your-panties worthy.

More than anything, he wanted me all to
himself. He constantly touched me in one way or another; holding my
hand, an arm around my shoulders, an arm around my waist, hand in
my hair. We were inseparable.

Even with all his minor faults, he was more
down to earth than any guy I’d ever met, even my extremely hippie
dad.

He treated me like I was his heart; like he
needed me to exist; like he’d do anything in his power to make me
happy.

Being honest with myself, I’m still not sure
why he chose me. I mean, I’m fairly nice and fun. I like to think
of myself as cute. Like a newborn baby kitten cute; or puppy if you
prefer.

I am Alexis Sky Martine, better known as
Lex.

Ugh,
Sky
! What kind of middle name is
that?
My damn hippie parents
.

I’m a nobody, really. I’m not a cheerleader
or a dancer or an artist. I’m just a normal girl who did what she
had to do to get by, have fun and enjoy a life that always included
her genius, but wacked-out best friend. Luckily for me, Lan
obviously wasn’t picky.

My figure’s fairly decent; five-foot-four
with a nice bubble butt and decent C-cup. I’m also what most people
would call thick; firm, but thick. Not fat. Not skinny. Just thick.
I have a nice straight nose, small ears, medium full lips, decently
high cheek bones, hazel eyes and long, natural mousy brown
hair.

See! Just cute!

Why couldn’t I be a blonde? I’ve always
wondered if they had more fun.

Trish always argues that I’m “
way”
more than just cute, but I know I won’t be giving anyone other than
Landyn wet dreams. She’s biased and she damn well better be because
it would really piss me off if I had to kick my geektastic bestie’s
ass.

Oh, Alright!

So, I would never be able to kick her ass,
but I’d
sure as hell try
! And I’d cheat! Oh yeah, I’m a down
and dirty cheater! I use the hint button on every Sudoku puzzle I
play. Even in Solitaire! Even at Checkers! That’s right.
And
what?

Poor Trish, let’s hope she never reads this
diary.

Trish and I were going to the same college
in Houston and I was dreading this. Not because of Trish, but
because I knew it was going to be hard on my relationship with
Lan.

He was going to school two hours away for
his football scholarship, and lately this was all we talked about.
We both hated the idea of being apart. In my heart I knew it would
be okay, that we would talk constantly and see each other at every
opportunity, but I was still miserable about it.

In an attempt to cheer me up, last Saturday
Lan gave me a beautiful white gold promise ring. He said, “Lexi,
baby, I love you. This is so damn cheesy, but I want you to have
this as a promise of our life together. I swear, as soon as I can
afford it, I’ll replace this with a diamond. Just stop worrying
about what’s going to happen between us, okay? You’re mine Lexi and
everything’s going to be fine.”

I loved him. I cried like a baby.

I know high school sweethearts aren’t
expected to last, but I never would have doubted us. I knew Lan
loved me just as much as I loved him, if not more.

Until tonight, when I found out
otherwise...

This night will be embedded in my memory
until I’m forced into my death bed. It will be like that time I
accidentally embedded a porno to my homepage on Friends Space, the
popular social network that my parents are on as well.
True
story.

However, this time, there was no going back;
there was no delete button, or escape button...

It was almost time to leave the party and I
knew Lan had been drinking; a lot. I had one drink, but Trish had
already planned on being designated driver. More than likely Lan
would just crash on my couch; in the living room of course. My
parents loved him and they were very open-minded, and let’s just
say, very free-spirited, but there was no way in hell they would
let us sleep together without being married. We were still too
young for marriage.

Yet, I’d marry him in a heartbeat.

Lan’s mother and stepfather loved me too.
His mom treated me like the daughter she never had. We got along
great and I visited with her all time, even when Landyn wasn’t
around. I didn’t know what happened to his real dad and they never
talked about him. The one time I asked, he answered, “he’s dead to
me,” so I assumed something terrible had happened. He wouldn’t talk
about it, but I tried not to let it get at me too much because it
had no effect on our relationship. He’d tell me when he was
ready.

So, after Trish and I lazily walked down the
hall while laughing like hyenas, we finally made it to the upstairs
bathroom. Slightly ahead of me Trish tried the knob, but it was
locked. A high-pitched voice inside called out, “Just a minute!” I
grumbled in frustration. I had to pee really, really bad. Trish and
I leaned against the wall laughing and joking when all of a sudden
we heard a guy’s voice mumbling and shushing from behind the door
along with the girl’s giggles.

Trish looked at me with wide eyes and a
knowing smile, and I threw my head back silently laughing
hysterically. I turned to Trish and whispered, “I really hope they
make it quick, because I’m not sure how long I can hold it.” The
downstairs bathroom had a long ass line, and really, how long could
this guy possibly last? He was only in high school for Pete’s
sake.

“No kidding,” Trish responded on a laugh and
then went on to tell me about one of the many guys she met while at
college orientation. “He was so fine Lex. God, I can’t wait for you
to see-” She was cut off when all of a sudden a deep, threatening
voice boomed, “Don’t look at me!”

I stopped breathing.

It couldn’t be-

“Don’t touch me. Keep your fucking hands on
the counter.” The deep voice demanded.

Oh. My. God!

I froze. The blood running through my veins
turned to ice. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t
see.

I knew that voice.

I looked at Trish to see her reaction hoping
that I was just insane and hearing things, but nope, she had
stopped laughing and was now glaring at the locked door.

Oh God, please tell me this isn’t
happening!
The tightness in my chest was suffocating me.

I placed a hand to my chest and had to
concentrate on the beating of my heart because there was a good
possibility I might just pass out. No, I might actually throw up,
or both. Trish turned toward me and whispered “Let’s go” in my ear,
but I couldn’t move.

What was she thinking?

No way in hell was I moving. I scowled at
her. I wasn’t moving until I saw the bastard with my own eyes. He
could always lie and say it wasn’t him, and I’d want to desperately
to believe him that I’d just go on living in doubt.