by Maria Xystra
I simply reply with “He’s Sam’s boyfriend’s best friend,” but I’m pretty sure Parisha already formed an idea of my…situation with Cole. That’s how well she knows me.
“Aaaand?” she prompts.
“And nothing. That’s it.”
“Baby girl, I’m 100% positive that’s not just it! And you know this chick,” she points at herself in a dancing manner, “is never wrong.”
God, I love this gal!
“Hello, ladies,” Cole says placing his drink on our table and speaking with his arrogant/I-own-everything persona. God, I hate this guy! I grunt in my throat and as soon as he stands next to me, a feeling of discomfort settles in my stomach. Layla is on the other side of him in a split second.
“Hi, I’m Layla,” she offers her hand accompanied with a full view of her pushed up breasts. They shake hands – for longer than necessary – and the moment they flash their Colgate smiles at each other, I can’t help but admit they’d make a beautiful couple. Cole – tall, muscular and a face to kill for – and Layla – a few inches shorter than him, blonde, beautiful, with an amazing body. Not sure why, I already feel weird thinking about them together. Jealous? I hope not. A bit bothered by my realization? Unfortunately, yes.
“Cole. Cole Theron.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Layla says stripping him with her eyes.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Cole says seductively.
‘The pleasure is all mine’ I repeat mockingly in my head. As if Parisha heard me and instantly understood, she moves around the table and cuts through their greeting.
“The name’s Parisha, it’s so nice to meet-cha,” she sings.
This time, Cole gives a genuine smile taken aback by my friend’s introduction and shakes her hand. Eric comes besides him and introduces him: “The name is Cole, when you’re in trouble give him a call!” We all chuckle.
“You look important”, Parisha remarks eyeing Cole.
“Oh, he’s important alright, he always wins the fight. Plus, he’s the boss, so you’d better…floss!”
We burst in laughter as Sam puts an arm around Eric’s waist.
“Oh, baby, that’s enough. This is Layla, and that’s Parisha,” she introduces the girls.
“I’m Eric, pleased to meet you.”
“Well, you bet you are!” Parisha jokes.
As they all engage in small talk, I drift away for a bit. Without realizing it, I end up replaying Alex’s questions in my mind. I wonder how Lydia’s been. I’ll give her a call tomorrow. I hope she’s safe and keeping out of trouble. Well, if she followed my advice and kept away from our father, she should be.
“A penny for your thoughts?”, Cole lands me back in the club. I find myself sitting across from him, Layla by his side, Parisha next to her, Sam next to me and Eric between the two.
“Keep your penny, I’ll keep my thoughts.”
“I do hope you’re thinking about what we discussed earlier.”
Well, now I am. Only thing is, I’m not only thinking about the conversation I had with him about Alex, I’m also thinking about the conversation he had with Eric. The word ‘fuckable’ echoes in my head. Again.
I mumble something in Greek. Something insulting and bitter.
“A-what?” he asks amused. “What language did you just speak in?” He leans on his elbows to get closer over the table, and he has a ridiculous grin on his face.
“Greek,” I say and can’t help the smile tugging the corners of my lips. OK, I confess that if I knew that speaking Greek would put that cute, boyish and completely disarming, sexy expression on his face, I would have done it sooner.
“What does it mean?” he hurries to ask.
“It’s a greek expression.”
“For…?”
“Bite me!”
He chuckles, and I do the same.
“OK, so you speak Greek? How come?”
“I’m half-Greek. From my father’s side.”
“Oh, OK. That’s cool. So, when you went to Greece, were you visiting relatives?” he assumes, genuinely interested.
I simply nod.
“Oh, I get it- Lexy is short for…Alexandra?” he concludes.
Still smiling, I nod again and quickly cut myself remembering that my true identity should not be shared. I shake my head and hurry to correct him: “It’s short for Lennox.”
He seems to notice the change of my expression as he draws his eyebrows together in confusion. A series of unspoken messages are exchanged between us while we lock gazes for barely a second. I feel that confiding in him would be most right, but this is surely neither the place, nor the time.
“It’s actually nice learning a bit more about you,” he admits with a flirtatious tone. But this time I’m not bothered by it, on the contrary, I find it rather… charming.
Layla interrupts our moment by putting a hand on his bicep, trying to get his attention. She whispers something in his ear and Cole turns to answer back. In her ear. Grunt.
“Well, I don’t really mind,” Layla says suggestively.
“What about you, Tipsy? What do you think about PDA?” Cole turns to me.
“What, Pretty-Damn-Annoying? I think it suits you just right!” I joke, and he laughs. And it’s too damn sexy, I don’t know if I want to jump him and kiss him or knock him out with a punch.
“Not that, silly!” Layla addresses me, “PDA, as in Public Displays of Affection! Tsk!” she clicks her tongue and flicks her hair.
“Ooh, that PDA. Well, it depends on how public, what kind of displays and what kind of affection we are talking about.”
Cole starts to say something to me, but Layla interrupts him again.
“I don’t mind any kind of PDA; from displays of lust in a crowded place to a simple flower bouquet!”
“Well, to be honest, I don’t like PDA either. Like Lexy said-” Cole starts again.
“Whatever Lexy said, there is no woman on the planet that wouldn’t smile when receiving some flowers.”
“Is that so?” Cole turns to her.
Surprised by his full attention turned to her, Layla settles in her place and pushes her hair behind her ears.
“Yeah! For example, I wouldn’t mind if you sent me some flowers tomorrow!”
Cole smiles.
“I don’t do flowers.”
Yeah, only women receiving them, or delivering them, or even just smelling them!! I stifle the laughter caused by the snarky comment that came into mind with his remark.
“Well maybe,” she puts her fingers on his arm tracing his tattoo design slowly, “you should reconsider.”
“Well, maybe I will” and he offers her a crooked smile. Ew. Vomit
.
CHAPTER 17
Sometime later Parisha and I make our way back to our reservation with unwavering grins stamped on our faces. Playing the drums to the insanely quick rhythm of the songs has left us with a great feeling of liberation – and a great amount of neon paint splotched all over us. While we walk through the crowd a tall, young man moves along with us in the same direction. We exchange glances and smile at each other. Twice.
Approaching our group, he stands next to Cole and as I take my drink from the table – straw all chewed up – I wait for him to talk. Eric reaches over the table to greet him with a clasp of their hands and this draws Cole’s attention from Layla. He also greets this new addition to our company. So much for ladies’ night!
“What’s up, kiddo?” Cole shuffles the new guy’s hair.
He looks at Cole and smiles. His eyes sparkle with a hint of admiration, letting me know that he looks up to him. He seems to be in his early twenties.
“Hi, I’m Ty. Ler.” He draws his hand from Cole’s and offers it to me. Cole smiles and leans back in his stool. He crosses his arms over his chest and looks at Ty-Ler amused, as if he’s waiting to see what he’s doing.
“Lexy,” I introduce myself and take his hand. “Are you friends with Cole?” I ask not bothering to hide my d
islike.
“You don’t like Cole?” he sounds shocked but also kind of entertained.
“Not really,” I declare.
“She’s the first woman immune to Cole!” Eric shouts and drapes an arm around my shoulders. “She’s my hero!”
Well, I wouldn’t say immune, but I don’t want to let Eric down. I do try to be, but he still affects me; sometimes inflicting anger, sometimes inflicting …other emotions.
“Well, that’s amazing! I don’t like Cole either! He’s an arrogant, Mr. Know-it-all!” Tyler states through a fixed smile on his face.
Cole’s hand hits the back of Tyler’s head in a slap and he jerks forward. He rubs the back of his head and turns to Cole.
“Excuse me, sir. Do I know you?”
“Oh, jeez, I don’t know. Do you remember when I was seven and changed your diapers?” Cole lifts his eyebrows and smiles.
“Jeez, dude!” Tyler complains still rubbing his head. “Have you been working out? Have you been lifting some…pff, I don’t know… buildings?!? I think I have a concussion. No, wait I think I have amnesia. Excuse me sir, do I know you?” He eyes Cole and as Cole reaches for him again, he leans away to avoid another blow. Instead, Cole wraps his arm around his neck and pulls him into a headlock.
“Does that ring any bells, bonehead?”
Eric moves next to Cole and bends his head to level with Tyler’s face. “Come on, Ty, you know the drill. Say you give up.”
“I don’t give up!” Tyler mumbles trying to dislodge himself from Cole’s tight lock.
Seeing them like this, enjoying themselves, like a bunch of carefree schoolboys, puts a stupid grin on my face and I don’t even try to shake it off. Cole meets my eyes and smiles providing a clear view of his sexy disarming dimples. And I melt. Like literally, I feel myself becoming one with the stool I’m sitting on.
“He won’t give up,” Eric starts singing to his face. “So, I’ll start with the rap,” he rhymes. We all start laughing and Sam shakes her head kindly.
“No, no, nooooo!” Tyler yells.
“You know what to do, just say the rhyme, you doof!” Eric and Cole show no mercy. Poor Tyler.
“You know Cole will tighten his grip, so you’d better hurry and start to sing!” Eric continues. Now, all of our attention is on them, curious to listen to that ‘rhyme’.
“Come on, guys! Don’t make me do this!”
“Uh-oh, he starts to beg. Come on man, let me give you some help.” Eric is a natural! He clears his throat and waves his hands like a maestro. “I look up to…”
“Cole,” Tyler says through clenched teeth. “I like the way he takes control. He’s loyal and one of a kind, you have to admit he’s always right.”
We all burst out laughing and Cole loosens his grip.
“Dude?” Eric turns to him offended with palms open. Cole quickly pulls Tyler back into a headlock. “OK, let’s hear the rest! Where the gist lies yet.” God, Eric is unstoppable!
“Eric is the one you need, he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He’s smart and funny, he’s never late, his singing always makes me feel great,” Tyler’s words don’t seem to match his feelings though.
“See? That wasn’t so hard!” Eric moves back and puts his hands on his hips ready to accept a round of applause. Sam throws her arms around him and says:
“You’re an ass. You both are,” she turns to Cole.
“Oh my God! That was awesome!” Layla shrieks.
Tyler moves next to me and puts his hand on the table. “Any chance you would forget what you just saw and continue from where we left off?”
“Hi, I’m Lexy, I don’t like Cole,” I tell him, and he laughs. I turn to Cole but he’s too busy flirting with Layla to hear my remark.
“I’m Ty. I grew up with Cole and Eric and,” he leans closer and whispers to me, “he’s not as bad as he seems.” I lift my gaze in Cole’s direction, involuntarily – this is starting to become ridiculous – and we make eye contact. Ty notices.
“What’s with him?” he wonders.
“What do you mean?” I deflect.
“Is he like…?”
“An overbearing, controlling person? Yeah!” I assure him. “I thought you said you grew up with him,” I wink.
“OK, I get it. He tried to mess with your life, didn’t he?”
I lean back and offer Tyler an honest smile. “I like you.”
“What’s not to like?” he jokes and blushes a bit. So cute!
“Wow, dude! You must be one of a kind for Lexy to like you,” Cole interrupts, Layla still clinging to his side.
“I like everyone,” I answer back. “Except you,” and I fake smile.
“What about Mr. Wrong Guy?” he asks bitterly. Tyler and Layla look from Cole to me and back to him. They exchange glances as if saying ‘are we missing something here?’
“Don’t start with that again,” I warn him.
“I’m just making sure-” and I cut him mid-sentence:
“You’re just making sure I like you less every time we meet.”
Layla and Tyler move their heads to follow us, like they are watching a table tennis match. I maintain eye contact with Cole waiting for his next comment but my phone rings in the middle of the table and as I reach for it he glances at the screen.
“Speaking of the wrong guy…,” Cole drips his poison.
“Excuse me.” I get off my stool and head to the ladies’ room. A guy hurries past me and knocks me on my shoulder. “Sorry,” he says without even turning to me. I see him marching straight to Cole and saying something in his ear. Cole nods and catches my eye from afar. I’m not really sure if I want to take the call but still, even hesitantly, I bring the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Lex, you OK?” Alex’s voice comes through in a singing slurp.
“Hey, Alex, what’s up?” On the other end of the phone I hear a bit of a hustle and the words ‘drunk’ and ‘drive’ are the ones that register first.
“Don’t mind them, what are you up to, beautiful?”
“Alex, are you OK? Are you drunk?” I figure out the obvious.
“Maybe, just a bit. OK maybe. Just a bit.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Where are you?” he asks.
“I’m at a club. Where are you?”
“Who are you with?”
“Some friends. Where are you, Alex?”
“Male friends or female friends?”
What?
“Both. What does it matter?” Alex is acting weird. “Are you at home?” I try to figure out if he drunk-dialed me or not.
“I’ll get there. It’s you I was worried about; I just wanted to make sure we are OK.” He hesitates a bit. “I’m sorry, is this a bad time? Am I keeping you from your friends? It’s the usual suspects, right?”
“Yeah. It’s fine. I just think we’d better talk tomorrow when you are…sober?” I try to lighten the mood a bit, careful not to offend him. He picks up my tone and chuckles.
“OK, you wanna meet up tomorrow? I didn’t like the way we left things yesterday,” he sounds a bit distressed.
“OK, umm… A friend of mine is visiting and we’re spending the day at the Santa Monica pier. Do you want to come meet me afterwards?”
“Yeah, sure! I’ll call you in the afternoon.”
“OK, talk to you then.”
We hang up and I just lean against the wall of the bathroom. Maybe Alex is not that bad. Maybe I overreacted last night, having so many things to hide. He was just asking questions out of interest, right?
Then why does it feel so wrong? The voice in my head has a point.
Since I am already in the restroom, I decide to use it. I lock myself in a cubicle and as if on cue, a turmoil of thoughts attacks my mind.
This feeling of confusion is hard to deal with. Alex seems to be a nice guy. A nice guy, who apparently wants to date me. And what’s wrong with that? Simply the fact that I don’t want to date. I can�
��t afford to date anyone. I can’t make a connection; I can’t let anyone fall in love with me. Then what am I doing with him? I shouldn’t lead him on.
I check my reflection in the mirror and as I lean closer, the UV light right above it makes the neon paint splatters visible on my face and neck. I smile to myself and make my way out of the ladies’ room.
Remember your motto Lex: no relationships, no commitment, no strings attached. And then I can make everyone call me ‘Cole Theron’! Great! Turning into him is just what I need! God, I feel like I’m losing control.
And just then, I find the reason why this situation is slipping through my fingers standing right outside the restroom.
With his back against the wall, arms and ankles crossed in front of him, he’s standing there waiting for me.
“Everything alright, Tipsy?” he asks with almost a worrying tone in his voice.
“The men’s room is right around the corner,” I snap and try to get past him.
“Hey, wait!” he grabs me by the elbow to stop me from leaving. “How did he take it?”
“How did he take what?”
“You dumping him,” he gives me a conspiratorial smile.
“Me dumping who?”
A small, frustrated groan comes from him and he warns me impatiently: “Don’t start your question game.”
I feel the anger rising from my chest. “I didn’t dump him,” I announce and start to leave again. He tightens his grip around my arm.
“Why not? I thought we agreed on not liking him.”
“Nope. That was just you.” I try to sound as defiant as I can manage. I choose not to tell him about the date I just agreed to. Yanking my arm free I ask him: “Do you need anything else?”
A small army of women passes by us making their way to the restroom and he softly pushes me out of the way. My back finds the wall and his hand lands right next to my head, trapping me in place. Casting a brief look in our direction, the female group giggles and flashes playful smiles.
Cole, leaning closer to me, pays no attention to their feeble efforts to get noticed.
“Are you seeing him again?” he looks down at me, our faces barely inches from each other. I lift my gaze to meet his eyes, very much aware of our closeness and the irritating tickling inside me making its way from my stomach to my limbs. My tongue darts out to wet my dry lips and Cole’s eyes follow the movement. “Are you seeing him again?” he repeats in a low voice.