Avoiding Temptation

by K. A. Linde

  Finally. That had to have been the most stressful car ride she had ever been on…and Jack had only said one thing. And it had been something really nice.

  “Are you going to ignore me the whole show?” he asked.

  He hadn’t moved from his seat, and he was staring at her with such intensity that she could feel it without even looking at him.

  Disengage. Disengage.

  “No,” Lexi said curtly, popping open the door and walking toward the elevator.

  Jack was not allowed to be nice to her when she wanted to be angry with him. It didn’t matter how irrational that sounded because he had married someone else. And well…she was allowed to be irrational about that.

  Jack jumped out of the car and jogged to catch up with her. “Okay,” he said, stopping the elevator with his hand and staring at her with those big blue eyes.

  She could drown in those eyes.

  “Are you going to be pissed at me the whole time?”

  She could hear the edge of desire in his voice that he was trying so hard to mask. If only she could keep her temper under control when he was around, then maybe this wouldn’t always happen. But he had always liked her when she was angry.

  “No.”

  “Well…good,” he mumbled, following her into the elevator. “Are you going to say anything other than no by any chance?”

  “No,” she said calmly.

  “Look, I’m being perfectly nice to you, Lex. You’re treating me like I slammed you back against the wall in the elevator when I promised I wouldn’t do anything stupid.”

  Heat rushed to Lexi’s neck and cheeks as she glared at him. “And you wonder why when you make those kinds of suggestions.”

  “I’m not suggesting it,” he said quickly. “You have it all wrong. I’m here for the show…with my friend. Plus, I got you to say something other than no.” He smirked devilishly at her.

  Lexi turned to face the front of the elevator and crossed her arms over her chest. How did he rile her up so easily? She was just trying to keep her defenses up, and he was trying to shatter them. A few words…those blue eyes…that smile…and she was a goner. But she couldn’t…

  She could just imagine the feel of his arms pressing her back roughly against the wall of the elevator after slamming the emergency button. She hoped no one would need the elevator. She would see the light in those blue eyes as they turned crystal-clear blue, telling her all he wanted to do was devour her. And she could let him as his lips found her mouth, neck, ear—nipping and licking and sucking and teasing—until she was grinding her body against him. Her eyes would flutter close as she wound her fingers into the thick, dark hair, begging him for more with her actions as much as her words.

  He would hoist her legs up and press himself firmly against her. She would rake her hands down his back, and the heat of the moment would make them lose all thoughts. It would only be them in that moment—only the other person. The feel of their lips, the roughness of his hands on her hips, his dick pressing against her…

  Shit! She stopped her rather active imagination right there. She couldn’t toe that line, even in her thoughts. Not a good idea.

  Jack stuck his hands into the pockets of his scuffed-up jeans and rocked back and forth as the elevator dinged open on the bottom floor.

  “Well, thanks for coming anyway,” he said softly.

  Maybe if she didn’t repress so heavily, she wouldn’t start having stupid daydreams about him in the elevator. Jesus! She just needed to act normal. Clearly, closing off wasn’t working. Maybe cautious would do.

  “I wanted to be at the show,” she finally told him as they walked toward the venue. “You know I like the band.”

  “They’re so good,” Jack said. “Plus, you think the lead singer is hot.”

  “He is hot,” she said as a matter-of-fact. “Everyone who is anyone thinks he’s hot.”

  “I mean for a dude, sure. I can pick up my guitar again if you want,” he said with a faint chuckle.

  Lexi glared at him. “Don’t even play.”

  She couldn’t imagine Jack with his guitar. It wouldn’t be good for her mental health, not after her thoughts in the elevator. She would be better off fantasizing about Kellan Kyle. He was much further out of reach.

  “Okay, okay,” he said, throwing up his hands. “Just joking. I’d probably sound terrible. It’s been too long since I’ve played, and I was better at keys.”

  “I know, Jack,” she said, following the line of traffic toward Philips Arena. “I remember.”

  They stopped talking as they maneuvered through the crowd. Jack pulled out the tickets when they reached the entrance.

  The lady wearing a Philips Arena polo scanned the tickets and handed them back to Jack. “Enjoy the show.”

  “Thanks,” Lexi said, walking behind Jack into the building.

  The arena was already teeming with people talking to friends, looking at merchandise, and standing in long lines for concessions. A smile spread across her face at the energy in the room, and excitement took her over.

  She was going to see Kellan Kyle. Holy fuck!

  “I think you need a T-shirt,” Jack said, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the merchandise stand.

  “Are you crazy? I’m not paying thirty-five dollars for a T-shirt.” Lexi tried to stop him.

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “What?” she asked with a shrug.

  He shook his head like he wanted to say something, and then he reconsidered.

  “Seriously, what?”

  “It’s just…you just got a new job. This is your first time seeing the D-Bags. They’re your favorite band. You’ve been stealing my shirts for years.”

  Lexi bit her lip and tried not to give her thoughts away. She loved the D-Bags’ music, but she had only ever stolen his T-shirts because they were his. She could never tell him that now.

  “And you won’t spend thirty-five bucks to get yourself your own shirt?” He tilted his head and smiled at her. “I think you should get it, but it is kind of refreshing to hear that people still care about the price of things.”

  “I guess you’ve been spending too much time with the wrong kind of people then,” she said, her face heating.

  It wasn’t that thirty-five dollars was too much. She could afford it now, but it felt weird.

  Jack kept that goofy grin on his face and then walked forward without her.

  “Hey, where are you going?”

  He ignored her and bypassed a few girls who were making up their minds about what shirt to get.

  “Can I get the plain black D-Bags shirt in black? A small,” Jack said.

  “Sure,” a guy said, picking off the top of the pile and handing the shirt to him.

  Jack passed him his credit card and signed the receipt.

  “Here you go,” Jack said.

  He tossed her the shirt. She caught it, not even sure how to respond.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” she murmured.

  “I’ll let you buy the drinks.” He smirked and directed her in the opposite direction.

  She really didn’t know what to say. No part of her had expected Jack to just go buy her a D-Bags T-shirt for no reason. She couldn’t even remember the last time they had just gone out and had a good time together. It was probably in New York over three years ago. That felt like a lifetime ago.

  They stopped and grabbed Jack a beer while Lexi simply opted for a Coke. She might have a margarita later, but she didn’t want to drink too much, especially tequila. If she started at the beginning of the show, then she would be in a bad place by the end of the show.

  “Where are our seats?” she asked as she followed him through an open entranceway.

  Before her was the entirety of Philips Arena. The Atlanta Hawks professional basketball team played their games in the arena, and it was home to some of the biggest headliners of the year in music. Growing up, she had seen concerts here with her parents. It had normal stadium seating, bu
t the venue had arranged seats all along the floor, leading up to the stage. The lights were dim, and the room was twinkling with camera flashes. The chatter was loud over the background music, and Lexi was bubbling with so much excitement that she just wanted to dance to their seats.

  “I’ll show you,” Jack said.

  Her stomach flipped as he started walking down the endless stairs. He showed their tickets to someone who let them pass to the lower level. Wow, this was close. She normally sat up in the nosebleed section. They reached the bottom of the lower level, and Jack handed off the tickets again. When the person let them through to the floor, Lexi really started to freak out.

  “We’re on the floor?” she gasped, grabbing his arm.

  Jack’s answering smirk set off butterflies in her stomach. “Yeah. We had a suite, but I traded them in for floor seats.”

  “What? Why?” she asked, stunned. “If you had a suite—”

  “I thought you’d want to be close,” he said barely loud enough for her to hear over the music.

  “I do,” she agreed, lost in the fact that he had traded in a suite because he had thought she would want to sit closer…be closer to the band.

  “Well then…good.” He shuffled his feet but kept his eyes trained on her face. “I just thought…it would make you happy. I know I can’t make up for everything, but as long as you’re happy, then that’s all that matters.”

  “Jack…” Lexi said, shaking her head from side to side. She didn’t know what to say or how to respond.

  “Let’s go find our seats,” he said quickly before walking away into the crowd.

  Lexi stood there, stunned for a second, before trailing after him. He just wanted her to be happy. Gah! What was she supposed to do with that?

  They walked all the way up to the front, and Lexi was getting close to hyperventilating as they approached the stage.

  “Third row was the best I could do on short notice,” he said apologetically.

  He was acting as if he hadn’t just told her that he had gotten them third-row tickets.

  “But I got us the end of the aisle, so you can poke your head out.”

  “Oh my God, I just don’t know what to say,” she said, taking the seat at the end of the aisle. “Third row…on the aisle…so I can actually see something around all the tall people.”

  Jack chuckled softly, and she tried not to think about how perfect that sound was. Why…why…why was he doing this? She wanted to ask him so badly, but she couldn’t. She was just going to enjoy the concert. He hadn’t tried anything. That was what she had prepared for. She had prepared for the elevator daydream in her head but not for Jack just being…nice. Her well-built wall didn’t know how to process this new information.

  They sat in their seats and chatted about mindless things during the opening act, Holeshot. They were good, but they weren’t the D-Bags. She told him all about her new job and how excited she was to actually work at something substantial after being in school for so long. They talked about the fact that Seth was going to be a father and how terrifying that was to both of them. Not to mention, Seth had just told everyone he was having a girl. Knowing the kind of person he had been in college made that all the more terrifying. Just as she started telling Jack about what Chyna had told her about Milan, the lights went out, and the crowd erupted all around them.

  Lexi and Jack jumped to their feet and started clapping and cheering with the rest of the crowd. The lights careened around the room, dropping onto the stage briefly before flashing out toward the audience. After a couple of minutes, the lights returned to center stage, and she stared up at Kellan Kyle, who was no more than thirty feet away from her. Holy shit! He was about a thousand times more attractive in real life than he was on TV.

  If she thought the crowd had been loud before, it was nothing compared to what it was now that the audience realized the guys were onstage. Kellan took the microphone in his hand like he owned it, the stage, and the audience. And he did.

  “Good evening, Atlanta!”

  The crowd managed to get louder, and Lexi just cheered along with them. When he raised his hand, she silenced and heard the cheers die down marginally. Kellan introduced the band, and then they moved right into their first song. Mesmerized, she watched his fingers fly across the guitar, and then his voice broke through the speakers.

  Her heart fluttered. That, right there, was the sexiest singing voice she had ever heard. They were so much better live. She wasn’t even sure she was going to be able to articulate this experience when it was all said and done.

  She felt Jack’s eyes on her, and she turned to face him with the biggest smile on her face. He wasn’t even watching the show as the D-Bags were killing it onstage. Lexi threw her arms around him and hugged him close. Jack hesitated with his hands out to his sides, like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. She wondered if Ramsey’s warning was ringing in his ears. But then, his arms were around her waist, and something clicked together like a puzzle piece.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “You’re welcome, Lex,” he said, his voice strained. He released her quickly with a faint smile before returning his attention to the stage as their favorite band played.

  She tried not to give it any thought. Her heart hammered away to the tune of the music and the sway of Kellan’s vocals. They played through their set with the crowd singing along to almost all of the songs.

  The first chord to the second to last song struck her to her core. They were going to play “Good-bye.” Oh my God! She thought she might faint. She thought she literally might faint. This was her favorite, Jack’s favorite, song. The band was good, but the way Kellan sang those lyrics made them great. It felt like he was singing directly to her, calling out to her, begging for her to feel. It was so emotional, and watching Kellan sing the lyrics brought tears to her eyes. She wet her lips and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to unleash. Breathing deeply, she sniffled and felt her throat tighten. She didn’t even know where these feeling were coming from or what her mind was remembering that made her want to cry, but Kellan managed to draw it out of her.

  She felt Jack’s hand brush against her own, and then he was holding her hand, sharing her pain, allowing her to feel. She took another shuddering breath as the Good-bye song came to a close. She swallowed hard, wishing that all of these emotions could all just pass over her. Jack squeezed her hand again, and it felt like strength. She let it envelop her as the D-Bags moved into their final song.

  They closed their set to deafening cheers, and Lexi watched Kellan’s amazing body leave the stage. The lights flickered back on as the stage crew worked on the setup for Sienna’s act, and Lexi hastily dropped Jack’s hand. In the light, everything came crashing back on her.

  “Good-bye” song. Saying good-bye. Second…third…fourth…fifth chances. The ring. The wedding. Ramsey. She loved Ramsey.

  She hadn’t even done anything with Jack. It might have been the most platonic moment they had ever lived through together, but still, a heat had pressed against the boundaries. She was sure the concert had something to do with it, but it was still there.

  Jack and Lexi cheered through Sienna’s set even though neither of them was really all that interested in her. They only stayed for the end of the show to see the duet she sang with Kellan. It was unbelievably hot and catchy. Lexi heard it every time she turned on the radio. The tension between Sienna and Kellan onstage was palpable, and Lexi was starting to believe the rumors. She wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to get with Kellan Kyle.

  The concert ended in a haze. Lexi was shocked to see it was almost midnight. She felt like they had just gotten here, and then already, it was done. The crowd pressed against her on all sides, and she had to latch on to Jack’s shirt to not lose him. They made it up to the front, but she yanked on his shirt to get him to stop.

  “Restroom,” she said, motioning in that direction.

  He nodded and followed her in that direction. The
re was a pretty long line for the women’s restroom, but it was moving quickly. She did her business, washed her hands, and then ran them back through her unruly hair. She pulled the long tresses into a high ponytail to keep the strands off her neck, and then she turned to exit.

  She passed the person washing her hands next to her, and she wondered why the girl looked familiar. Before she made it to the exit where a line of women waited to use the restroom, she realized who it was. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, and she felt her fingers tingling with anticipation. Should she say something? What point would there be?

  But still…

  “Stella?” Lexi asked in disbelief.

  She couldn’t be sure that was who was standing before her. She hadn’t seen or heard from Stella since the night that Jack had slept with her in New York…the day he had left Lexi.

  The girl turned around, her big green eyes wide with confusion. Then, they landed on Lexi’s face, and they widened even further with alarm.

  “Lexi?” she asked like she didn’t believe it herself.

  Stella was four or five inches taller than Lexi with platinum-blonde hair cut short, framing her angular face. Lexi noticed with self-satisfaction that it looked like Stella had gained some weight.

  “What are you doing here?” Stella asked. “I mean, not the concert…Atlanta.”

  “I’m from Atlanta.”

  “Oh, right,” she said awkwardly. “I forgot.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “My husband got relocated to Atlanta for his company,” she said softly.

  Then, Lexi noticed the glittering ring on Stella’s finger. Lexi felt sick.

  It wasn’t fair. It was stupid. This girl had ruined everything…and she still had married someone before Lexi. How could the universe allow this to happen? It just didn’t make sense!

  “Congrats,” Lexi said through gritted teeth.

  “Lexi,” she said, biting her lip, “I’m really sorry.”

  “Really?”

  “I never got to tell you, but I am really sorry about what I did. Jack was drunk, and I was so jealous of you two. You were perfect, and I…I was a thief. I wanted what you had, so I took it. I shouldn’t have seduced him that night. He said no like five thousand times—”