Walking to the end of the counter, I notice a beautiful infinity pendant necklace spread out on the glass. My father picks it up and puts it around my neck.
“Happy birthday, honey. The Infinity symbol symbolizes eternity, unity, empowerment and love. Some also believe it symbolizes the birth, and rebirth of an individual.”
“Wow, it’s beautiful. Thank you.” I respond, giving them both a hug and kiss.
It’s not only beautiful, but holds so much meaning, and I get it. My parents want me to accept this change in life, and be empowered by it; to become my own person; to essentially be reborn, and start my own life…without Collin.
Dinner is amazing. I eat enough for two people, and I am absolutely exhausted when I get home, therefore calling it an early night. When I wake up, I have a zillion text messages wishing me a “Happy Birthday” on my cellphone. My first one is at twelve o’clock exactly, from Collin.
Reading this brings tears to my eyes. We haven’t spoken to each other since the day at the diner. I imagined our first contact with one another after that day would be awful, but even though I have tears in my eyes, I have a smile on my face. For the first time in a while I think that maybe, just maybe, there is a life out there that doesn’t involve Collin. And to know that he still loves me, cares about me, and is willing to give me the space I need to find myself, makes me smile. Thankful for his text, I reply.
Closing my cellphone, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, and that I can finally breathe again. I think I’m ready to move on; to live a little, and find out what single Alexa is all about.
– COLLIN –
Wanting to be the first person to text Alexa on her birthday, I stay up until midnight and text her at exactly twelve o’clock saying “Happy Birthday.”
The last three weeks have been the worst of my life. I’ve been focusing on football and training, but not having Alexa to come home to, to goof around with, to snuggle and hold, rips my insides apart. Sometimes I think that I’m going to wake up at any moment and realize that this has all been just a really bad dream. But I know that it will never happen; I screwed up and these are the repercussions. I’ve opened my phone and started to dial her number a zillion times, to just hear her voice again, but quickly shut it. This is my fault that we’re in this mess in the first place, and calling her wouldn’t be right. She calls all the shots from this point on.
Matt and I get up early every morning; we try to get to the field just as the sun is coming up to beat the summer heat while we do our outside workout. Then we hit the gym when the sun goes down for our evening workout. It’s becoming clock work.
When I get back from our workout this morning, I’m elated to see that Alexa responded to my text. It is short and sweet, and says that she needs time away, but it also says she loves me and always will. That to me is enough hope, that maybe one day we can put this all behind us.
After taking a shower, I realize I’m too amped up to take a nap. I can’t stop smiling from Alexa’s text message. So, I decide to do something I haven't done in years. I go down to the garage, get my fishing pole and tackle box and go down to the edge of the dock to fish. Matt, Travis, and I use to come out here all the time when we were kids, drinking soda and fishing. We use to sit out here all day, every day, but it just kind of faded away. Life got too busy between school, football, girls, jobs, and whatever else. I miss those days when things were easy, when we had no priorities or anywhere to be. Life was simple. What I wouldn’t give to have things simple again.
Remembering the good old days, I decide there is something I need to take care of. Taking out my cell phone, I dial Travis’s number.
“Hey, bro, you wanna come over?”
“On my way, dude.”
– ALEXA –
Amanda picks me up eleven. We stop to get a quick bite to eat, and then we head to the mall. I’ve never gone to a club before so I have no clue what stores we’ll be going into or what I’ll be wearing. Of course, Amanda leads us to a store that I’ve never even noticed in the mall. I think their motto is “less is more” when it comes to fabric, and everything is shiny and bright. Before I know it, Amanda is throwing clothes at me, and pushing me into the changing rooms.
“I want to see every single one of those outfits on...Got it?” she demands, and takes a seat on the bench outside the changing room.
After trying on a million outfits and dresses, we finally agree on one. It’s a fuchsia strapless dress and is so tight that I can barely breathe, and stops at what seems like a foot above my knees. Surprisingly, this is the most conservative one I could find, but I have to admit, I look damn good in it. Amanda picks out some matching stilettos to complete the look.
Our next stop is to the salon for hair and makeup. Apparently, I have no say in this either, because when the stylist asks me what I want, Amanda quickly interrupts demanding that she make me look “Sexy as hell”.
Sexy as hell is exactly what I am once finished. My hair is in long, loose, shiny curls. The make-up artist went with the “smoky eye” look, and although it is more make-up than I usually where, it looks freaking amazing.
Since we don’t have much time left before we meet Nicole at my house, we decide to stop at a “bar and grill” style restaurant, rather than a fancy one. I need to squeeze back into that dress in a couple of hours, so I decide to just stick with a salad. While we’re eating dinner, the waitress comes over with two fruity drinks. I start to tell her that we didn't order them, but she says they are compliments of the two gentlemen sitting at the bar. We look over to where she points, and sure enough, there are two very good looking, wait no, hot guys staring at us smiling.
“Well break me off a piece of that. Which one do you want?” Amanda asks.
The one on the right is beautiful. Although he’d probably not appreciate me calling him that, beautiful is what he is. With slicked back, long blonde hair, eyes as blue as the sky, and a broad, muscular build that I immediately picture without clothes, he’s the definition of perfect.
“Well, I guess that leaves me with the one on the left,” Amanda says, interrupting my daydreaming.
“Huh… Yeah. Whatever you say.” I’m still in an intense stare down with Mr. Perfect.
“I'll be back,” she laughs, as she gets up, and walks over to them.
Wait, what is she doing? Why is she talking to them and why does he keep looking at me with a grin on his face? I’m going to kill her.
Finally, I see her walking back, smiling ear to ear.
“What did you just do? What did you say to them? Why was he looking at me like that?” I ask, speaking a mile a minute.
“Whoa! Slow down Miss twenty-one questions. I just thanked them for our drinks, told them it was your birthday, and that we’ll be at the new club tonight celebrating.”
“You invited them out with us tonight? It's supposed to be a girls night. What did he say?”
As much as I’m really looking forward to my first real girls night, I can’t deny that I wouldn't like to “get to know” Mr. Perfect a little better.
“Nothing really, other than they’ll be there.”
– COLLIN –
“Before I come any closer, are we good man?” Travis jokes, before walking down the dock.
“We’re good.” I respond, reaching to shake his hand to call it truce.
Even though it would’ve been nice for him to keep his mouth shut, the reason why Alexa left is not his fault. I was the one that messed up and it would’ve eventually come out anyways. Travis is one of my best friends, and although he can be an idiot, I still love the guy.
“Wow, dude, this brings back some memories, huh?” he says, sitting down on the dock and putting a lure on a pole.
“Yeah, we gotta do this more often,” I reply, casting my line out next to his. “I gotta go meet up with Matt in a little bit to lift, you wanna come?”
Travis has decided not to play football in the fall. He didn’t qualify for a schol
arship, and since his mom can’t afford to send him to a private school, he’s going to stay here and go to the local college. “Yeah, dude, I'm down.”
The weight room is like our man cave. No girl steps in there, not that I don't think girls should lift weights, but they never understand the intensity we have in there. Alexa use to always say we sounded like a bunch of possessed gorillas. It's tradition to have loud, hard music playing as we push each other to go the extra mile, so yes, you hear the grunting or growling. It's both exhilarating and exhausting, but it is a brotherly bond that we all have and love.
“Well, I see you two kissed and made up,” Matt jokes as Travis and I walk into the gym.
“Oh shut it, jerk off,” I reply with a smile on my face.
“Wow, is that a smile, pretty boy? What the hell happened after this morning?”
Today has been a good day; the best in a while, actually. My best friend and I made up, and I heard from my love.
“Well, I met up with this son of bitch,” I say motioning to Travis. “And, Alexa texted me back this morning.”
“Really? What'd she say?”
“Thanked me for the birthday wish. Said she still loves me, but needs some time.”
“Well that’s good, right?”
“You bet your ass it is!”
– ALEXA –
Staring in the mirror, I can’t believe this is the same person that stood here just three weeks ago. Then, I was staring at a numb, lost girl with disheveled hair and mascara smeared across her face. Today, I look at an independent, confident, hot (if I do say so myself) woman. It is amazing how much can change in three weeks, and I have to say that I like the improvement.
Don't get me wrong, I miss Collin. Before yesterday, I still never imagined life without him. Surprisingly, I think maybe I needed this break-up. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been coupled with someone. I even had a boyfriend in kindergarten. I don't really know why this is; it just always seemed to happen. I’m ready to break the cycle. I’m ready to just be Alexa.
“I love that dress.” Nicole says walking into the bathroom to touch up her makeup and hair.
“Me too, I’m not going to be able to breathe all night, but as long as I look good.”
I still can’t believe Amanda talked me into buying it. I’ve always been told that I have the cutest clothes and I’m always described as cute or really pretty, never hot or sexy. In this dress, I feel like both.
“You ladies ready to get this party started?” Amanda asks, standing in the door frame.
On the way to the club, we blast the radio and sing at the top of our lungs, getting ourselves pumped for the night. Unfortunately, when we get there, the line is wrapped around the building and after standing in line for twenty minutes, we still haven’t moved. Apparently the club is already at maximum capacity and the only way anyone is getting in is if somebody comes out.
Just as we’re getting ready to step out of line and go somewhere else, I feel two hands clasp my hips from behind, and a husky voice whispers in my ear, “Leaving so soon?” My body immediately reacts with a shock that moves at an intense speed from my head to my toes. Holy cow! When I finally turn around, I see Mr. Perfect from the restaurant. He is even more beautiful up close, and man, does he smell amazing.
“Yeah, we’re bailin’. This line is ridiculous,” Amanda answers for me. Apparently, I lost my speaking capabilities at the sight of him.
“No need, follow me,” he responds. Wrapping his arm around my waist, he starts walking towards the entrance.
Feeling confident, I place my hand in the back pocket of his jeans. He glances down at me with a grin that makes me weak. I guess he approves. As he walks, I can feel his butt muscles flexing with every step he takes and I’m doing everything in my power not to squeeze it. His body screams sexy. When we get up to the entrance, he whispers something into the bouncer’s ear. The hulk like man looks up at the group of people behind us. Hot pants, I think that is his new nickname, also has two other guys with him, and then there’s Amanda and Nicole. He nods and unhooks the velvet rope that crosses in front of the entrance, letting us in. Of course, there are some groans and yells from some of the people that have been waiting to get in. Feeling like a celebrity, I can’t help but smile.
After getting through the mob of people, we sit down at a booth that’s labeled reserved. I look at Amanda in confusion, but she shrugs her shoulders like she has no clue. Hot pants and his friends wait for us to have a seat and then takes our drink order.
“Um, we aren’t twenty-one,” I whisper to him.
“Don't worry about it, what's your poison?” he responds with that, ever so sexy, grin and a wink.
Biting my lip because I really don't have “a drink”, I say the only thing that comes to mind. “A Screwdriver.” I have no clue what's in it, but I know it's an alcoholic beverage.
Surprisingly, with the rows of people around the bar, they are back within minutes with our drinks. Each of the guys has some kind of beer, and Nicole and Amanda both have fruity looking drinks. I’m happy to find that a screwdriver is some liquor mixed with orange juice, and is actually pretty good. Squeezing into the booth next to me, hot pants rests his arm on the back behind my shoulders.
“Happy birthday,” he speaks softly in my ear, again making my body quiver. Is this seriously going to happen every time he talks to me?
“Thanks...and for the drink,” I respond, feeling my cheeks starting to blush.
“I'm Nolan, by the way.” he introduces himself, using his other hand to shake mine.
“Alexa,” I reply as he leans down and kisses the top of my hand, making my body melt under his touch.
“Enough chit chat, I’m ready to shake what my momma gave me.” Amanda stands up, waiting for people to move so she can get out of the booth.
“You wanna dance?” Nolan asks, looking me in the eyes.
Um, yeah! “Sure.”
Grabbing my hand, he escorts me to the dance floor. In the beginning, we dance facing each other, not really touching, just joking and laughing. Taking my hand, he spins me around, and then dips me. Even though the style of music doesn’t match our style of dancing, we’re having fun, and couldn’t care less what the people around us think.
“Doll, you wanna go get another drink?” he yells in my ear over the music.
“Yeah, sure.”
Once we get to the bar the bartender greets us, ignoring all the other people that were here before us, taking our order first. After placing our drinks in front of us, she doesn’t ask for money, just winks and walks away; There’s no mistaking that he has the in here.
After we finish our drinks, he grabs my hand and pulls me back on to the dance floor. I’m definitely starting to feel a little tipsy at this point.
“Come on, let’s go” he says with a big smile on his face.
This time when we get out to the middle of the dance floor, he swings me around in front of him, holding me closely, and dancing exactly the style one would dance to this music. Grinding, he has one of his legs in between mine, and his hands on my hips. My hands are around his neck with our faces so close that I can feel his breath on mine. Staring at each other intensely, we focus on our dancing; hot, steamy, and full of attraction. Moving in closer, he presses his lips against mine, kissing me long, deep, and hard.
Feeling his tongue touch my lips, I open my mouth, granting him permission to enter. He tastes delicious. A mixture of beer, cigarettes, and mint; the perfect bad boy blend. My fingers start creeping north to tangle in his hair and his hands move south to cup my rear.
Coming up for air, I lean my head back, and take a deep breath. Not only to fill my lungs with air, but to bring me back to earth, again. He takes this as an invitation to run his mouth down my neck, placing wet, hard kisses along the way. I let out a sigh of pleasure, loving the way his mouth feels pressed against my skin. He continues his trail of kisses until he reaches the top hem of my dress. I can feel my heart rate inc
rease, and my breathing getting heavy, wondering what his next move will be.
Unfortunately, his next move is not what I’m expecting. After resting his forehead on my chest for a second, he pushes back off of me.
“I think it's time for another drink,” he says, running his hand through his hair.
Uh yeah, that was freaking crazy hot!
When we approach the bar, I whisper in his ear that I have to use the restroom, and will be right back. I don’t really have to go to the bathroom, but I do need a moment to collect myself. I have a dozen different emotions running through me, and I am having a hard time understanding them all.
– COLLIN –
After lifting, we decide to head back to my house and play some video games. Matt uses my computer to sign onto his Facebook account. I can’t remember the last time I signed into my own account. I think it is the dumbest thing. I couldn’t care less what people are doing at every second of the day, but it seems like everyone else does. I over hear Matt say “huh” to himself.
“What's so interesting?” I ask.
He jumps like I startled him and then quickly shuts the laptop closed. “Nothing, same crap, ya know?”
I can see in his face that he is holding something back. Walking over to where he is sitting, I open the computer, and log into my account. Thankfully, my screen name and password are saved into my computer because I have no clue what they are.
“Yo man, it’s nothing.” Matt tries to intercept and close the laptop.
Pushing his hand out of the way, I open the screen back up. In the recent updates, I see a picture of Amanda, Alexa, and Nicole all dressed up. Wait a second, she’s with Nicole? That’s a little freaking weird, and what the hell does Alexa have on? I definitely have never seen that dress before. To add to the craziness, they’re standing in front of that new downtown club. My stomach immediately falls to the ground, and I can feel the anxiety building within. I click on her profile; her status says “Clubbing it up with my girls tonight”. Then I look at her information and notice she has already changed her relationship status to single. There is no sign of me anywhere on her profile. She must have deleted all of our pictures. Every time we took pictures of us together, she would always say “This is definitely a Facebook picture” so I can only imagine how many there were.
Planning on Forever Page 5