The Avoiding Series Boxset

by K. A. Linde

  Seth threw his hands up. “Geez, Clark, you’re very forward. I feel like we’ve just met. At least take me to dinner first.”

  “Ha. Ha,” Clark said sarcastically, placing his tickets firmly back into his own pocket.

  “Hey guys,” Jack said, laughing along with the rest at their behavior. “Not sure if you’ve met already, but this is Lexi.”

  The guys gave their names and nodded hellos. That was all the introduction they afforded her before they were ready to attack the rides. “Let’s hit the Bumper Cars before the line wraps around the park,” Seth said, edging toward the far side of the field.

  “Bumper Cars? No way. I’m never riding Bumper Cars with you assholes again. Y’all gang up on me every time,” Luke complained. “Can we just do something like the Scrambler?”

  Seth rolled his eyes. “Don’t be such a fag, Luke. We would never pick on you. How old do you think we are?”

  This coming from the guy who just snagged someone else’s tickets.

  After finally convincing Luke to join them, the group moved over to get into line for the Bumper Cars. Jack sidled up to Lexi. “We actually do gang up on Luke,” he whispered in her ear, laughing. “Better make sure you join in on the fun. His reaction will be well worth it.”

  Of course, he was right. Luke instantly began pummeling anything he could get his hands on, even knocking over a tiny blonde in his angst. His friends’ laughter only egged him on further.

  Jack slung his arm across Lexi’s shoulders as they doubled over in a fit of giggles. “I cannot believe him,” she said, wiping away tears of laughter.

  “He is a riot,” Jack confirmed, watching Luke try to take a swing at Seth who ducked under his half-hearted blow easily. “Why don’t we get you something to rot your teeth,” Jack suggested, pulling her away from his friends who had begun to brawl outside of the Bumper Cars and directing them toward the cotton candy machine. “So tell me, Lex, what do you normally do on Friday nights?”

  She shrugged. “I hang out with my roommate or Olivia, go downtown, see movies, game nights, dinners, fraternity parties,” she added at last.

  “Cool. I like to do all of those things,” he said with an easy-going smile.

  “Fraternity parties?” she questioned raising an eyebrow.

  “Mike’s in a fraternity. So, yes, even fraternity parties. Probably not as often as my freshman year though.”

  Lexi snatched a piece of the sweet pink cloud and stuck it in her mouth as they walked toward the Ferris wheel. The sticky goodness dissolved almost instantly leaving a trail of sugar across her lips. Jack’s eyes had zeroed in on the traces of the candy still on her lips. She licked them experimentally tasting a mixture of her lip-gloss and sugar.

  “You’re such a mess,” he said indicating where she had missed a spot. His eyes gave away other thoughts.

  The Ferris wheel line had already begun to wrap around the edge of the giant machine. The two placed themselves at the back of the line and continued their conversation.

  “What’s your major?” he asked, plopping a piece of the cotton candy into his own mouth.

  “As of today, I’m undecided,” she proclaimed cheerfully.

  “An indecisive one, I like it.”

  “I’m not indecisive. Just open minded.”

  “Same thing.”

  “Well, what’s your major, Mr. Decisive.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not decisive, just practical. I’m Pre-Business, likely going to the accounting route. Not so sure though.”

  Lexi wrinkled her nose. “Eww. I’ll forestall practical. Thank you!”

  His laugh boomed out of him. “Yeah, it’s what I’m good at.”

  “At least there are a lot of jobs out there for you. Not much a person can do while being undecided and what I really want to do has only a few more jobs than that,” she said, shrugging her shoulders helplessly.

  “And what is that? What do you really want to do?” he asked, giving her a very serious meaningful look.

  Lexi considered not telling him for an instant then gave in. “Gymnastics.” Her eyes glazed over at the thought of being able to fly through the air, jumping effortlessly from a springboard, weatherworn calluses coating her hands from the uneven bars.

  “That’s awesome. Have you talked to the Gymnastics Team here? If you like it so much, you should try out,” he said enthusiastically.

  She shook herself out of her cloudy visions. “No,” she responded solemnly.

  “Why not?”

  “You don’t just try out for the Gymnastics Team here. They’re amazing. If they don’t recruit you, then you have no chance. No walk-ons. Nothing.”

  “How do you know that? Were you recruited?”

  “No, I wasn’t,” she said a bit sharper than she had intended, the bitterness sneaking into her voice.

  “Oh, well, I know one of the gymnasts. I bet she could talk to the coach. Even if you can’t be on the team, you could probably practice with them.” The glance she gave to him was as if she were approaching a Martian. “Ok, maybe not,” he said raising his eyebrows and taking another bite of the cotton candy to prevent himself from speaking again.

  “Even if I could get to talk with the coach, there would be no way she would let me practice with them,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  “Never know until you try,” he said, swallowing the remaining bit. “Here we are.” Jack handed the man four orange tickets, and ushered Lexi into a big swinging yellow bucket with the number twenty-five plastered against the back.

  Lexi felt weightless as the machine cranked them around in an endless circle. They rotated three or four times, Jack shaking their bucket back and forth until he rattled the whole ride. A large girl with too tight jeans and a way too tight shirt rode in front of them threatening him the whole time.

  “Calm down,” she said, putting her hand on his knee. “We don’t want to get kicked off.”

  “I know the guy who’s running it. No way we’ll get kicked off,” he said, throwing his arm across the back of the bucket seat, but stopping nonetheless.

  As they made their final rotation, the ride crawled to a stop leaving Jack and Lexi on the very top of the ride looking out across the open fields. Jack’s arm fell from the seat back and landed gingerly across her shoulders. She allowed him to pull her into him, her head falling into place between his shoulder and neck. She sighed contentedly, gazing out across the night sky filled with twinkling white stars burning in the distance.

  They spent the next several hours perusing the carnival life. He even won her a huge teddy bear from a darts game. She held it tightly as they made their way toward the exit with the rest of the crowd. A plump associate stuffed two green t-shirts in their hands as they stepped across the threshold. The distance back to the dorm felt like only seconds compared to earlier in the evening. Jack skidded to a halt in front of the hill that led up to the dorm entrance.

  “Do you want me to park and walk you up?” he asked, turning his warning blinkers on again.

  “No, not necessary. Thanks,” she said, grabbing her purse from the floor and raising it to her shoulder. With shirt and bear in hand, she popped the door open.

  “Hey, wait,” he said, putting the car in park and darting around to the other side.

  He reached her, immediately pulling her into him. She slid her arms up around his neck feeling him press up against her. He picked her up letting her legs dangle when he stood up straight. “I hope you don’t mind, but I couldn’t leave without a hug,” he said squeezing her a little tighter.

  “Oh no,” she breathed, “I don’t mind at all.”

  Jack placed her back on her feet, and she stared dreamily up into his eyes. He bent down planting a light kiss on her cheek before straightening up once again and making his way back to the driver’s side. Lexi waved as he barreled down the road leaving her standing there breathless.

  It had definitely been a date.

  The next few weeks went by in a blur.
Lexi and Jack were together as much as humanly possible. When he was working at the coffee shop, she could be found studying across from his counter. When her classes let out, he was waiting for her outside the old brick building with a steaming cup of her favorite brew and a moist slice of pound cake or a blueberry muffin. She became a regular in their household staying up late into the night playing video games. His roommates didn’t mind her coming over, mostly because they loved the look on Luke’s face when she kicked his ass at Mario Kart.

  The only time they didn’t spend together was football games. Olivia’s legacy went back several generations, and Lexi usually followed her to their tailgate spot on North Campus along with the rest of their friends. Jack typically had a space reserved with his buddies on East Campus. Since he was from Savannah, he tended to return there during away games, and Lexi found that she missed him more than she was willing to admit. That’s why she had designated Sunday movie night.

  On this particular movie night, Lexi accepted his easy hug as she walked through his door. She snuggled up into his sweater inhaling the familiar smell of his cologne as it lingered on his skin and in his clothes.

  “This weekend seemed to drag on forever,” Lexi whispered into his ear.

  “I know. I missed you too,” he murmured, directing her toward the couch. When he looked at her again, he said, “You’re beautiful.”

  A smile stretched across her face. “Thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself,” she said, knocking her hip against his before falling against the brown suede couch

  He landed next to her. Throwing her dark chocolate boat shoes onto the carpet, she stretched her legs out crossing them on the coffee table.

  “So, what are we watching tonight?” she asked scanning his impressive collection of movies.

  Before he had a chance to answer her, his phone buzzed on the table. Attempting to be courteous, Lexi reached forward to hand it to him, but he was too quick. He eagerly snatched it up off the table and stood to read the name on the caller id. After a brief pause, he clicked a button to silence it.

  His eyes turned back to her, and Lexi met his gaze expectantly. “I’ll call them back,” he said, falling back into his place at her side. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, burying his head into her hair. “You smell like Heaven,” he said, taking a big long whiff.

  She giggled, smacking his hand playfully. “I showered before I came over.”

  “Well…that’s a nice change.”

  She smacked him harder this time, pushing at one of his arms that was holding her tightly in place. “Stop sniffing me like a dog.”

  “Then stop smelling so damn good,” he said breathing her in several more times.

  His face was so close to her body that she could almost feel his lips against her bare neck. She stopped struggling and tuned into how her body was reacting to him being so near. Her breathing had quickened and her body felt warm all over. His nose brushed lightly up against her ear. She shivered as goose bumps broke out across her arms and down her back at his touch. He didn’t let her go, and he didn’t back off. This was new and she liked it.

  “God, I want you, Lex,” he said running a line of kisses down her exposed jaw line.

  Lexi’s eyes closed of their own accord. As his kisses intensified moving from her jaw to her ear and then down her neck, she sighed heavily cocking her head back to allow him easier access. He laid her gently back against the couch moving his body so that it was hovering just above her with one leg positioned between hers. Their eyes met briefly before his mouth moved from one cheek to another experimentally. She sighed as he inched closer to her wet, trembling lips. Her hardly contained desire let loose a moan as he pushed himself against her. Lacing her fingers through his hair, she gazed up into his crystal clear blue eyes practically begging him to continue. He leaned forward to meet her lips. She sighed happily waiting for that moment, but it never came. Just before his lips touched hers, his phone buzzed noisily in his pocket. His attention wavered and he pulled back from her body.

  “Don’t stop,” she urged him, leaning forward and planting a kiss of her own on his cheek. “You can call whoever it is back.”. The limbo he left her in was like torture. She hadn’t said so, but her desire for him was overflowing and they had yet to even kiss.

  He smiled at her lovingly and kissed her cheek before moving from his position on top of her. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, he took a look at the name, and once again silenced it.

  “You’re right. I can just call them back.”

  He hopped off the couch and quickly scooped her up into his arms. Lexi laughed unexpectedly as he effortlessly carried her into his room kicking the door open with his foot. She fell back against the navy blue comforter, her shirt sliding up nearly to her chest. She stretched languidly, allowing him a full view of her lean muscled body. He crawled from the foot of the bed up to her abdomen and left one lone kiss next to her bellybutton. His hands raked the bare skin as he traveled upwards from there. Sighing contentedly, she felt his lips make their way back to her neck. He darted his tongue against her tender skin making her writhe.

  “Oh, Jack,” she breathed.

  Bringing his head up to look at her, she noticed his breath was coming in short puffs. She teasingly wiggled her hips first from side-to-side and then in small circles, watching as he groaned on top of her.

  “You’re so mean.”

  “Really? I thought I was being really nice,” she replied, twirling her hips in a figure eight.

  “A little too nice.” He sighed closing his eyes as she ran her tongue along his earlobe. “You’ve found my weakness,” he moaned, grabbing her arms in his hands and pushing them above her head, forcing her back against the bed.

  “Well, if I found your weakness, then you shouldn’t push me away.”

  Her eyes were smoldering. One thought and only one thought filled her head; she did not want to be away from him. A cute flirtatious smile crossed her face. She glanced from his baby blues to his pouty lips and back, not sure which she preferred more at that moment.

  “I don’t want to push you away, but I’m going to take advantage of you if you keep doing that,” he said, rolling over to the other side of the bed.

  Lexi flipped her leg as he rolled, straddling his body. “I haven’t even gotten a kiss,” she said leaning in close to him, “so I don’t feel as if I’m in much danger of being taken advantage of.”

  “You are the most amazing girl I’ve ever met,” he said, brushing his fingers across her cheek.

  Her lips landed lightly on his and instantly knew she wanted more. Just as he began to react, his pocked vibrated making Lexi jump backward in exasperation. He swore under his breath.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said, yanking out the phone as he casually adjusted his erection. She watched him exit the room and turn toward the back door out of earshot.

  Falling back against the bed, she sighed heavily. She couldn’t tell if she was being too forward. Even though they had only been hanging out for a couple of weeks, she could tell he was really into her. She was unbelievably ready for his lips to be on her. Normally, when she was in this position, guys were absolutely dying to get in her pants. It’s not that Jack hadn’t acted like he wanted to kiss her…do more than kiss her. He just hadn’t even tried. She respected that he respected her, but enough was enough. She yanked her shirt back into place and sat up straight-backed against the black headboard folding her arms across her knees.

  “Sorry about that,” he apologized, as he came around the corner scratching the back of his head.

  “It’s all right.” Her smile had lost its fire. “How about that movie?”

  They retreated back to the living room; both attempting to forget that they had been so close to ravishing each other’s bodies only a few short minutes earlier. As time went by, their encounters continued, each with as much or more intensity as the last. Then, they would stop, always just a little bit farther tha
n the last time. He captivated her thoughts, and was even beginning to make his way into her dreams. The previous night, her dream had felt so real. When she had woken up to find herself in her dorm room, rather than wrapped in Jack’s arms, she had been so frustrated she had actually woken Jennifer up. It was safe to say neither girl had been pleased.

  The next day, Lexi forced herself to survive her three classes before driving over to Jack’s house. She knew that he had the day off, and was anxious to see him. After the exceedingly vivid dream, she could hardly concentrate without images of him pressed against her entering her mind. She knocked on the door to announce her presence, and then pushed it open without waiting for a response. Jack was standing in the living room talking on his cell phone. He glanced over at the door as she entered and held up a finger as if to tell her he would just be a minute. He moved into the bedroom and closed the door as she sat down on the couch to wait.

  Lexi had gotten dressed with extra special care today, hoping to make an even more vivacious impression than usual. Even Jennifer, whose endorsement was practically nonexistent, had approved when she had chosen a short purple dress that buttoned around the neck with a keyhole revealing a portion of her breasts. She slid her grey pea coat off and deposited it on the couch armrest.

  Jack wandered into the room and she eagerly hopped up from her seat to greet him. The smile he returned to her was weak and he held up his hand. “Lexi,” he said her name as if reprimanding her. She couldn’t help it, she radiated with energy. Her curls bounced in her face as she backed away obediently. She looked at him concerned, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

  “Sorry,” she said, smiling playfully, trying to play off the seriousness of his appearance. She didn’t know why she was sorry just that he off somehow.

  “No, Lex, it’s fine. I just need to talk to you about some stuff,” he said, averting his eyes.

  Lexi paused in her excitement and took a good hard look at him. Large black circles ringed his eyes as if he hadn’t slept the night before…for several days even. Obviously, he hadn’t been having the same dreams as her. His clothes, which were normally in pristine condition, hung off him wrought with wrinkles. He hadn’t even given her a hug when she had walked in. Something serious was going on.