by K. A. Linde
“Right…things are sooo different now. Just…leave me alone, Jack.”
“Okay,” he began stepping into her personal space and forcing her to look up at him. “So maybe things aren’t completely different, but they have changed. So let’s just get out of here. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
He had moved his hand up so that it was cupping her cheek. Her watery brown eyes were looking up at him. How many times had she been in this similar position before? She couldn’t even think about that right now. She was fighting off the alcohol-induced hormones running rampant throughout her body. He shouldn’t have talked about kissing her and then touched her the way he was doing. That just wasn’t fair.
“It’s too late for that,” she whispered stepping away from his comforting touch. “You’ve done more damage than anyone else.”
“Lex, come on. Stop talking like that. Let’s just go.”
The door swung back open revealing Bekah and Ramsey. Lexi quickly turned around to face away from the door and forcefully brushed away the tears that had seeped out of her eyes. She didn’t need them seeing her this way. It was bad enough that Ramsey had almost seen her cry. She could do without Bekah having that advantage over her as well. Not to mention she had no idea what she looked like. Jack completely threw her emotions around. One minute she was on fire. The next she was near tears. Back and forth. She knew one thing though. She couldn’t be around him right now. It would surely end in disaster.
“Jack, let’s get out of here,” Bekah said pulling him backward away from Lexi.
She didn’t exactly look pleased. Bekah shot Ramsey a disdainful look as she yanked on Jack’s arm. Ramsey just smiled that perfect Country Club smile. Apparently, he had won out in the end.
“Lex, are you sure you’re not coming?” Jack pleaded one last time.
“No, Ramsey’s going to get her a hotel,” Bekah told him practically dragging him away.
“Oh.” He quickly composed himself. “I’ll see you. Later,” he said tilting his head at Ramsey after giving Lexi one last look and exiting with Bekah.
Lexi breathed out not having even realized she had been holding her breath. How had she let herself deal with his behavior for so long? She had such strong feelings for him and yet all they could seem to do was argue. God, it was so typical of him. She didn’t know what to do. Her head was killing her already. She didn’t even want to imagine her hangover tomorrow.
Luckily, Ramsey didn’t seem to try to push his advantage. And when he glanced at her, he didn’t ask all of the nagging questions he was dying to get answers for. Bekah had been just as secretive about the whole situation. Confirming, at least, that in some strange way, she was involved. His little sister had actually told him to just back off from the situation and Lexi. Though he could tell she was less vehemently concerned about the second demand…and more so with covering her ass.
Lexi wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to keep up pretenses if Ramsey wanted to talk about what had happened. She certainly wasn’t ready to spill her beans as she had proven when she had spoken with Bekah. There was no way she’d be able to talk to Ramsey. She was grateful when he smoothly requested her presence on the dance floor. As emotionally drained as she felt, that definitely sounded like a better option than thinking about Jack anymore. Which is exactly what she did…she stopped thinking about Jack and indulged a little bit more in the wonderful quantities of alcohol Ramsey was providing.
The next morning Lexi could feel her head splitting open. She couldn’t even open her eyes. If she opened her eyes, she was certain the pain would be unbearable. She couldn’t even think of anything besides the pain. What could she last remember about the previous night?
She had kissed Ramsey. Yeah, that was pretty clear. And the nasty things that Jack had spat at her were still relatively clear in her mind. Though they didn’t sting quite as much now that she was sober and had other much more physically painful things to deal with. Then her and Ramsey had danced and danced and danced. She didn’t even know how long they had danced. From there things just sort of went fuzzy. Had she blacked out? She was pretty sure she hadn’t blacked out since her twenty-first birthday, and the next morning twenty-one slash marks in black permanent marker were on her wrist letting her know how much she had drank way too much. No way had she had that much last night.
Reluctantly, she blearily opened her eyes and found herself in a strangely meticulous bedroom. A very foreign bedroom. Definitely not a hotel room. Shit! This was not good. Hadn’t Bekah said that Ramsey was going to check her into a hotel room? Not that it would have looked very good for him to check her into a hotel room in her condition. Don’t hotels frown upon that? God, she had no idea. She’d never gotten herself into this situation before.
She didn’t want to face the truth. Maybe Jack had been right. She knew nothing about Ramsey other than that he came from money and was related to Jack’s girlfriend. If Jack couldn’t even vouch for him, maybe he wasn’t such a good guy after all.
She peered under the huge white down comforter and silky blue sheets to find that she was clothed in a pair of red plaid boxers and a white undershirt that was at least three times too big. Yeah, not even close to what she had been wearing last night. She rubbed her eyes vigorously hoping that maybe something else would come to her. Anything else. But she simply didn’t remember what had happened or how she had ended up here in this strange place in some guy’s oversized clothes.
Even before she lifted her head off of the enormous feather pillow, she knew it was a mistake. Spasms of pain shot throughout her entire body sending her sprawling back against the bed. The pain was all-consuming and instantly made her feel nauseous. If she had thought she had wanted to throw up last night, it was nothing compared to the desire she was having right now. But realizing she was in a strange person’s bedroom with no clue as to where a bathroom was, she lay back down and took several calming breaths before attempting to stand up again. Steadying herself on the dark wood footboard, she took a swift analysis of her surroundings. The room was plain, but she could tell that the furniture was high quality. A MacBook Pro sat unopened on the desk, but there were no cluttered stacks of papers or half full glasses like at her apartment. The walls were blank giving off a guest bedroom vibe, but something about the space convinced her otherwise. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Then she glanced back at the bed. There weren’t any throw pillows on the bed. She had noticed over the years that guest bedrooms always had useless throw pillows that most people neglected to place on beds they frequently slept on.
She reached for the nearest door, which opened to a rather large walk in closet. The clothes were organized by style and color. It was almost terrifying how neat the closet was in comparison to her own mishmash of clothing stuffed into the tiny space at home. She shut the door behind her and walked achingly across the room to another door. This revealed a short blank hallway with several other doors and a staircase. She shuffled down the hallway, down the staircase, and around the corner into a familiar kitchen area.
Sighing heavily, she realized she had spent the night at Ramsey’s apartment. Panic hit her. Had she slept with him? Had anything happened? She put her hand to her head and trudged over to the sink. Fumbling with a glass she produced from a cabinet, she poured herself some water, refilled the glass, and downed another. That helped, but not enough to ease the gnawing ache at the pit of her stomach.
The front door crashed open and she swiveled a little too fast for the headache that had taken residence in her temples. Ramsey flanked by the two roommates she had met the night before paraded into the room together not taking any notice of Lexi. She became increasingly aware that she was wearing men’s sleeping clothes with no bra, she had not seen a mirror, and she had the feeling she would be hungover until the next day at least. This all added up her looking terrible and wishing she had tried another door to get to a bathroom. Knowing they were all about to look at her in her condition made her already angry
stomach lash out at her.
Ramsey didn’t even miss a beat when he looked at her. She looked like she had been through hell and back last night. Her long brown hair was tousled and tangled, and she looked a green tinge to her skin. But it did nothing to detract from her beauty. It was quite apparent that she needed nothing to make herself look good.
“Oh good, you’re awake. I was afraid you were going to die up there.” His roommates gaped at her before smirking at each other and venturing upstairs leaving her and Ramsey alone.
Lexi hadn’t worn a watch so she had no idea of the time. Apparently, this was starting to become a trend around Ramsey. “What time is it?” she croaked hating the way her voice sounded all throaty in the morning.
He could have listened to her speak all day with how sexy her voice was in the morning. “Nearly two.”
“Oh my God!” she yelled too loud for her own ears. She pushed her palms to her temples and cringed. “Two in the afternoon?” she moaned.
“Yeah, we would have brought you back lunch, but we weren’t sure what you wanted. So, I just got you coffee,” he said holding up a brown Starbucks cup. She stared at it like it was her lifeline.
“Uh…thanks,” she said awkwardly reaching for the glass. “How did I end up in your guest bedroom last night and not at a hotel?” she meekly asked the question that was on her mind.
“You weren’t in my guest bedroom. You were in my room,” he corrected her taking a step into her personal space.
It was as she had dreaded. She had slept with him. God, she just wanted to bury her face in her hands. She didn’t even remember sleeping with him. Had he been good? Had they been careful? Ugh…she felt like such a slut.
“I dragged you up there after you passed out on my couch last night. I got you awake enough for you to change into this,” he gestured to her clothing. “Then tucked you into my bed where you proceeded to pass out again. And now here you are,” he muttered quickly.
“Wait, we didn’t sleep together?” she asked blushing furiously as the question tumbled out of her mouth.
“I didn’t know you wanted to,” he chirped smiling down brightly at her. How did he look so good in the morning…oh wait, afternoon?
“Oh, I didn’t say that I did. I just assumed…” she trailed off.
“No, I did exactly what I said I was going to do except the part where you slept in a hotel. I thought you would like better accommodations than that.”
“Where did you sleep?”
“Couch.”
“Oh, well, thank you.” So she had been wrong. She liked knowing that her judgment was still intact. Jack had been completely misguided...just jealous ramblings of an ex-lover. Fantastic.
“Anytime,” he said still not leaving her personal space.
“I know that you did a great thing by letting me stay at your place, but we really need to work on your manners Country Club boy,” she quipped.
“My manners?” he inquired.
“Yeah. Personal space,” she reminded him sticking her hand out and pushing him back a step.
“Right. I forgot.”
“Oh, black coffee. How did you know?” she asked after guzzling a good quantity into her system.
“I paid attention at brunch yesterday.”
“Oh God, was that yesterday?”
“Yeah, hey, do you want to go get some lunch?” he couldn’t help asking.
Lexi stared at him amazed. Was he asking her out? No way was that happening. Sure they had kissed and he had let her stay at his place, but that probably happened all the time. He was just being kind. And besides that she looked and felt terrible. He had to see that on her. Was he just humoring her?
“Uh...I don’t have any clothes. They were in Jack’s car.”
“He left them,” he said evading her first excuse.
“I still feel kind of shitty,” she admitted.
“All right then, how about dinner?” he asked prepared for this.
“Oh,” she began chewing on her bottom lip and pushing her hair behind her ears. What was she supposed to say? He had been very generous and all she had been was rude to him. She figured she at least owed him that much. “Well, I guess we could do that.”
“I mean you don’t have to go,” he said misinterpreting her hesitation.
“No, no, we should go. I appreciate what you did for me last night.”
“Hey, it’s no problem. I’m letting you pay me back by allowing me to take you to dinner,” he said smoothly scratching the back of his head thoughtfully as he looked at her.
She smiled for the first time that morning. He had decided that he liked her smile much more than the frown she normally sent his way. He wasn’t sure how he elicited such anger from her, but he would work much harder from now on so long as she continued smiling like that.
“All right. Sounds like a plan.”
“Like a date,” he corrected sending her his most charming smile he could muster.
NOVEMBER—TWO AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER
“You busy?”
Lexi read the text message she received from Jack and smiled. She relaxed back against Clark’s passenger seat. They were on their way back to his place from eating at a quaint downtown deli before finals.
“Not sure. I’m w/ Clark. What’s up?”
“Who’s that?” Clark asked his eyebrows furrowing as he watched her fingers slide against her beat up phone.
“Oh,” she said her head snapping up as she pressed the send button, “Jack’s just seeing what we’re doing tonight.”
“I want to see your sexy little body.”
Lexi’s grin widened at the message. “You miss me?”
“What did you tell him?” Clark questioned her, taking the turn a little faster than she had anticipated. Lexi’s shoulder slammed into the doorframe, and she readjusted in her seat glancing nervously at her boyfriend.
“That it was up to you,” she told him returning to her text message.
“It’s been five fucking long days!”
“Well, in that case, maybe I can get away.”
“Did you want to do something?” Clark asked attempting to read the message over her shoulder.
“Doesn’t matter to me. We can if you want,” she said her head still buried in her phone. “Did you want to?”
“Do that. I can’t wait another minute without you.”
“I mean, I was planning on going home,” he said checking her reaction.
She snapped her phone shut and turned to face him in her seat. “You want to leave?” she gasped. “I thought we were going to do something together this weekend. You were gone all last weekend with MBA stuff. Don’t go.” Clark had been accepted into their school’s prestigious Business graduate program at the end of last year. It had been extremely beneficial that he had received the offer since that meant that he wasn’t leaving for Atlanta to find a job. Instead, he would be able to stay in town for her senior year.
“I’ll try. No promises.”
“Lex, I’ll make it worth it.”
“I haven’t seen my parents in a long time though. You know that.”
“I know, but Thanksgiving isn’t even until Thursday. Do you have to leave so early?” she asked. They had originally planned on going to their parents separately on Wednesday and staying through until the next weekend.
“You could come with me,” he offered.
Lexi crinkled her nose. Lexi loved Clark’s parents. They were caring and loving and always wanted to take them out, but she had thought they were going to spend some much needed alone time together. Guess he had a different agenda. “You know I have that big paper due.”
“Oh I know you will make it worth it.”
“Then what’s stopping you?” Jack asked.
“It’d only be for the weekend. You’d still have the rest of the break to work on your paper.”
“Yeah, maybe. I just feel really behind. With applications, LSAT, and everything, I’ve just had no time to work o
n this paper, and it’s due as soon as we get back.”
“Maybe I’ll just go tonight and be back to be with you tomorrow. Would that give you more time to work on it?”
“Clark.”
“…”
“I shouldn’t. I can’t.”
“You won’t. It’s different.”
Lexi stuck out her bottom lip. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“What if he’s in town? I can’t get away.”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“So, what’s Jack doing tonight?” Clark asked eyeing her suspiciously. “I didn’t think y’all were still talking that much.”
“We’re not really. I guess he’s just bored. He’s talking about going out downtown.”
“What about Kate?”
“What about her?”
“Is he trying to get a group together?” Clark asked curiously.
“I guess so.”
Clark pulled his phone out of his pocket and lit up the screen. “Hmm…I’m surprised he didn’t message me too.”
“We come as a match set. There’d be no reason to send messages to both of us,” she informed him.
“How are you going to get away from her?”
“I don’t know. I’ll just tell her I don’t want to hang out tonight.”
“That simple?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose you’re right. Maybe after you’re finished with your studying you could go out tonight. Hang out with the crew and all. You’ve been too stressed lately.”
“Maybe,” she stated uncertainly.
“Clark thinks we’re all going out tonight.”
“Why did you tell him that?”
“He was asking a lot of questions...”
“You should text Seth and see if he’s going. That way you’re guaranteed a good time, and plenty of girls to diffuse his advances,” he said chuckling to himself. “Want me to text him?”
“Oh, no,” she said quickly. She was pretty sure Jack hadn’t messaged anyone else about it. “I have his number.”