The Avoiding Series Boxset

by K. A. Linde

  Inevitably, she did end up leaving the mall with a single dress from Barney’s. Katherine had been exceedingly accurate with Lexi’s size, and without even realizing it, Lexi had found the perfect dress. And as luck turned out, it was also the most expensive dress she had ever had the luxury of trying on her tiny frame. She had gulped at the infinite number of zeros attached to the piece of paper and wondered faintly why God hated her. However, true to her word, Bekah had retrieved a black credit card from her designer bag and handed it to Katherine, paying in full for everything surrounding them. Apparently, she had answered enough questions correctly to deliver payment for her time.

  As she made her way toward the entrance, where Bekah informed her that the same town car was awaiting her, she felt strangely at ease. One of reasons she had come to Atlanta again had been successfully fulfilled. No longer would she have to agonize about Bekah, and her potentially deviant plots to get her to confess. Lexi hadn’t told her everything, but she had disclosed enough to keep her appetite hampered.

  Lexi was almost to the exit, when Bekah stopped her. “Let’s just have a peek,” she exclaimed, her eyes shifting to her right.

  Lexi’s stomach dropped at the storefront before her. Tiffany’s. Bekah had directed her straight to the entrance of Tiffany’s. Now, suffice it to say that jewelry stores made Lexi nervous. She had never been able to put her finger on it, but something about the inside of them made her skin crawl. Her body would break out into a cold sweat, and she couldn’t help but chew on her bottom lip. She couldn’t go in there.

  “I really can’t…” she stammered.

  “Oh, come on. We don’t have to get anything. Just a quick look,” Bekah said, her smile bright and vibrant at the prospect. She grabbed a hold of Lexi’s elbow and hauled her through the well-lit storefront. Bekah’s eyes barely focused on the stunning collections before her. She ignored the eager looks from the sales associates as she dragged Lexi to the counter. Lexi felt as if she had hit the top of a rollercoaster ride, and her stomach was on autopilot down the metallic runway.

  Engagement rings clouded her vision. Perfectly cut, perfectly designed, flawless engagement rings on display shining brilliantly in the light. Lexi’s hands were shaking as she reached out to touch the glass for support. This was not good. She could not be here with Bekah. It was all fine and dandy when they were shopping for dresses, but this…this was entirely different. She couldn’t imagine one of these beautiful stones on Bekah’s finger securing her to the man she loved…to the man Lexi loved. She swiped a thin layer of sweat from her brow.

  “Aren’t they gorgeous?” Bekah cooed, her extra thick blond hair framing her face as her eyes ballooned at the prospect of owning such a rock.

  “They’re…they’re something,” Lexi mumbled coughing into her wrist.

  “I’d love this one,” she said pointing to a large princess cut diamond set on a gold band.

  “Would you like to try it on?” the sales associate asked materializing out of thin air with a set of keys. He undid the lock and procured the ring from its home before she even had an option of declining.

  “Oh dear,” Bekah exclaimed taking the ring and sliding it onto her ring finger. To Lexi’s pleasant surprise it was much too large. It would have to be downsized considerably to even look remotely good on her finger. Regardless, the diamond still shone true and her French manicured hands only increased the beauty and perfection that was now placed on her hand. “Well, that won’t do quite yet,” Bekah conceded handing the ring back to the associate. “Next time perhaps,” she added.

  “I think…I should go,” Lexi said retreating.

  “Yes,” Bekah said glancing up at her, “we should go. Are you all right? You don’t look well.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Lexi said hurrying out of Tiffany’s and back into the open air. She let out a long breath and felt color return to her cheeks.

  “Well, I’ll see you Friday, if not beforehand,” Bekah said nodding her head at Lexi as she exited. Lexi fell into the cool comforting town car and forced her mind to wander in other directions. The last thing she needed to consider was engagement rings and proposals.

  Ramsey had vaguely hinted that he would be out when she returned from her shopping excursion. Something related to work though he hadn’t given any details and had evaded any further questioning on the subject. He had slipped a key into her purse before letting her out of the house, and told her that she was welcome back whenever she had completed her errands. After depositing the hanger in the upstairs guest bedroom and letting any remaining thoughts of engagements flutter from her mind, Lexi found that she was surprisingly relaxed. She had a new fabulous dress. She never had to speak to Jack’s snotty girlfriend again. And soon enough, she would be spending some much-needed time with her family. Not much else could get her this excited. The only issue that she had left to deal with was talking to Jack.

  She needed to figure out what was going on between them before she left for New York this weekend. She only had a couple days left, and every time they had been together had held sexual tension or outright anger. If she was ever going to let him go, then she needed to get everything out of the way…out in the air.

  That is how she found herself hailing a taxi to take her back to his place. It had only been three days since she had last stepped foot into his apartment, but it felt like a lifetime.

  The late night attendant, she had passed while entering the building only a couple days earlier, seemed to remember her and buzzed her through to Jack’s floor. She knocked once before twisting the knob, finding it open. The lights were dim as she entered and a flickering of light was coming from down the hall. No sounds could be heard from the apartment, and as she walked past the kitchen, candlelight seemed to take over. A hundred or more candles of varying shapes and sizes filled the living room and more lit the dining room where two plates were set and a bottle of wine sat chilled.

  Lexi’s mind was whirling. This couldn’t be for her. Why would he do something like this for her? Did he just want to confuse her? Granted, it was beautiful. She could feel tears welling to her eyes as they drifted from one romantic scene to the next. Is this what it felt like to have Jack be only yours?

  Except he wasn’t.

  He belonged to Bekah. So, what was he doing making her feel like this now? After she had confessed nearly everything to his girlfriend. After he had flown her down here to convince the new girl that she was what he wanted. Was this a thank you? Did he actually think he had to thank her for what she had done? Because this wasn’t helping her ability to get closure.

  “Do you like it?” Jack asked from behind her. Lexi turned slowly and took in the beautiful man in front of her. Thankfully, he wasn’t over dressed. He wore a pair of dark loose fit jeans and a white linen button up rolled up to his elbows. His blue eyes were momentarily hidden under his midnight hair. His complexion was dark from the summer sun, which only added to the exotic effect he was exuding.

  “I…well…yes, but why?” she asked her eyes leaving his sexy body and falling on things that she was more capable of discerning accurately with her heart racing like it was.

  “Because I needed to apologize,” he said stepping toward her.

  “Is this how you apologize to everyone?” she asked attempting to keep her eyes averted. He was standing so close she could almost feel the heat rising off of him.

  She knew he was smirking without glancing at him. “This is how I wanted to apologize to you.”

  “You shouldn’t have,” she said weakly.

  “I was out of line when I said all those terrible things to you.”

  “Jack, you shouldn’t apologize. You should let it be,” she said turning away from him completely.

  “I can’t apologize enough for what I’ve done to you over the years, for what I did to you this week, for having you come here and endure what I put you through. I can’t apologize enough for overreacting when I saw you with Ramsey. I can’t apologize enough for e
verything, but I thought I could start with dinner,” he whispered sweetly into the ear she had left exposed to him. His arms came up to encircle her miniscule waist and draw her in to him. She tried not to breathe in his delicious smell as old feelings threatened to overpower her senses. He placed a tiny kiss on her shoulder before reaching down, tugging on her hand, and pulling her into the dining room.

  “Jack, you really shouldn’t have done all of this,” she said as he tucked her into the dining room chair.

  “I think that I should have, and who are you to turn down a man begging for forgiveness?” he asked with another smirk directed her way.

  Lexi sighed and waited for him to be seated before continuing, “We really need to talk.”

  “I agree,” he said, “how is the chicken?”

  Lexi glanced down at her food realizing for the first time that there was, in fact, chicken on her plate. She dug her fork into the meat and tasted the morsel. “Good. Did you cook this?” she asked in surprise.

  “For you.”

  She nodded wondering when he had ever learned how to cook. Last she had checked macaroni and cheese had been too difficult for him. Now he was creating delicious entrees? “Okay, well, thank you, but we really do need to talk.”

  “You’re right. I need to apologize. Would you like me to begin?”

  “Uh…”

  “I should have never called you.” Lexi glanced up from her plate to stare at him in surprise.

  “I’m not sure what Bekah told you or what y’all have spoken about, but I shouldn’t have dragged you into this. What we…were shouldn’t have been put on display like I’ve been making you do with Bekah. Does that make sense? What I’m trying to say is that I know why I didn’t tell Bekah about you in the first place.”

  “You do?” Lexi asked finishing off her first glass of wine as quickly as possible. The alcohol was working its way through her system and leaving her with a buzz, which helped.

  “I couldn’t bear her knowing what I’d done to you, how I’d broken you. And I see it now. I see that I broke you into a million pieces and then left you there. I didn’t want her to know I was capable of that. Did you tell her I was capable of that?” he asked directing his question toward her for the first time, expecting an answer.

  “I…I didn’t tell her that,” she whispered watching his face morph from despair to intrigue.

  “But why didn’t you? You could have told her. You could have told her everything.”

  “I know, Jack,” Lexi admitted placing her fork back down on the plate. The tiny appetite she had entered with had now gone.

  “Then why didn’t you tell her? She calls me telling me she loves me, telling me that I’m everything to her. She says that you’ve opened her eyes to who I really am, but does she know who I really am, Lexi? Does anyone other than you know who I am?” he asked standing and approaching her chair. Yanking the chair from the table he rested his hands on either side of the armrest and bore down upon her.

  She tilted her face up to his. “I don’t know, Jack. Have you showed anyone else?” she asked staring up into his giant baby blues.

  He shook his head letting his eyes close and his head drop forward. She couldn’t help but be amazed at his beauty even in that moment. “I’ve never known how to talk to anyone like I can with you, Lex. I’m not even sure if the woman I’ve been with the past year and a half has a clue who I am,” he announced licking his lips before continuing. “And when I’m with you, I just know. You know?”

  She did, but could she tell him that? Should she tell him that? After everything she had told Bekah today and what she had gone through for him every day since they had met, of course she knew what he was talking about. She had been his constant all along. What Bekah had been saying suddenly clicked in Lexi’s mind.

  She was the reason for all of this.

  And that realization in itself pushed Lexi to nod her head in agreement. “I know exactly what you mean.”

  His head came up. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind something had clicked inside of him as well. He scooped her up out of the chair and crushed his lips to hers. He kicked the chair out of his way and pushed her body back against the wall. Tilting his head sideways, he kissed her deeper, feeling around with his tongue for every vantage point. She moaned as his hands grabbed at her waist and hips. His mouth moved away from her lips to kiss her earlobe, neck, and collarbone, taking in as much of her as he could. He returned to her mouth when she clawed at his back begging to taste him again. It had been nearly two years since they had last kissed, but the way they moved together made it seem that like only yesterday. He could still remember every delicate curve of her body from memory, and she continued to revel in the feel of his skin against hers once again.

  She wanted him so bad in that moment, but not like this. She wanted him as hers. She wanted him to be her own. No longer could she play the game of sharing him with another. If he was to have her and all of her, she needed the same. She needed him to only belong to her.

  “I’m sorry,” he said pulling back softly as he noticed her desire wane. “I’m sorry again and again. I couldn’t control myself.” His hand came up softly to her face and cupped her cheek. “You’re so beautiful.”

  “I’m sorry, too. We shouldn’t be in this position again. I want us to be…us,” she finally admitted to him. “I want you to be mine.”

  He nodded. “I know. I know what you mean.”

  “And I’m okay holding off until you are mine, Jack.” He nodded again. “I need to know if that is a reality for us one day or if I’m wasting my time on you.”

  His thumb caressed her cheek affectionately as the time stretched between them. “I don’t think you’re wasting your time. When I’m with you, I know I’m not wasting my time.”

  Lexi nodded letting a smile touch the edges of her mouth. “Oh, Jack,” she sighed happily planting another kiss on his mouth. She hadn’t felt this euphoric in nearly two years. Something about him always brought out the best feelings in her. And now it looked like things were actually going to work out for them, and they were going to do it the right way.

  They let the night recede into morning as they stayed up together sharing stories and remembering what it was like to be in love. The easy flirtatiousness that they had always shared was dampened by the impending emotions that were sure to come forth once they got everything worked out. Instead, they enjoyed each other’s company along with the rest of the bottle of wine until the candles died out, and they both fell asleep.

  NOVEMBER—ONE AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER

  “Are you sure we have to have this sleepover at your place?” Chyna asked eyeing the dorm hallway reproachfully. “You do know I own a penthouse overlooking Central Park, right?”

  Lexi rolled her eyes dramatically. “Yes, I’ve been there before. It’s beautiful, but you can’t get the college experience in a penthouse.”

  “I take it back,” she said looking at a particularly large brown stain on one wall, “I don’t want to know what it’s like to be in college. That’s why I didn’t go. I’ve been dating college guys since I was fifteen. If I’ve managed to avoid a dorm room for five years, then I’m not meant to be in one. Really, I’m peachy keen, chica.”

  “You’re not getting out of this that easy,” Lexi growled snatching a hold of one of Chyna’s delicate wrists and yanking her further down the hallway. “And anyway, how did you get away with that?”

  “With what?” she asked innocently.

  “Dating college guys.”

  “My penthouse was my sweet sixteen present. Happy Birthday princess! We’re getting divorced. Move out,” she said giggling sardonically. “It really was the best thing they could do for me since I didn’t have access to my trust and couldn’t purchase it myself.”

  Lexi had gotten used to this loathing hateful attitude Chyna displayed toward her parents. It was pretty commonplace. Lexi tried not to broach the subject too often since she had no experience in w
hat Chyna was going through. Her parents, after all, were still happily married after nearly thirty years together. It truly saddened Lexi that Chyna’s perception of relationships was so warped. The fact that her parents hadn’t completely jaded her toward all human interaction was a miracle in and of itself. “Now that you have access, why don’t you get rid of it?” she asked. Though, she couldn’t blame her for holding onto the beautiful apartment.

  “I’ve replaced nearly everything inside from knocking out walls and replacing the floorboards. It’s not like it’s the same place anymore. Did I mention it overlooks Central Park?”

  Lexi resisted the urge to mention that the penthouse was also the last gift Chyna had ever received jointly from her parents. She highly suspected that was the real reason for never selling the place.

  Lexi could easily admit that an NYU dorm room was nothing compared to Chyna’s apartment, but she was far from ashamed of the place.

  She shared a common area with three other girls, all who had been admitted into the law school that fall. The space was cluttered with knick-knacks from each other’s previous residences. A mismatching couch and loveseat were crushed together in front of the TV. The kitchen didn’t even have a stove because it was a safety hazard. This explained why their tiny freezer was always overstocked with microwavable dinners. Lexi had one of the rooms, if you could call them that. She hadn’t lived in a lofted bed since her freshman year of college. But if she hadn’t put her bed nearly touching the ceiling, nothing else would have fit in the space. A tiny desk, rolling chair, and miniature refrigerator were crammed under the bed. The rest of the furniture was built into the room. Somehow she wasn’t embarrassed to bring her rich friend back to her place even if her room was as big as the girl’s closet. She was in New York City at a top five-law school. This was how people were supposed to live or at least that’s what she kept telling herself.