by K. A. Linde
Lexi cursed under her breath as the name filled the screen: Ramsey Bridges.
She could think of a million and a half reasons for him to be calling her. None of which she wanted to deal with at this moment in time.
Lexi threw her head back roughly against the incredibly soft down pillow and bit the inside of her lip to keep from cursing aloud. Just as she was about to swing her legs over the side of the bed and trek downstairs, the phone lit up one more time. This time the ding alerting her of a text message filled the empty bedroom.
Reluctantly, Lexi clicked on the message and read it to herself. “Sorry it’s early and for everything else. Call me. Please. I miss you.”
Lexi banged her head back and against the pillow case several more times in frustration. This could not be happening to her right now. She knew that she should wait to make the phone call. She had an incredibly attractive man making her breakfast downstairs and the last person; well second to last person, she needed to talk to was Ramsey.
But she couldn’t just ignore him. Something was up or else he wouldn’t be calling her. And despite her better judgment, she phoned him.
“Lexi,” he breathed into the other line.
His voice sent chills up her spine, and the intense way he said her name only made it worse…or better depending on how you looked at it. A wave of peppermint seemed to overtake her at the sound of his voice. She couldn’t believe that the taste of him could be so alive in her mind when he was thousands of miles away in Atlanta. She shook her head clearing her mind of her vivid imagination and answered him, “That’s right.”
“Hey,” he muttered, surprisingly at a loss of words.
“Hey,” she said back.
“Uh, how have you been?” he asked, fishing for information.
“I’ve been great, Ramsey. Did you need something?” she asked cutting the conversation as short as she could.
“Yeah, we have a lot to talk about.”
Lexi shook her head. No. She could not do this right now. “I don’t think we do.”
“Come on. You know we do,” he told her.
“Now isn’t a great time,” she said glancing around the loft.
“Oh, yeah, it’s early. Sorry about that,” he said. She could almost feel him scratching his head at that statement.
“It’s fine. Did you need something or were you just calling this early to chat?” she asked being as rude as she had ever been with Ramsey. Depending on the day, he could bring that side her of out better than anyone else she had ever met.
“No, I have something to ask you,” he stated hesitantly.
“Ok?” she asked curiously. She knew that it would be better if she got off the line with him. She was at some other guy’s house, and it was too early in the morning for this kind of conversation. The last thing she wanted to do was be reminded of her past right now.
“Look, I don’t really know how to ask this of you so I guess I’ll just spit it out. Will you go to my sister’s wedding with me?” Ramsey asked in a rush.
Lexi sat there in silence unable to believe what she had heard. She couldn’t honestly believe that Ramsey would be asking her to go to the wedding. She had been doing everything she could not to have any knowledge of the wedding at all. And it hadn’t exactly been easy to keep her head down and out of the news. She hadn’t received an invitation, which hadn’t really surprised her. On one level, she had been surprised Bekah’s vindictive side hadn’t surfaced and invited her out of spite. Another part of her was even more surprised that Jack hadn’t been begging her to come back again. After all, another year had rolled around and it was about time for him to try to ruin her life.
She hated having to think about Jack that way. Even though she had let him go back in the Atlanta airport, she couldn’t help but reminisce back to the good times of their so-called relationship. Apparently, he hadn’t been thinking about that or else her comments when leaving him behind would have struck home.
But now she had no idea of the date, time, or place of the wedding. She told herself this was more for her sanity’s sake, but she wasn’t sure if that was the only reason. She didn’t trust herself enough to not go, and she knew that she would only make a fool of herself if she made the mistake of attending.
That brought her back to reality. Ramsey had just asked her to attend the wedding she had been pointedly avoiding at all costs for the past year. He wanted her to go with him to see Jack and Bekah say their vows and become legally tied to each other. He wanted her to go to a wedding that he didn’t even want to attend.
There was only one explanation. Ramsey had lost his mind. There was no other way to describe it. He had to know, if anyone knew, that there was no way she was going to be in attendance.
“Lexi, are you still there?” Ramsey questioned anxiously into the phone.
She snapped out of her trance. “Yes.”
“Yeah?” he asked, excitement evident in his voice.
“Yes, I’m still here,” she mumbled.
“Oh,” he said sullenly, “I thought you meant yes you would go with me.”
“Oh, no,” she replied shaking her head side to side even though he couldn’t see her.
“Lexi, please.”
“Ramsey, are you out of your mind?” she asked running her fingers through her long brown hair as she tried to keep her voice level and under control. How dare he ask her such a ridiculous request!
“Probably a little bit,” he admitted his voice wavering.
“You’d have to be crazy to think that I would go with you,” she said pinching herself to keep from yelling at him over the phone.
“Is this about me or Jack?”
Lexi huffed out an angry breath. “Do you really have to ask that?” she grumbled.
“You’re right. You’re right,” he quickly amended. “Sorry for asking.”
“Whatever. Ramsey, I’m not going to that wedding with you or with anyone,” she told him firmly.
“Lexi, what happened a couple weeks ago…”
“Please don’t,” she whispered into the phone, laying her forehead into her hand, and wishing she had gone with her first instinct and ignored the call.
“I am sorry about…everything,” he murmured his voice filled with emotion.
“I know. You said that.”
“I just…I don’t want to go with anyone else,” he told her.
Lexi could feel the tears beginning to well in her eyes at the admission. She really did not need this right now. She quickly swiped at her eyes hoping the effect of his words wouldn’t show through.
Stepping off of the bed and wandering toward the closet, Lexi stood before the full-length mirror and took a good long look at herself. Her eyes were rimmed pink, but as long as she held it together, the coloring would go away quick enough. Her cheeks were flushed, but it was a nice look with her tanned skin. She hadn’t let one tear trickle down her face. She was getting better at controlling her emotions.
“You can’t ask that of me Ramsey. You know it isn’t fair,” she finally responded.
“Can I just give you the date, and you let me know if you’re available?” he pleaded.
“What?” she shrieked. “No, don’t give me the date.” Pulling the phone promptly from her ear, Lexi glanced around the room and over the balcony to see if she had caused a disturbance. She hadn’t intended on losing control, but the thought that after all her hard work Ramsey was going to spoil everything made her impulsive. After reassuring herself that her explosion hadn’t drawn any unnecessary attention, Lexi placed the phone back to her ear.
“Lexi? Hello, are you there?” Ramsey asked concerned.
“Yes, I’m here. Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell,” she said tucking a lock of hair behind her ear out of habit.
“It’s fine. Look, I won’t tell you the date, if you don’t want to know, but will you at least think on it? I really don’t want to be there without you.”
“Did you ever think that maybe I don’t want
to be there at all?” she whispered into the phone and ducking into the bathroom.
“I know you don’t want to be there, but I have to be. It’s my sister’s wedding and since I have to go, I’d prefer to be with you. I always prefer to be with you,” he told her using his easy charm. The words fell husky and persuasive off of his tongue.
She sighed quietly and closed her eyes as her mind traveled to a year ago. She had told herself she would contact Ramsey when she could hold her head up high. So much had changed and evolved, and it was harder now to resist him. He had always had an influence over her, drawing out emotions in her that she hadn’t realized she could even feel. Even in the beginning, his all-encompassing personality made her rude and took her out of her element. Those emotions had only intensified with time.
But she couldn’t let another man have control over her decisions. She was not, under any circumstances, going to see her sorta-non-ex-boyfriend get married, to anyone. She couldn’t do it and nothing he said was going to make a difference.
“Ramsey, I can’t,” she mumbled. “You have to understand. I just…can’t.”
“Please think about it,” he begged.
“I have to go. I’ll—I’ll talk to you later,” she said hanging up the phone without giving him a chance to respond.
She clicked off the line and hung her head in front of the sink. How did these things keep happening to her? Here she was attempting to enjoy herself, to forget him, and he managed to bring up the one thing that would ruin it all—that damn wedding.
All Lexi needed was a fresh start. She thought she had been getting that with Ramsey, but with the way things had ended up, she knew that had been a mistake. Everything she had done—at least romantically—was a mistake.
It didn’t matter how he made her feel. She should have known better than to let her emotions get in the way of her judgment. Now she just needed to get over it. Let. It. Go.
She wasn’t going to that wedding.
Lexi grabbed a long-sleeve, white button-up from a hanger on the back of the door and slung it on over her head. She scrunched the too-long sleeves up to her elbows and watched as they instantly fell back to her wrists. The shirt hit the top of her thighs barely covering her butt from view. After approving her appearance, Lexi trotted down the stairs and into the chic kitchen. She ran her fingertips across the black marbled countertop and approached the stove. She circled around the island in the center of the room and moved to wrap her arms around the man in front of her.
He jumped slightly, then bent down, and kissed her on the forehead. “You surprised me.”
Lexi grabbed his left arm and pulled it around her body as he flipped a pancake over with the other hand. “That smells amazing,” she murmured reaching up on her tiptoes and kissing his cheek.
“Thank you. This is my mom’s recipe. Have a seat.” He gestured for her to sit on a low-backed barstool tucked under the counter. When she did, he placed a pile of pancakes covered in strawberries and syrup with bacon and orange juice in front of her. He turned off the stove, filled his own plate, and moved to eat beside her.
“Oh my God,” Lexi groaned. “This is incredible.” She shoveled the pancakes into her mouth not even caring that she probably looked ridiculous.
He chuckled softly to himself. “I like a woman with a healthy appetite.”
Lexi choked on the food she had put in her mouth, chewed a few more times, and then swallowed. “Well, when you put it that way,” she said putting her fork down and turning to face him. She pulled one leg up and tucked it underneath herself.
“It was a compliment,” he reassured her setting his own fork down to stare back at her. He reached up drawing her face toward him and kissing her lips affectionately.
Lexi’s mind was still on the conversation she just had and she knew that she wasn’t putting as much emotion into the kiss as she had the previous night. He smiled at her when he pulled away and went back to his breakfast. She was grateful that if he had noticed, he didn’t say anything. She dug back into her food.
“So, was your conversation important?” he asked.
Lexi nearly dropped her fork onto the plate at the question. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he would ask about the call since it had woken them both up much too early. However, she wasn’t prepared with a response. How could you tell someone that a guy you dated wanted you to go to a wedding with him for a guy that you had been sleeping with on and off for the past six years? Yeah, that wouldn’t exactly go over well.
“Uh, yeah, I suppose it was,” she mumbled incoherently.
“Ahhh,” he said raising his eyebrows slightly, “you don’t want to talk about it.”
“It’s really not worth discussing,” she told him taking a big swig of the orange juice in front of her.
“All right,” he said doing the same. “What are your plans for the day?”
“I’m meeting Chyna to go shopping,” Lexi said, a smile creeping up onto her face at the question. She was happy to know that the sex hadn’t changed what was going on between them. He still wanted to see her. Butterflies crept up into her stomach at the knowledge that this could actually go somewhere—this could be something, if that’s what she wanted.
“Let’s do dinner then,” he suggested a confident air taking over his cool demeanor.
“Tonight?” she asked lifting her eyes to meet his.
“Yes. We’re always so low key. I want to take you somewhere nice,” he told her pulling her off of the bar stool and wrapping his arms around her waist.
“We’re not low key,” she said giggling as he covered her mouth with his own.
“We’re low key compared to where I want to take you,” he said pulling her back toward the bedroom.
“I’ll think on it,” she said following him upstairs.
“Don’t make me wait too long,” he said watching her strip out of his shirt.
“Never,” she told him. His pupils dilated and he began to walk toward her. “Hey now. I really do have to meet Chyna,” she said holding up her hand to his chest as his slid down her sides.
“She can wait,” he breathed against her neck.
“It’ll be another hour before I’m out of here.”
“You make that seem like a bad thing,” he said nibbling across her collarbone and up her neck. “Stay.”
“I can’t.”
“Please,” he pleaded gripping her hips.
“As much as I want to.”
“Then stay,” he groaned against her lips.
“Another time,” she said extracting herself from his grasp. “Next time,” she repeated. She pulled her tight black dress from the previous night back over her head and slid into her heels.
Snatching her purse up off the bed, Lexi kissed him one more time. “When is next time?” he demanded prolonging the kiss.
“I’ll call you,” she breathed, reluctantly removing herself from his eager arms, and exiting the apartment.
Lexi ran her fingers through her tangled hair and twisted it up into a tight ponytail at the back of her head. A few loose locks fell out of the holder and swept down across her forehead. She swatted in vain at the bangs willing them to stay in place as she hailed a passing cab. The yellow car slowed to a stop and she fell into the backseat.
As she was whisked across town, Lexi tried not to think about her conversation with Ramsey. She had an entire list of things she needed to accomplish—mostly related to pampering herself post-Bar madness.
She had sent out her resume to over a dozen law firms in the past two weeks, and was waiting patiently for offers pending passage of the Bar exam. She wasn’t too worried about either scenario though. The bar had been grueling, time consuming, and painfully nerve-racking, but it was over. All in all, she figured she had passed and that was all that mattered. The job offers would present themselves in good time. She had been fortunate enough to have intern positions for the past two summers, and due to that good fortune, Lexi was even less concerned wit
h finding a job. Thus, relaxation was in order.
Now Ramsey was calling her trying to take away her last few weeks of bliss before entering the “real” world. She needed some serious downtime to forget about that conversation. Luckily, she was supposed to be going out with Chyna all day, which always helped.
“Mr. B,” Lexi said nodding her head to Bernard, the doorman, as she stepped out of the taxi and approached the entrance to Chyna’s Upper East Side apartment.
“Miss Lexi, it is always a pleasure,” he said with a giant smile across his face. He pulled the door open wide for her.
“Always a pleasure to see you as well,” Lexi complimented him stepping up to the threshold. He tipped his hat in thanks letting her pass through the frame. The elevator stopped on the top floor where Chyna’s penthouse was located, and Lexi breezed down the hallway to her destination. Fishing through her tiny clutch, she realized with despair that she had left her keys behind somewhere. She cursed under her breath and stomped her foot wondering how she could be so stupid. She knew that she had a spare keychain made for these such circumstances, but it didn’t make it any better knowing her keys were out there for someone to take.
After another brief dig through her purse, though there wasn’t much space to begin with inside the tiny thing, she banged on Chyna’s door hoping she was both alone and awake. She had forgotten, in her clouded thoughts, to ask Bernard if Chyna had arrived home alone last night. Just as Lexi was about to dial Chyna’s number, she heard the sound of the bolt sliding out of place. The door creaked open about an inch and one of Chyna’s emerald green eyes was visible.
“Yes?” Chyna asked eyeing her up and down.
Lexi smiled at her best friend. “Hey, C. Let me in.”
Chyna slammed the door closed, fiddled with the lock, and then reopened the door. “Are you in walk-of-shame attire?” Chyna asked trying for condescending. She flipped her long black hair over to one shoulder and pulled the door all the way to the wall.
“Good to see you too,” Lexi mumbled sarcastically rolling her eyes. She stepped through the entranceway in her four inch, peep toe heels from the previous night and across the white marbled foyer.