The Avoiding Series Boxset

by K. A. Linde

  Seth smiled impishly. “Nah, Jack is perfectly content, if you know what I mean,” Seth said with a wink for emphasis.

  Lexi’s stomach rolled at the comment. Of course Jack would be in a back room with a stripper for his bachelor party. It only made sense. And really, she didn’t care that it was happening. It was more the fact that this rite of passage solidified in her mind that he was going to go through with this; he was really going to marry Bekah.

  “Yes, I know what you mean,” Ramsey said his eyes on Lexi.

  Lexi’s skin suddenly pricked up and all the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She knew someone was watching her. She could feel the eyes from across the room. As her gaze found who was blatantly staring at her, her heart melted. “Jack,” she murmured barely audible to the outside world.

  Even from across the room, she knew that he wanted her. It was such an intense emotion, one that she was so accustomed to, that she could tell instantly where his mind was. She didn’t think it helped that he was both drunk and likely incredibly horny from the stripper’s antics.

  The rest of the group caught on as Jack made his way across the room. “Hey man, how was it?” Luke asked as Jack passed him.

  “Do you need more cash?” Hunter questioned him, digging around in his pockets for some to give him if necessary.

  Jack stopped in front of Lexi without acknowledging the rest of the group. Lexi could feel Ramsey tensing next to her, but she couldn’t look away. It was like they were on the beach again when she had expected to see him. He was a vision that day drenched in sunlight and full of energy. He was looking at her the same way as if she weren’t real, as if he had conjured her up out of thin air.

  “Lex,” he huskily muttered.

  “Jack,” she acknowledged, not tearing her eyes from his crystal clear blue gaze filled with desire. She wanted to hold onto the disdain she felt for him that afternoon when she found out he was engaged. She wanted to feel the chains being broken and her release from his enslavement. She tried to hold onto that, but his blue eyes were calling out to her.

  She took a deep breath and moved to take a step backward, a step out of his reach. Just as she moved, he stepped right into her personal zone and circled his arm around her. She gasped at the sudden movement and the feel of his arms around her.

  Jack picked Lexi up off her feet as he straightened. Grappling for support, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. As this happened, her head dropped down to the crook between his shoulder and his neck and she breathed in sharply. His familiar scent filled her nostrils and she reflexively sighed out pleasurably. He smelled exactly the same. It was the exact scent of sex mixed with the most delicious cologne in the world. She hadn’t realized, but when she thought about sex this was the smell that came to mind.

  For just a brief moment, that scent carried her back in time. She was where she was supposed to be. Jack was pressed against her, his lips pressed to her neck as he nuzzled close to her. His fingers grasped her thin waist digging into the silky plum material. She could close her eyes and remember a simpler time when this had been her world, her source of happiness.

  Even though it had been a year, she couldn’t keep her instincts in check, not with his body pressed so tightly against her. Her body knew what Jack was capable of doing to her and, out of basic desire, it wanted that. With him so close to her, she couldn’t imagine another time before this moment. Her world was right side up again and all the difficulties she had struggled with for a year were stripped away.

  Her heart was racing, and if she pulled away just fractionally, she knew his lips would be on hers. The alcohol coming out of his pores was too strong and his inhibitions were thrown out the window. Her brain, thick with the memories of past desires, didn’t want to think of a reason to pull away.

  Then, suddenly, all the sights and sounds of where she was and what she was doing came crashing down on her. The music seemed too loud and her ears popped as they adjusted to her brain waking up from its daze. The beer and whiskey clearly potent mingled in with the stale smell of the strip club. She gasped into his shoulder as the smell of sex, which had been so enticing just a moment ago, completely overwhelmed her. She needed to get away from him. Her mind had finally caught up with what she was allowing to happen, and she forcefully shoved him away from her.

  Her breathing was coming out in rapid spurts, and she thought she might hyperventilate if she didn’t calm down. She glanced at Ramsey and tried not to over-analyze the disappointed look on his face. She needed to calm herself down enough to be able to give a proper response to Jack’s appearance.

  Before she could come up with something, Jack spoke, “You’re here to celebrate with me.”

  “That’s what I said,” Seth agreed hurrying to intervene before Ramsey got a chance to speak.

  Lexi just sputtered in shock. Why would he want her to stay? This hadn’t been his idea. He didn’t have a clue that this was going to happen, and now he wanted her to stay? She couldn’t process this right now. She was at a strip club for Jack’s bachelor party with Ramsey. She couldn’t think of a more uncomfortable situation. She was not prepared for this.

  Suddenly a round of shots appeared before them that Luke had ordered at the bar. Lexi hadn’t even noticed until a shot glass filled with clear liquid was shoved into her hand.

  Seth raised his glass high. “A toast. To Jack’s freedom. Soon enough, he won’t have it anymore!”

  The guys laughed and downed their shots. Lexi stared at the liquid that she knew would only make this night worse and debated. After a moment of hesitation, she poured the shot down her throat letting the burning sensation wash away any emotion she was presently feeling.

  “Vodka,” she sputtered covering her mouth and searching around for a chaser. She snatched a drink out of Hunter’s hand and took a big gulp not caring what was in the glass. Not exactly a wise decision, chasing vodka with a large gulp of bourbon. She swallowed hard and tried to force back the tears that were threatening to be unleashed from the sheer toxicity of what she had just consumed.

  “Are you okay?” Ramsey asked placing his hand gently on her lower back to steady her.

  “Peachy keen jelly bean,” she muttered indignantly.

  The rest of the group had settled back into a cluster of chairs in the corner. It was pretty clear that they were all obliterated, and most of the cash they had brought with them was depleted. The bouncer, who had spoken to them earlier, appeared at Ramsey’s side. “If you guys aren’t going to be spending any more money, then you should probably do as you originally intended and get out of here,” he said motioning toward the door.

  Ramsey took the man aside and had a few words with him, but eventually agreed that perhaps it was the best time to get out of there. The guys had gotten in their good times, and had a few too many stories already about the trip. Ramsey corralled the group and forced them out the door. He stuffed the four guys in one cab and took a separate one with Lexi to their hotel.

  The ride to the hotel was silent. Lexi was still pissed about the entire situation. She hated herself for her moment of weakness with Jack. She hated it even more that Ramsey had had to witness it. There was no way this was how he had intended their night to progress. When she had invited him into her place, she was sure that everything was going to work itself out. Now she didn’t know where they were going from here…or even where she wanted them to go.

  When they arrived at the hotel, they noticed that the guys had waited outside for them. Whether they had done that out of courtesy or because they were too intoxicated to know where their room was, Lexi wasn’t certain. She followed them up to their room with every intention of wishing Ramsey a good night, and then heading home. She was both physically and mentally exhausted from the emotional night they had endured. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep off the hangover she knew would result from mixing various types of alcohol.

  They stepped into the hallway and Ramsey slid the keycard in
to the slot allowing everyone to enter. As she was about to walk inside, Jack latched onto her arm. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked resting his arm against the wall for support. He was really drunk, and without the support the wall provided, he would have already fallen over. This probably meant bad things for her.

  But as always, she was torn. It wasn’t like Jack could do much more harm to her life than he already had. And she was supremely curious about the conversation they would have if she stayed.

  “Lexi, come on,” Ramsey said glaring at Jack.

  “Uh…” she muttered her eyeing moving between the two guys.

  Ramsey’s green eyes pleaded with her to just say no to him. He was begging her to follow him into the room and not care what Jack had to say. “Please,” he implored.

  “Uh, just give us a minute,” she said taking a step away from the door.

  “You’re serious?” he asked.

  “It’ll only be a minute,” she promised. “If it’s much longer than that, come out here and save me.” She sent him a reassuring smile, but she could tell he wasn’t reassured. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her out here by herself. But being the gentleman that he was, he smiled forlornly at her, walked into the hotel room, and closed the door.

  One minute.

  “What do you want Jack?” she asked.

  “I just…” Jack began unable to keep from slurring his words. “I’m glad…I g-g-got to s-s-see you.” His eyes were half-closed and so the beautiful blue eyes underneath weren’t able to focus on her. This gave her a little more confidence

  “You didn’t expect to see me though,” she prompted hoping to catch him.

  “No, but it was a g-g-great surprise,” he told her.

  “Yeah, at least for one of us,” she muttered sarcastically.

  “You didn’t want to see me?” he asked his eyes popping open and looking at her like a sad puppy. She sighed and tried to remember her anger. He was gorgeous. She had always known that. But that’s all he was now.

  “Jack, why did you want to talk to me?” she prompted, changing the subject away from dangerous territory. She didn’t realize that she was actually moving into worse grounds.

  “Are you going to be at my wedding?” Jack drunkenly asked, stepping into her personal space.

  Lexi’s chewed on her bottom and took a stutter step back in surprise. She couldn’t believe he would bring that up. What a terrible thing to do! She had loved him with everything, and now he was going to throw what she had lost in her face. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to be hurt by his statement, but she was. “Jack, no…” she trailed off not wanting to let him see he was affecting her so strongly.

  “But you’re not in school.”

  “No,” she confirmed.

  “Well then, I’d like to invite you,” he stammered. He took another step forward clearing the distance she had left between them. His hand left the wall, which was holding him up, and he reached out and grasped her hips.

  Lexi bit her lip harder as his head bobbed considerably close to her mouth. She tried to fend him off but he was too drunk to really know what he was doing. She put both her hands flat on his chest to hold him backward. “Jack, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Otherwise, you would have sent me an invitation.”

  Jack seemed to notice her efforts to get him off her and stood a little straighter. One hand snaked up to rest on her cheek, tilting her head up to him. His blue eyes bored into her deep chocolate brown ones. “You’re drunk,” Lexi murmured.

  “Yes, but it doesn’t change what I said.”

  “Actually, it does,” she told him.

  “I want you to come to the wedding.”

  “Why, Jack?” she asked shaking her head. She couldn’t think of a reason for her to be there. This was just torture for both of them.

  “Lex, I know that you’re over me,” he began. Lexi tried to hide the shock from her face. “You were my best friend for a long time. You’ve been at every important moment of my life, and it wouldn’t feel right not having you there.”

  “You think I’m…” she started, but was cut off by Jack leaning forward and resting his forehead gently against her own.

  “I’m sorry. You know that, right?” he asked his voice full of remorse.

  She breathed in the familiar scent that she associated with Jack, and tried to keep her mind clear. This was harder than she had ever imagined it would be. “I know, Jack, but like you said,” she began taking a step backward, “it doesn’t change anything.”

  Even his drunken brain could process the fact that she had used the same words as him a year ago. He sighed heavily and nodded. “That’s fair. But know that I want you there.” Lexi nodded stuffing a strand of hair behind her ear anxiously. “No need to be nervous, love,” Jack murmured taking her hand in his own and tucking another strand behind her ear affectionately.

  The door clicked open behind them, and Ramsey cleared his throat as loud as he could. Jack gave her a despondent smile as he ran his hand through her silky hair. Lexi coughed uncomfortably, taking another step away from Jack, and out of his reach. She allowed him to walk past her into the room and the door to close before she turned to face Ramsey.

  He didn’t even have to say anything. The look on his face said it all. She hoped that everything would just blow over. She couldn’t deal with all of this tonight.

  “Can I stay with you?” Ramsey asked.

  Lexi stared up at him. She wasn’t sure why he was letting it go, but she was sure glad he was. She probably wouldn’t have if she had walked in on that. They hadn’t done anything but the emotions were strong between them. “I think you have enough on your plate as it is,” she murmured, remembering how all the guys were stumbling all over each other.

  “I know. I just thought it would be nice to get away,” he told her taking a step closer to her.

  “I wish we could pick up where we left off,” she said looking up at him, her eyes hopeful. But she knew that they couldn’t. Too much had happened that they had bottled up.

  “Me too,” he said glancing around. She could tell he wasn’t sure about where to go from here. It was quite clear that he wanted to wipe away the awkwardness of the past couple hours, but that simply wasn’t possible. “I know I said that I wouldn’t bring up the wedding, so I’m really sorry about all this.”

  Lexi sighed and nodded her head at him. “Yeah, I know you didn’t mean for any of this to happen. And Jack kind of just brought up the wedding to me,” she admitted cringing slightly at his sudden awareness.

  “He did?”

  “Yeah, he invited me.”

  Ramsey ground his teeth together in frustration. “What an idiot. I can’t believe he asked you.”

  “I think I’m going to go, if you still want me to go with you,” she mumbled knowing that it was the wrong decision to begin with. She never thought in a million years that she would go, but she was compelled. She didn’t know what it was that made her do this. She just couldn’t say no to Jack—completely and totally obliterated he still managed to affect her.

  “What?” he sputtered, stepping forward, closer to her. “Why would you want to do that? I was about to apologize. There’s no need for you to be there. It was terrible for me to bring it up. It was terrible for Jack to mention it. You shouldn’t have to go through that.”

  “No” she said shaking her head emphatically. “Turning you down showed me how much I need to let things go, to work things out. And I know it’s probably stupid, all right? I know that. It’s just, if you want me to go as your date,” she took a deep breath trying not to think about all the reasons that she shouldn’t be around Jack or Ramsey, for that matter, “then that’s what I want to do.”

  “So, you’ll go? As my date?” he asked his brow crinkled together in confusion.

  “Yeah, I think I will.”

  NOVEMBER—NINE MONTHS EARLIER

  Lexi stared upwards at the colossal white structure looming o
ver Peachtree Street in the center of downtown Atlanta. The High Museum of Art with its crisp green lawn, succeeding circular edifices, and blocky surrounding structures looked as modern art as the MET appeared to be a classical castle. Surprisingly enough downtown wasn’t as crowded as Lexi had anticipated on her way in from the suburbs. With Thanksgiving only three days away, she had feared that traffic would be a nightmare. Luck had been with her. The interstate had only been congested for a brief period of time as cars merged on and off the Perimeter, and then it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.

  Despite that fact, she still managed to arrive behind schedule. Rushing to button up her new, bright red pea coat, she scaled the hill in her knee-high, black boots. Lexi slid her hands in the pockets of her jacket and ducked her head against the brisk breeze blowing in. She could never figure out why Thanksgiving in Georgia was always so much colder than Christmas. Last year she had been able to wear a tank top on Christmas Day, but she had been forced into multiple layers to stay warm on Thanksgiving. It hardly made sense.

  A man graciously held the door open for her as she entered the large white foyer. She thanked the man as her high heels clicked against the white marble floors. Not seeing her date, Lexi ducked into the nearest bathroom to check her appearance.

  She smiled at her reflection enjoying her windblown curls. She narrowed her big brown eyes as she inspected the hint of auburn highlights now apparent in her dark chocolate locks. When she was satisfied, she dug her hand into her black leather purse and pulled out a tube of red lip-gloss that she dabbed across her slightly chapped lips. Stepping back from the mirror, she turned to exit the bathroom.

  As the door swung closed behind her, Lexi heard a familiar voice that made her eyes light up and a smile cross her face. She was about to jump around the corner to surprise him, when the topic of conversation piqued her interest. Against her better judgment, Lexi leaned back around the corner to hide from his view.

  “Dad, I told you already, I don’t want to talk about the wedding,” Ramsey muttered into his iPhone. Lexi strained to hear the other end of the conversation, to no avail.