by K. A. Linde
Lexi moved between the two guys in an effort to put distance between them. This was the last thing she had wanted to happen when she had agreed to talk to Clark. “Guys, just chill out,” Lexi said her voice lacking conviction.
“I can’t believe I even came by,” Clark stated glaring menacingly at Jack.
“Me either,” Jack said putting his arm protectively around Lexi’s shoulders.
“Can you both back off, please? This is all one big misunderstanding,” Lexi muttered frantically.
“Oh no, I don’t think it is. I was standing in this stairwell long enough to hear the majority of y’all’s conversation. I think I understand completely what is going on here,” Jack announced.
“Fuck off, Jack. What they fuck are you even doing here? Aren’t you and Kate still together?” Clark snarled.
“No, we’re not still together,” he cried vehemently pushing Lexi out of the way and shoving Clark against the wall. “You want to know why I’m here?”
“Jack!” Lexi cried rushing back toward him and yanking at his arm.
Clark glared evenly at Jack. “I’m here, because we’re together. Lexi and I are together.”
“Right,” Clark drawled rolling his eyes.
“Clark, don’t egg him on,” Lexi yelled trying to pull at Jack’s hard muscles.
“Do you have something to say?” Jack asked pounding his fist into the wall next to Clark’s head.
“Jack, just stop!” Lexi yelled again. Suddenly, Clark tilted his head back against the stone wall and laughed. Lexi stared open mouthed at him. “What is so goddamned funny?” she asked her southern accent slipping out with her anger.
Clark shoved Jack’s arm away, forcing him to take a step backward. He laughed again deep in his diaphragm and stared between the two of them. “You two are funny. Maybe I was wrong about you, Lexi. You two deserve each other,” he spat.
The words came out like an insult. He meant that they were two of the same kind of people. That no matter where Jack and Lexi ended up, they were destined to hurt someone else. Maybe even continue on a never-ending path of hurting each other.
Clark brushed past the two of them and stumbled down the flight of stairs. Lexi watched him go, her heart wrenching with his departure. How had this veered so far off course? She ran her fingers through her long locks. She tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to escape the ducts of her eyes.
It wasn’t so much what Clark had said, because a part of her had always believed his words. She had known all along that her and Jack were meant to be. They were cut from the same mold, which is why they had always worked so well together. He was the other half of her whole.
The situation in its entirety is what had gotten her riled up. She thought that these moments were over in her life. She had been blinded by her happiness with Jack. Sure, she thought about the bad times, but she hadn’t allowed herself to dwell on them. There was no need. But now, with Clark’s recent reappearance into her existence, the memories rushed back into her mind like a flash flood. And this time her mind was raw. It hurt worse than she had remembered.
“Lexi?” Jack asked as she collapsed into his arms. “Are you okay? Don’t listen to him. Just don’t even think about it. He’s such an asshole. I could kill him for hurting you.”
Lexi shook her head. Her body was trembling as he wrapped his arms around her waist lifting her from her feet, as he stood straight. She wouldn’t let the tears fall. She simply couldn’t let the tears fall. As Jack held her closely, her breathing slowed and her trembling eased. His embrace was more comforting than anything else could be. It let the memories be pushed back into the box that encased them in her mind.
After a minute, she spoke, “I’m fine, Jack. It’s not what he said. It’s what he made me remember.”
He set her down on her feet resting his forehead against hers. “I know.”
“It’s okay,” she murmured.
“It’s not okay,” he uttered wrenching back and looking into her dark brown eyes. “Lex, it’s not okay.”
Lexi sighed heavily and took a step backward. “You’re right. It’s not okay. We’ve moved on. So…let’s just move on,” she said yanking the stairwell door open and walking through it without waiting for his response.
She heard Jack’s footsteps behind her, but he was smart enough not to come any closer. When she reached her doorway, she strolled inside. A chorus of questions bombarded her upon entry. The cacophony pained her fragile eardrums, and she held her hand up to silence them. Surprisingly, the girls stopped at once. Their dramatic gossip before she returned must have made them realize that something had gone on, and with Jack in tow, they didn’t care to embarrass themselves.
“Jack is here now,” she murmured, “Feel free to ogle him. That’s much more normal than the rest of my life,” she said walking into the only bedroom and shutting the door.
She heard whispers on the other side as the girls hypothesized what had occurred. Then a knock sounded on the door. “Lex,” Jack smooth voice called out to her.
“Just give me a minute,” Lexi told him taking a seat on the cold tile floor and hugging her knees to her chest. She just needed a second to let the waves of emotion fall off her shoulders. A few deep healing breaths later, Lexi stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. Beyond the wild look in her eye, she didn’t look any different than before. Her make-up hadn’t smudged and since she hadn’t allowed herself to cry over the pain, she didn’t have any mascara streaks. Pleased with her appearance, Lexi plastered a smile on her face and exited the bathroom.
“Are you guys ready to party?” she asked tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
The faces before her did not look as convinced that they were ready to party as she had hoped they would be. Claire and Elizabeth weren’t even eyeing Jack as they had promised. Jack’s face was ashen with worry for her, but she could see something else in his eyes. She wasn’t quite sure what he was feeling at the present moment. And all she wanted to do was get this night over with so they could crawl into bed together. Rachelle was the only person who hopped up out of her chair at Lexi’s announcement. She smiled politely, meeting Lexi’s eye and winking.
The two girls hustled everyone out of the apartment and into the awaiting cab. Claire and Elizabeth seemed to regain their typical bubbly personality, and kept the ride interesting. Luckily, neither Jack nor Lexi had to participate much in the conversation to keep them talking. Jack paid the cab as the girls climbed out of the backseat and onto the sidewalk.
“Miss Lexi,” Bernard, Chyna’s doorman, said tipping his hat and smiling brightly.
“Hey, Mr. B, it’s good to see you!” she told him sincerely. “You must be pretty busy tonight.”
He shrugged. “You know how Miss Chyna can be with her parties.” Lexi nodded. She sure did. “Well, you have a good time. Try and keep her under control.” He swung the door open and allowed them to enter Chyna’s building.
They could hear the loud music before the elevator doors dinged open on the top floor. Chyna had really outdone herself in celebration of the end of Lexi’s first semester. All of the lighting had been replaced with black lights. Strobe stage lighting hung from the ceiling reflecting off the blank walls and the mass of bodies grinding to the techno beats blaring from studio speakers. The sunken-in living room had been emptied of furniture and converted into a dance floor. Lexi couldn’t differentiate one person from another in the room.
Jack reached out and took Lexi’s hand in his own. His touch momentarily dispelled her earlier apprehensions. She led them through the crowded apartment amazed at how few of the people she actually recognized. A path cleared for them and they moved forward into the swinging double doors that led to the kitchen where a full bar was in service for the guests.
When they walked in, they found Chyna seated at the kitchen table, her head tilted backward, an upside down margarita being poured into her mouth. She gulped down the tequila and stood. The crowd su
rrounding her cheered and she pumped her fist in the air in victory. Another girl took her place and Chyna bounded over to the group.
“Thank goodness you are here!” she cried wrapping her arms around Lexi. “My Alexa is that much closer to being a lawyer. Which is fabulous, because you never know when I’ll need one,” she said wiggling her eyebrows suggestively and bumping hips with Lexi.
“Lord I hope you never need one,” Lexi mumbled.
Chyna giggled hysterically, already beyond wasted for the evening. Lexi smiled letting Chyna’s infectious personality wash over her. Lexi settled into a corner of the kitchen with the rest of her entourage taking shots of varying colors. Rachelle, who never drank, even participated for the special occasion. After a few rounds, Claire and Elizabeth ran off to the living room claiming that they needed to get their groove on. Chyna hadn’t been able to suppress her laughter.
“Are you sure they are in law school with you?” she asked turning back to face Lexi.
Lexi giggled. “Yeah, my sentiments exactly,” she yelled over the music.
“They are a bit much,” Jack agreed lounging back in his chair. He threw an arm over the back of Lexi’s seat and propped his leg up on his knee.
“They are absu…fucking…lutely ridiculous,” Rachelle slurred resting her head on the table.
“Are you all right, Ray?” Lexi asked placing her hand on the girl’s shoulder in concern.
“I don’t understand them. I don’t know how they got in, and I don’t know how they survived!” she cried leaping up unexpectedly.
Lexi wasn’t sure how Rachelle had survived with how high-strung she was and the amount of Adderall that passed through her system. “Who cares, Ray? We made it! That’s what matters.”
“I’m going to go celebrate,” Rachelle announced, “with him.” She pointed toward a guy standing against the wall waiting for his beer. And with that she sauntered off leaving Lexi, Jack, and Chyna alone.
“That was interesting,” Chyna said, “but I need more booze. You love birds have fun.” She fluttered her fingers at them as she disappeared behind the kitchen doors.
“Just you and me,” Lexi said turning toward Jack and licking her lips seductively.
“Finally,” he murmured capturing his lips with hers.
She groaned deep in her throat and shifted from her seat to his lap letting her legs face toward the wall. He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her tight to his chest. He deepened the kiss letting his tongue brush across her lips and into her mouth. She sighed with pleasure and met his tongue. Her hands pushed up into his thick dark hair and gripped the strands causing a moan to escape his mouth. She felt his wandering hands sneak under her dress, trail across her inner thighs, and tease the flimsy lace material.
Lexi jerked back from his mouth in surprise. She couldn’t believe he wanted to do this here, with all these people around. Not that anyone would really notice. There were dozens of people filling the rooms and the lights were all but extinguished. His demanding fingers pushed the thong aside and began to gently rub from her clit down to her hot, wet opening. A smirk played across his features as he watched her surprise shift to desire.
“Oh, Jack,” she whispered not even sure if he could hear her over the music.
Her eyes fluttered closed, but he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Don’t close your eyes. I want to see everything.”
Her eyes shot open at his command. His breath was hot on her neck as he moved his mouth to the soft spot under her ear. He trailed kisses down her neck as his hands continued to stroke her until she was trembling. Then, when he didn’t think she could hold back any longer, he inserted his finger gently inside her. She gasped clutching on to him as waves of pleasure rushed over her.
She slumped forward resting her head on his shoulder. He pulled back from her and reached for a napkin to clean him up.
“Let’s get some privacy,” he said gesturing for them to exit the kitchen. As they stood, Jack paused and fished around in his pockets. “Hello?” Jack answered the phone pressing it firmly to his ear to try and drone out the background noise. “Yes sir, this is Jack Howard.” After a pause, Jack spoke up again. “I am still interested. I am definitely interested,” he said enthusiasm creeping into his voice.
Lexi looked up at him, her eyebrows rising in curiosity. She mouthed, “What?” to him.
He held his hand up a huge smile on his face. “Sure. Absolutely.” The smile faltered. Lexi really wished that she could hear what was going on. First, he was ecstatic. Now he looked a bit hesitant, and she didn’t even know who was calling. “Tonight? Yeah, no, that won’t be a problem. Yes, sir. I’ll be right there.”
Jack hung up the phone. His face was apprehensive as his blue eyes turned to Lexi. “What’s going on?” she asked smiling brightly.
“I got an interview!” he said leaning down and kissing her on the mouth.
“That’s awesome,” she cried.
“But I have to go tonight…now,” he muttered looking away from her.
“What? Why? Isn’t it kind of late for an interview?” she asked realizing why he had looked anxious.
“Last minute kind of thing.”
“Oh, well, go! Get out of here! Good luck!” she cried throwing her arms around his neck.
“You aren’t mad?” he asked his brows coming together.
“Of course not. I want you to do well.”
He looked a little suspicious of how well she was taking the news, but didn’t want to question her again. “I’ll make this up to you. We’ll pick up where I left off. I promise.”
“No need,” she said waving him off.
“Oh, there’s need,” he murmured raising his eyebrows. “I’ll call you when I know something.”
Jack leaned down and kissed her deeply once more before rushing out of the room. She exited the kitchen in search of Chyna. Without Jack, she was missing her source of sunshine, her ability to forget what had happened earlier that evening. Her heart was aching from the memories and she needed someone to fill that void.
“I just saw your hubby leave the building,” Claire slurred coming up out of nowhere and grabbing onto her arm. “He was escorting some blonde outside.” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively. “She was fucking drunk.”
“I think you’re fucking drunk,” Lexi told her snatching her arm away from the girl. “And I know he left, because he has a job interview. They just called him.”
“Whatever you wanna believe,” Claire said falling backward into a tall guy who jostled her back in the other direction. She stumbled a few feet before crashing into another unsuspecting partier sending a ripple effect through the rest of the dancers.
Lexi turned from the angry drunken mob to restart her search for Chyna. She didn’t particularly care what happened to Claire. She had too much alcohol in her system and normally got on her nerves without the extra effect. She was literally grating on her just by being in her presence right now.
She spun in place scanning Chyna’s penthouse suite. It was going to take forever to locate her friend who literally could be anywhere. More people continued to stream in through the front door while others were devastating the premises. Lexi searched the apartment as fast as she could unable to locate her lost friend. Finally, as she was about to step into Chyna’s bedroom, the door popped open and a fuming beefy man stalked out of the room. His nose had blood running freely from it and he seemed to favor his right side. Lexi heard him mutter a string of curses as he exited.
She staggered backward out of the man’s way. He didn’t even seem to realize anyone was in front of him. A peel of laughter broke free from the bedroom, and Lexi peeked her head around the corner into the room hoping to find out what was going on. Chyna readjusted her bra strap, which seemed to have been pushed out of place.
“You okay, C?” Lexi asked concerned that perhaps the laughter hadn’t been pleasant.
“Yeah, had to get rid of some asshole,” she comment
ed yanking her skirt back to its appropriate length.
“Did you do that to that guy?” Lexi asked unable to keep the humor out of her voice. Chyna nodded a smug smile across her face. “He looked pretty messed up.”
“I’ve been taking self-defense classes for as long as I can remember. He got too friendly too fast and I didn’t want it. So I jabbed my palm into his nose. Then rammed my elbows into his kidneys until he squealed like girl and ran out of here,” Chyna said grabbing her hair and pulling all to the right side of her body.
Lexi doubled over with laughter. “That’s impressive. You’ll have to teach me a thing or two.”
Lexi leaned back against Chyna’s bed. Chyna eyed her for the first time. “So, where is your man? Aren’t you supposed to be sexing it up by now?”
Lexi cringed. “He got called away for a job interview.”
“Uh huh…” Chyna said coughing into her hand. “A job interview. At this time of night.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t believe him either,” Lexi cried throwing her hands up into the air.
Chyna threw her own hands up in defense. “No, I believe you if you say so, but it does seem just a little suspicious.”
“Well, you weren’t there so you didn’t hear the conversation,” she said trying to dispel the feeling of foreboding coming over her. Jack wouldn’t do that. They had been about to have sex. There would be no need for him to run off for anything else unless it was important. That is what he had said the very first night she had seen him back in town. He wouldn’t leave her side for anything else.
It’s not like he had been acting sketchy anytime recently. It’s not like he had a reason to do anything when he had her. They had been almost too happy. She had kept him too…satisfied for him to want anything else. She couldn’t even think about that possibility. He said he would never lie to her again and she had to believe that was the truth. She couldn’t let old fears win out.
