by K. A. Linde
Lexi’s bottom lip came out to pout involuntarily. Even though she knew that this was a bad idea that didn’t mean she wanted to stop. He came forward and kissed her bottom lip. “We’ll have plenty of time for the other stuff if I have anything to say about it,” he said encouragingly.
After everything he had just told her about himself, could she really believe that he would stick this out? She presumed that as long as he didn’t get what he wanted, and then he would be around. But then she didn’t understand why he would wait it out. Perhaps, there was more to him than she even knew. She really wanted to figure out the mystery behind Ramsey…but she wanted to do that without revealing her jaded love story.
She sighed and lay back against the bed. He wrapped his arms around her holding her close. At least in this moment, they could be content together with their secrets.
PRESENT
“I think I gathered that. Thanks, Seth,” Lexi said rolling her eyes at the proclamation that this was Jack’s bachelor party.
She felt like a complete idiot. She knew she should have listened to Ramsey when he said that she didn’t want to be involved. She hadn’t been able to stop herself though.
After such an abrupt interruption, she just needed to know what was going on. She didn’t want any more secrets. Granted, he should have told her what was going on. It wasn’t fair to spring Jack’s bachelor party on her.
What was Jack doing in New York anyway?
Of all the places to have a bachelor party! Honestly!
She had heard the stories of Seth’s big weekend in Las Vegas, and heard things that no girl should ever hear. And now Jack had brought his bachelor party here, to her front door. It didn’t make any sense.
He had lived here awhile himself, so there was really no point in seeing the sights. He’d already done all of that. He had some friends left in the city besides Lexi, but as far as she knew his old roommate, Stella, at least, had left. That, thankfully, ruled out that possibility.
Lexi’s vision was swimming as these thoughts filled her head. She didn’t know why Jack had decided to come to New York. After their history, this city had to hold too many memories for him. He had been with Lexi here. He had screwed up everything with Lexi here, in this city. He had to know Lexi was in New York. And with his rapidly approaching marriage, she wouldn’t think he would want to be reminded of all these emotions. Lexi had always been the masochist of the relationship, not Jack.
“So, are you going to celebrate with us?” Seth asked, swinging his arm across Lexi’s shoulders, inexplicitly keeping her from falling backward into a rather inviting black chair. She just wanted to sleep away the rest of the evening. Her stomach was in knots and she didn’t know which way to move to clear away the mist that fell over her mind at the knowledge that Jack was here in this city…in this establishment.
“No, we’re not here for that,” Ramsey said glaring at Seth’s hand making its way toward Lexi’s breast. “Tell me the whole story this time. I need to know who I need to talk to.”
Lexi snapped out of her trance as Seth’s hand completely cupped her breast. She smacked his hand and he released her. His drunken brain must have processed that she wasn’t a stripper…or it was just Seth.
“Yeah, Seth, what the fuck is going on?” Lexi asked shrugging his arm off her shoulder and taking a step away. She didn’t want him to think about touching her like that again. She didn’t care how drunk he was. “Why did you drag us out here?”
“Well, I didn’t know you were going to be with her or I would have called sooner,” he told Ramsey as he turned to face Lexi. He moved closer placing his hands on her hips. He began to sway them from side to side like a middle school couple at their first dance.
“Cut it out,” Lexi said smacking his hands away as they came dangerously close to crossing the line. Seth dropped his hands and stumbled backward a step.
“Yeah, you said Jack’s missing and everything was stolen?” Ramsey prompted leaning toward Seth. He towered over Seth, as he demanded answers to his questions.
“Hunter. Luke,” Seth called turning from Ramsey’s determined gaze. “Did I tell him Jack was missing?”
Ramsey stepped forward, grabbed a fistful of Seth’s shirt in each hand, and yanked him toward him. “Give me a straight answer. Now,” he growled. His demeanor had completely shifted. The anger that was radiating from his body was almost palpable. His blind rage at the situation was taking over his body, and it was pretty obvious that if Seth stepped over the line Ramsey would not be happy. Eyes found them from around the room as it dawned on everyone that a fight was about to break out.
Lexi noticed the bouncer’s general shift of attention toward their group. A few even began taking a few steps toward them. She could tell they were still deciding if something was going to go down or not. Neither of the guys was touching the women, but still Ramsey and Seth were both big guys. She was sure the bouncers didn’t want to have to deal with unruly clients especially not ones who had been funneling money into the place all night.
“Ramsey,” Lexi murmured placing her hand lightly on his bulging bicep, “people are staring at us. You need to be careful.”
“I don’t need to be careful here,” Ramsey said never taking his eyes from Seth.
“I know, but really, just back off. He’s drunk and an idiot,” she said trying to calm him down. The last thing she wanted was trouble.
“Don’t make me ask you again,” Ramsey told Seth ignoring Lexi’s comments. His eyes narrowed at Seth who had finally given his full attention to the gravity of the situation. “If Jack is missing, I have to deal with it. I can’t stand around and let you drunk frat boys continue to drink yourselves silly when something serious happened. So, answer my damn questions.”
“We were never in a frat,” Seth managed his voice shaky as his brain tried to catch up with what was happening. Lexi could see a glimmer of laughter in his eyes, and wasn’t sure she liked that look.
“Seth,” she murmured softly at his ridiculous response.
“Just back off man and I’ll tell you,” he said shifting his eyes from Lexi back to Ramsey. With that look she saw that he had finally caught up to what was going on. Ramsey was threatening him.
She could tell that at that realization Seth was kind of scared of Ramsey. She would have never guessed that someone as cool and collected as Seth was scared of anyone. She was so accustomed to his flirtatious, overly confident outwards appearance that the look of terror in his eyes really threw her off.
She knew Ramsey was a tall and really, really well built. Then again she also knew that deep down that bulk didn’t characterize him. His personality never fit him being this kind of guy. She always found it strange when he played the tough guy. Even that night nearly a year ago when he had walked into Jack’s apartment and threatened his life, she had never thought of him as scary…as if he might actually follow through with it.
He was, as a general rule, naturally calm and laid back. When he was with her, he always tried to be the most comforting person possible. He was cute, funny, and charming. He could string words together like a poet one minute and ramble like a nervous fool the next. She knew he wasn’t this guy that he was putting on the act to be. Thus, it was too strange to see the fear reflected in Seth’s eyes. Ramsey would never hurt him, right?
“Don’t play games with me,” Ramsey said releasing his shirt and pushing him backward.
Seth smoothed out the wrinkles in his black button-up. “Chill out. Geez.”
“I’ll chill out when I get a straight answer from you. You called me in a panic, made me leave everything I was doing.” His eyes shot to Lexi’s for a brief moment. “I want to know what is going on now, Seth.”
“Wait, what was that look?” he asked pointing between Lexi and Ramsey. A slow smile crept up onto his face and instantly turned into Seth’s characteristic smirk. “Was something going on between you two? Is something going on between you two?”
Lexi’s face i
nstantly turned beet red. She couldn’t help herself. She hadn’t intended to go that far with Ramsey, not that it should matter to Seth one way or the other, but she still felt kind of silly. After all, they had been about to have sex when they were interrupted with Seth’s stupid phone call. She could feel the warmth of her skin heating her face and her heart raced at the thought of having sex with Ramsey. She knew her mind shouldn’t wander there while she was standing before Seth, but she couldn’t help it. And she was very thankful that the room was dark, and Seth couldn’t tell how bad she was blushing. She would have certainly given herself away.
“Stop changing the subject,” Ramsey said pointedly changing the subject.
“I’m not,” Seth interjected smoothly. “I just know that look. I know it so well that I could have picked it out anywhere.”
“What does it matter, Seth?” Lexi squeaked out.
“I can tell what’s been going on. You guys were together all night when you were supposed to be here with the guys, right?”
“Seth, it doesn’t matter. God,” Lexi muttered, shoving a piece of hair behind her ear. She didn’t know what Seth was getting at, and it was really annoying to have him badger them about their relationship. She didn’t want to have this conversation at all, let alone with a drunk Seth. He was one of the most vulgar people she knew, and if he got talking about sex, if he thought for one moment that they had been about to have sex, the conversation would be endless.
“Oh, but it does matter,” he said contrarily.
“It really doesn’t matter,” Ramsey agreed with Lexi. “Just tell me what happened here,” he said exasperated and clearly ready to get the hell out of the strip club.
“But don’t you know?” Seth asked his eyes shifting to Lexi’s. He winked at her causing her blush to deepen.
She really had no idea what he was getting at now. What didn’t Ramsey know that Seth thought he could tell him? He had to know that they had been together. He was, after all, Jack’s best friend. He was the person he had been friends with the longest. And if she had to guess, he was probably the best man at his wedding. Jack had been his best man. They had a bond unlike any other. And if Jack knew that she had been with Ramsey, then Seth did too, which brought her back to having no clue where Seth was going with all this.
“Know what? I don’t have time for these games,” Ramsey growled.
“She’s Jack’s girl.”
Lexi’s mouth dropped open at his words. Her ears were ringing and all else was blocked out. It was as if the strip club had instantly gone silent. The pain of those words shot through her like a knife through her heart. The nonchalance of the statement hit her to the core. She didn’t even have words. She couldn’t even correct him.
She had worked a year to get him out of her life as much as she possibly could. But Seth’s easy placement of her belonging to Jack catapulted her to a different place in her life. And she had to forcefully remind herself to be angry that he had placed her with Jack. After all, it was pretty fucked up that he would say that about someone who was about to be married. Let alone to the man she had been dating.
As the proper emotion filtered into her system, anger bubbled up from the pit of her stomach. She wanted to smack him across the face forever uttering something that had always been such a complete and total lie. She wasn’t Jack’s girl. She had never been Jack’s girl. Jack only cared about himself. He was happy to leave her behind while he married someone else.
“Jack is marrying my sister,” Ramsey stated each word carefully. Lexi saw the same raw anger reflected in Ramsey’s eyes. “Perhaps you should think about that before you speak again.”
Seth’s easy smile was something Lexi was extremely accustomed too. He was in his element. For some reason, even drunk, he was having fun with this. “He might be marrying her, but it’s not like he’s going to get rid of Lexi. I mean, have you seen her?” he asked gesturing toward Lexi who was still in her sexy plum dress from their night out. His eyes crawled over her body hungrily, the alcohol getting rid of the last bit of inhibition that he had. Not that he had much to begin with. “She’s fire hot! And anyway, they’ve been together forever.”
“You are talking about people I care about, Seth. You should watch what you’re saying,” Ramsey tried to remind him. Seth talked about Lexi and Jack as if them being together was inevitable, as if she had no choice in the matter. “You are telling me that Jack is going to cheat on my sister with the woman standing before you just because they have a history?” Ramsey asked.
“If he hasn’t already,” Seth said scoffing. He was so certain of his deduction of the situation; he couldn’t even see the effect he was having on the both of them. Or if he did, he didn’t realize the significance of what he was ensuing.
Lexi, however, saw what was coming before it happened. Ramsey couldn’t let his comment stand. The same thought had crossed his mind too many times, and she knew that he couldn’t stand hearing it from one more person.
Ramsey cleared the distance between them in a split second, hoisting Seth up by his shirt one more time. “Do not ever imply again that Lexi is a whore or that Jack would be stupid enough to hurt either one of them. He knows what I would do to him if that day came,” he snarled.
“Ramsey, put him down,” Lexi cried, guilt washing over her at the fact that Seth was right. Jack had already cheated on Bekah with her. They had kissed several times, and then that dreadful decision to sleep with him on his birthday. She had let those things happen. But she was bound and determined not to get in the way again. “People are coming over here,” she said nodding her head toward the approaching bouncer.
“All right man, sorry. It’s the alcohol talking,” Seth muttered running his hand through his hair when Ramsey finally put him down.
“Is there a problem here?” a bouncer asked getting in Ramsey’s face.
“No,” Ramsey said flashing his pearly white teeth. “In fact, we’re perfect. We’ll be leaving shortly.”
“Make it sooner rather than later,” the man said menacingly before turning, walking a safe distance away, and staring at the group.
“Charming individual,” Ramsey mumbled before turning his attention back to Seth. “Now stop changing the subject and tell me why you called me. Where is Jack?”
“So, yeah about that,” Seth said scratching the back of his head. “He’s probably just in one of the back rooms where we sent him off about thirty minutes ago.”
“You are saying…that Jack…is here? That Jack…is fine?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Yeah,” Seth mumbled looking away from Ramsey’s angry gaze. “We just wanted you out with us. We know you said you had business to take care of, but we thought you’d be back out here with us having a good time already.”
“Seth, I could kill you,” Lexi said smacking him on the shoulder. This was completely typical of something he would do. He was only thinking of himself.
“Oh, do it again,” he moaned commenting on her less than playful smack. His arms came up to circle her waist again, but the look on Ramsey’s face made him halt his efforts.
“Let’s get out of here,” Ramsey said latching onto Lexi’s elbow and ushering her toward the exit. She stumbled under the weight of his grasp, but he held her up as she scurried helplessly, attempting to keep up.
“Come on, man, don’t be like that,” Seth said rushing behind them. Hunter and Luke were close on his tail.
“Yeah, Ramsey, you can’t leave now. You just got here,” Hunter called after him.
“Don’t you want to be involved in Jack’s bachelor party?” Luke asked.
“This is ridiculous,” Ramsey said stopping to face them.
“It’s not that ridiculous. We skipped out on Vegas for you. We only came to New York on your request. Then you don’t even come out with us,” Seth complained. “That’s pretty fucked up.”
Lexi’s eyes shot to Ramsey. Coming to New York had been his request? This had nothing to do with Jack. If
Jack had it his way, he would be in Las Vegas right now partying it up like the guys in the movie The Hangover. He probably hadn’t even considered Lexi in this decision.
“You wanted to come to New York?” she breathed. A part of her was relieved that this had nothing to do with Jack. She couldn’t handle him right now. Her heart had been through the shredder too many times to count, and she still had a small bit of hope left in her that she didn’t like to admit. She certainly didn’t like to think about it.
“Yeah, Lex,” Seth began. Lexi cringed at the pet name. She still couldn’t hear it from anyone without feeling slightly sick. “Can you believe we did all this for him, and he didn’t even come out with us?” Seth asked.
“Yes, actually I can,” she murmured just loud enough to be heard over the music playing through the hidden speakers. She certainly believed that Ramsey would reroute their rendezvous to come to New York City.
“So, we just wanted to get you out here,” Seth told him gesturing around to the naked women and hundreds of bottles of booze that lined the bar. His meaning was clear—why wouldn’t you want to be here?
“I feel as if I’ve been to one of these before. It’s not the highlight of my evening.” Seth’s eyes widened at his response. “I had better things to do until you called and told me that things had gone south. So, please, don’t tell me that you interrupted my evening for absolutely no reason.”
“I mean, we had a reason,” Seth said stretching the truth only slightly. “We wanted you out with us. You’re a fun guy,” he told Ramsey clapping him on the back. Lexi was surprised Seth could be that affectionate or even that forgiving after Ramsey had hoisted him up off of his feet by the collar of his shirt. She was pretty sure if it had been anyone else, a fight would have broken out.
“And everything is all right with Jack? Someone didn’t steal all of your money?” Ramsey asked fire in his voice.
