Avoiding Commitment (22 page)

“Hey big brother,” Bekah said giving him a
hug. “You remember your old friend Lexi.”

Lexi tried not to roll her eyes at Bekah’s
statement. She was going to be really tired of this party if she
had to deal with this type of bullshit much longer. She hadn’t been
able to keep her cool around Ramsey at the Country Club where your
behavior was monitored by a hundred wrinkly socialites. Lexi was
sure she wouldn’t be able to do it here. “Can I just repeat that I
do not know your brother?”

Ramsey turned to face Lexi. His eyes crawled
her body and an enticing smile touched his lips as he took in her
outfit. It was much the same reaction she had received from Jack,
but there was something different. She couldn’t quite put her
finger on it. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that her
clothing option left little to the imagination. No, it was more
likely that it had something to do with the fact that Jack had
firsthand experience with what was under her skintight
clothing.

“You can repeat it all you want, but I’m
holding to the fact that we are old friends. And old friends hug
when they greet each other,” he said swiftly spanning the space
between them and lifting her off her feet. She clutched onto his
broad shoulders for support. He twirled her around once letting her
long hair fly out behind her.

When Lexi felt ground under her weight again,
she breathed out in relief. Compulsively she smacked Ramsey’s arm
as hard as she could muster. “Don’t do that. We’re not
friends.”

“You’re right. I’m overstepping
boundaries...at my own party,” Ramsey said sending a full-watted
smile her way.

“Oh, shut up,” she said giving him a
mirthless frown. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“How did you mean it then?” he asked stepping
into her personal space again.

Why was he always doing that? She cringed and
took a step backwards. He followed her as if they were in a
synchronized dance. “I didn’t mean that you were overstepping
boundaries or whatever. Just we’re not friends. I don’t know you.
I’ve only met you once.”

“Well, technically twice. Three times if you
count when you were with Jennifer. Four times if you…oh never
mind,” he said plastering on a smile he as looked at her.

“Four times if what?” she asked
curiously.

His smile continued as he entered her
personal space again. This time she stood her ground and looked up
into his face. He was so tall she had to tilt her head all the way
back just to look into his face. “Nothing.”

Deciding he was telling the truth, Lexi
nodded and said, “Right, well, cut it out.”

“You really don’t remember meeting me?” he
asked ignoring the stares he was receiving from all angles.

“I think I’d remember someone who has no
concept of personal space,” she muttered. He titled his head to the
side really looking at her face from her smoky make-up to her large
brown irises to her button nose landing last on her plump lips.
Then he took one step back and then another.

“My apologies. Is that better?” he questioned
his eyes roaming her tiny clothing once more. Lexi just grumbled an
affirmative.

Bekah giggled and clung to Jack’s arm
breaking them from their argument, and bringing them back into
reality. Lexi took a sly glance at Jack. He looked tense and out of
place as he slung his arm around Bekah’s shoulders. Lexi hadn’t
even been paying attention to Jack throughout that entire
encounter. But as she looked closer, she realized he looked ready
to pounce. God, she did not understand him sometimes. Only a few
minutes earlier, he had been making out with his girlfriend not
caring who heard him, and now he was openly glaring because she was
talking with Ramsey! She hadn’t even been flirting with him. She
had
actually
been annoyed with him. Oh, wait, dammit! He
thought she was sexy when she was angry.

Bekah broke the awkward silence that had
settled in the air. “Ramsey, you should introduce Lexi to your
roommates. I have a feeling they would just
love
her.”

Lexi wasn’t sure what that meant, but as soon
as Ramsey called over his roommates she understood her implication.
These two guys, though they had the same appearance of class that
Ramsey wore, didn’t pull it off quite as well. Lexi could see
straight through to the frat boy beneath, and cringed as they
collided with her body. She hadn’t even gotten the introduction
before they were hugging and fondling her. They smelled strongly of
booze as if they had been drinking all day...all week.

Ramsey grabbed both of his roommates by the
back of their collar and yanked them off of her. “Hands off. She’s
never been to one of our parties,” he said roughly pushing them to
the side.

“All the more reason,” the one dressed in
navy said.

“Agreed,” the other, in a yellow Georgia Tech
polo, approved.

“Uh...I don’t think so,” Lexi said pushing
her hands out in front of her. Then she caught a glimpse of Jack’s
face. He wasn’t doing a very good job at hiding his displeasure. If
she had thought that he had been jealous earlier today, it was
nothing compared to the waves of jealousy he was sending her way
now. Somewhere deep inside, she knew that she shouldn’t enjoy the
fact that he felt that way, but she was pretty much ignoring all
the things that she was supposed to be doing and feeling. She was
in Atlanta for Jack which was bad enough. If Jack was getting some
backlash for his bad choices, well then so be it.

“I don’t even know your names,” she said
buying herself some time.

“You don’t need our names,” Georgia Tech guy
informed her sidestepping Ramsey and snaking an arm around her
waist. So maybe his roommates weren’t as handsome as Jack or even
Ramsey, but they were still cute. At least cute enough that she
would have flirted with them on any other night.

She thought she heard his friend whisper
something derogatory into the other’s ear, but she didn’t catch all
of what was said. The end was something along the lines of ‘after
we’re through with her.’ But understanding the looks that were cast
between the two of them, she probably didn’t want to know the rest.
She needed to say something to get their minds off of sleeping with
her, because that would never happen.

“So explain this party to me. It’s pretty
early to drink on a Sunday,” Lexi asked glancing between Ramsey and
his two roommates.

“It’s never too early here,” navy guy
said.

“Plus, Ramsey comes pretty stocked,” Georgia
Tech guy answered eye-fucking her clothing choice. It was a good
thing she didn’t do self-conscious.

“Oh does he?” she asked eyeing Ramsey
suggestively. Jack coughed uncomfortably in the corner. Bekah had
snaked an arm up to his hair and was gently twirling the longer
strands in the back between her fingers.

“I thought we weren’t friends,” Ramsey
reminded her pushing aside his roommates who looked all too ready
to devour her.

“We’re not,” she said smiling coyly at him
from under her long lashes. “I’m not this nice to my friends.” This
was better. She could avoid being rude to him for a few minutes
while Jack watched. Though, she wasn’t all too sure how long she
could hold out the routine.

“Alright,” he began, looking at her
peculiarly as if wondering when she had become so nice, “I have a
good deal of friends who work in late night establishments during
the weekend. So, I host parties Sunday nights for them.”

That was simple enough. “That’s uh...nice of
you.”

Bekah giggled. “Nice is one word for it.”

“Bekah,” Ramsey said turning his attention to
her. Though the tone wasn’t sharp and the look he sent her was the
same perfect Country Club smile that gave away nothing, she knew he
wasn’t pleased. She wasn’t sure what it was about him that made her
realize it. There was just a slight line of tension forming around
his mouth, and his hands were curled into loose fists. Something
about the way his eyes clouded over as he stared at Bekah. Lexi
seemed to have accidentally stepped into a family dispute, and was
feeling all the more uncomfortable as Bekah returned his resolute
smile.

Slowly, he shifted his gaze back to Lexi.
“Anyway, what they meant is that I have a fully stocked bar,”
Ramsey said sweeping his arm out to reveal a black bar along the
majority of the back wall. The only wall space not obscured by the
construction was a back door with a large window opening up to a
balcony.

“Ya know, I kind of figured that,” Lexi
said.

A few people were already ordering drinks
from a tiny blonde bombshell whipping up concoctions as fast as
they were requested. Jack and Bekah sidled up to the girl
hand-in-hand, and began knocking back their drinks.

“What would you like?” Ramsey asked her.
“Valentine can make you anything.”

Lexi giggled a little at her name.
Valentine
really? God, that was awful. Sounded like a
stripper’s name or something. She quickly composed herself as
Ramsey looked down on her fondly. She hadn’t meant to giggle. “A
Grateful Dead would be nice,” she told the bartender picking a
drink at random. Within seconds the drink was before her complete
with a cherry and everything. She was impressed. “This is kind of
awesome,” she admitted. The smile she received from Ramsey was
nearly blinding. He genuinely looked ecstatic that she
approved.

Another uncomfortable cough emanated from
behind them, and Lexi hastily turned around to find Jack looking
between her and Ramsey. She wasn’t sure why he was acting like
this. Honestly, it was ridiculous. He was here with his girlfriend.
She was the one who was supposed to be jealous. Not him. But it was
kind of nice to have the upper hand in this silly game they were
playing.

“We’re going to dance,” Jack said pointedly
grabbing Bekah’s free hand and pulling her into the crowded living
room. Lexi watched them become enveloped in the mass. She hated how
they were acting. Wasn’t she supposed to be getting over Jack? She
couldn’t see how hanging out with him like this was helping
anything.

Quite the contrary. She felt as compelled to
him as she had when she had first glimpsed his brown hair at the
coffee shop or those enticing blue eyes at the club. She had been
right to say that things weren’t different. And Chyna had been
right to say that she needed some semblance of closure. She needed
to be over him. She couldn’t keep living her life hoping they would
one day find the right moment to be together.

Turning back to face Ramsey’s perfect smile,
she downed her drink as fast as she could automatically reaching
out for him to steady her weak legs. “Wow, that’s the good stuff,”
she said returning his smile.

“Want another?”

“Mmm...sure. Wait,” she cried stopping him
before ordering, “let’s do lemon drops! Those were my
favorite.”

“Were?” he asked raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, in college. I drank them every
weekend. It feels like one of those nights.”

The peculiar look he had given her earlier
returned. She liked it. He was very cute indeed. He turned back to
Valentine. Seconds later, two lemon drops were in front of them.
The dizzying effects of vodka coursing through her body were
helping her successfully escape Jack’s hold. She needed another.
After two more rounds of shots her mind was good and cloudy, and
she was ready to dance. Ready to forget.

Lexi grabbed Ramsey’s hand and pushed her way
through to the center of the crowd. He seemed surprised that she
wanted to be around him all of a sudden, but got over that as she
began to shamelessly grind her ass against him.

There was hardly enough space for her to
breathe let alone move around much. That left her the option of
being plastered against Ramsey’s strong chest, and really she
didn’t mind. He was a solid rock of muscles. She had to be right in
her assessment that he worked out constantly. There was no other
option for how strong he was.

The best part was that he was also a great
dancer. Each time she would change up her motions, he would follow
along perfectly somehow making the movements even sexier. Lexi
reached up, and wound her hands around his neck as she stood on the
balls of her feet. He took advantage of the opportunity to move his
hands along her exposed body feeling the hot skin through her
clothing. Leaning back against him, she let her head fall onto his
chest, and she stared up into his amazingly well-structured
face.

Just as that happened, a buxom blonde
shimmied up to them and began grinding on Lexi. The girl was doing
things with her body that Lexi had never dreamed people were
capable of. She was contorting and twisting all the while touching
herself. The girl’s eyes were blood shot and unfocused,
occasionally rolling back into her head. Lexi had no idea what was
wrong with her.

Ramsey grasped the girl’s arm forcefully and
squeezed. Her eyes snapped open. Lexi stared between the two and
stopped moving. “Not tonight Coco.” The girl glared at him.

“You sure, baby?” she purred despite the fact
that she looked murderous.

“Go get that shit out of your system,” he
said lowering his voice in warning.

“Whatever,” she said yanking her arm away
from him and exiting the living room.

Lexi’s head jerked back to Ramsey’s face.
“Sorry about that,” he said his voice returning to normal.

“What was that about?” she asked curiosity
getting the best of her.

“Just don’t worry about it. She comes here
like that all the time. She’s supposed to be clean,” he said
grasping her hips that were now facing him and pulling her
close.

The hypnotic feel of intoxication was hitting
her hard and she giggled compulsively. “Is her name really
Coco?”

“Just a nickname,” he said swaying his hips
in time with her. All of his friends seemed to have nicknames.