Avoiding Commitment (39 page)

“Yeah. Jack. He strongly resembles him.”

“If he looks anything like this guy, then
he’s probably sexy,” Chyna couldn’t keep herself from mentioning as
she took another glance at the Jack look-a-like.

Lexi managed a half-smile. “Yeah, he is sexy,
but I just…I don’t know. I haven’t really seen him in awhile, and I
haven’t been thinking about him much either. It caught me off
guard.”

She was lying of course. She thought about
him every time she walked around in New York. There were so many
dark haired men in blue shirts. It was disconcerting. Not to
mention the enormous amount of coffee shops. She was expecting to
walk into the store one day, and there he would be standing behind
the counter, handing her black coffee, while she studied for her
tests. But college was over, and Jack wasn’t in New York. Jack
wasn’t in her life. She didn’t have time to talk with anyone,
especially Jack. She could lose herself in conversations with Jack
for hours if she let herself. Law school didn’t exactly permit that
kind of freedom. No, Jack was part of her past, and she needed to
accept that. She couldn’t keep letting herself get so worked up
over some guy in a club who resembled him.

“Well, don’t think about him. There’s no need
to when you have so many other men to choose from,” Chyna said,
speaking like a person who would never have a real relationship.
Not that Lexi was one to talk. Her and Jack had never really been
functional.

“You’re right. Of course, you’re right.”

“I know it, chica, but you can keep telling
me. If you don’t want him, I’m going to go see if I can get my
obligatory drink and dance out of him. I’ll find you someone to
kiss when I get back,” she said prancing off after Mr. Blue
Shirt.

Lexi slumped back against the sofa and
massaged her aching temples. She hated that she kept having these
ridiculous reactions all the time. She had always been such a
strong and independent woman that this gut reaction in regards to
Jack was driving her mad. Flashes of him touching and kissing her
kept cascading through her vision. Memories of long lost afternoons
tucked away in his sheets, wrapped up in his arms as they talked
the day away, enjoying each other’s company…forgetting that there
was a whole other reality that they were supposed to be living in.
Those days haunted her day in and day out for the terrible things
she had done to the people that cared for them. But even through
her despair, she still missed him. She still craved him. He was
still on her mind.

Even as she risked massive intoxication, she
thought of him. But at least then it didn’t matter, because she
wouldn’t remember it in the morning. That’s the state she was
hoping to obtain, when she suddenly stood to patrol for a willing
donor to her cause. Her eyes traveled the length of the bar as if
she were checking out merchandise on a clothing rack. Her head
tilted slightly as one attractive man replaced another in a stool
before deciding to proceed.

He was tall…really tall and blonde. Two
things she rarely went for, but then again she wasn’t searching for
a date. She was searching for someone to get her hammered, and this
guy fit the bill. She knew an Armani suit when she saw one, thanks
to Chyna’s scale of men’s approved clothing, and this guy was
wearing one. That was a step in the right direction.

Lexi sauntered purposely towards his side of
the bar. “Oh,” she squealed, her heel conveniently faltering right
as she passed him. He reached out to steady her, making sure she
wouldn’t fall. She placed her hand on his chest resting it there
long enough to feel the definition under the soft material. His
hands were firmly planted on her hips as she righted herself in the
four inch Manolos Chyna had forced on her feet. “I am so sorry. I
just can’t seem to keep my balance in these things,” she
purred.

“It’s no problem,” he said still holding onto
her hips. “Did you twist you ankle or anything? Did you need to sit
down?”

Lexi paused sucking her bottom lip in between
her teeth and giving him a doe-eyed expression as if she were
contemplating the question. “I’m not sure,” she conceded.

“Here. Take my seat. Do you need ice or
something?” he asked not taking his eyes off of her as she slid
past him and occupied his stool.

“Oh no, I think if I just sit a minute, I
should be fine.”

“At least let me get you a drink,” he said
flashing her an award-winning smile.

Lexi giggled checking that off her list.
“That’d be great.”

“What’s your guilty pleasure?” he asked, his
voice laced with seduction. “You seem like a Sex on the Beach kind
of girl.” Lexi blanched at the words.
Sex on the beach
. No,
she wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Jack. “Or are you more of
a whiskey girl. I hear a Southern accent in there. Did you want a
SoCo or a Jack and Coke?”

Lexi gulped hard. This guy was supposed to be
helping her forget Jack. Not continuing to bring him up even if it
was an accident, even if he had no idea who Jack was. She sighed
and pushed the thoughts out of her head. He was flirting with her,
and if she had been in a different mood, then the comments might
not have bothered her. She needed to just relax and know that he
wasn’t attempting to make her stomach knot.

From the way his green eyes were boring into
her brown ones, she could tell that was certainly not on his mind.
He had the look of a guy who always got what he wanted. His head
tilted in a way that was almost a poker tell on him. He was
thinking that this was going to be easy, and soon enough he would
be heading out of here with her drunken ass on his arm. Even as
drunk as she was feeling, she wasn’t prepared to lose herself in
some guy. She couldn’t do that while her mind was clouded with Jack
Howard.

“Shots,” she yelled over the music that
escalated in the room.

“Do you care what of?”

“Anything
but
Jack,” she stated
firmly.

He smirked at her answer, and then nodded his
head. A minute later two shots were placed before them. More
replaced that round and then another round after that. Lexi melted
into Armani Guy as all thoughts seeped out of her mind. The alcohol
was taking a toll on her tiny body, and she was very pleased with
herself for accomplishing her mission so quickly.

“So,” she slurred, “what do you do?”

Armani Guy looked at her glazed eyes and
leaned in closer to answer her. “Live off a trust right now.”

“Oh?” Lexi asked dryly, immediately
unimpressed. She never understood why people didn’t work
themselves. Who cares if your parents left you a fortune? She one
hundred percent believed in making your own way in life.

“Yeah. Not really my thing, but it helped me
when I was in a pinch,” he answered shrugging nonchalantly.

“Well, what are you doing here, Mr. Trust?”
she asked giggling at her alcohol infused humor.

“Daddy’s work,” he said coldly. “Just trying
to get a feel on a guy they’re thinking of interviewing for a job,
and he’s in New York. I happened to already be in New York. It was
a win-win for them.”

“Oh,” she said nodding along as if she cared.
“Where are you supposed to be meeting this guy?”

“Here, actually. I tend to feel more
comfortable in clubs, but he hasn’t showed yet,” he said his eyes
leaving her for the first time to scan the VIP area one more time.
“Guess he got caught up.”

Lexi pulled his blue and white striped tie
between her fingers and tugged lightly. “Well, then it’s your lucky
day, isn’t it?”

He smiled wide, obviously enjoying her
advances. “I suppose it is. How’s your ankle? Can you dance on
it?”

“It’s just fine.” Lexi nodded checking off
number two in her head and wondering if Chyna had beat her to
it.

Armani Guy pulled her onto the dance floor.
Typically with all the years of formal dance and gymnastics
training she had, it made it rather difficult to find a good
partner. It seemed that she had lucked out with this one. He moved
with her perfectly in time with the music. He anticipated her
change in direction and would even guide her hips to his own rhythm
when the music took him. She was starting to get disappointed that
she had set the rule that they wouldn’t be taking anyone home. This
guy, whoever he was, was actually helping her forget about Jack,
and that was a feat in and of itself.

Lexi didn’t know anything about him except
that he was obviously wealthy. And though he seemed like a
genuinely nice guy, he helped her when he thought she was injured,
she simply couldn’t let herself get swept up into an imaginary
attraction to someone she just met. That never ended well for
her.

She needed to take this as far as her drunken
brain would allow her. This guy was just like most other men. He
wanted one thing and one thing only. When he realized that she
wasn’t willing to give him what he was looking for, and she kept
telling herself that she wasn’t, then he would find someone who
was.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he
questioned into her ear.

She leaned her head back against his chest
and swayed to the music. She wanted to leave with him, but she had
promised Chyna. She hadn’t even thought about Chyna for ages which
could mean that she had already ditched her for someone else except
Chyna was usually good for her word. If she agreed no guys for the
night, then she would find Lexi by the end of the night and they
would both go home alone. Lexi sighed…
both
go home alone.
She needed to find Chyna. “I’m here with a friend. I can’t leave
without her.”

He located her much more quickly than Lexi
would have been capable of alone. His height gave him a distinct
advantage. “Chyna, time to go,” Lexi commanded peeling her off of
some guy she had locked lips with. Whoever he was didn’t look too
pleased, but after seeing Armani Guy he quickly backed off and
vacated the premises.

“Alexa,” she shrieked, “the love of my
life!”

Lexi giggled as Chyna tackled her, forcing
them both back into Armani Guy’s hard chest. “Oh, excuse us,” Chyna
trilled batting her long lustrous eyelashes.

“It’s not a problem. I was just helping,
Alexa, find you,” he said smiling politely at Chyna.

“Ohhhh,” she said her eyes moving from Lexi
back to Armani Guy. “Well, thank you for that. She’s hardly ever
able to find me on her own.”

“So she told me.”

“It is time for me to go,” Chyna said faking
a yawn. “I guess I should check out. I’m sure you can find your own
way home, right chica?”

Lexi knew this act. It meant that Chyna
approved of her choice. “Can you excuse us for a minute?” she asked
Armani Guy. As he nodded, she yanked Chyna out of earshot from him.
“No guys, remember?”

“Yeah, but did you see that Armani suit?” she
asked, her eyes leaving Lexi’s and glancing back at his build.

“Yes, I did,” she said snapping at her to get
her attention back on her.

“Did you see those muscles?”

“Yes, I did,” Lexi growled.

“Did you see the way his green eyes blazed at
the sight of you?” she purred.

“Chyna, cut it out. I saw, but it’s a girl’s
night. I can hook up with him another night.”

“You are insane, but I love you!” she
exclaimed planting a drunken kiss on Lexi’s lips.

Lexi rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know,
dear.”

“Just for the record, I think you should go
for it.”

“Well, I’m not going to. Some other time,”
she said as she turned towards Armani Guy. “Sorry, we have to get
out of here.”

“We?” he asked incredulously. She pointed
between her and Chyna and his face transformed at the realization
that she was going to leave without him. He had put in all that
work for nothing. She could tell he wasn’t pleased. They had hit it
off, but she wasn’t ready to go home with him yet. Not tonight at
least.

“Sorry. I know you have that meeting,” she
quickly improvised. “Maybe we can meet up some other time.”

“I’m leaving the city tomorrow, but maybe I
could get your number and the next time I’m in town we can meet
up.”

Chyna grumbled something in her ear, but she
swatted her away not wanting to hear her voice of reason. Of course
she should go home with this guy, but that really wasn’t going to
help her tonight. She was too drunk at this point to go home with
his guy. She quickly punched her digits into his Blackberry and
then dragged Chyna to the door.

As they drove back to Lexi’s dorm, Chyna kept
staring at Lexi in dismay. “I don’t want to hear one word,” Lexi
said pointing her finger in Chyna’s direction.

Chyna pulled a zipper across her lips, but
raised her eyebrows in further disapproval. A few minutes later as
they entered the dorm, Chyna couldn’t hold back any longer. “You
should have gone with him.”

“Yeah, I probably should have, but there will
be other guys and other nights.”

Chyna scooted closer to Lexi as they reached
the top of the stairs and began walking down the stained hallway
Chyna had been so uneasy about earlier that afternoon. “Yeah, but
he was delicious.”

“I guess he was.”

“I hope he calls you though.”

“I doubt he will,” Lexi said coming to a stop
in front of the door and fumbling for her keys.

Lexi pushed the door open and immediately
veered towards the bedroom. Chyna shut the door behind her and
walked towards the lumpy couch. She plopped down allowing her
aching feet a reprise from their tormentors. Just as her butt hit
the cushion, she jumped up screaming at the realization that
whatever she had sat on was not a cushion. And now it was
moving.

Lexi darted back out of the room sobering up
as soon as she heard the blood-curdling cry echo throughout the
apartment. “Chyna, what is it?” she cried unsure what she would
find. Lexi gasped in surprise at what appeared to be someone rising
from the dead. The figure’s head hung limp and arms were stretched
out in front like Frankenstein’s monster. A low menacing moan
escaped the person. Just then the figure’s head snapped sideways as
Chyna slammed a pillow into the side of his head. Lexi rushed back
to the front door, latching on to the handle in the event that they
needed to make a run for it, and flicked on the dorm light.