“Don’t hang up…”
Lexi clicked off the line before Chyna could even finish her statement. She paced in a circle, feeling more and more nervous as the seconds ticked by. The knock on the door forced her to spring to action, and she rushed down the hallway to Jack’s bedroom. She burst through the door in a panic. Jack’s head was buried under a mound of pillows when she walked in.
“You were gone too long. Come lay down,” Jack said patting the bed beside him.
“Ramsey is here!” she cried hopping onto the bed beside him and yanking a pillow off of his head.
“What?” he asked jumping up like he had been jolted with electricity.
“Ramsey is at the front door,” she repeated. “He’s banging on the front door like a freaking maniac. Did you know he was coming over?” she asked frantically brushing her hair away from her face as she looked into his now frightened blue eyes.
“No, I didn’t know. What is he doing here?” he asked brushing his hand through his own hair and cursing under his breath.
“How the hell should I know? He’s at your front door. You have to go get rid of him. He can’t see us together. Shit would hit the fucking fan.”
“I know. I know. I’ll see what I can do. Shit!” he said hopping off the bed and throwing a t-shirt over his head. “What the fuck is he doing here?”
“I don’t know, just get rid of him,” she said shoving him towards the door.
“I’m going. Just stay in the guest bedroom or the bathroom until he leaves. I’ll go find out what he’s doing here,” he said as he jogged down the hallway. “Don’t make a peep,” he warned.
Lexi rolled her eyes. As if she was stupid enough to do that. She walked into the guest bedroom leaving the door ajar. She wanted to be able to hear what they were talking about while still remaining hidden. She leaned her head back against the wall and strained to hear what was going on at the front door.
“I’m coming,” Jack yelled racing down the hallway and unbolting the door. “Ramsey, hey man, what’s up?” he asked casually leaning against the doorframe to block his view of the inside.
“Hey, sorry to barge in on you like this,” Ramsey said eyeing him reproachfully as he looked at his ragged appearance, and then glanced at his watch revealing the time to be nearly noon. “Bekah told me that you weren’t going into work today, and that you should be home. I just wanted to see if I could talk to you for a bit.”
“You know, right now really isn’t the best time,” he said scratching the back of his head and yawning wide. “I was up all night punching numbers. I’m pretty beat, and since I’ll be out all weekend, I really need to get in as much work as I can.”
“Oh, it’ll only be for a few minutes,” he said towering over Jack. “I have a few questions to pass by you.”
Ramsey brushed past Jack before he received an answer. “Sure, come right in,” he remarked sarcastically shutting the door as Ramsey entered the living room.
“So...” Jack said following him into the room. “Coffee?”
“No, thanks. I just had a few questions,” he said leaning back against the sofa and crossing his arms, “about Lexi.”
Jack’s head snapped to the side at the last statement. “Excuse me?”
Ramsey’s eyebrows lifted at Jack’s reaction, but he otherwise gave no sign that he had noticed his sharp intake of breath at the mention of Lexi’s name.
“I wanted to find out a little more about her. What she’s like, where she’s from, how ya’ll know each other, what she’s doing here…that sort of thing,” he said easing Jack into the situation.
“Uh…well, why don’t you ask her?” he said regretting that statement as soon as he said it. That wouldn’t exactly be the best thing for him to do. He could imagine Lexi’s phone going off in his room while Ramsey dialed it from the living room. That thought made him cringe. No, that certainly wouldn’t go over well.
“I’m just curious about her. I don’t want to come on too strong. I’ve only known her for a couple days. Don’t you think it would be strange for me to be asking her all these questions? I know you. You’re practically my brother,” Ramsey said clapping Jack on the back. “I don’t see why you wouldn’t share some valuable information with your brother.”
“Yeah, man, I would, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing her personal information without talking to her first.” Jack didn’t know what Ramsey’s interest in Lexi was, but he didn’t like it. He knew he was acting defensive about the situation.
“Come on, Jack. I’m not digging around for personal information or anything,” Ramsey said, “I’m talking to you about her. Obviously ya’ll were together a long time ago.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Have you seen the girl? She’s hot. I wouldn’t have blamed you for getting with her before you met Bekah. She’s a polar opposite from my sister though,” Ramsey said falling easily into the playboy persona he exuded around the majority of the people he knew.
“Yeah, that’s for sure,” Jack agreed. “And, yeah, I mean, we were together back in college, but that was a long time ago.”
“And I’m sure she’s changed a lot since then, but fill me in,” Ramsey pleaded seeing Jack begin to cave under his requests.
“Well, alright,” Jack agreed looking across the room at the cracked bedroom door. He remained composed despite the nagging feeling creeping throughout his body. “What did you want to know?”
“So ya’ll met in college and dated while you were there, why is she still in your life?” he asked bluntly. He figured it was best to dive in so he wouldn’t give Jack time to sugar coat his answer.
Jack’s face flushed at the accusations behind his words. “What do you mean why is she in my life? She’s a good friend of mine.”
“Really?” Ramsey asked nodding his head at the obvious lie.
“Yeah…really,” Jack said more vehemently this time. He couldn’t help glancing down the hallway again wondering if Lexi was listening to every word they were saying.
“How come I’ve never met her before? Never even heard you talk about her before?” he probed.
“She lives in New York,” Jack said stating the obvious.
“Yeah, but we go to New York on a pretty regular basis. Ya’ll never met up while we were out or anything. Bekah or I were with you at all times, and from what I’ve gathered from Bekah, she had never met her either.”
“We’ve been out of touch up until recently,” he admitted hating how much information Ramsey was capable of weaseling out of him. “You don’t mind if I get some coffee?” he asked hoping to put some distance between them.
“Not at all,” Ramsey said watching him enter the kitchen and reach for an already full mug of coffee. “Why are there two mugs?” he asked curiously, immediately glancing around the apartment as if a stranger were about to jump out at him.
Jack smiled as he brought this coffee back into the living room. “That was from last night,” he improvised quickly.
“Alright,” Ramsey said not convinced with pretty much anything Jack was telling him, “So, ya’ll just recently got back in touch. I’m surprised Bekah’s alright with this.”
“I’m not sure why you’re giving me the third degree. I love your sister. Lexi is just an old friend. That’s all,” Jack announced to Ramsey.
“Well, that’s good to hear especially since we went out the other night,” Ramsey added nonchalantly. All the while, he kept his eyes locked onto Jack. The reaction elicited was almost uncanny. Utter shock seemed to sweep his body, starting at this clenched fists and racing up his arms into his tensed shoulders. Jack’s jaw tightened with the growing anger that sent through him. His blue eyes were darkening by the second.
“You did what?” Jack asked hoping to keep his voice level, but knowing he was failing.