“The way he fucks me,” she cooed, “it’s better than any other guy I’ve been with.”
“No need to be so crude, Bek,” the mousy girl retorted giggling.
“I like it,” the southern drawl sounded again. “Is he fast and wild? Does he just pound into you? Or is he gentle and smooth, pushing his cock in and out of you forcing you to scream with pleasure?”
“Amber,” the mousy girl shrieked, “think about where we are!”
“I was just wunderin’,” she replied her accent getting deep and throaty.
“I don’t mind talking about it since he does all of the above. Last night he just took me fast and wild like you were talking about Amber. He took me as if I was the only person he ever wanted to be with, as if he was claiming me for his own.”
Lexi leaned forward away from the bar feeling all the blood rush to her face as nausea took over her body. This couldn’t be happening. Had she been this stupid? Could he have done this to her? She hated that the answer was yes. He wasn’t exactly strong on keeping his promises. The only exception being that he had never lied to her, and sometimes she wished that he did.
“Whoa, are you okay?” Ramsey asked wrapping his arm around her shoulders and hauling her back to a standing position.
“Um, yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled putting one hand on her stomach and the other over her mouth.
“You don’t look fine. Chyna, look at her,” he commanded.
Chyna pulled herself away from the hot bartender to give Lexi a cursory glance. “Oh, you do look sick. Maybe you should go get her some air,” Chyna suggested.
“That’s a great idea,” he said supporting her as they began to cross the room towards the open balcony. The farther away she got from Bekah the easier it was to walk and not feel like her stomach was about to erupt. But dwelling on Bekah’s words was completely counterproductive to any ease she might have been feeling.
“Ladies and gentleman, if you will join us over here, we have a bit of a tribute to the birthday boy over the years,” Seth announced into the microphone. The crowd began to reassemble in front of a projection display.
“Will you be okay to watch this? I don’t want you to get sick,” he said anxious about her well-being.
Her curiosity stalled the feeling in her stomach. She stepped forward with Ramsey clearing the way for her to pass through. A series of pictures began to flash across the screen in quick succession. The first few she didn’t recognize. She figured, from the looks of them, that they were bachelor party pictures. Coveted images that girlfriends were never supposed to see. As the slideshow progressed, Lexi started noticing more and more pictures. Suddenly, the film stopped on a close-up of her and Jack huddled together on the beach. They were showing off their tanned bodies. Lexi could vividly remember them goofing off that afternoon. It was the day before they had made love for the first time.
She didn’t know that there were still pictures from that time of her life. Another series of photographs shot across the screen of her and Jack along with dozens of other friends. She was as much of a constant through the pictures as he was.
Her eyes scanned the room and landed on the baby blues that had already located her. The emotion that welled inside of her was completely different than what she had earlier been feeling. She was still angry, but with her past flashing before her eyes all she could see was Jack. Jack had been as much of a constant in her life as she was in his. And they would get through this…whether or not he was currently sleeping with his girlfriend. They had gotten through everything before, and they would get through it now.
Lexi watched Jack snake an arm around Bekah’s waist and pull her in close like she had felt him do to her so many times before. She smiled lovingly up at him, and the same feeling began to creep over Lexi.
The only way things could be okay now is if she didn’t watch them together like this. She grabbed Ramsey’s hand and pulled him back towards the balcony. “Maybe I’m not feeling as well as I thought. I’d rather not be in here,” she whispered to him.
“You don’t want to watch the end? I think you’re in the end,” he told her.
She shook her head fiercely. “I think I better not.”
“Alright,” he said guiding her to the outside.
This time when she took one glance over her shoulder, Jack wasn’t there, and he wasn’t watching.
CHAPTER 20
DECEMBER ONE AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER
“Shush,” Lexi cried for what felt like the hundredth time. “Guys, you have to cut it out and be quiet. He’ll be here soon, and then you’ll just be embarrassing me...again.”
Rachelle gave her a half-smile. Elizabeth’s freckled face darkened, but she couldn’t keep from giggling. Her red hair was flying as she let her head tilt backwards with the laughter that was overtaking her. Claire, never too far from Elizabeth’s state of emotions, ran her fingers through the thin blonde strands that curled under her chin. Her answering giggle only egged Elizabeth on.
“But I can’t wait for him to get here,” Elizabeth muttered.
Lexi’s eyes narrowed. “He’s here all the time. There’s nothing special about tonight.”
“Ah, ah, ah...” Rachelle interrupted. “Tonight is special. Finals are officially over.”
“And we’re going out with you,” Claire added her dull grey eyes searching Lexi’s face for a reaction.
“And Jack will be all dressed up,” Elizabeth mumbled closing her eyes and imagining him in much less clothing.
The two girls had been badgering her about Jack since he arrived. Even though they saw him nearly every day for the past month, they couldn’t stop their endless discussion of him. Lexi was beginning to think they did it just to get a reaction from her. And they hated that, despite their horrible finals preparation for the past couple weeks, Lexi had been in a constant state of euphoria.
Jack and Lexi had held to their word. They were not a couple. They were lovers and most definitely in love. Yet, they weren’t together. It was easier that way so far. She was busy with law school, and he had been desperately searching for a job where he would be able to use his degree. With all that, he still had to work as a waiter and sometimes performed with a piano or guitar to make money to pay the bills that were piling up in the tiny broken-down apartment.
It made the time they were afforded together that much sweeter. And somehow they had formed a friendship different from any they had ever had before. Now they spent long, late afternoons in Central Park discussing anything that came to mind. In their past, they had been careful with the precious time they were allotted and even more careful with the time they shared around others. They never wanted to appear too friendly.
But now they could lounge around each other’s apartments all afternoon, hanging with their roommates, or other times they sat alone watching movies snuggled together. But beyond all that, their passion rang through it all. They made love nearly every day. As often as she could afford to put off studying, they would spend all afternoon in his bedroom trying out new positions, volumes, and heightened climaxes. Lexi could live like this forever.
Well, as long as she could get her roommates to shut up.
A knock sounded from the doorway, and Lexi shot her roommates a fierce glare. Elizabeth and Claire, giggling into their hands, took a seat next to Rachelle, who admonished them with a look of her own. The two girls dropped their hands and tried to divert their attention from the visitor in their doorway.
Lexi pushed her hair behind her ears once before opening the door. Lexi gasped and clutched the doorframe for support, when her eyes landed on the form in front of her.
“Clark,” she gasped, shock written across her face, “What are you doing here?”