“Promise?”
“Yes,” she said twisting the knob behind her back and pulling the door open. “Sorry.”
Lexi rushed down the stairs and out onto the dark city streets. She had forgotten how different New York and Atlanta were. At any given second in New York, she could hail a cab to take her to any destination. Here people had to call for a cab and wait for it to pick you up. In New York, people were constantly on the streets and, where Lexi frequented, she could walk anywhere. In Atlanta, she rarely felt safe walking in even the classiest areas of the city during the day, let alone at night.
She took a deep breath and dialed the number for a cab service. After a few minutes, the cab arrived and carted her to Chyna’s hotel. Lexi had the concierge ring for Chyna, but found that no one was in the room or else Chyna was incapacitated. Either was just as likely. Since she had no proof that she should be in Chyna’s penthouse, they refused to give her a key to the room.
“If you won’t give me a key, can I stay in your lobby until she gets back?” Lexi asked exasperated.
The woman looked at her condescendingly, taking in her smeared make-up and torn dress. “That is not typically permitted.”
“Do you really want one of your A-list clients angry at you when Chyna finds out that you treated her best friend this poorly?” Lexi asked smoothly.
Her face shifted into a line of worry. Individuals who came to the hotel and rented the penthouse suite were few and far between. “Very well. When Ms. Van der Wal returns and we can confirm your identity, then we can allow you into her room. If you would like a room of your own, we could arrange that. Otherwise you will have to wait.”
Lexi sighed heavily and wandered over to a loveseat. She pulled her feet up onto the cushion and rested her head against the arm of the chair. All she wanted to do was forget that tonight had ever happened.
A short while later she someone was shaking her awake and calling her name. Lexi’s eyes fluttered open and she realized, somewhat unbelievably, she had fallen asleep. Her neck was sore from the uncomfortable position, but her mind, at least, was still. She must have been exhausted to have fallen asleep that quickly.
“You alright, chica?” Chyna asked looking at her anxiously.
“A little sore.” What an understatement. “But I’ll be alright. Can we go upstairs?”
“Yeah, sure,” Chyna agreed helping Lexi to her feet. “Did they give you any trouble?” Chyna asked staring daggers at the concierge.
“No, they were fine. They did exactly as I expected,” Lexi replied following Chyna to the elevators.
The two girls took the elevator to the top floor and Chyna let them into her suite. All Lexi wanted to do was to crash for the next several hours. She was both physically and mentally exhausted. Chyna had other ideas though. She obviously had all the energy from just getting laid that Lexi was lacking. And even though she needed her mandated seven hours of beauty sleep, she didn’t seem ready for that to begin.
“Can you spit it out so I can go to sleep?” Lexi asked resting her head back against the couch.
Chyna bit down on her bottom lip as she stared uncomfortably at her friend. “What the hell happened to you? You look like a train wreck. You should have seen the way those people were looking at you downstairs. God, you could have been a hooker for all they knew. A hooker wearing amazing clothes, but still…”
Lexi rolled her eyes not caring much what others thought about her. “I had a rough night.”
“I’ll say. Just look at you.”
“Thanks, C. I got it,” she mumbled irritated.
“Then what happened?”
Lexi sighed wavering between a lie and the truth. “Jack and I slept together.”
Chyna’s mouth dropped open. “No! When?” Lexi lowered her eyes to the floor. “Tonight?” Chyna squeaked. “How could you?”
“You know the answer to that.”
“You said you weren’t going to.”
“I hadn’t planned on it. This obviously wasn’t planned,” she said gesturing around her.
“But, Alexa,” Chyna scolded.
“Don’t use that voice with me,” she growled. “Things didn’t go as planned anyway.” Things definitely did not go as planned. She hadn’t planned on sleeping with him. She hadn’t planned on falling for him…again. She hadn’t planned on her night with Ramsey. She hadn’t planned on any of it.
“Did he hit you?” Chyna asked fear obvious in her voice. “You look like shit.”
“What? No! God, no,” Lexi exclaimed running her hands through her hair. “He just…he was really cold to me afterwards.”
“Like how?” Chyna asked concerned.
“I don’t know. He said this didn’t change things,” Lexi attempted to explain.
“What does that mean?” Chyna asked aggravated.
“I think it means he needs more time to decide what he wants. It just came out wrong,” Lexi said trying to convince herself too.
“I doubt it.”
“Chyna,” Lexi said warningly.
“No, you listen to yourself. He fucked you then pretty much told you that you didn’t mean anything to him. How could you think otherwise?”
“He said he still needed time. He told me he wanted to be with me. Chyna, they can’t be together. I have to stop this. He can’t do what he did to me and expect not to have to make a decision,” she told her vehemently.
“Alexa, stop. You can’t think like that. You cannot break them up.”
“But he wants to be with me. A part of him still wants to be with me.”
“You don’t actually believe him, do you?” Chyna asked scrunching her perfectly waxed eyebrows together.
“He’s never lied to me before,” Lexi said but doubt was in her voice.
“Are you sure?”
“He hasn’t lied to me in six years. Why would he start now?” Lexi asked trying to force a sense of determination.
“I just…don’t know,” she said biting her lip and looking away.
“What are you getting at, Chyna?” Lexi couldn’t keep the venom out of her voice.
“Look, maybe he never lied directly, but that didn’t mean that he was telling you the whole truth,” Chyna told her.
Lexi sighed. She had thought of that. In fact, a part of her wondered if maybe everything he ever said had been in some part a lie. But she couldn’t let herself get caught up on that. He was the same Jack she had always known, and he loved her. No matter how difficult the past week…the past year and a half had been there was a part of him that would always love her. She needed to harness that affection and make him realize that was what he had always wanted…what he still wanted.
“Did you forget that this was all your idea in the first place,” Lexi asked evading Chyna’s last statement.
“Goddamn, chica, I sent you up here to get over the fucking douche bag, not to fall in love with him again.”
“Well, I’m not sure I ever stopped loving him.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Chyna said shaking her head miserably.
“I know perfectly well what I am saying. I know exactly how I feel about Jack.”
“You’re acting like a teenager. Pull yourself together. You don’t need this guy to feel loved. There are plenty…”
Lexi interrupted, “Don’t feed me the there are plenty of other fish in the sea line.”
“But there are!” Chyna cried. “Have you not seen the way Ramsey looks at you?”
Lexi rolled her eyes, but her heart was aching at the admission. She couldn’t tell Chyna what had happened between them. The news that they had almost slept together would only fuel her passion. And she was stuck with Jack. No matter what he had done or how confused he was. He held her heart, even when it was breaking. “Don’t talk to me about Ramsey.”