"Are you the present?" he slurred keeping his hands pressed to her hips.
"Am I what?" she asked her brows furrowing together.
"That's enough Seth," Ramsey cut in knocking his hands off of Lexi.
As soon as she was free from Seth's grip, her eyes moved to the people standing behind him. "Hunter, Luke," she murmured barely loud enough for them to hear. She felt as if she were taking a trip back in time. When she had been in college, she had done everything with these guys and now they were here…in New York City…at a strip club.
She eyes doubled in size as everything started to come together. "No," she muttered her vision losing focus. She had said that she deserved whatever came her way by insisting that she come along with Ramsey. But she wanted to take it back.
She didn't deserve this.
This could not be happening to her.
Someone was speaking to her, but the words weren't processing correctly in her brain. Her stomach was turning and she thought she might be sick at any moment. Her hand reflexively came up to twine around a loose strand of hair and she pushed it behind her ear. Of all the things for her to insist on being in attendance, she never in a million years would have guessed that this would be the place she would end up.
"Lexi, are you alright?" Ramsey asked putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Don't touch me," she spat venomously shrugging his hand off her shoulder. She didn't care if this wasn't his fault. She needed someone else to blame other than herself for this and he was the easiest target.
"Come on, don't be like that," he pleaded.
"You brought me here!" she cried louder than she had intended. Seth, Luke and Hunter, despite their inebriation turned to look at her along with a few additional patrons and rather unhappy strippers. "So take care of the big emergency!"
"Lexi you're gonna need to chill out," Seth said motioning drunkenly around him. "We're celebrating. Let's do a shot, honey."
"Do I look like I want to celebrate Seth?" she growled.
"You look f**king hot."
Lexi rolled her eyes. She should have known better than to get a straight answer from Seth. He had always been the one to goof off and make everything a joke. Ever since she had known him he had been this way. Nothing should change now…seven years later.
"Come on Lexi," Hunter pleaded his eyes glazed over. "You've gotta celebrate with us."
"Yeah," Luke agreed.
"I think not."
"But it's Jack's bachelor party," Seth told her smiling as if he'd just told her the best news of her life…instead of the worst.
* * *
I had some great reviews last chapter from Cupid's Psyche, total romance., misatok123, and nadinesmith. Thanks you guys rock!
K.A. Linde
Appearances
Happy to lay here
Just happy to be here
I'm happy to know you
Play me a song
Your newest one
Please leave your taste on my tongue
-Joshua Radin "Paperweight
* * *
Chapter 4: September Eleven Months Earlier
Lexi couldn't remember the last time she had been surrounded by so many people when she wasn't out clubbing. It wasn't entirely unpleasant being surrounded by a sea of faces that she didn't recognize, however, the accumulated wealth in the vicinity was astounding. Expensive tuxedos, silk formal dresses, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of diamonds were just a few of the things that tipped Lexi off to the extravagance amongst the people in the ballroom…if the ballroom itself didn't tip her off.
She knew she should have expected something like this. In fact, Chyna had warned her that her father did everything all out. She had even warned her that it might be more extravagant than normal because it was both a huge event for her father and Chyna was going to be in attendance. Chyna swore up and down that her dad always overdid things when he knew he could rub something in her face. Lexi wasn't sure if she bought that. She didn't have any personal experience with step parents, but she was sure some of this affluence had something to do with her soon-to-be step mom.
Lexi was dressed the part in a floor-length plum dress with tiny spaghetti straps. Her back was almost completely exposed and her new, shorter, hair was swirling around her shoulder blades. Even in a pair of Chyna's Manolo heels, she was a head shorter than most of the people in attendance. This was due in large part to the number of fashion models circulating the premises.
For the first time, Lexi was beginning to realize that Chyna actually held back in her lifestyle. All of the redecorating, clothing purchases, and manicure/pedicures were on the low end of the extravagance that she could have indulged. She had never imagined this possibility.
"You look nervous," someone said coming up behind her and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Lexi twirled around, a little jumpier than she had even thought she was, and stared up into the handsome face. "Adam!" she cried surprising him by throwing an arm around his neck and pulling him into a hug.
"Hey, woah, calm down," he said extracting her arms from around him and taking a step back. "I can't play a convincing boyfriend if you've got your hands all over me."
A blush crept up on her cheeks and she added an extra step backwards just for good measure. "Sorry to pull you into this whole thing," she muttered eyeing him up and down in his expensive tux.
"Hey, glad I could help," he said sliding one hand into his front pocket.
Chyna sure did get lucky with the type of person who had decided to save her from the scumbag who had drugged her. When he had first helped her out, Lexi hadn't even noticed how attractive he was. Now that he was standing in front of her all cleaned up, it was hard to ignore the way his dark brown eyes seemed to light up and his dark blonde, almost brown, hair curled lightly at the edges. He was really tall, but then again everyone was tall in relation to Lexi.
Most of all she liked how put together he appeared. He had the same air that he had while being in Chyna's apartment – cool and confident. Lexi could admit that it was endearing.
"Well you're more than helping," she finally muttered glancing away from him. "And anyway do I really look nervous?"
He laughed at the nervous face she flashed his way and nodded. "Just calm down," he said offering her his arm. She placed her hand gingerly on his black suit and allowed him to escort her to the refreshments table.
"Why are you so calm? Did you see who just walked by?" she asked trying to keep from staring at the platinum blonde celebrity who had just passed them.
He handed her a glass of red wine as he took his own glass of scotch on the rocks. "They're just people. You can't forget that fact. As soon as you do, you get that look on your face," he said pointing at Lexi's star struck expression. He took a swig of his drink and smiled as she immediately closed her mouth.
"They're just people. Right," she muttered following his lead and indulging in the alcohol presented to her. She needed to loosen up a bit in order to get through this night.
Lexi still couldn't believe Adam had agreed to play Chyna's boyfriend. They had known each other less than a week and had only hung out twice, outside of the unusual circumstances that surrounded her drugging. After Chyna had found out what he had done for her, she had insisted on doing anything she could to thank him. Just like that night, he had refused any payment whatsoever for his help. He swore that he would have done it for anyone if they had been in that situation.
Chyna hadn't been able to let it go though. She had coaxed him into going out to dinner with her. Though Lexi guessed it hadn't taken much coaxing. From there they had seemed to hit it off really well, and she had invited him to come to her father's engagement party. Chyna had neglected to inform him that he was doing her a huge favor and Lexi had accidentally spilled the beans by asking him how he felt being a fake boyfriend for the night. After they had explained the situation, he had come around to their side, but now they owed him two huge favors.
"Where's your faux boyfriend anyway?" Adam asked scanning the room.
Lexi sighed wondering that same thing. After her call of desperation, Lexi had spoken to Ramsey pretty frequently. She had admitted to him that she was terrified of relationships after having such a rocky past in that area, and they had agreed on some boundaries before his arrival. She wanted to make sure that she knew what she was getting herself into before he showed up and, no doubt, swept her off her feet.
This arrangement had somehow ended up with him meeting her at the party. Now she was just anxious to see him in person. It had been so long since she had left him all alone on the tarmac with just enough hope to keep him interested. She hadn't been sure that she would ever call him. Even though she did have some measured interest in him, he wasn't Jack.
That fact alone had a tendency to make her completely lose interest in everyone else. Yet, Jack was exactly who she had walked away from. He was who she had left behind. She couldn't have Jack anymore, if Jack had even ever truly been hers.
The past month without him had been difficult. Before she had always wondered if he was going to show up in her life again, but now she knew that he wasn't going to be around. He wasn't going to find her. She felt like a huge hole was left in the center of her chest that he used to occupy. Sure she had been strong when dismissing him, but the reality of letting him go was a much different story.
Now she was faced with the reality that she needed to move on, and Ramsey was the perfect suspect. He knew some of her prior escapades with his future brother-in-law, but not enough to keep him from her as he had proven by agreeing to this rendezvous in New York. And just because he wasn't Jack didn't mean he wasn't exactly what she needed.
Lexi sighed and tried to stop her mind from wandering all over the place. She needed to stay in the moment or else the past would begin to take her over. And living in the present meant finding out where exactly her faux boyfriend was at that moment in time.
"I'm actually not certain," Lexi said pulling her phone out from the tiny black clutch she was carrying with her. "Have you seen your faux girlfriend yet?"
"Yeah she found me right when I got here, but said she needed to take care of some things," Adam said vaguely, "but that she'd find me later."
"Well this is going to be a fun night," she murmured flipping open her phone and seeing no new calls or texts. She knew his flight had been delayed in Atlanta due to weather conditions, but she hadn't heard from him since then and had assumed everything was alright. She figured she would have at least heard from him by now.
"Looks like it's just me and you," Lexi said downing the rest of her wine in one big gulp.
"Where's your date?" Adam asked concern in his eyes at her abrupt change in mood.
"His flight was delayed so I'm guessing he's stuck somewhere," she told him trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
"He'll turn up," Adam said placing his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. Lexi smiled up into his brown eyes and reminded herself that he was Chyna's date. That thought made her smile grow even more. She couldn't believe what a strange situation they were in. Here she thought that she was the only one capable of getting them into uncomfortable scenarios, but Chyna had managed to force them into another, just as awkward, state of affairs.