Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding #1)(55)
Author: K.A. Linde

"Oh right, Chyna," Elizabeth said. "What kind of name is that anyway?" she mumbled just loud enough for Lexi to hear.

Lexi gritted her teeth and hoped the torture of petty social interaction would end soon. "Yea she went out with me last night."

"Did that guy go out with you last night too?" Claire asked giggling into Elizabeth’s shoulder.

Lexi froze and stared at the three. Elizabeth’s freckled face was nearly masked with the blush that took over her face whenever she found something humorous. Claire’s thin blonde hair had been shaken free of its loose ponytail. Rachelle even let a small smile grace her features at the two girl’s ridiculous behavior. God, were they twelve years old? Even though these things were put on Lexi’s list of all-time rare behavior for her roommates, what made her body react was the fact that they had mentioned a guy. Yet, how could they know that she had met a guy last night? And was that even what they were talking about?

"Oh just look at her face," Elizabeth said through her giggles.

"She didn’t want us to find out. That’s why she made him leave so early," Claire announced smacking Elizabeth with her hand playfully. Though, it looked like this scene had been rehearsed.

"Did you see him though?" Elizabeth asked fanning herself.

"Yeah why would she want to hide him?" Claire asked letting the emphasis rest on the final word. "Even Rayray thought he was gorgeous. Didn’t you Ray?" Claire questioned shoving Rachelle’s notepad out from under her pen.

Rachelle looked up finally dropping her half-smile as she glared at her roommates. "What does it even matter what I think? I have work to do. Why not harass her somewhere that doesn’t involve me?" she asked cattily.

"Um…guys, what are you talking about?" Lexi finally asked confusion written across her features.

Claire focused in on her assessing the situation. "That guy I let in the apartment last night. He was dreamy and couldn’t stop blabbering about you."

"What guy?" Lexi gasped steadying herself on the counter top. Her vision had gone blurry at Claire’s words. Had Jack actually been there last night? Her throat felt dry and she reached blindly for her coffee mug. Unable to locate it, she touched her hand to her throat and choked back a cough.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "No need to be so dramatic."

"Anyway, he left you a note after you kicked him out," Claire said producing a tiny piece of white paper. "We weren’t sure if you wanted it."

Lexi moved forward robotically and snatched the paper from out of her fingertips. "Don’t ever touch my stuff again," she snarled narrowing her eyes menacingly.

Claire and Elizabeth looked as if they’d never seen Lexi before. Their mouths hung open in shock. Even Rachelle had stopped to stare at her newfound malice. Lexi ignored them all in her anxious desire to read the note, find out if it actually was from Jack, and why he had left so early if it was the case.

She shut the door behind her and fell into her desk chair. She could feel her pulse in her stomach as she held the insubstantial piece of paper in her palm. She ignored her gut feeling that nothing good could possibly come from this and tore open the paper. Her heart fluttered at the text before her. It held one word – one lonely word. The handwriting was unmistakably Jack’s, but still he had left her with nothing else but:

Sorry.

She stared numbly at the five letters scratched onto the blaringly white scrap. What was he sorry about? Her stomach sank further. Had she said or done something wrong? She’d been blitzed out of her mind last night and couldn’t remember a single thing. Only a minute ago she had been certain she had conjured him up in a dream, and now he was leaving her with apologies. She buried her face in her hands a fresh wave of heartache taking over where hangover left off. A tear trickled down her face and she quickly swiped it out of the way in anger.

No.

She wasn’t going to go there again. She had shed enough tears previously and now she needed to get over this. Jack had always and would always have a hold on her heart, but she needed to be smart about it. He was in New York and had found her. That had to count for something. Tossing the paper on her cluttered desk, Lexi rose and located her cell phone once more. After tapping out a quick reply to Chyna that they’d have to talk later, she found the number she was looking for and dialed the line.

"Hey Lex," Jack huskily said through the other line.

She felt her body turn to jello at the sound of his sweet voice. How had she forgotten how amazing his voice sounded in her ears? She sighed contentedly, and then stopped herself. She needed to be frank with him and not just get suckered in all over again. "Why the f**k did you leave that note?"

He sputtered, "I…uh…"

"Why did you even come see me if you were just going to leave with nothing but a note?" she interrogated him.

"I was pretty drunk," he offered.

"Oh you were drunk?" she asked not keeping the condescending tone from her voice.

"Yeah look I had been meaning to come by and talk to you, but I hadn’t been able to work up the nerve. Can we just meet up and talk?" he pleaded.

"How long have you been in New York?" she asked her eyes narrowing.

"Come on just meet me and I’ll tell you everything," he promised his voice taking on an almost desperate tone.

"Just answer the question Jack," she commanded forcing herself not to break under his sweet talk.

"A couple months," he mumbled.

"What?" she squealed. "A couple months and this is the first I’ve heard from you?" She couldn’t help but feel hurt. He had known all along that she had been around. And there she had been moping about him and feeling like she was seeing him on every street corner. For all she knew, he could have been on any street corner. He could have been any of those guys that had looked like him.

"I wasn’t sure if you were…" he trailed off.

"If I was what?" she asked her anger flaring.

"Single."

"Oh," she muttered before she had a chance to stop herself.

"So can you please just meet with me so we can discuss this? I can tell you’ve entered full-on freak out mode and I can’t help if I’m not there."

"Then, why did you leave?" she spat at him. Lexi was pretty sure that whatever had happened last night, he had to have realized that she wasn’t taken? She shook her head furious with herself. No there was no way for him to know that. Even if they had done anything last night, past precedent proved that it had never mattered whether or not she had been single. She wasn’t even sure why it mattered to him right now, but she didn’t ask that.

"I had an interview," he muttered dejectedly.

"For a job?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes for a job, Lexi. I wouldn’t have left your side for anything else," he informed her.

Lexi fell silent after that comment contemplating her next move. Of course, she wanted to go see him and find out what had happened, but she knew what kind of distraction Jack offered. Her first semester grades would be all she had when she was looking for internships for the summer and she needed to stay focused. Rachelle wasn’t the only one who had to study in their household. Then again her roommates antics about Jack just reminded her of how good looking he was. If even Rachelle had commented on his appearance, Lexi knew he had looked damn good last night…and she couldn’t remember it.

She shook her head from side to side weighing her option. Biting down on her bottom lip, she realized there was really only one option. "Where did you want to meet?"

Lexi assumed he wanted to meet at a coffee shop, but was pleasantly surprised that he steered clear. They already had memories stored away in a coffee shop hundreds of miles away. There was no need to start creating new ones in New York. She stared up at the stairs in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She had walked by here on numerous occasions, but had never been afforded the luxury of having enough free time to venture inside. Not that she had ever been a connoisseur of fine art, but she could still appreciate the beauty that lay within the castled walls.

In fact, she had always been intimidated by the outwards splendor that radiated from the building. Chyna had been to a number of benefits and operas at the location, but timing had never been right for Lexi to join her. Now she was stuck staring upwards at the massive construction wondering what she was even doing here. Sitting in her room and listening to Jack’s soothing voice made her think that this was the right thing to do. But now outside of her comfortable residence, she couldn’t quite be sure. She was more likely to be of the opposite state-of-mind when it came to Jack. Though he brought her such pleasure, she knew well enough now to expect heartache by the end of it.

Just as her thoughts strayed farther down that detrimental path, she felt a light tap on her shoulder from behind. She jerked around caught off-guard by the sudden interruption. "Jack," she said her voice lowering seductively as she caught sight of him.

Her roommates had been right. He looked damn sexy. The afternoon sun gleamed in his eyes reflecting back to the world as a bright ocean blue with just a hint of gold circling the pupil. His shaggy hair, which typically fell into his eyes, had been combed and perfected to rest across his forehead. A worn pair of jeans, that she recognized, hung loose on his narrow hips. A grey long-sleeve t-shirt fit snug across his broad shoulders. Her eyes couldn’t help but smolder at the sight of his cut arms and chest which showed countless hours of work. She had never seen him look so built before in her life.

A smile broke out across his face when he noticed her checking him out. She blushed slightly unable to control the faint feeling of embarrassment. She knew that she shouldn’t feel it…after all, it was Jack. He pulled her into him wrapping his arms around her waist covered by a purple sweater and long black pea coat. Breathing in his musky scent made her head dizzy with more than just a cologne haze, and she tightened her grip around his neck to steady herself. Her heart fluttered as he seemed unable to let her go. After a minute of standing there with their arms wrapped tightly around each other, Jack finally pulled back taking a step away from her. Lexi instantly felt like all the warmth from her body had dissipated with the break in contact.

"Can we go inside?" he asked rubbing his hands up and down his chiseled arms. "It’s kind of freezing and I forgot a jacket."

She shook herself out of her trance and nodded following him up the stairs. Her jaw slackened at the magnificent arched hallway and the crowd of people milling around the entranceway. Jack locked onto her wrist and led her away to a more secluded section of the lobby. His hand was hot to the touch despite just having left the frigid outdoors. She couldn’t tell if that was just her reaction to feeling his skin or whether he was actually that warm. He gestured for her to take a seat on a hard wooden bench, which she did. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her pea coat and angled her body to look at him where he sat next to her.

He breathed out a few times into his hands. He obviously thought they were cold even though Lexi disagreed. She waited not wanting to be the first to speak. She wasn’t even sure what he was going to say. She was a little scared about what she might find out.