Avoiding Commitment (9 page)

“This feels so familiar,” she breathed
leaning her head back against the arm of the loveseat.

“Yeah, I suppose it does,” he agreed
amicably.

“You have a girlfriend.”

“You don’t have a boyfriend,” he added.

“I could have a boyfriend,” Lexi said popping
her head up to look at him eyebrows raised.

He laughed lightly. “You don’t have a
boyfriend,” he said as a matter-of-fact.

“How do
you
know?” Her eyes
narrowed.

“Lex, I’ve known you for a long time…years,
in fact. You don’t have a boyfriend right now.”

“Fine. I don’t have a boyfriend,” she
conceded, “but I could.”

“You could, sure. But you don’t. Either way,
we’ve been here before.”

“We’ve been everywhere before,” Lexi stated
running her hands through her long waves and let them fall off the
side of the loveseat.

Jack coughed into his hand covering up a
laugh that began to break through. “I wouldn’t say
everywhere
.”

“Oh, Jack, stop it!” she exclaimed catching
his double entendre. Hefting the pillow out from behind her, she
threw it with full force across the room and into his still amused
face. Shocked, he picked the pillow up off the white carpeted floor
and tossed it back in her direction catching her in the chest.

She coughed upon impact, the weight of the
pillow knocking the air from her lungs. She threw the pillow back
in his direction with as much force as she could muster. He was
prepared this time, and caught the pillow out of midair. Jumping
up, he dove to the loveseat and smacked the pillow down into her
shoulder. Lexi curled into a ball protectively covering her
face.

“Do you surrender?” he asked holding the
pillow high.

Just before he was about to bring it down on
her one more time, another pillow materialized her in hand.
“Never,” she declared swinging the pillow hard, hitting him full on
in the chest. He teetered for a moment before regaining his balance
and toppled his pillow down on her. When she didn’t even seem to
register his attack, he bent down over her and began to tickle her
between the ribs. She giggled uncontrollably, kicking out wildly
with her feet, gasping for air.

“That’s cheating. You’re cheating,” she
squealed attempting to pry his hands away from her. “Stop. Stop. Oh
God, Jack, stop.”

He paused, his body starting to register the
position he had found himself in. Lexi had unwound from her fetal
position and was sprawled across the couch. Her bare legs were
slightly spread with her hands above her head. The silky material
of her shirt did very little to hide her hard nipples underneath.
His knee touched hers while his arms remained circling her waist in
the same position where he had been tickling her. His body rested
only a couple inches from her.

As she recovered from his assault, her chest
heaved up and down so hard she could almost touch him. Her
chocolaty eyes were wide and wild, rimmed with tears of laughter.
Flushed, her cheeks showed a splatter of red; her lips bare and
showing slight signs of chapping. Even her hair was unruly and
untamed, weaving curls and waves all across the sofa. All together,
she was the epitome of uninhibited, unbridled beauty.

Lexi’s eyes gazed back at him seductively.
She could feel how close he was, and despite herself, despite it
all, she wanted him closer. She licked her lips watching as his
whole body seemed to relax into her. He was only a couple inches
from her mouth at that point. So close, in fact, she could just
reach her head off the armrest to meet him.

In that moment, she knew. All that stuff
about things being different had been bullshit. He wanted to kiss
her. He wanted her.

Lexi heard a gentle trill come from the
direction of the bedroom. “I think that’s your phone.”

His eyes roamed her face once more, and then
glanced up at the clock. “Fuck, is it really 3:30?”

She arched her body up, feeling herself press
up against him as she got a good enough angle to read the red
digital numbers. He hadn’t pulled away from her, and she could feel
him easily through his basketball shorts. “Yep, that’s the time,”
she said sliding back down against the suede couch. His weight
eased back against her as she moved. God, she wanted him. This was
the reason she had promised Chyna she wouldn’t be alone with him.
“Perhaps, you should go answer that.”

“I can call them back,” he said
automatically. Lexi felt as if she had traveled back in time six
years, and Danielle would be on the other line.

“You know, perhaps this feels a little too
familiar,” Lexi said sitting up and pulling away from him.

He coughed uneasily and righted himself on
the sofa. “You’re right. Sorry.”

She could tell he wasn’t. It didn’t matter
though. He was doing the right thing. She was doing the right
thing. For once.

CHAPTER 4

AUGUST FIVE YEARS EARLIER

Flashes of silver light careened around the
open dance floor sending blurred, refracting images across the
wide-eyed girls shaking their bodies in time with the rap beats
blaring from the projection speakers. Saturday night at Chamber
showcased incredible DJ spinning talent, and for the sea of
wall-to-wall listeners nothing could get better. Several bartenders
distributed lethal quantities of whatever one’s heart desired in
alcohol. The medium-sized rectangular room was divided in two by
sliding glass doors keeping the dance space and the more secluded
lounge area separated. A raised platform designed in an L-shape was
constructed against one wall and had a long bar against the open
side.

Beefy security guards in bright yellow
Chamber polo’s remained stationed in precarious locations as a
rather deliberate reminder for the drunkards to keep their cool.
One too many customers had found themselves sprawled on their ass
on the pavement outside after a fight broke out or the Fire
Marshall deemed the building to be over the maximum occupancy.

“I need six lemon drops, three Bud Lights,
two Jager bombs, and an Amaretto sour,” Trina demanded of the tiny
red headed bartender. The girl looked frantic pulling random
bottles off the shelf and replacing them almost instantly. She
grabbed several shot glasses placing them haphazardly on the bar
before glancing up at her customer helplessly.

“How many shots did you want?” the girl asked
her voice coming out mousy.

Trina rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “Honey,
why are you working the busiest night of the week if you can’t take
an order? I said six.”

A blush crept up across her cheeks and down
her neck. “I…uh…” the girl stammered not anticipating the
harassment.

“I mean really, what was Joe thinking hiring
someone so incompetent?” Trina questioned her further leaning
forward against the bar. Her eyes were locked with the mouse who
looked terrified. Several of the surrounding customers glanced
anxiously over at Trina. Some just looked angry that she was taking
up so much time with the only bartender in the vicinity. A small
blond girl standing to her right nudged her lightly in the ribs
giving her a
shut the fuck up
look. Trina didn’t even
register the jab. She was smiling, instead, at the girl behind the
bar. “What’s your name sweetheart?”

“Mary,” she said fumbling with the bottle
opener. Mary, getting even more flustered, managed to drop the
metal opener. She quickly ducked down to retrieve it.

Trina smirked at the girl maliciously. “Seems
like you are better suited for church… Mary,” she said dragging her
name out. The girl just glanced up meekly, not even able to form
words. Her eyes were beginning to well with unshed tears.

“Trina, stop being such a bitch,” another
girl said materializing next to the redhead. The voluptuous
bartender scooted Mary to the side with her hip and began expertly
filling the order.

Trina’s smile widened at the sight. “Chasity,
I thought I would have to break your newbie before you got over
here. What took you so long?”

“I’d like to remind you that you are underage
darling,” Chasity quipped pushing the beers across the counter.
“Might I also point out,” she said thrusting the bottle opener into
the back pocket of her micro-mini jean skirt and leaning into one
hip, “that three-fourths of the people in the room know that.”

Mary’s eyes bulged. “Oh my God, Chasity, I
had no idea. I wouldn’t have served her if I’d known.”

Chasity rolled her eyes at the girl. “We
don’t ID at the bar silly girl, just at the door.” Mary’s blush
returned in full force. “Anyway, you should recognize Trina here as
one of our All-American gymnasts.”

“Thanks for the introduction. Why not add a
lemon drop to that order for yourself and little Mary too,” Trina
said fishing out her credit card and passing it to Chasity who
stuffed it into her red bra strap. Chasity added two more glasses
to the counter and began filling them with clear liquid. Trina held
a shot over her head beckoning the couple off the dance floor.

Lexi brushed her side-swept bangs off her
glistening forehead as she made her way to Trina and the rest of
the group. Trina smiled as she approached, a shot appearing in
front of Lexi’s face. “For you, my dear,” she said passing her the
drink.

Lexi reached forward to extract another shot
from the bar and passed it to the guy standing behind her before
diving back in and retrieving two sugar-coated lemon slices. The
eight people in attendance smacked their glasses against one
another and downed the contents feeling the familiar burn of vodka.
Quickly inserting the lemon slice into her mouth, Lexi felt the
dizzying effects of the alcohol, even stumbling a little. “Ugh,”
she groaned leaning back against the guy’s shoulder, “I can’t feel
my legs. Is that bad?”

He wrapped his arm around her tiny waist
securing her in place. “Don’t worry. I gotcha.”

“I know you do,” she said nuzzling her nose
into his neck affectionately.

He jumped upon contact. “Damn. Your nose is
freezing. How are you that cold?” he asked breaking away from her.
She shrugged leaning forward against Trina’s chair.

“Who’s the new girl?” Lexi asked nodding
towards the red headed bartender.

“Mary,” Trina said cocking her head sideways
as she studied the girl. “Chasity was just introducing her to
me.”

Lexi’s head shot up at the name. Her head
swiveled around the bar expecting to catch a glimpse of very
familiar dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. No matter how many
times she came to Chamber, she had the same reaction at the mention
of Chasity. After all, Jack had been a regular of hers at one point
in time.

“Hey, Lex,” Chasity said winking at her.
Lexi’s heart skipped at the casual use of the nickname that she had
never really allowed anyone else to call her after. “I was actually
just chastising Trina for acting like a bitch to Mary here. You’re
on the team, right? You should learn to keep her under control.”
Chasity swirled her hips in time with the music looking all the
more sensual for her adoring customers. She flipped a bottle of
whiskey three or four times experimentally in her hands before
tipping it upside down and emptying it into a glass brimming with
cubed ice.

“Oh no, I’m not on the team,” Lexi corrected
hastily. “I just practice with them.”

Last semester, Lexi had received an email
from Krista, the captain of the gymnastics team, asking if she was
available to attend a meeting with the coach. Lexi had thought it
was a cruel joke. She had only told one person about her desire to
be on the gymnastics team, and well, she hadn’t spoken with him
since that fateful night in October. Her response had been dripping
with sarcasm and questions in regards to the real sender. Krista
had instantly responded that in no way was she joking about the
offer, but that if she wasn’t interested then to forget it. As fast
as she could get a reply out, Lexi apologized and agreed to the
meeting.

Krista met her at the entrance to the
athletic training facility. She was petite, even compared to Lexi,
with stick straight brown hair to her shoulders covered in red and
blonde highlights. A distinct hole in her eyebrow, nose, and lip
showed where piercings were beginning to close up. An old,
destroyed, university, warm up shirt hung loosely on her tiny frame
sliding off one shoulder and allowing her bellybutton ring to peek
out from underneath. The elastic of her grey sweatpants had been
cut off so that they barely hung on her narrow hips. Lexi liked her
already.

The meeting with the coach went surprisingly
well considering the fact that the lady had been characterized as
the epitome of bitchiness. Shortly afterwards, they had set up some
time on the mat, and Lexi had wowed them into allowing her to
practice with them. It had been like a dream come true. The only
thing that could have made it better was if they allowed her to
compete. She wasn’t going to hold her breath for that though.

Lexi had been fortunate enough to begin
training out that same week. The first day at practice she met the
guy standing behind her. Spencer was a student athletic trainer for
the gymnastics team that season. He frequently attended practices
to prepare him for meets.

After successfully completing her first
practice, Lexi’s entire body felt physically assaulted. Seeing the
amount of pain she was already in, Spencer had pulled her to the
side and offered to do post-stretch work outs with her to soothe
her aching muscles. At first, she had turned him down thinking she
didn’t need it, but when she found she could hardly make it to the
locker room, he had insisted. He nursed her over-used muscles
making sure that she hadn’t done any serious damage.

Then after proclaiming her fit, he had
nervously asked her out that same day. Agreeing to the offer was a
no brainer, and they had been dating ever since. Seven months later
their relationship was still going strong.