“Let it go, Bryce.” Luke pushed past me and grabbed Lexi. “I’ll take you home.”
“Thanks, Luke.” She gave him a huge smile and he gathered her in his arms and they walked towards the front door. I watched as they left and felt something inside of me crumble. I was coming apart. The pills hadn’t worked. I wondered if I should take two more.
“Hey, Bryce. I’m always here for you.” Suzannah smiled and purred up at me and Mary winked at me. I felt nauseous and couldn’t believe I had put up with these girls in high school.
“Hey, what’s going on everyone?” Anna walked into the kitchen with a huge smile and a buzzed look on her face.
“Your friends just left, rat face.” Suzannah laughed at her.
“What?” Anna frowned.
“Lexi and Luke left.” Suzannah laughed. “Ha, even their names go together. I guess they do make a cute couple.”
“They aren’t together.” Anna and I spoke at the same time and I gave her a small smile.
“Do you really think they’re not going home to f**k right now?” Suzannah laughed. “You two are soo gullible. I’m sure they’ve been f**k buddies for years.”
“Wash your mouth out, Suz,” I growled at her. I turned away from her and walked up the stairs quickly. I needed to lie down for a second. My head was pounding and I could barely keep my eyes open.
***
I woke up in the middle of the night in pitch black and confused. I couldn’t really remember the events of the night before and I wasn’t sure how I had gotten in bed. But I sensed immediately that there was a naked woman next to me. I could feel her body pressed up against mine and I stilled. I turned to peek at her face, but it was so dark that I wasn’t sure who it was.
All I could remember was that Lexi had left with Luke and Suzannah telling me that Lexi and Luke had been f**k buddies for years. Lexi had fooled me by telling me she was a virgin. I had always suspected that she and Luke had more going on than they pretended to have. I felt a jolt of pain dart through my heart and I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to think about Lexi. I couldn’t afford to think about Lexi. She was nothing to me. She didn’t want me now and if she knew the truth about the night with Eddie, she wouldn’t want me then either.
I reached over and pulled the woman closer to me and closed my eyes as I ran my hands up and down her naked body. She groaned as she woke up and leaned over to kiss me. The kiss wasn’t especially sensual, but it was filled with need. I kissed her hard and she kissed me back hard. She ran her hands up and down my chest and I rolled her over onto her back. I still had my jeans on, so I undid them and pulled them off, throwing them across the floor. I didn’t think about what I was doing. I just did it.
As I reached down and slid into her, I felt my body go numb. I moved in and out like a robot as she groaned under me. She wriggled against me and grabbed me, yet I felt nothing for this unknown woman. Only the need to relieve myself of my pent up frustration. I was disgusted with myself for having sex with this woman, when my heart was with another. I finished quickly and pulled out, as I was about to finish. I rolled over and lay in the bed with my back to her. She cuddled up to me and I sighed. I’d have to have a talk with Suzannah in the morning. I’d have to tell her that this meant nothing and I didn’t want to be back with her. Just because Lexi had someone else didn’t mean I was just going to settle.
My head was aching when I finally woke up in the morning. The sunlight streaming through my window roused me out of my sleep. I stretched and immediately stilled as I felt the naked body pressed up against me. I went to slide out of the bed but I felt her hand reach around and grab me. I sighed as I turned towards Suzannah, hoping she wasn’t going to make this more difficult than it needed to be.
“Morning,” she whispered as she kissed my back and I pushed her hand away from me. I didn’t want her to mistake my morning hardness for wanting her.
“Morning.” I turned over, ready to have the conversation and my heart stilled as I made eye contact. I felt my heart sink and my eyes widen as I saw who was in my bed. It wasn’t Suzannah who had decided to stay the night and, as I closed my eyes, I wondered how the hell I was going to get out of this mess.
Chapter 13
“I’ve come to take you out for pancakes.” Luke showed up at my door bright and early with a huge smile.
“Ugh. I just want to go back to sleep,” I groaned and let him in.
“No more sleeping.”
“Let me sleep, jail warden.” I stuck my tongue out at him and rubbed my head. “I have a headache and I just want to forget last night.”
“Lexi, at least you know now, before it’s too late.” Luke’s voice was calm and patient.
“What?” I sighed. “That Bryce told the whole school my business, that everyone thinks I’m the reason why Eddie killed himself, which I may be, or because Bryce seems to have an anger/alcohol problem?”
“Lexi, you’re not responsible for Eddie’s death.” Luke put his arm around me as I sat down on my bed.
“I just don’t know what to think, Luke.” I put my head on his shoulder. “I’ve hated him for so long for what he tried to do, but, I mean, he had to have some sort of issues.”
“Whatever issues he had weren’t your fault, Lexi.”
“Maybe I could have saved him?”
“How could you have saved your near ra**st, Lexi?” Luke pulled my face up to his. “Look, Lexi, you are not at fault here.”
“I know,” I sighed. “It just seems too much.”
“You know Bryce and his friends have issues. It comes from being too privileged.”
“Bryce is a good guy, Luke,” I sighed.
“Whatever.” Luke rolled his eyes. “He’s not good enough for you.”
“I like him, Luke.” I stared at him. “I want to get to know him better. I want to be there for him.”
“Why, Lexi? You barely know him.” He sighed and pulled away from me. “I just don’t understand, what does he have that makes him so irresistible to you?”
“There’s just something about him.”
“You don’t even know him, Lexi. He’s just some guy from high school. Okay, so he’s blond and hot, and he was the football star. But we are adults now.”
“Luke, he saved me from being raped. Do you understand that?”