“Is Lex back yet from wherever he went?” I asked quietly.
“Yes he is. In his room,” she answered before walking out.
I grabbed the aloe vera and walked over to his room. Knocking on his door he answered to come in. I opened the door and found him sitting up in bed with his laptop. “You have a minute?” I asked hesitantly.
He closed his laptop and put it on the nightstand. This distance thing was as wide as the Grand Canyon and it was driving me crazy but I couldn’t jump him, not after he thought I was just using him.
“Working while on vacation?” I chuckled.
“Yes, sadly there were certain matters that needed to be taken care of.” He sounded cold, not the loveable, playful Lex from yesterday. It pained me that I caused this. That he climbed back into that cold lonely shell that Adriana said he was living in for years before I came back.
“I need a favor,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “As you can see my back is burned to a crisp. The girls are out and well I don’t want to ask Rocky with his lady hands to help me. Would you mind?” I held out the cream.
He looked like he was wrestling with the decision but eventually took the cream and patted for me to sit down in front of him. I sat there and removed my tank top revealing just my bikini top. My skin felt like it was on fire and as soon as the cream touched me I yelped at the coolness. He rubbed his hands over me. Closing my eyes, I focused on his touch. How smooth they were.
“Lex…” I turned around to face him. He placed the lid on the bottle and gazed into my eyes. He looked so distant and I fucking hated myself for making him feel like this. “Please listen to me. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. I didn’t even mean half of it… I…” What was it that I wanted to say? “I’m trying so hard here, Lex. Yes, I want you physically but there is so much more. You aren’t just someone I picked up off the street and fucked so no I don’t only want you for that. I’m sorry that I made you feel that way. I just need—”
“Time, I get it.” He jumped off the bed and announced that he was going to help Elijah in the kitchen.
…
“Rocky, where on Earth do you find these jokes?” Adriana asked. We were sitting on the beach with a bonfire, Rocky as usual making us all laugh with his crude jokes. Thank God Will had stayed at a friend’s house next door, because Rocky held nothing back. Zero filter!
“I don’t know…Twitter and other social media.”
“Oh that’s right. The one you put on there the other day was so gross.” Adriana cringed.
“You liked the status!” he roared. We all laughed but I couldn’t help but notice how quiet Lex was. “Dude, are you on Facebook?” Rocky asked Lex.
“No, I don’t really have time for that stuff.”
“But what about all the hotties in high school? Ya gotta give Charlie a run for her money.”
I sat there silently waiting for him to respond to Rocky’s question.
“The chicks in my high school were nothing special. The ones in college no better,” he mumbled.
“Then why did you marry Samantha?” I blurted out. He shot me a look. Shit! Me and my stupid big mouth. This wasn’t the discussion to be having at the bonfire in front of everyone. But I never knew the whole story and now I wanted to know.
“I thought I loved her.” His eyes were low as he answered.
“How long were you guys married for?” Bull’s asked which caught me by surprise. Why was she suddenly nice to him?
“Married for a year and a half. Together for three years.”
“How did you propose?” she asked. What the fuck? Why was Bull’s asking these questions?
He stared blankly at the fire and remained silent. He wasn’t the type of person to open up about his feelings so I expected him to tell her to mind her own business. You could imagine my shock when he actually told the story.
“She loved animals. She wanted to study to be a veterinarian but her father said there was no money involved so he made her study business. A friend of mine knew the owner of the San Diego Zoo. We planned a weekend away and I organized a private viewing of the zoo. Her favorite animal was the sloth. We went to the area where they were located and she was in awe with a baby sloth. It was friendly and the zookeeper allowed her to hold it. She was happy of course but asked why the sloth had to wear a collar if it was in a monitored habitat. She undid the collar and low and behold the ring box was attached. I got down on my knee and the rest is history.”
“Dude, that is one rockin’ proposal!” Rocky cheered.
“Yes, only marginally better than proposing when your girlfriend is riding you in the back of your truck?” Bull’s teased.
“Well, you said yes. Can’t have been all that bad.” Rocky winked. Bull’s smirked and kept her mouth shut.
It was a beautiful story even though my heart sank right to the bottom of the ocean as he told it. I couldn’t take it anymore so I excused myself and went back to the house. I found my keys, license and jacket, then I walked to the front of the house where my bike was sitting. The helmets sat on the handle bars so I grabbed one placing the other on the porch and walked back to my bike and jumped on. Just the sound of engine roaring was enough to soothe me. As I adjusted my helmet I felt arms wrap around me. I didn't have to turn around to look, it was him. I could see in my rearview mirror he had placed his helmet on. With his arms wrapped tight around me I drove off. I didn't want to go to the spot where we went last night so instead I drove to another beach not too far away. I knew I was speeding but I was suddenly pissed off. As I pulled into the beach and stopped the bike, I abruptly jumped off, ferociously removing my helmet.