Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding 1)

"You don't know?" he asked skeptically.

"Yeah I wasn't really filled in," she admitted awkwardly.

He sure thought it was strange that she had come to visit Jack, but he hadn't even invited her to his big birthday celebration. "Well it'll be a surprise for you too. Want to go with me?"

Lexi was interrupted from answering again as her phone went off in her hand. "Goddamn it. Who wants to talk to me now?" Lexi popped open the phone. "Hello."

"Alexa!" Chyna squealed on the other line. "Oh my goodness, chica, I have missed you. How have things been going with you know everything? Are you planning to come home to me sooner rather than later?"

Lexi's laugh escaped her mouth as soon as she heard her best friend's voice. "Chyna, it's so good to hear from you." Lexi glanced over at Ramsey who's expression at turned had lightened in accord with her own enthusiasm. "Sorry to disappoint, but it doesn't look like I'll be joining you back home anytime soon. Though I do miss New York terribly."

"I knew you would," Chyna trilled. "How could you not? I know the summer is scathingly hot, but to get away to go somewhere not only hot but humid? Disgusting."

"Well you convinced me to come down here in the first place," she reminded her, getting lost in their conversation and not realizing that she was giving away information in front of Ramsey.

"Yes well how does closure suit you?"

"Actually," Lexi said pushing her hair behind her ear as she glanced at Ramsey's all too curious face, "I can't really talk about that right now."

"And why not? You're supposed to be with your family tonight right?"

"Err..."

"Oh my God, Alexa, you are not with him right now are you?"

Lexi's brows furrowed together hoping to God that Ramsey couldn't hear Chyna's end of the conversation. "No no no no no," she muttered quickly. "I'm just...um."

"Do not lie to your best friend."

"I'm not lying," she quickly corrected. "I'm just...on a date." Ramsey's bright smile at the recognition of their date was totally worth it. This guy seriously had everything going for him. Which begged the question what was he doing with her? But she couldn't think about that right now.

"What?" Chyna squealed. Then thinking the better of it, she asked, "With whom? Jack? It better not be Jack. Your vague texts over the past two days haven't been enough. Fill me in. What's going on?"

"Chyna, I'm kind of in the middle of something here," Lexi reminded her.

"Oh geez, Alexa, I'm sorry. I'll let you go, but I better get some details. You know how long I've been waiting for this to happen. If you don't call me by tomorrow..."

Lexi cut her off. "Good night Chyna." Lexi closed the phone and turned the damn thing off not wanting another such distraction. "I'm so sorry. I'm usually not this popular," she admitted smiling at Ramsey who just shrugged off the statements.

"No problem at all. Was that someone from home?"

"Yeah, my best friend," she told him.

Luckily, there were no interruptions for the remainder of the evening. The two managed idle chit chat with little interrogation or their normal rude behavior towards one another. The sun set as they finished their meal and an announcement went out signifying the beginning of the laser show. Lexi got lost in the twirling lights and loud popular music blasting from the speakers. She couldn't believe that they were capable of displaying scenes to go along with the music large enough to cover the entire side of the mountain. The couple had involuntarily snuggled closer together as the show continued. Ramsey had even ventured to lace his fingers with hers.

When the show ended, the surrounding families and groups began to pack up. Lexi sighed finding it strange that she was actually sad that the evening was coming to an end. She began to pull away from him to stand up, but he pulled her back down.

"It's not over yet," he muttered into her ear.

"But everyone's..." she began gesturing to the crowd.

"Just wait a second," he said smiling down at her.

Lexi glanced around hoping to find out what he was talking about. Half of the people were already exiting the lawn and they hadn't even moved yet. She knew it would take awhile to get out of the park and was ready to start the long ride back to his place. If there was more to come, then no one else had been informed. Just as she was about to get up again and tell him that he had been misinformed, a large pop sounded from the mountain.

Lexi's eyes darted up to the sky in terror. Had a gunshot just gone off? Then her eyes brightened as a red firework exploded covering the night sky. Lexi squealed in surprise. There were never fireworks this time of the year. They only ever had fireworks for the week of the Fourth of July. The surrounding crowd had halted their urgent packing to look up at the shimmering colors falling towards the earth. Several more fireworks erupted from their perspective locations producing earsplitting booms and crackling popcorn. Lexi stared on in wonder as more and more fireworks colored the sky.

"I can't believe they did this," she whispered into the night. "I didn't think they normally do fireworks this late in the season."

"They don't."

Lexi shifted her gaze momentarily to stare into Ramsey's shining green eyes. "They don't? You mean...you did this?" she asked putting the pieces together.

He smiled at her cupping her chin in his hands. "I thought you'd like the surprise."

She couldn't do much more than nod before his lips touched hers gently. She knew they had kissed the night before, but she had been drunk at that point and acting without inhibitions. This kiss occurred because she wanted it to. It was gentle and brief, but he sure did taste wonderful. She had no idea how he still tasted of peppermints. She hadn't seen him eat one or anything. When he pulled away, she couldn't help but whimper at the loss of his warmth. He chuckled and placed one more kiss on her lips just as the fireworks displayed ended.

He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on. Now we can go."

"Shouldn't we pack this stuff up?" she asked looking at their feet.

"Nah. I'll have someone take care of it. Let's get you back. I'm sure you're exhausted."