Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding 1)

"But you like it. You're enjoying it."

"No," she said shaking her head as her lower half convulsed with pleasure.

"Your body is telling me otherwise and I haven't even gone any farther."

"You can't…go any…farther," she gasped out.

He sighed letting his head fall forward but halting his movements inside of her. His hot breathe gave away his already heated desire for her. "Are you sure?" he asked wiggling his fingers playfully.

She gasped. "Yes…"

"You want me to stop?"

"Yes."

He sighed against her heavier this time, but extracted his hand from her lower extremities. He rolled over and laid next to her his chest heaving up and down with the effort of following her orders. She could tell he was expelling a good deal of exertion keeping him from her when he was already hard and ready for her.

Lexi hopped up off the bed and shimmied back into her ruined dress forgetting that Ramsey had given her new, clean clothes to change into. "I have to get out of here," she said reaching for the door.

"What?" he cried hopping off the bed in surprise. "You just got here."

"I know, but I have to leave."

"Don't go. I'll be good. I won't do anything else," he pleaded with her meeting her at the door.

"This isn't about you," she muttered wrenching the door open.

"Then it's about Jack," he said catching her off guard.

She stumbled just managing to catch herself on the door frame. "It doesn't matter what it's about. I just have to leave."

He could see that he had touched on the right subject just by her aggressive response. "Where are you going to go?'

"I'll figure it out," she said walking out of the room, through the hallway, and down the stairs. She could feel him following her, but she didn't look backwards.

"You shouldn't go running off in the middle of the night."

"I can do whatever I want," she cried striding across the living room.

"I know you can. I just want you to be safe," he said quietly.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything she might regret. He was just looking out for her, and she knew that. However, getting into any sort of physical relationship with someone was just plain wrong. She had too much baggage. She needed to clear away some of that before anyone else got hurt. "I will be safe," she told him turning and facing him.

"Promise?"

"Yes," she said twisting the knob behind her back and pulling the door open. "Sorry."

Lexi rushed down the stairs that led to his townhouse and out onto the dark city streets. She had forgotten how different New York and Atlanta were. At any given second in New York, she could hail a cab to take her to any destination. Here people had to call for a cab and wait for it to pick you up. In New York, people were constantly on the streets and, where Lexi frequented, she could walk anywhere. In Atlanta, she rarely felt safe walking in even the highest class areas of the city during the day, let alone at night.

She took a deep breath and dialed the number for a cab service. After a few minutes, the cab arrived and carted her to the hotel Chyna was staying in. Lexi had the concierge ring for Chyna, but found that no one was in the room or else Chyna was incapacitated. Either was just as likely. Since she had no proof that she should be in Chyna's penthouse, they refused to give her a key to the room.

"If you won't give me a key, can I just stay in your lobby until she gets back?" Lexi asked exasperated.

The woman looked at her condescendingly obviously taking in her smeared make-up and torn dress in a rather negative fashion rather than seeing the several hundred dollar material. "That is typically not permitted."

"Do you really want one of your A-list clients angry at you, when Chyna finds out that you treated her best friend this poorly?" Lexi asked smoothly.

Her face shifted into a line of worry. Individuals who came to the hotel and rented the penthouse suite were few and far between. It was unlikely this woman wouldn't want to accommodate them. "Very well. When Ms. Van der Wal returns and we can confirm your identity, then we can allow you into her room. If you would like a room of your own, we could arrange that. Otherwise you will have to wait."

Lexi sighed heavily and wandered over to a loveseat. She pulled her feet up onto the cushion and rested her head against the arm of the chair. All she wanted to do was forget that tonight had ever happened. A short while later she was being shaken on her shoulder and someone was saying her name. Lexi's eyes fluttered open and she realized, somewhat unbelievably, she had fallen asleep. Her neck was sore from the uncomfortable position, but her mind was, at least, still. She must have been exhausted to have fallen asleep that quickly.

"You alright chica?" Chyna asked looking at her anxiously.

"A little sore." What an understatement. "But I'll be alright. Can we just go upstairs?"

"Yea sure," Chyna agreed helping Lexi to her feet. "Did they give you any trouble?" Chyna asked staring daggers at the concierge.

"No, they were fine. They did exactly as I expected," Lexi replied following Chyna to the elevators.

The two girls took the elevator to the top floor and Chyna let them into her suite. All Lexi wanted to do was to crash out for the next several hours. She was both physically and mentally exhausted. Chyna had other ideas though. She obviously had all the energy from just getting laid that Lexi was lacking. And even though she needed her mandated seven hours of beauty sleep, she didn't seem ready for that to begin.

"Can you just spit it out so I can go to sleep?" Lexi asked resting her head back against the couch.

Chyna bit down on her bottom lip as she stared uncomfortably at her friend. "What the hell happened to you? You look like a train wreck. You should have seen the way those people were looking at you downstairs. God, you could have been a hooker for all they knew. A hooker wearing amazing clothes but still…"

Lexi rolled her eyes not caring much what others thought about her. "I had a rough night."

"I'll say. Just look at you."

"Thanks Chy. I got it," she mumbled irritated.

"Then what happened?"

Lexi sighed wavering between a lie and the truth. "Jack and I slept together."