Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding 2)

He quickly ran after her. "The truth is I want to be with you. I went about it wrong, but it doesn't change how I feel," he said grabbing her elbow to stop her. She yanked her arm back pulling her shoulder too forcefully and sending a wrenching pain through it. "I know I made some mistakes, but they are minor Lexi. We can work through them. Please give me the chance to work through them."

"How can I when I can't even look at you without seeing the lies all over you?" she asked taking another step backwards. "These lies were for you not for me. You lied to cover your past and your wealth and your importance. I just wanted you as you are. You wouldn't even give me that. Who are you?" she whispered.

"I'm yours," he said following her down the barren hallway. "I'm all yours."

"You can't be mine," she said shaking her head. "Someone who belongs to me is able to give themselves over to me. I gave myself to you and all you did was abuse my trust."

"Please let me try to fix this," he begged seeing her slipping through his fingers.

"You can't. I think this is it Ramsey. I can't date someone for a year and then find out I never knew who he was," she said weakly hating even saying the statement. She knew it was true but her heart was breaking at the thought of being without him.

"I can. I can fix this Lexi. You know who I am. I swear you do."

"Good bye Ramsey," she said standing on her tip toes and kissing him softly on the mouth. He pulled her tight against him trying to deepen the kiss, trying to remind her of what he could give her. She pressed her hand against his cheek and broke away from his lips. "Please don't call me," she added breaking away from him, rushing out the back door, and into her car.

She revved the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. The weight of what had just happened settled over her and she found that she didn't even have tears to cry for what she had just done. She cared for Ramsey more than she had ever thought, but now all she could see was the tangle of lies surrounding him. She couldn't help but wonder how different he actually was from Bekah. Perhaps this deception ran in the family. That thought alone held her tears back.

She was driven by one thought: she needed to get back to New York. She needed out of this god forsaken town and out of this oppressive heat. She needed to get away from the smog of the commuter city and back to her home with its own smells and intricacies. As swiftly as she could she piled the majority of her belongings into her two largest suitcases and departed for Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. She purchased the next plane ticket out of town not even bothering to cringe at the expensive fare.

As she sat down in the terminal awaiting her flight, she wondered who she should call to have her pick her up. Suddenly she realized she would be even more alone in New York with her roommate, Rachelle, working out of town and Chyna in Milan at her photo shoot. Lexi cursed out loud, much to the chagrin of an old married couple and a teenage mom toting around four obnoxious children, when she realized that they were about to board and she had no one to pick her up when she arrived in town.

Nodding to herself she realized, in fact, she did have one person and quickly jotted out a text message briefly explaining the situation and asking if she could be picked up in a couple hours. Surprisingly she got an almost immediate reply.

"Good to hear from you. Sorry about the circumstances. I'll be there when you land. –Adam."

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K.A. Linde

Epic Baggage

Come on and we'll try, one last time

I'm off the floor one more time to find you

And here we go there's nothing left to choose

And here we go there's nothing left to lose

-Mat Kearney "Nothing Left To Lose"

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Chapter 23: Present

Lexi rolled over letting her arm stretch languidly over her head. She kept her eyes closed savoring the last few seconds of grogginess before she had to get out of bed. She smiled as she sank back further into the soft down pillow under her head and stretched her body out under the comforter. Her hands brushed up against the hard wood headboard, and she blushed thinking about how she had used the headboard last night.

"What's that devilish grin for?" Ramsey asked leaning forward and kissing both of her red cheeks.

Lexi giggled letting her eyes open to look at the man lying next to her. "Nothing," she cooed looking at his bright green eyes from under her thick black lashes.

"You don't blush without reason," he said sliding his hand across her bare stomach and pulling her closer to him.

"I think I blushed all last night," she murmured pushing her hands up against his chest.

"I'd say you had a reason for that."

Lexi giggled and snuggled closer to him. "True."

"And anyway I don't think I gave you an opportunity to think about blushing. You were too preoccupied," he said as he ducked down to give her a heated kiss.

"I think you might be right," she agreed tilting her head to allow for easier access.

Lexi wrapped her arms up around his neck pressing herself flat against him. She knew she was egging him on, but she couldn't help it. Everything had been so perfect last night after they had talked things out. It was like Parker had never existed in their relationship. She had missed that feeling so much. All she wanted to do was stay in bed all day and forget the past month had happened. That would truly be an ideal situation.

"Woah there," he said pulling back briefly, "do you think you're ready again…already?"

Lexi shrugged before lifting her head off the pillow to kiss him again. "Yes." It was his turn to grin devilishly as he moved his hand down between her legs. She groaned enjoying his gentle prodding, but also feeling some major after effects of last night's…activities. "Wait…maybe not."

Ramsey chuckled and shook his head at her. "I had a feeling," he said stilling his hand and giving her another playful kiss. "How about a shower?" he offered.