Avoiding Responsibility (27 page)

"Well great," their father interrupted, "it's all settled then."

Lexi had meant to finish with something all the lines of, "but I'm busy tonight." However, apparently after their father spoke everything else was final. Ramsey it seemed was the only person who ever argued with the man, and at this moment he thought it pertinent not to speak up. Lexi would have a few words with him later about that. But right now she needed to find a way out of this mess, because there was no way she was going to a bachelorette party with any of these people.

K.A. Linde

I know he loved you a long time ago

I ain't jealous of you

Just thought you should know

You were never good enough for him

Or anything like me

So you might as well sit back cause I ain't

trying to show maturity

–
Taylor Swift "Permanent Marker"

Chapter 14: March Four Months Earlier

Lexi was supremely uncertain about the situation at hand. Parker followed her and Ramsey into the beachside club where their planned outings was held. The place was in every way a tourist haven. The walls were covered in beachy slogans, coconut bras, grass skirts, and offers of margaritas, daiquiris, and other tempting beverages. The staff wore bathing suits or other sun-worn, thin clothing that could have come straight out of a surf shop. Music blasted from stereos as mobs danced on a make-shift dance floor. A side room was hosting karaoke where drunken college girls were singing their hearts out to Britney Spears.

The uncertainty arose from several places. One, she wasn't sure Ramsey's relationship with Parker. How could he know someone like her and never bring her up? It's not like they had been shy about their past. She had opened up about Jack. She had told him what had happened between them. He may not know how strong the feelings were or what happened right under Bekah and his nose, but he knew enough about her past. He could put the pieces together pretty easily.

This bought up another big concern – the fact that he had openly admitted to her that he's never had a girlfriend…that he'd never been in love. Not that she was claiming he was a liar. She didn't even want to cross that bridge. But the look Parker had given him was beyond friendship. The shock in Ramsey's face was more than an old friend found at the beach. Lexi had a thousand explanations, but she hated contemplating a single one. The girl could be nothing more than an old family friend…it was possible. But then why did her gut tell her otherwise?

She knew he had been somewhat of a Casanova before being with her. This made her jaw clench further. What if this girl was one of his conquests? What if she had been Lexi at one point in time – whisked off to a beach for a good time with friends and an endless supply of sex?

No. Lexi shuddered. He had told her he loved her. That much she was certain of. She remembered his blanket statement all those months ago. He had never been in love. And though this girl may or may not be a notch in his belt, it wasn't more than that. She had to believe him…trust him.

She took a deep breath trying to slow down all of the thoughts swirling around in her head. She was having a hard time. Even if this girl wasn't someone he had slept with, how many others were there? Would she ever meet them? Had she already met them? She gagged a little as her mind drifted to Lola. She wasn't getting anywhere with that train of thought and really it was hypocritical to even go down that route. She had gone home with her fair share of guys. One was marrying his sister. He had to encounter him every day knowing what he had meant to her. She couldn't be angry…merely curious.

And she was incredibly curious about Parker. Especially curious as to why they looked so much alike. Sure the more she was around her the less the resemblance was pronounced. But it was still there. How could Ramsey know someone who looked so similar to her and never mention it? In fact, no one had mentioned it before. Surely someone had to have noticed that they looked alike.

"Woahhhhh, small world," Brad called as soon as the trio emerged into the karaoke room. He picked Parker up and swung her in a big circle. "Parker baby you've never looked so good." He shot her a wink as soon as he set her on her feet.

Jason was there next giving the girl a big hug. "It's good to see you, dollface. You're lookin' pretty tan. Been hittin' the beaches?"

Lexi frowned wondering if he was making fun of Parker. She was so pale in comparison to Lexi it was unimaginable that anyone could call her complexion tan. Lexi couldn't get that pale if she stayed out of the sun for a year.

But Parker just giggled and nodded her head. "Work has me busy, but I hit the beach when I can."

"Parker?" a girl squealed behind them. Just then Jessie rushed past Lexi and hurtled herself at Parker nearly tackling her. "I thought you were doing residency. How did Ramsey get you down here to surprise us all? I haven't heard from you in forever. I thought you'd fallen off the face of the planet!"

Parker squeezed the girl in her arms and released her. "I'm doing my residency here…Ramsey didn't do anything," she said glancing up into his green eyes hesitantly. Lexi didn't understand the look that passed between them, and she filed that one away as just another question she would ask later. So far they looked harmless enough so there was no reason to get worked up.

"Oh I didn't realize you were doing your residency here," Jessie cried again her face breaking into an even bigger smile. "If I'd known we would have come to visit you."

Parker shrugged. "Well I did kind of fall of the face of the planet while finishing med school. Didn't really announce to everyone that I was here." Another looked passed between Parker and Ramsey. "But hey I'm all finished at the end of the semester," she said her face brightening.

"Oh my God," Jessie shrieked. "Tell me you're coming home."

Parker's smile was brilliant. "I'm coming home."

Everyone around them suddenly went into motion. Congratulations were yelled. Everyone pulled her in for hugs. Suddenly a round of shots appeared before them in early celebration of Parker's return. Lexi suddenly felt like it was a long time ago when Ramsey had told her that he loved her. She felt very out of place in this situation. She had friends back home and from college, but nothing quite like this. She couldn't think of a single person outside of Chyna who would be this excited for her return. All these people it seemed had known each other their whole lives. Who was she – an outsider – to intrude on their moment?

Just as she was about to turn to give them all some time together, Ramsey was there. He held out a shot glass full of clear liquid. Leaning in close so no one else could hear he murmured, "I believe a toast is in order."

She arched an eyebrow. "And what are we toasting?"

"A toast to us," he said softly.

Lexi's smile instantly returned as she reveled in his momentary display of affection. She took the shot and let the alcohol sooth the nerves making her overreact to the situation. She was sure there was perfectly reasonable explanation for Parker's absence from all conversations. She might actually not be all that important, or he just didn't think about her.

She had plenty of old friends that he didn't know about. The only one that was threatening in any way he had knowledge of so clearly it was a non-issue. She didn't want to stress anything tonight. Not after what had happened earlier between them. She didn't want to constantly bring her baggage and insecurities into the relationship. Ramsey had given her no reason to doubt him in any way. The only problems she had were her own...and she could be the only one to deal with them.

Taking a deep breath, Lexi pushed aside all of her pride and reluctance. She couldn't be hindered by it any longer. If she was really ready to give her heart away, she needed this. A smile broke across her face as she spoke, "Parker seems nice. How do you know her? From back home right?"

Ramsey nodded taking a beer that Jason handed him. "Yeah, she's Bekah's year. Been a family friend since I was yea high," he told her motioning to a toddler's height.

"So you've known her a really long time then. That's cool," she said accepting a drink that was handed to her. She took a sip to steady herself before continuing. "Did she graduate with Bekah?" she asked chewing on her bottom lip to keep from fiddling with her hair.

"High school?" he asked but didn't let her continue. "She was supposed to, but she graduated a year early."

Lexi raised her eyebrows. "Smarty," she chirped. "And she's a doctor now? She said something about residency."

"Doctor," he confirmed, "Finishing two years early."

Lexi could detect the admiration in his voice, but refrained from commenting on it. The feat was pretty incredible regardless. "Wow, that's impressive."

"She's always wanted to do a lot with her life," he told her taking another swig of his beer.

"I know what that is like," Lexi said tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. With a million other questions swirling around in her head, she asked, "So did you know she was here?" She was pretty certain after seeing his shocked face that he hadn't a clue, but she wanted to know anyway.

"No, no, no. I didn't have any idea where she was." Lexi's stomach loosened more "Or that she was coming home anytime soon."

"Well that's good then," she said trying to be reassuring, but unsure if she was successful or even needed to be.

"It should be...interesting," he intoned taking another big gulp.

Lexi wanted to ask interesting how, but suddenly she was swept up by Jason and Brad. She was then deposited on the karaoke stage next to Jessie and another of Ramsey's friends, Katie. "Hey hey hey," she called pushing Jason back, "no karaoke for me. I'm not drunk enough for this."

"What you can't sing doll?" he asked pushing her backwards.

"I can sing just fine," Lexi said bucking against him to try to get off stage. "I just don't sing karaoke unless I'm drunk."

"Well tonight's your night," he called out picking her up and placing her in front of a microphone.

"Jason, I'm warning you. I'll get you back for this!"

He just smiled up at her as if he were oblivious to her discomfort. Lexi cast her eyes up to the screen. Lexi and Katie groaned as the guy's selection appeared before them.

"How did we get into this?" she asked the two girls next to her as the first few notes to It's Raining Men blasted through the speakers.

Jessie shrugged never breaking from her cool demeanor towards Lexi. However, to Lexi's relief it was clear that Jessie was more comfortable on the stage than either Lexi or Katie. She snatched a microphone and began flirtatiously calling out the introduction. The crowd before them cheered uproariously as Jessie provocatively engaged the audience swinging her long fire red hair around. Seeing all eyes trained to Jessie shimmying and egging on the crowd, Lexi loosened up and leaned into the microphone she was sharing with Katie. The girl looked back at Lexi thankfully, and sang along to the tune to the best of her ability.

Lexi's heart was beating rapidly as she heard her voice spill through the speakers. Lexi never had stage fright when performing gymnastics before an audience ten times the size of the small karaoke club, but it was something about singing that made her clam up. She knew she didn't have a bad voice per se, but she definitely wasn't a singer.

As Jessie kept the crowd energized, Lexi found it more and more clear that her fear of singing in front of crowds didn't matter. Everyone else in the bar was incredibly drunk, and Jessie's voice carried much louder over the speakers than Lexi's. By the time the trio had hit the second verse, all three were belting out the words that appeared before them. Lexi wasn't adventurous enough to move away from her microphone like Jessie who took over the stage with her presence, but she held her own through the remainder of the song.

At the end, they all threw their hands up in the air and took a large swooping bow. Though Lexi's nerves had briefly abated, the whooping crowd at the end of the song brought her back to reality. She quickly covered her face with her hands and shook her head back and forth in embarrassment at what she had just done. Katie seemed to agree with her and swiftly darted off stage and back into Brad's waiting arms. Jessie took a deep bow before chasing after Lexi.

"Hey girlie, restroom," she said latching onto Lexi's elbow and edging her away from the group. Lexi was a bit surprised that Jessie would take her and not Katie since Jessie had always had always been standoffish around her. It didn't help that their first interaction had resulted in Ramsey having to tell Lexi how he had slept with his prom date in front of everyone at a bonfire. Lexi still wasn't too thrilled with her for that one. She kind of thought it was rude to bring up someone's history like that and throw it in their face. She would hate is someone did that to her. She couldn't even begin to imagine the kind of damage that could do.

But Lexi went freely, hoping that this might be different. Her eyes met Ramsey's as she was dragged away from him. He smiled brightly at her and nodded his head as if to say that he had enjoyed her performance. She would get him back if he had had any part in her humiliation.

Ducking around a drunken couple, the girls pushed their way through the crowd and to the bathroom. Lexi was relieved to see that there actually wasn't a line. That was unheard of in New York bars. "You were great up there," Lexi told her standing next to the battered aluminum sink. She meant the statement. The girl had been pretty phenomenal. If it helped her cause of getting Jessie to ease up around her, the compliments would flow freely all night.

"Thanks," she chimed stepping out of the bathroom and reaching into her purse. "Singing is my calling."

"I can see that," Lexi told her stepping out of the way of another girl who was vying for mirror room in the cramped space. Jessie eyed her carefully before pulling out a tiny silver bottle. Lexi looked it over suspiciously unsure of the contents that lay within or why she even had it with her. "What's that?"

"Patron," Jessie said shrugging. Without further ado, she tipped her head back and poured a shots worth of tequila into her mouth.

"You flasked in Patron?" Lexi asked in surprise. The girl clearly had more money than she knew what to do with yet she was bringing in a flask to a bar. This was something she hadn't experienced since college when they used to sneak in bottles to the football games. It had been thrilling at the time. They were young and anxious to drink at ever opportunity in which they weren't allowed. But here in this environment, she didn't think it made sense.