Promise Me Always (8 page)

Her face started to turn red and she took a sip of her frap before answering me. “Nothing happened at the party. He just offered me a ride home, that’s all,” she said, avoiding my eyes and shrugging her shoulders. Did she think I was stupid or something? She obviously was skirting around the truth.

“Nothing happed at the party, huh? Well, what happened after the party then you bitch? Haven’t you learned by now that you can’t hide anything from me, Lexi Miller?” I laughed as her cheeks turned a hundred different shades of pink.

“He just kissed me, I swear,” she responded with a giggle. Her eyes lit up and she started clapping her hands together like a little girl. “Tess, he was so sweet. Just like a real southern gentleman,” she gushed. “He opened the car door for me and then, when we got back to my condo, he walked me to my door. Oh, and then, in his low and oh-so-sexy voice, he told me he had a great night and that he would love to see me again. After staring into my eyes,” she continued all dreamily, “he finally leaned in and kissed me.”

Lexi was a hopeless romantic. I blamed all the fairytales she read growing up and the countless romantic comedies she used to make me watch with her. I swear that women are programmed from a young age that guys are sweet, romantic, knights in shining armor. When, in reality, they’re nothing but horny toads. It’s kind of a drag when you figure it out. Her daddy always told her that no one would ever be good enough for his little princess and I think she may have believed him. If a guy didn’t put in one hundred and ten percent with her, she kicked them to the curb. And the ones that were lucky enough to stick around usually ran for the hills after they met her father. He was a hard ass and was never nice to any of the guys she brought home. It was going to take a very special man to put up with her and her father.

“Maybe you finally found the one then, Lex,” I said smirking, trying not to laugh. “When are you going to introduce him to daddy?”

“Slow down there, Tess. We haven’t even had a date yet and you think I am going to let him meet my father? He would be running away faster than the speeding bullet coming from my daddy’s gun!” We both started laughing. “I think he’s different though—something about him makes my stomach do flips, especially when he smiles at me.” With that one sentence, I knew Lexi had already fallen hard for Matt. The look in her eyes when she said it gave her away and I had never seen her eyes sparkle that brightly before. I hoped Matt felt the same way or Lexi may finally be on the receiving end of a broken heart.

As I was driving home from Cole and Palmer’s, I couldn’t help but think about the kiss that almost happened last night. Tess was confusing the shit out of me. I didn’t know what to think anymore. Did Lexi save me from a big mistake or did she mess up a perfect moment? I didn’t plan what happened last night at all. Tess had been touching me all night and those sexy little smiles she kept throwing my direction were driving me insane. Once she started to lift up the sleeve of my t-shirt—I was done for. I don’t know if it was all of the shots we took or what, but I couldn’t stop imagining her in my bed, naked, while I ran my tongue over every inch of her perfect body.

What is fucking wrong with me lately?

I hadn’t thought about a girl this much in my life. Hell, I didn’t even think about Kristi this much when we were together.

Kristi was the first and only girlfriend I’ve ever had. We got together when we were juniors in high school. We dated almost two years and I was about ninety percent sure I was in love with her. That was until she broke my fucking heart. She had gone down to Florida with her parents and a few friends for spring break. When she got back, she was distant—like she wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I was pissed because I had no fucking clue what was going one with her. There’s nothing subtle about being told to fuck off before getting slapped across the face in front of the entire school.

I was in shock at first. Then, of course, I wanted an explanation. I mean, what kind of cold hearted bitch does that and doesn’t give an explanation of why? I tried calling her and she wouldn’t answer. I showed up at her house, only to have her father inform me that it wasn’t a good idea to come back if I wanted to keep my balls. I stalked her classes and locker at school, I even tried getting to her through her friends but they told me the same thing—“You know what you did, asshole.” But I didn’t know what I did and that was the problem. Finally, I just gave up. She obviously didn’t feel the same way about me or she would have at least talked to me about it. Plus, I wasn’t into chasing the drama. Maybe she finally came to her senses and figured out I wasn’t good enough for her.

I was a mess. So, I did the only thing I could think of to get my mind off of her—I turned my attention to any hot girl that gave me the time of day. Turns out, there were a lot of girls that wanted to get to know me better. I never got into another relationship after Kristi though—just sex and the occasional date, but never anything more. I guess that’s how I got my reputation of being a womanizer or some shit like that. I never once lead women on. Every one of them knew going into it that I wasn’t interested in a relationship—that it was just sex. I made it a point to tell them before I ever touched them. I rarely saw the same girl more than once and, if I did, it was usually because I ran into them somewhere while I was drunk. After all, I am a man and men have needs—nothing wrong with that.

I had sporadic stalkers here and there—girls that couldn’t take a hint that nothing was ever going to happen between us. Out of them all, Christina was the worst. That little whore would do anything to get me to settle down with her. We actually had gone to high school together, but it wasn’t until last year that I finally nailed her. I was at Club with Matt and the guys when we ran into her. By the end of the night, she was screaming my name and begging me to fuck her harder. I had given her the regular run down that I always gave girls before I slept with them—I am not looking for a relationship, just sex, no strings attached. Of course she agreed, but then a few weeks later I ran into her at a party. That’s when I made the mistake of fucking her again.

After that night, there was no getting rid of her. She somehow managed to find me where ever I went. She started calling me all the time, asking me when I was going to take her on a proper date. She even got me piss ass drunk one night and tried to convince Matt to let her take me back to her house so she could ‘take care of me’. That was the last straw. I had a come to Jesus talk with her the next day. I told her there was no way in hell I was ever going to be in a relationship with her, nor was I ever sleeping with her again. She better leave me the fuck alone if she knew what was good for her. She started crying and begging me to forgive her, but the tears didn’t work on me. I walked away and never looked back. Apparently, being an asshole worked, because she didn’t call me or ‘accidently’ run into me anymore. But I knew it was only a matter of time before I saw her again.

When I got home, Devin was sitting on the couch in our living room watching Duck Dynasty and laughing uncontrollably. He was showered and ready for the day and it was only eleven am. I didn’t understand how he could wake up so damn early when he drank. I could sleep all fucking day after a heavy night of drinking. Devin, on the other hand, always woke up by at least seven when he drank. Even if he was up all night long, he was still awake bright and early. Personally, I thought he had been cursed.

“Hey, bro! Have a good time last night?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me while he reached over and muted the TV. “It sure seemed like you and Tess were getting pretty cozy last night out on the balcony. I noticed you slept in her room last night. You get any?”

“Shit, Dev, you know we are just friends. She isn’t like that, asshole!” I snapped back. I sat down on the couch and stared at him.
Did he really just ask me that?
I was so mad. If he wasn’t my brother, I would’ve punched him.

“Uh, yeah, okay… whatever you say, man.” Devin rolled his eyes at me. “Blake, sometimes, I swear I know you better than you know yourself. I see how you look at that girl and I see the way she looks at you. There is way more than friendship there, bro. Wake the fuck up!”

I hated the fact that my brother knew me so well. When we were little, he always used to finish my sentences and it always freaked me out. I never understood how he could do that. I spent most of my childhood believing he was fucking psychic.

“It just isn’t good timing. First of all, she just got cheated on,
again
, by that douchebag. And she has made it perfectly clear, on more than one occasion that she just wants to be friends.” I put my head in my hands. I was so confused. I sighed, obviously frustrated, and just looked at Devin. “I don’t know what to do. She keeps sending me these crazy mixed signals. One minute she acts like she fucking wants me and the next minute she tells me she doesn’t need any more complications in her life.”

“Dude, no offense, but it sounds like she’s just as confused as you are. Maybe you should just take things into your own hands. If you want her, then let her know. Stop being such a pussy and make a move. You’re Blake Bentley for fuck sakes; you have women eating out of your hand on a daily basis. I taught you better than this,” he said, shaking his head dramatically. “This should be a cake walk for you.” He sat up and looked at me with an,
I’m sorry you’re so pathetic,
look on his face.

“It isn’t like that with her, Devin. She’s different. I don’t want to just fuck her… If I mess this up with her, if I lose her, it will destroy me.” I looked back down at the floor. I closed my eyes and memories of Tess filled my mind.

The first time I saw her, all of our drunken conversations, talking about that Bruno Mars song, the way she looked in the sunlight leaning up against my truck
… I smiled as images of her flashed like pulsing lights.
The way she tasted as she kissed me for the first time, the way I fit perfectly inside her, her smile, her smart ass mouth, the way she fit like a puzzle piece in my arms when I held her, how it killed me to see her crying yesterday over that jackass
… and then it finally hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart started beating so fast it felt like it was on fire.

I fucking wanted this girl. No, I
needed
her and I was going to do everything in my power to fucking make her mine.

The week went by extremely fast. Jared called me twice and tried to get me to meet him for dinner. I decided that would be a really bad idea, especially with how much I had to get done this week. He was pretty offended when I declined his offer, but said that he would try calling me this weekend and maybe we could do dinner on Saturday. I knew what he was doing and I had to politely remind him that I was going out with Blake. Getting together on Saturday wasn’t going to happen. He tried to get me to re-think my decision of going to the ball with Blake with little comments and innuendos. When I reminded him for the tenth time that we were going as friends and he was the one that cheated on me, he gave up and said that he would just call me on Sunday. I felt a little bad when I heard the hurt in his voice, but then I reminded myself the way I felt when I walked in on him and MoniCunt, I mean Monica, and I didn’t feel so bad anymore. Funny how that works.

I spent the week getting my portfolio ready for my final review on Monday and I finally finished it late Friday night. I couldn’t believe I only had one week of classes left before graduation. I had an internship set up with an amazing portrait photographer in downtown Denver for the summer and I couldn’t wait to start working with him. At midnight, I was finally feeling completely content with my work. After almost an entire bottle of Moscato, I decided it was time to get some beauty sleep. I washed my face, brushed my teeth and was climbing into bed when my phone chirped. I picked it up and saw I had a new text message from Blake.
Weird, he never texts me.

Hey baby girl u up?

I instantly smiled. There was something about the fact that Blake was texting me that made me feel like I was in high school all over again. I texted back a little too quickly.