Her temples began to pulse painfully as she contemplated her options.

She wondered if maybe she was overreacting. She had stopped anything from happening with Jack at Chamber, and she had been drunk! What she had felt with Jack before had stemmed from her understanding that they were moving towards a relationship. Now that she was with Spencer, perhaps they could just work towards a friendship.

Deep down, she knew that what she had felt with Jack nearly a year earlier had been real. That had he been single at the time, they would have worked out. She had wanted that—for them to be together—more than anything she wanted now. And that fact scared her.

Lexi tried not to think about it too much as she finished her grocery shopping and drove home. Pulling into a parking spot in front of her four-bedroom flat, she unloaded the groceries.

“Need any help with that, roomie?” Olivia asked, skipping into the living room her pixie-cut bouncing as she went.

“No thanks. I think this is the last of it.”

“Okie dokie,” she trilled, plopping down cross-legged on the white carpeted floor. She snatched her acoustic guitar from its stand and began absentmindedly strumming one of her new tunes. She alternated to a fast-paced picking for the chorus and her soprano filled the room.

“I like that last part,” Lexi told her pushing aside three half-full cartons of milk to make room for some of her groceries.

“Thanks, sweetie,” Olivia murmured halting her guitar playing to look back up at Lexi. “What are your plans for tonight?”

“Uh…” Lexi froze. She hadn’t come up with an excuse for being out, because she hadn’t expected Olivia to be home.

“The guys,” Olivia began, referring to their other two roommates, “went on some fraternity bonding retreat.” She gagged. “Spence is gone right?”

“Um…yeah he is.”

“Cool, girl’s night!”

“I’m going to have to pass,” Lexi muttered uncomfortably. As soon as the words came out, she regretted it. Olivia looked crushed. She always wore her emotions on her sleeve. “I want to, but I made plans with Jennifer,” Lexi improvised quickly. Olivia despised Jennifer which was the only reason she had used her name. That way she had effectively cut off Olivia attempting to join her. God, this was getting too elaborate.

“Oh…eww…why?” Olivia asked crinkling her nose.

“Ex-roommate bonding something or other,” Lexi told her vaguely.

“Right…okay. Have fun with that,” she said making another gagging noise.

“Will do,” Lexi said, retreating to her bedroom to decide on something to wear. At first, she threw on a loose pair of jeans and a red baggy t-shirt. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, and sighed heavily. If she was going to pretend to hang out with Jennifer, she had to play the part. Sliding the jeans and t-shirt back off, she rummaged through her closet until she found a navy, three-quarter length, scoop neck blouse, and a grey skirt. Lexi placed a tiny silver chain with a sideways heart pendant around her neck and black flats. Jennifer would have never been seen in public with Lexi in what she had been wearing previously. Or at least that was her excuse for dressing sexy.

Apprehensively, Lexi slid back into her car to head over to Jack’s apartment. Two hours had passed since their phone call, and he probably thought she had bailed. After all, she shouldn’t be seeing him at all.

She just hoped nothing would go wrong. As long as they both knew that this wasn’t going anywhere. They had gone down that path, and had seen how poorly it had ended.

But this time there was no girlfriend holding him back from showing his true feelings for Lexi. The only thing preventing him was himself. She hoped that was enough.

Lexi skipped up to Jack’s doorway and found it open just as she arrived. He had been waiting for her. “Here you are,” he said looking her up and down. “Wow, you look great.” He was obviously ogling the length of the skirt revealing so much of her tanned thighs.

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t know if you were going to show,” he stated as she skirted past him into the living room.

“Me either.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.” She nodded not letting herself admit that she already felt better by being around him. “Did you want to watch a movie or something?” he asked.

“Sure thing.” She grabbed a movie off of the shelf and went to put it into the DVD player remembering their movie nights all too well.

“Actually, I just got a TV for my room, if you want to watch it in there,” he said casually.

She could read him though. He knew if they were in his bedroom that she would be forced to sit next to him. But she couldn’t decide whether or not she minded. “Okay. We’ll go in there, but don’t think you’re off the hook about the Chamber story,” Lexi said pointing the movie at him.

He raised his hands in defense. “Of course not.”

They moved to the bedroom, and Jack put the movie in turning the volume down until it was more background noise than anything. He sat next to her on his bed, but was careful not to touch her. He was being courteous and respectful, which was good, so far.

Lexi poked him in the ribs playfully. “So spill mister! How did you know I was going to be at Chamber? That’s been bothering me for awhile now.”

“I already told you, that’s an easy one.”

“Yeah. Yeah, but how?”

“Krista told me.”

She stared at him blankly. “Huh?” That didn’t add up. Krista, last year’s gymnastics captain, was currently residing in Las Vegas. How would she know that Lexi was at a bar on any given night? And why would she tell Jack about it even if she did find out?

“You asked me how I knew, and it was because Krista told me.”

“Yeah, but how do you know Krista? And why did she tell you?”

“Well, one—I knew her before you did. She dated one of my friends freshman year. When they broke up, we remained friends.” Her eyes narrowed. “Just as friends,” he added quickly. “And, two—she received a text or something from you. She told me you were there, because I was the one who told her about you.”

“You told her about me?”

“Yeah. After you stopped returning my messages, I just went ahead and told Krista about you. I gave her your email and told her that you were worth her time. I think you know the rest of the story.”

“You did that for me?” she asked wistfully, realizing for the first time that Jack had single-handedly secured her position with the gymnastics team.

“Of course, I did it for you.”

“I mean, I figured you had something to do with it since I hadn’t told anyone else about it.”

“You hadn’t told anyone else?” he asked in disbelief.

She blushed at the admission. “Uh…no.”

“But why? I mean, why did you tell me?”

“Well, first, you asked and second, I don’t know…it sounded like you were honestly interested. I thought that gymnastics was part of my past. That since I hadn’t been recruited out of high school everything had been a waste. And I hated admitting that to myself. Let alone to anyone else.”

“But you told me.”

Lexi nodded. “I told you.”

“Because you trusted me,” he said, his voice lowering.

“That’s right.”

“And I ruined it,” he said looking away from her. She could tell he was in pain about what had happened. He looked just as hurt now admitting that he had hurt her as he had nearly a year earlier. It was almost too much to bear. Why was he so damn sexy and caring? Why couldn’t she see past that? Why couldn’t she stay angry at him for playing her for a fool?

Finally, he met her gaze. “Let me make it up to you,” he said scooting closer so their knees were almost touching.

“Jack,” she said in warning, but she didn’t move away.

“I need to make it up to you. I told you I’d never lie to you again, but that’s just the beginning. That’s not enough.”

Lexi just stared at him. She didn’t know what he had in mind, but she knew that she wouldn’t...couldn’t stop him…whatever it was. The feeling was exhilarating.