“What makes you think that?”

“Have you seen the girl? She’s hot. I wouldn’t have blamed you for getting with her before you met Bekah. She’s a polar opposite from my sister though,” Ramsey said falling easily into the playboy persona he exuded around the majority of the people he knew.

“Yeah, that’s for sure,” Jack agreed. “And, yeah, I mean, we were together back in college, but that was a long time ago.”

“And I’m sure she’s changed a lot since then, but fill me in,” Ramsey pleaded seeing Jack begin to cave under his requests.

“Well, alright,” Jack agreed looking across the room at the cracked bedroom door. He remained composed despite the nagging feeling creeping throughout his body. “What did you want to know?”

“So ya’ll met in college and dated while you were there, why is she still in your life?” he asked bluntly. He figured it was best to dive in so he wouldn’t give Jack time to sugar coat his answer.

Jack’s face flushed at the accusations behind his words. “What do you mean why is she in my life? She’s a good friend of mine.”

“Really?” Ramsey asked nodding his head at the obvious lie.

“Yeah…really,” Jack said more vehemently this time. He couldn’t help glancing down the hallway again wondering if Lexi was listening to every word they were saying.

“How come I’ve never met her before? Never even heard you talk about her before?” he probed.

“She lives in New York,” Jack said stating the obvious.

“Yeah, but we go to New York on a pretty regular basis. Ya’ll never met up while we were out or anything. Bekah or I were with you at all times, and from what I’ve gathered from Bekah, she had never met her either.”

“We’ve been out of touch up until recently,” he admitted hating how much information Ramsey was capable of weaseling out of him. “You don’t mind if I get some coffee?” he asked hoping to put some distance between them.

“Not at all,” Ramsey said watching him enter the kitchen and reach for an already full mug of coffee. “Why are there two mugs?” he asked curiously, immediately glancing around the apartment as if a stranger were about to jump out at him.

Jack smiled as he brought this coffee back into the living room. “That was from last night,” he improvised quickly.

“Alright,” Ramsey said not convinced with pretty much anything Jack was telling him, “So, ya’ll just recently got back in touch. I’m surprised Bekah’s alright with this.”

“I’m not sure why you’re giving me the third degree. I love your sister. Lexi is just an old friend. That’s all,” Jack announced to Ramsey.

“Well, that’s good to hear especially since we went out the other night,” Ramsey added nonchalantly. All the while, he kept his eyes locked onto Jack. The reaction elicited was almost uncanny. Utter shock seemed to sweep his body, starting at this clenched fists and racing up his arms into his tensed shoulders. Jack’s jaw tightened with the growing anger that sent through him. His blue eyes were darkening by the second.

“You did what?” Jack asked hoping to keep his voice level, but knowing he was failing.

“Yeah, I took her out for a picnic.”

Jack clenched and unclenched his fists a couple times. All he felt like doing in that moment was throwing his fist directly into Ramsey’s smug face. He needed to get out of the situation before he did something he would regret. “Well…that’s great,” he finally said lamely, breathing out as slow as he could.

“Yeah, so anything else I need to know?” Ramsey asked giving him a smug grin.

Jack shook his head. “She’s leaving soon. I wouldn’t press your luck. I’ve known her a long time, and she doesn’t really go for, well…guys like you. No offense.”

“None taken,” Ramsey said amused at Jack’s reaction.

“I mean with your job and the people you associate with, not to mention that you live in Atlanta, it wouldn’t be best for her.”

“Of course not,” Ramsey said agreeing with him for the hell of it.

“She’s different than your other girls.”

“How so?”

“Lexi’s special in her own way. She’s smart…more like brilliant, and motivated. She’s going to make something of herself. She’ll know if you’re playing her like you normally do,” Jack told him, his gaze focusing on the hallway where he knew she was listening in.

“I wasn’t planning on it, but thanks for the talk,” Ramsey said extending his hand out to Jack.

“Anytime. I’ll see you around,” he said thankful that he was leaving.

Ramsey took Jack’s hand in his own and gave his hand a rather firm shake. “I’m not going to play her. She does seem rather special.”

“She is.”

Suddenly, Ramsey yanked Jack forward so only inches separated them. He set his gaze directly on Jack and growled lowly, “I hear the way you talk about her, and I can see how you feel about her. Don’t even try to pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Now, if you ever hurt her or my sister, I’ll find you.” Jack gulped and attempted to avert his gaze. “Did you hear me?” Ramsey asked menacingly still holding his hand in a vice grip.

“Yeah, man, I heard you,” Jack snarled back at him.

Ramsey released him shoving him back a little harder than he had anticipated. “Well then, have a nice day, and I’ll see you on Friday night.”

Jack watched him exit his apartment in a raging fury. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so infuriated with anyone in his life. First, the son of a bitch had come into his house and interrogated him on his relationship with Lexi. Then, he had decided to share the information that he had a date with Lexi. After all that, he still had the audacity to threaten him.

“Lexi?” he called down the hallway.

Lexi scurried out of the guest bedroom where she had been hiding. Her heart was racing with what had just happened. She couldn’t believe all the things she had heard through the door. She completely understood Jack defending their friendship to Ramsey, because the worst thing to happen right now would be for them to get caught all over again. She couldn’t fathom why Ramsey would tell Jack that they had gone on a date. She had planned on telling him, but things had been going so well that she hadn’t found the right time. Not to mention she had assumed Jack would be angry, and from what she could tell Jack was furious.

“You went on a date with Ramsey?” he bellowed as soon as she was in front of him.

“Well, yeah,” she stated meekly.

“Why would you do that?” he asked attempting to control his anger at what had just occurred.

“What did you expect me to do when you ditched me?” she asked him turning the tables on him. “You went off with Bekah and left me all alone while Ramsey was the only person there to take care of me.”

“God, I don’t know, Lex. Go see your parents or something. I didn’t expect you to go out with my girlfriend’s brother. This is so fucked up.”

“Stop right there,” she cried pointing her finger into his chest. “Think about what you said. You have a girlfriend. I would hope you wouldn’t forget that while you get yourself all worked up over nothing.”

“Did you sleep with him?” he asked ignoring her last comment.

“Excuse me?” she shrieked in disbelief.

“You heard me. I just…I just need to know.”

“What kind of tramp do you think I am? Is this what you think of me? Do you think I jump into the bed of every available man on the market? How long have you known me, Jack?” she nearly screamed at him.

“Well, you didn’t tell me. We stayed up all night talking last night, and you didn’t tell me you went on a date with him,” he pointed out.

“It’s not exactly a great conversation starter with you, especially after how you acted at his party. And anyway, it’s not like you were sharing all sorts of details about Bekah.”

“Yes, but you know we’re together. I don’t have to share information about our relationship with you,” he said looking her up and down. His blue eyes were blazing.