Lexi darted back into the bathroom, shimmying out of her sodden, destroyed underwear and chucking them into the trashcan. She pulled her knot of curls out of the messy bun that looked like a disaster after having been scrapped against a cement wall. She applied a thin layer of clear lip gloss hoping that would cover the bruise that was forming, but she doubted it. She assessed her neck noticing a few red marks beginning to form where Jack had been too violent, but she didn’t have any concealer and hoped no one would notice as she snuck out.

There was no way she could atone for her dress though. The back looked like, well…like it had been dragged across cement. Some strings were hanging free from the material. The silky fabric was dotted with scuffs that resembled a bathing suit bottom after sitting on the edge of a pool for too long. Not to mention the scratches that covered her upper back where her hair had been held high. She would never be able to explain those. Luckily, her back hadn’t bled, but some of the scrapes were so red she was certain had he gone on any longer, they would have. She hoped her long hair would hide as much as possible.

After deciding nothing more could be done, she snuck back out of the bathroom and made a beeline for the exit. When she got there, she ducked through the double doors and stopped as she almost ran smack dab into Ramsey. She didn’t even know how long she had been gone.

“Where have you been?” he asked concern evident in his voice. “I’ve been searching for you everywhere. I had just decided to see if any cabs had taken you home, but no one knew anything. Are you alright?”

His green eyes were wide with worry. She knew she should feel guilty, and maybe a small part of her did. Ramsey was starting to grow on her and he seemed so genuinely concerned. But this was the last thing she needed after what she had done.

“Uh, yeah…” she trailed off not meeting his gaze. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’m glad you’re alright,” he said scooping her up into a hug. She bit back a cry as his hands brushed against her red, swollen back.

“I have to get out of here,” she muttered abrasively. “Can you call me a cab?”

“Where are you going?” he asked hesitantly trying to meet her eyes.

“Back to the hotel.”

“Alright. You have a key right?” he asked. He snapped his fingers at the concierge to begin to make arrangements.

“Oh, shit!” she cried. “Chyna lost the other one and I gave her mine. I have to go find her.” She turned to make an embarrassing reappearance into the club.

“She already left,” he muttered stopping her from leaving. “I think she is going to his place.”

“Fuck!” Lexi could not believe her awful luck. She couldn’t stay here any longer, but there was no way she could go back to the hotel. “I guess I can see if they’ll make me a new one,” she muttered hopefully.

“Come with me,” Ramsey said stepping closer to her. She did not want him to be in her personal space right now. He would surely notice her bumps and bruises, and she didn’t want him to ask questions.

“I can’t,” she muttered.

“You can stay in the guest bedroom…if you want,” he added for his own benefit.

“Do I have any other choice?” she grumbled wondering why the universe hated her so much.

He shook his head. “Tell them to pull the limo around,” he commanded the woman as he escorted Lexi out of the building.

CHAPTER 22

DECEMBER ONE AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER

The next morning was the gloomiest of any Lexi had witnessed since moving to New York. Snow had fallen the night before, and in typical city fashion, the streets had been cleared of the white flurries by daybreak. Brown slush took its place on the sidewalks and gutters creating a hazardous environment for any who traversed the city. Dreary, charcoal clouds covered the sky casting a depressing aura across the metropolitan area. A heavy fog mixed with the ever increasing quantities of pollution hanging thick in the morning air.

Under these conditions, most normal people would have avoided leaving their apartment at all costs on a Saturday morning. Lexi was not one of those people. She thought she had switched off the alarm set for finals, but it still managed to go off at eight in the morning. Her sleep had been restless and no matter how hard she tried to go back to sleep, it would not come to her. Instead, she made the mistake of pulling on a t-shirt, black track suit, and running sneakers to take a brisk jog around the park before the city livened up.

The wind viciously whipped her hair around her face, cutting across her delicate skin and stinging her eyes. Tears streamed from her eyes as she sprinted the last leg of her run before exiting Washington Square Park. She doubled over clutching her hands to her ribs as her breath came out in spurts. The wintry air filled her lungs causing her to wheeze in pain at the assault. Her heart was still working overdrive thumping away in her chest from the physical exertion. She attempted to wiggle her toes which felt near frozen in her soggy socks and snow-coated tennis shoes. The movement was painful as life came back into her lower extremities.

She straightened brushing her hair out of her face. The gloves she wore hardly kept the cold from reaching her fingers. Now that she had stopped jogging, the sweat she had built up was settling onto her skin making her entire body shiver. The wind picked up in velocity pushing and pulling her the rest of the way to her apartment building. She stumbled into the high-arched enclosure letting the wind break past her. A low whistle could be heard as it rushed through the streets. Lexi was just happy that she was out of that. She didn’t know what she had been thinking going on a run with the weather in such precarious conditions.

Well, that wasn’t true. She knew the real reason for her early morning jog. The message from Jack kept replaying in her head, and despite herself, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. She knew that she should be reasonable. He probably went through another rejection and wallowed in his own pity. It had happened frequently enough, and she knew he shouldn’t get worked up about it, but he had gotten worked up about it. She could tell from the tone of his voice that he was upset.

All she wanted to do was be there for him.

She wrapped her arms around herself as she strode past the security guard. He recognized her and waved, not even checking for her identification card. She was lost in her thoughts as she took the stairs back to her apartment.

Lexi knew that she wasn’t Jack’s girlfriend. They weren’t officially together or anything. They had made that perfectly clear in the beginning.

Yet, something was nagging in the back of her mind. When he had been threatening Clark, he had claimed they were together. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that they were automatically going to jump into something that they were unaccustomed to. She knew how they worked, and thus far, it had worked out surprisingly well. But it was a step in the right direction. If he could speak about them being a couple, even if it was out of blind jealously, then she saw that as a positive.

Her teeth were chattering as she slid into her dorm room. She clenched and unclenched her fingers hoping to accelerate the blood flow. Sliding her gloves off Lexi brought her hands to her mouth and blew on them as she rubbed them together.

“Where have you been?” Lexi heard someone call anxiously from a bedroom.

Startled from warming herself up, she glanced up and saw Rachelle silhouetted in the doorway. “I went for a run.”