Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding #1)(90)

"I do want to be with you," she answered.

He searched her face for a lie for some sign of falsehood, but couldn't locate any. Lexi was a terrible liar, and he could almost always pick out when she wasn't being honest with him. But as he stared into her big chocolate eyes, he realized she was telling the truth.

"I want to be with you too," he said pulling her into a hug.

Lexi couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face again. How had this happened? How had she come out of this scenario unscathed? Well almost unscathed. After all, she had lost Jack. She pushed that thought away. No need to think about him. He was gone. They were no more, and she was almost certain they never would be again. He wasn't leaving Kate, and Clark still wanted to be with her. He still wanted them to be a couple. She was having a difficult time processing that information. For the third time today, everything had turned out completely opposite of what she had been expecting. She had been mentally preparing herself for a break up, and he hadn't wanted a break up at all.

When he pulled away from her, there was something different in his eyes that she didn't recognize. "I just need one thing from you if we're to be together."

She should have expected this. No way was he going to let her walk away so easy. "What is it?" she asked warily.

"Lexi you really want to be with me right?" She nodded, the anticipation rising. "Alright, if you really do want to be with me, then you have to tell Kate."

Lexi's mouth popped open. "What?" she squealed.

He wanted her to tell Kate what they had done. God, what a terrible thing for him to ask her to do. She couldn't imagine what Jack would think of her if she did tell Kate. No, actually, she did know what he would think of her. He would never speak with her again. He would never want to see her again. He had flat out told her that he didn't want Kate to know. He didn't think Clark would tell her, and he just wanted to get on with his perfect, amazing life with his perfect, amazing girlfriend.

"If you want to be with me, then it won't matter that you tell her," he stated simply.

She couldn't close her mouth she was in such a state of shock. She had never realized how vindictive Clark could be. He was asking her to ruin another person's relationship, another person's life like she had been so easy to do to her own.

So it came down to whether or not she was willing to give up Jack. Because after this, there was no turning back. Jack would never forgive her this. Earlier he had seemed slightly unsure, but she knew what that meant. He had already made his choice in Kate, and now she was going to go and ruin that for him. No, he wouldn't forgive her, because Kate would surely leave him. Lexi knew the news would crush Kate. Jack had been right in that at least.

"But Clark…it would…it would I don't know," she mumbled incoherently.

"She has a right to know the truth about him," he said darkly.

"Of course. Of course she does," Lexi said nodding. "But to have me tell her."

"I don't see a problem with it."

"It would be the ultimate insult."

Clark smiled the first true smile since she had arrived. "Not to her."

Lexi bit down on her lip…hard. Of course Clark would want to get back at Jack, and having her tell Kate would do just that. "Clark, I…I don't know about this."

"Lexi it's really simple. You said you wanted to be with me, and you do want to be with me. I can see that. So I'm just asking you to do one simple thing. Tell Kate what happened."

What he wasn't saying was that he was actually asking her to do two things. One was just supposed to be self-explanatory apparently. She would have to give up Jack and not just his friendship and the relationship that they had grown into. She would have to give him up forever. No contact with him at all. Telling Kate would ensure success in that aspect. Could she do it? Could she actually go without Jack indefinitely?

"Fine. I'll tell her."

Lexi pulled out her cell phone and found the number that she had never used waiting for her. She clicked send without thinking about it. If she thought about it, she would never actually go through with what she was about to do. She couldn't believe she was actually about to go through with this in the first place.

"Hello?" Lexi heard her answer.

"Kate. Hey, this is Lexi."

"Lexi! Oh my God, I haven't heard from you in so long. What have you been up to?"

"Um…yeah not that much. Can we meet somewhere to talk?"

Kate was silent on the other line for a minute, and then she answered, "Sure. Jack and I were going to hang out tonight because he was busy last night. But he won't be here for another hour or so. Where did you want to meet?"

Lexi tried not to show her guilt at her words. Jack had been busy last night because of her. He had told Kate he couldn't hang out, because he was with Lexi. "Um…wherever you want. I can just come over if you want."

"Sure sounds good."

After getting directions, Lexi left Clark at the coffee shop and made her way over to Kate's place. She had never been to the place, and she was dreading making this her first visit. The house was situated in a small subdivision just outside of the downtown area. Each house was a bright color ranging from yellow to pink to baby blue. Most were single stories, but the Kate resided in looked to be a two-story townhouse with a small yard and white picket fence. The area was trying to bring the suburbs to the city, and Lexi had always found them adorable. Well until now.