Avoiding Decisions (Avoiding #1.5)(4)

And then, there she was. She was wearing a short black dress and heels that accentuated her toned legs and butt. Jack had only ever seen her in the outfits she wore to study in at the coffee shop, which usually consisted of a loose T-shirt and jeans. She had gone from hot to off the charts in that dress.

“That one,” Jack said, gesturing to the girl.

“And she’s not even blonde,” Seth said elbowing Jack in the side.

“Ha-ha,” he responded dryly.

“I’d f**k her,” Seth said with a shrug.

“You’d f**k anything.”

“Yeah. Anything that hot.”

“That’s the girl with the big tits.” Jack pointed out the girl who was jamming out to the music at the front of the stage.

“She’s actually into this music?” Seth looked contemptuous about the girl’s lack of taste. “I’m going to pass. If Chasity is working at Chamber, I’ll see if she’ll give me a blow job in the bathroom.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Anyway, go talk to your girl. I’ll take the guys to the bar.” Seth walked away with the rest of their entourage, leaving Jack alone to determine his course of action.

She was here, swinging her hips side to side as if in invitation. Her lips were moving along with the music, and he could see the shine of that damn pink lip gloss teasing him from a distance. He had come to the show with the intention of meeting that girl. He was too committed to back out now.

Taking a deep breath, Jack walked across the empty room and stood next to the girl. She was so enthralled with the music that she didn’t even notice him. Her eyes were glued to the duet on stage, and she was yelling out all the words she knew.

“You’re not bad. Maybe you should show them how it’s done,” Jack said, leaning over to her.

When she giggled, her curls bounced all around her face. One strand was stuck to her pink lip gloss, and he had to fight back the urge to brush it away. What had gotten into him?

The girl turned toward him, and the look of shock on her face was about as obvious as her friend’s flirtation had been earlier that day. She tried to recover, and damn, was it cute to watch her try.

“You think so?”

“Honestly, no,” Jack teased.

She was good, but he kind of liked to see her all flustered.

“Well, thanks. I’m very offended right now.”

Her hand fell to her heart as if she was wounded, and Jack took the opportunity to let his eyes drop to her chest. Yeah, she had a pretty nice rack.

“So...do I know you or do you always just insult people when you first meet them?” she asked.

He snapped his eyes back to her face. He could drown in those dark eyes.

She was so tiny that he had to bend down to avoid yelling over the music. He cleared his throat softly before he responded. “I think you study at the coffee shop where I work.”

He breathed the smell of her in. How did girls always smell so good? He didn’t even know how to describe it, except that it could have been edible.

“I think you might be right.” She shot him a smile that could kill.

She removed the tiny piece of hair still stuck to her pink lip gloss and then tucked the loose strand behind her ear. They never broke eye contact, and he wondered if she knew what she was doing to him.

“Are you much into college boy rap?” she asked abruptly.

He laughed at the turn in conversation. “No, not really, but this guy’s not bad. Is he a friend of yours?”

“Yeah, he lives in my dorm.”

So, she was a freshman. He wouldn’t have guessed that. Something about her confidence and the sexuality she exuded had made him think that she was his age or older, not that he minded the age difference in the slightest.

“Nice. Those guys over there.” Jack pointed at the bar where his roommates were sitting. “They lived on my hall last year in the dorms. Which one are you in?”

“Um...Russell.”

“That’s where we were. Fifth floor east. You?”

“Five north,” she told him.

Fuck. If she were a year older, they would have lived on the same floor together.

“Small world.”

“Yeah, it is,” she said, tucking another lock of hair behind her ear. “How exactly did you hear about the band? I mean, if you don’t really listen to the music.”

Jack reached into his back pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper. “I believe a friend of yours gave this to me.” He pointed the girl out in the crowd.

Her eyes were brimming with happiness as she became all giggly. “Well, yeah, that’s Olivia for you,” she said, shrugging. “Oh, I’m Lexi, by the way.” She extended her hand to him.

“Lexi...hmm...I like that,” he said, taking her outstretched hand firmly in his. “Jack. It’s nice to meet you.”

Jack let the silence stretch between them as all hope of conversation died with the increasing volume of the hip-hop beats. When the duo’s set ended, everyone started to leave the venue. Lexi filed out of the room with the rest of her friends, and he followed. He caught Seth’s eye and nodded his head toward the door.

They made it outside and past the townie that had stamped his hand. As Lexi’s friends all turned and started walking to the backstage door, she stood with Jack off to the side and waited. His friends stood on the sidewalk a short distance away.