Avoiding Intimacy (Avoiding #2.5)(5)

Chyna opened her clutch and fished out her international cell phone while she waited for help. No way could she get into that outfit alone.

“Chyna?” Lexi asked, yawning into the phone. “What time is it over there?”

“Hey, chica.” Chyna breathed. See, she’s a good friend . “Not sure, like ten or eleven.”

“Jesus.” She yawned again. “And, you’re not drunk?” Lexi giggled.

“Bitch.”

“You love me.”

“I miss you.”

“I won’t miss seven-thirty wake-up calls,” Lexi said, yawning big again.

“Sorry.”

“When do you come home? I need your ass in New York.”

At the mention of her ass, Chyna cringed and rubbed her sore backside.

“Not sure on that either. Soon? Wait!” she cried. “What are you doing in New York?

I thought you moved in with Ramsey.”

“Uh…” Lexi hesitated.

Oh f**k! What had she missed?

“I moved back. We broke up,” she explained.

“What?” Chyna asked in a shrill tone.

See what happened when she didn’t call for a week. “Why the f**k did you break up? You were cookie-cutter perfect a week ago.”

“Um…well, my dad had a heart attack, and I found out that Ramsey is a compulsive liar.”

“Oh God, is your dad okay? Are you okay?” Chyna asked quickly.

“Yeah, my dad’s fine. I don’t know if I am though. Ramsey dated Parker. They almost got married in college, Chyna.”

“Hold up. Let’s back this shit up. I thought he’d never had a girlfriend.”

“Me, too.”

“Bastard!” Chyna was using the word a lot lately.

“Also, he got me the job in Atlanta and never told me he pulled strings. I don’t know, C. Just seems pretty f**ked-up when Jack is the one comforting me.”

Chyna groaned. Did she say she understood that obsession? “At least you have one constant,”

she replied sarcastically.

Lexi laughed at the statement. “He’s getting married, Chyna. He’s not my constant anymore.”

“Uh huh. Don’t sound so sad about it.”

“Oh, shut up. It’s Jack.”

“Don’t I know it?”

“Anyway,” Lexi drawled out, “how is Milan? Anything new?”

Besides her aching backside? “I’m about to change into my outfit for Glam Ball. It starts in an hour or so,” Chyna told her.

“Are you still the focus or whatever?

That’s a pretty killer opportunity.”

“Yeah. I am.”

“And…” Lexi prompted.

Damn, she knew her too well .

“There’s this fashion designer—“ Lexi immediately started laughing. “Of course there is.”

“Whatever, chica. I don’t know what to do about him.” Chyna hated admitting it.

As furious as she was with Marco, she wasn’t sure she actually wanted to give up whatever they had.

“Give him up and come home.” Chyna wished it was that easy. “New York is where you’re meant to be. You own New York City,” Lexi reminded her. “I didn’t think any guy would change that.”

“It’s not that he’s changing that.” Man, it was weird for Alexa to be the one giving advice. “He’s just a complication.”

“Speaking of complicated—” Lexi began.

“What else have you gotten yourself into?”

“Not me! I’m talking about your complicated. I’ve been hanging out with Adam lately…”

The sentence hung in the silence.

Chyna tried to push Adam out of her brain.

She didn’t need to think about him. They had made the right choice in breaking it off before she left. She wasn’t a good girlfriend in New York, so she would be a terrible one halfway across the world.

Why was she even still thinking about Adam?

She couldn’t help it though. “How is he doing?” she asked.

“He’s alright, C. We’ve been an interesting pair this past week—two heart-torn lovers and all,” she said with a giggle. Chyna couldn’t miss it, not from Alexa.

“Sorry I couldn’t be there. I’d totally watch you veg on pot after pot of black coffee and gallons of double chocolate, chocolate chip ice cream.”

“While you ate carrots and complained about being fat?”

“Only when I am fat,” she told her, knowing full well that she was far from fat.

“Miss you, C,” Lexi said softly. “I miss my no-nonsense best friend.”

Was that her? Then, why did she take nonsense from every guy she actually thought she wanted?

A knock on the door brought her back to reality. Tonight was Glam. “I miss you, too, Alexa. I’ll be home before you know it, and I’ll let you drag me to Serendipity despite the calories. But, right now, I have a show to put on.”

CHAPTER 2

MARCH FOUR MONTHS EARLIER

“Frederick, darling, don’t you love this?” Chyna asked, pointing at a crystal- cut vase.

“Don’t you have one like that already?” he asked, placing a hand on his hip.