Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(102)

When Ramsey offered for her to stay with him, she just couldn't think of a good reason to say no to him. She wanted to be with him, and she didn't have to pay a dime. It was the best of both worlds.

After all, she had spent eight months without him. The occasional time they had together when he could make it to New York or fly her down to Atlanta just wasn't enough. She wanted to savor every moment she had with him. The last thing she wanted was to get stuck driving back and forth between their places. She knew that time was nothing compared to the distance they had endured since they had gotten together, but still if they were going to be in the same city, she wanted them to be together. That drive time could be used for something much better.

So Lexi took the big leap.

She twisted the door knob and pushed open the door to her new place…Ramsey's place.

A chorus of congratulations and surprise assaulted her as soon as the door opened. Her hand flew to her chest and her mouth dropped open. Her eyes fluttered around the room quickly in astonishment. A banner hung across the room that read "Congrats Grad!" in large purple letters. She couldn't believe it. A surprise graduation party had been thrown for her.

Graduation had been the weekend before at Madison Square Garden. Ramsey had only been able to stay long enough for the ceremony before jetting back home. Graduation weekend was one of the busiest for him. And he had the misfortune of having to fire two of his key managers the week before. He had needed all hands on deck that weekend, and hadn't been able to celebrate with her in New York.

Now here he was surrounded by friends giving her the celebration he had missed. Ramsey stood at the front with a big cake that read "Congratulations Lexi" in purple letters to match the purple velvet she had walked in for graduation. He was smiling brightly at her and taking in her shell-shocked face. There was something about his face in that moment that was supremely adorable. It was like he was five years old again, and he was the one having the party not the one throwing it. The goofy grin on his face was priceless, and Lexi would remember his joy in this moment forever. He really did seem happiest making her happy.

Chyna stood next to him beaming like a school girl. She couldn't believe that she had just been on the phone with her talking about how Chyna was never setting foot in the city again, and here she was. Adam stood at her side with his fingers interlaced with her own. They looked just like the perfect couple they were.

Lexi was just thankful they had worked everything out. After she had showed up in New York, she had let Chyna blabber on and on about her argument with Adam. He had refused to speak with her for nearly a week. Luckily, he had finally agreed to meet Lexi, mostly because she had badgered him endlessly until he had agreed. They had talked over a light dinner, and when she was finished with him, he admitted that he still wanted to see Chyna. That he had been missing her over the past week. Since then, they had worked things out and were better than ever. Sometimes they were sickeningly cute.

Brad and Jason stood off to the side badgering their respective dates. Lexi recognized Brad's date as Katie who she hadn't seen since their karaoke performance in March. She was surprised to see that she was still hanging around Brad since Lexi was pretty much uncomfortable around him at all times.

Jason had a flavor of the week at his side, and Lexi was sure she would never see her again. Jessie's fire red hair was piled high on her head and not-too-surprisingly she wasn't paying attention to the festivities around her. Her eyes were glued on a rather handsome man standing to her left. Lexi wanted to just laugh. She had never done anything to the girl, but she certainly hadn't taken a keen liking to Lexi by any means.

Then Lexi saw someone she really hadn't been expecting. Parker stood off to the side smiling brightly at Lexi as she entered the room. Again, Lexi was struck with how similar they looked, but maybe the more time they spent together the more she would be able to look past that. Though at the same time, she hoped that she wouldn't be spending a significant amount of time with her.

Lexi noticed that Jack and Bekah were strategically absent. That was likely the best thing they could have done for her. And behind all of her friends were a group of other people who it appeared were here for the free booze.

"What's this?" she gasped shocked beyond belief. Her eyes traveled the large crowd against before resting on Ramsey's shining green orbs. He seemed to be enjoying this immensely.

"It's a graduation party silly," Chyna announced coming up next to her and kissing her on the cheek.

"You were just on the phone with me," Lexi cried staring at Chyna in disbelief.

"Yeah someone had to find out where you were," she said knowingly.

"But you sent me off on the plane," Lexi said trying to make sense of Chyna's appearance.

"Private plane doll. Takes you way longer to get here what with security and boarding and all that," she explained rather diplomatically.

"And you," she said rounding on Ramsey. He looked at her his smile waning for the first time. He seemed to realize for the first time that she might not actually enjoy a party the first thing after flying from New York. There could be...other things on her mind. "You did all of this for me?" she demanded.

"I missed your party and needed to make it up to you," he said simply setting the cake down on a platter and walking towards her. He looked spectacular that day. He wore a green polo that matched his eyes and a snug pair of jeans.