Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(128)

Brandon's smile spread at that statement. "Well I did warn you from the beginning."

"Just tell me why you're not friends anymore," she spat not exactly wanting an I-told-you-so moment.

Brandon seemed to realize that she was being serious about the situation. Her face was set and determined to hear what he had to say. "I dated Parker for awhile after they broke up. If that didn't make things bad enough, she told me some things about him that made my head spin. When I confronted him about it, we ended up in a fist fight. If his roommates hadn't been around to stop him, I think he would have fought until he had no more fight left in him," Brandon told her watching her expression carefully.

"Did he hurt you?" she asked her eyes brimming with tears. Her lack of sleep was making her more emotional than usual. Just the thought of Ramsey hurting Brandon because he was dating his ex-girlfriend and had confronted him with the truth broke her heart. Who was the man that she had been dating for the last year?

"I had a few broken ribs. He would have killed me if Brad and Jason hadn't been there to pull him off of me. I don't like to admit it, but the guy is much bigger than I am," Brandon said with chuckle at the end to try and lighten the mood.

"Oh Brandon," Lexi murmured softly, "why didn't you tell me?"

"You wouldn't have believed me," he said with a snort of disbelief. "You just met me. You had no idea who I was, and you had no idea who you were dating. I wasn't going to destroy your world."

"But you will now?" she asked looking into his big brown eyes for an answer.

"Honey, it looks like someone else already has," he said reaching across the table and grasping her hand.

Lexi looked down into her water glass and tried to hold the tears in. He was right of course. Parker had already destroyed the image that she had of her boyfriend. Sure she hadn't liked where he worked or that he was surrounded by strippers all the time. She hadn't liked the distance. She didn't like that he had a reputation as a player or that he had slept with a lot of people before they were together. But she could get over those things, because she had known about them. They were a fact of their relationship, and something she could live with.

Those things hadn't ruined her view of him. Sure he had taken awhile to tell her what he did for a living, but it was kind of understandable. Most women would not be comfortable leaving their man in the hands of other women whether he ran the place or not. But at least he had come clean. What Parker had told him…what Brandon had just revealed were things Ramsey never planned on telling her.

That much was obvious at least now that she knew them. He was a liar. He had lied to her. He had looked her straight in the eyes and said that he had never been in love or had a serious girlfriend. Had he expected never to be confronted with Parker again? Or had Lexi just been temporary? She didn't even know what to believe.

"What did Parker tell you that made your head spin?" Lexi finally asked him licking her lips and looking up at him.

"Judging by your appearance, I think you already know the answer to that," he said eyeing her sheepishly. "I would have told you Lexi, but it wasn't my story to tell."

"I know. I don't blame you. But what did she say?" Lexi asked. "I have to know."

He sighed clearly hating the position that he was in. "The gist of it is that he knocked her up when they were in college, and before he knew that she was pregnant, she walked in on him cheating on her with some other girls. Or something like that. Then when she told him later that she miscarried, he refused to believe her and called her a slut." Lexi gasped out loud and covered her mouth quickly. She hadn't intended to get so emotional, but hearing basically the same thing from Brandon…confirmation of Parker's story made it all so much more real. "Lexi I'm sorry. I really…I don't know what to say."

Lexi shook her head effectively silencing him. "No. Thank you for telling me," she told him. "I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else."

"You know maybe he has changed," Brandon said trying to be reassuring though it sounded strange coming from him of all people. He had never really said a nice thing about Ramsey since they had started hanging out.

"Don't lie to me," Lexi said pulling her hand gently out of his. "I've had enough of that lately."

"It's true I don't think he's changed," he said, "but that's up to you to decide."

'Thanks Brandon…pookie," she said with a sad smile. She stood from the booth. "I'm suddenly not hungry. Sorry to leave you hanging on lunch again."

"It's alright," he said standing as well. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Let me know if you need me."

"Bye," she said taking a step towards the door.

"Hey honey," he called back. She spun around to look at him. "I'm serious. I'm here for you." She nodded solemnly and then strode out of the restaurant.

Driving to the club was a blur. She knew that at some point she called her boss and told him that she wasn't feeling well. He hadn't been pleased, but she was pretty sure she sounded convincingly sick since she felt like vomiting already. So he had let her off the hook as long as she promised to make up the hours if she was feeling better in the morning. And her final project was due Friday, the last day of the summer associate position, regardless. She also knew that her car had driven her to the mostly empty parking lot of the club that Ramsey worked. She wouldn't say that she had driven herself there exactly. It was more like the car was on auto pilot, and she was just along for the ride. Her body felt numb to the realities of the universe around her.