Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)(40)
Lexi's mouth dropped open. She knew how much that car cost. "Hell yea," Brad cried, "You should see the Ferrari he keeps in storage. It's a damn tragedy not to drive that beaut around the city."
Lexi swiveled instantly catching Ramsey's eye. She could tell he was embarrassed by the display of exorbitant wealth before her. He typically tried to tone it down for her, but she knew he had money. She just didn't really know as much as she thought she did. She took a large gulp and slid into the back seat beside Ramsey still taking in the knowledge that he owned two cars that cost more than any house her parents had ever owned.
"Maybe if you're lucky, he'll take you out on the Ducati," Jason said turning around to look at her as Brad pulled out of the driveway.
"The what?" she asked unfamiliar with that name.
"Ducati, it's a motorcycle," Ramsey informed her.
"You have a motorcycle?" Lexi asked a shiver of anticipation going down her back.
"Yeah if he can ever get the damn thing working," Brad interjected. "You should just take it to a mechanic."
Ramsey shrugged the comment off as if he'd heard it time and time again. "I like to work on it myself. Makes me know that it's getting done right."
"You work on motorcycles?" she asked in disbelief. Her mind was spinning with all the new information about him. How had she ever thought he was just some stereotypical Country Clubber? There was obviously much more to Ramsey that she had no idea about. He was an enigma.
She tried to force out Bekah's words, but she couldn't help hearing them over and over.
He's a player. You don't know him. You've only ever seen one side of him.
She had attempted to erase that whole conversation with Bekah from her mind. Rather unsuccessfully, but she had tried. However, the more she tried to forget it the more it kept creeping up on her. Perhaps this was just another one of Bekah's games not that she had any way of knowing Lexi would still pursue Ramsey…or did she? She hated thinking about it.
Ramsey had only shown her one side, but nonetheless Lexi was just seeing a new side. A side she liked, though it scared the hell out of her, but still different than before. She hated to think Bekah had been right in anything. She hated having doubts about Ramsey.
And though she had a hard time dispelling her reservations, she needed to focus more on having fun with him then analyzing his every move. She had been hurt before, but she didn't want that to define her.
Brad kept the music blasting to old 90s rock music the entire ride leaving very little room for conversation from that point on. That was fine with Lexi. She was still processing, and didn't really want to blabber a slew of personal questions in front of Ramsey's roommates. She could wait for later.
Brad pulled the Jeep off the road and down a winding path that had once been paved, but was now cracking and bumpy. Lexi understood why the Jeep was used instead of the other sporty cars. Wherever they were going was not meant for the lavish and luxury Lexi had witnessed in the garage. She hadn't really been an outdoorsy type since she spent most of her time on school work or locked in the gymnastics studio. However, when she was younger, she had been a girl scout and church retreats had kept alive her love of camping and bonfires. Living in the city for nearly three years made her forget just how bright and beautiful the stars were…not to mention how many. Thousands upon thousands of twinkling white beams stared down at Lexi through the glass. Her eyes lit up at the spectacle, entranced by the beauty of the countryside.
A break in the tree line appeared before them and Brad began to decelerate as they approached. Lexi peered out through the front window anxious to see what lay ahead. Even in the darkness, the magnitude of the lake, majestically lit by the moon, was evident. Lexi couldn't even glimpse the opposite bank.
Brad parked the Jeep in a gravel lot besides several other SUVs. As the ignition died, only the sounds of nature filled her ears. Lexi closed her eyes taking in all the noise that wildlife produced and the smell of pine mingled with red clay. She felt Ramsey's sweet kiss on her lips and opened her eyes to smile at him.
"So you like it?" he questioned rhetorically.
"What park is this? It doesn't look like Lake Lanier. And wouldn't we have had to pay for entrance?" Lexi mused aloud.
Lexi could hear a chorus of chuckles behind her, and snapped her head around to see a crowd of people standing under a covered patio with picnic benches. "Don't mind them," Ramsey said glaring in their direction. "My parent's actually own this land. I've been coming here since a kid," he told her as he veered her towards a garage that she hadn't noticed in the darkness. "I think my dad was going to make it into some ritzy resort or develop the property, but after awhile he just forgot about it. With the economy all messed up right now, there's no chance he's going to do anything to it now," he added the last part with a sigh of relief. Ramsey flicked a switch that illuminated a key pad and punched in a seven-digit code.
"What's in there?" Lexi asked in awe as a side door clicked open.
Ramsey walked inside holding the door for Lexi to follow. "This is where my dad keeps his toys," he murmured softly, "and now mine." He flicked another switch and the garage lit up showcasing two boats, jet skis, a number of four wheelers, dirt bikes, a collection of rafts, kayaks, and canoes, along with other various outdoors equipment such as a hammock, tent, and camping gear.