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Fourteen: Unforeseen Optimism
Lex
Soulmates or not, Lex couldn’t even imagine her man being comfortable with this arrangement. Sure, he likely had no idea of Xochitl and Lex’s history. Still, if she were Lex’s girl, it wouldn’t matter if her new roommate was a complete stranger. If it were a dude, Lex could openly admit he’d be far from mature, understanding and accepting of it. He didn’t care what anybody said. No matter how much he trusted her, there wasn’t a dude he’d trust to not get any ideas being around a girl day in and day out. Especially one that looked like Xochitl.
“He’s not thrilled about it.” She lifted her chin holding the eye contact. “But he trusts me.”
Interesting.
Her admitting her boyfriend wasn’t thrilled about this surprised him, though the fact that he wasn’t didn’t. “Really? He’s not thrilled?”
“No. But only because he knows about what happened at the wedding.”
Lex’s jaw dropped but he recovered fast enough. “You told him?”
She nodded. “Way back when it first happened. But he remembers.”
Shaking his head, he peered at her curiously. “Why would you tell him? I mean even if he was your ex back then, isn’t that still kind of awkward?”
“No. Not for us.” She sat back finally not acting like whatever was on that damn laptop screen had her undivided attention. “We were friends long before anything romantic happened between us. When we decided to cross the friend zone, we made a pact. No matter what, we’d always stay friends and be there for each other. So, each time we’ve broken up we’ve stayed in touch and even vented and gave each other advice on dating and such.”
“No shit?” Lex continued to shake his head in disbelief. He wondered now if there was any limit to her honesty and openness. So far, she’d been completely honest about everything. Even stuff that might otherwise be uncomfortable or even embarrassing to admit for most. Feeling kind of like a jerk for taking advantage of her openness, he still had to ask. “What did you tell him?”
She lifted and dropped a dainty shoulder. “Everything. He already knew about Angela. I’d told him prior to the night of the wedding how you asked me to pretend to be your girl and why. So, after the wedding when he called to ask how it went, I told him we’d had a . . . very good night and I’d begun to think it might be the start of something special. Then I saw you with her in the parking lot and felt like the biggest—”
“Xochitl, I told you I was—”
“I know. I know.” She shook her head. “I totally get, that it was all one big misunderstanding and it’s water under the bridge now, Lex. Now that you know me, a little better anyway, you also know why I was such a hard ass and so unwavering about not hearing you out. We both said our peace and it’s all good in the hood.” She smirked sweetly, inevitably making Lex smile despite still feeling the unwarranted guilt over the suck ass way that night ended. “So stupid,” she added smiling even bigger. “My brother used to say that. Like that spoiled beach bum has ever lived anywherenearthe hood. Anyway.” She waved her hand in front of her. “Only reason I even brought it up again, is because you asked what I’d told Cade about it.”
Lex felt his smile wane a bit and he wasn’t even sure why he was so curious, but he was. Clearly this guy and his opinion were important to her if she shared things of even this nature with him. “So, he thinks I’m an asshole?”
“He did actually.” She laughed.Laughed. “Like I did for a long time. Funny you should ask though” She motioned to her bedroom door. “It’s why he called just now. He was curious to know if you’d brought it up and I told him what you’d explained to me.”
Peering at her for a moment without comment, Lex was torn between liking how open and honest she seemed to be about everything orhatingit. His heart got a little more hopeful that the circumstances between her and her man might change each time their eyes locked. But he didn’t like how committed she was about staying close to the guy, no matter what. It scared the shit out of him because here she was openly talking about herboyfriend, someone she was still very much with. Lex hadn’t so much as even kissed her and the thought of her staying in touch with this guy, if in fact she did end up breaking up with him and Lex made his move,alreadypissed him off.
Since she was being so open and honest with Lex, he decided he would be too. “I hate that things might be so different right now if it weren’t for that asshole who pissed my dad off that night.”
Their eyes locked for yet another moment, before she shrugged. “Everything happens for a reason, right?” “How can you say that?” He blurted out without thinking, but he didn’t even care anymore. He’d dwelled on this shit for too long now. “That was one of the most perfect nights I’d had with any girl, for the first time in my life,ever. And you’re with someone else now. All over some stupid misunderstanding that could’ve been avoided.” To his surprise, she stared straight ahead but not at her screen. She seemed lost in thought for a moment staring out into nothing in particular. He was about to ask what she was thinking when her phone rang. “Before you answer that,” he said quickly as his heart sped up. “What were you thinking just now?”
She picked up her phone but didn’t answer it. “That for a long time I thought maybe things hadn’t worked out between you and I because ultimately I belong be with Cade. Speaking of . . .” She motioned her phone at Lex. “Him again.” Before he could ask, if she still thought that she tapped the screen of her phone, answered and stood up. “Hey, what’s up?” She gestured she was taking the call in the bedroom before she started toward it. “This weekend?”
Refraining from groaning, Lex started to his own room, unpacked until all his totes were empty, checked his emails with instructions from his coach about tomorrow’s practice, before he heard Xochitl out in the front room again. He walked out ready to talk to her again but was surprised and disappointed to see she was still on her phone. She grabbed her laptop off the table and turned to him, then mouthed the words,my mom now, as she walked back into her room. Lex watched the rest of the ballgame hoping she’d come out soon but before he knew it, more than an hour had passed and she still hadn’t come out. The coach wanted the team out on the field at the crack of dawn tomorrow and Lex was certain just like most coaches he’d be setting the precedent first week for all the newbies. He wouldn’t be going easy on them that was for sure and Lex had been through enough hell weeks to know his ass should be getting in bed early tonight. He waited for a bit longer before giving up and headed to bed. He thought about knocking on her door to say goodnight but then thought better of it. Already her boyfriend had called three times in one day, not that Lex blamed the guy for wanting to talk to her as often as he could. Lex had been there less than a day and he couldn’t get enough of her either. But she’d said it herself. This guy wasn’t thrilled about this arrangement and hopefully for good reason. Lex was aware he might just be delusional. But after talking to her just a few times today he was certain that chemistry they had two years ago was still there. There were a few other telling signs that their connection had been just as deep for her as it’d been for him. Something that over the last two years, when she’d made zero effort to reconnect with him, he’d begun to doubt. First, she openly admitted seeing him with Angela the night of the wedding had upset her so much, so it’s why she’d completely cut him off. Second, she’d also had no qualms about admitting she’d told Cade she’d thought something had begun to happen between them. Which meant she’d seriously begun to consider it. If that was the case then, now that she knew the truth only thing stopping her from considering it again was her boyfriend. Last thing he needed was for the guy to put some kind of restriction on the amount of time she should be spending or getting personal with Lex. Because Lex had every intention of getting personal now. As a matter of fact, his mind raced as he pulled his phone out. This might be a risk. His sisters were a bit too intuitive. Though Nena was far more than Vannah. But like earlier, Lex would make it, so Vannah was the one offering up any info, and not that he was digging.
No surprise his sister was giggling when she answered. “He’s gonna hear you,” she laughed. “So what? We’re married.” Her husband countered, making her laugh even more.
Lex smirked rolling his eyes as he waited for her to be free to talk. “He answered,” she whispered as if Lex hadn’t already heard and concluded what was going on. “Lex?”
“Yeah. Is this not a good time?”
“No, it is. Byron’s just being silly.”
“Hey, Lex,” Byron said in the background.
“Tell him I said hi.” She did then asked Lex what was up, and he got right to it. “I just got the email from my coach. Looks like next couple of weeks he’s gonna ride us hard. They always do in the beginning. I’ll probably be too pooped to get together anytime during the week. But my weekends will be open until the games start.”
“Oh, good. I just got off the phone with Xochitl earlier.” Her sister quipped making Lex smile because already she was offering up information. “She said her weekends are looking good too. At least for the next month until she starts her next internship. But even then, it’ll only be on Sundays, and she’ll be doing it online from her dorm.”
Without wasting time and not wanting to miss the opportunity, he closed his door all the way. “Ah, so she was on the phone with you too? I was beginning to think maybe you were way off about things between her and her boyfriend going south soon. He’s called like three times today I thought maybe she was still on the phone with him in her room from when he last called over an hour ago.”
