AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Walking the two blocks to the restaurant, I steeled myself for what was to come. No doubt Lexi still hadn't gotten it through her damn brain that I wasn't interested in her and would be all over me. The worst part was that I had to just keep enduring her advances. As much as people say men don't know the meaning of no, some women were just as bad. Lexi fell into that category.
A block away from the restaurant, Lexi popped out of her white convertible. "True!" She skipped around the car and threw herself into my arms. I reluctantly caught her because what else could I do? We were so close to the restaurant now that there could be photographers anywhere. It was time to plaster on my fake smile and be the doting boyfriend, so I hugged her back but tried to make it as short as I possibly could.
My skin was crawling, and my stomach churned, but I had to keep my game face on. She leaned away from me and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the restaurant. She chatted happily about some new shoes she'd bought today and her latest Instagram post. I wasn't paying attention, just tossing out some well-placed, "mmhmm's," and, "yeah's."
As we approached the front of the Italian restaurant, she stopped in front of the crowd of photographers, tilting her head and looking at me expectantly. Fuck, I knew what that look meant. She was about to try to kiss me, but I didn't know if I could stomach it. She'd tried again and again at the premiere the other night, but I'd manage to dodge her advances.
I knew what was expected of me, but to me, hand-holding and putting my arm around her was enough in public. I didn't need to kiss her and make out with her to an audience. As bad as this was, pictures of her lips on mine could not get into the media. No fucking way.
As my mind circulated with my tumultuous thoughts, she used my shoulders for leverage. She jumped up, wrapping her legs around my waist and grabbing my face, forcing her lips on mine in a move entirely inappropriate for a public lunch date. I froze in shock for just a second, hearing the telltale camera clicks all around us.
Fuck.
I had to pry her off me without it looking like I was trying to pry her off of me. How the fuck was I going to do that?
I reached around my back and gently pried her legs apart, helping her down. She slid down my body and tried to latch her mouth back onto mine, but I leaned back as far as I could, trying not to look suspicious. All I wanted to do was wipe my mouth and shove her off, then go rinse my mouth out with bleach. Every time I had to interact with Lexi, I regretted this whole thing even more.
I couldn't believe I ever thought hooking up with people like her was fun. I wasn't sure if I was more disgusted with my past self or my current self.
She wrapped her arms around me and tilted her head back, so she was looking up into my face. "Ready for lunch, baby?"
I swallowed back thefuck noon the tip of my tongue and plastered on a fake smile. I grabbed her hand and led her inside away from the cameras. Thankfully, I could at least put a little distance between us once we got inside.
The hostess seated us right away but sat us right up next to the window. Before she even had a chance to walk away, Lexi was ordering some overly sweet girly drink. It was barely noon, but I didn't blame her. If I wasn't trying to stay focused on making it look like we were in a relationship but also not letting her touch me, I'd probably want a drink, too. As it was, I needed to keep my focus sharp.
"So…" I started, not really sure what to say. Lexi and I didn't have anything in common, and this lunch was going to be awkward as fuck. At least I knew she could fill the silence prattling on about her latest shopping trip or whatever dumb thing her friends did out at the club last weekend.
Lexi lifted her drink to her lips and swallowed half of it in one sip. I raised my eyebrow but didn't say anything. I wasn't her keeper. If she wanted to get sloshed at this lunch, that was up to her. I'd call her a Lyft and consider my job done. She smacked her lips before downing the rest.
"What're you having?" She picked up her menu and wrinkled her nose as she scanned the offerings.
I glanced down at mine, weighing my options. "Probably the pizza. You?"
She huffed. "I don't know, everything here has so many carbs." Her whiny voice made me want to cringe but I held it in. I also didn't point out that the sugary drink she'd just guzzled had tons of carbs in it.
I wasn't sure what to say to her, so I stayed silent. I still had eleven weeks of these types of "dates" to endure, and I had no idea how the fuck I was going to stomach it. I was starting to think I didn't want a solo career enough to keep this up. I needed to talk to Harrison. I should be at home with Amara instead of putting myself through this.
Lexi raised her hand up into the air and snapped her fingers repeatedly. "Waitress!"
I grimaced and tried to hide my face behind the menu. Fuck, she was such an entitled, spoiled brat. I couldn't even consider what people might think of me being linked to her.
The waitress made her way over to our table, and her smile looked strained as she asked how she could help.
"Finally." Lexi rolled her eyes. "Give me another one of these." She shook her empty cocktail glass, flinging the last few remaining drops all over the waitress and the table. "And is there anything here without carbs?"
The waitress's eyes flicked over to me briefly before returning to Lexi. "The spaghetti squash is low carb."
"Fine, give me that. And actually, bring me two more of those drinks and keep them coming." She shoved her menu back at the waitress and let it go. I smiled apologetically at her. "I'll have the pizza, please. And just water. Thank you." I got a quick but genuine smile before she moved away from the table, no doubt off to tell the cooks to spit in our food.
I sighed and turned back to Lexi. I couldn't stand by and let Lexi treat someone the way she just had without saying something. "Why did you treat her like that?"
She glanced up at me from her phone. "Like what?"
"Like she was a servant."
She raised her perfectly arched eyebrow. "Isn't that what she is?"
Oh, my fucking god. "No, that's not what she is. She's a person. She deserves to be treated with respect just as much as you do."
