Текст книги "Avoiding Commitment"

Автор книги: K. A. Linde

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 25 (всего у книги 29 страниц)

“Jack that was…amazing,” she whispered into the night air. She brushed her sweaty curls off her face. She watched as he wiped his hand across his forehead taking the thin layer of sweat with it.

“Yeah, it was,” he said walking towards the door. “But I have to go.”

“That’s it?” she asked her voice wavering uncertainly.

“What? That wasn’t good enough for you?” he asked his voice echoing a hint of humor into every syllable.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“This doesn’t change anything, Lex,” he said turning to face her but staying a good distance away from her as if he couldn’t control himself not to take her again.

By the way he said it, it sounded as if it changed everything. She was his again, his for the taking. “I think it changes things. You can’t go back to her after that,” she squeaked.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

Lexi gasped. “You mean…”

“Look, I don’t know what to do yet. I just knew that’s what you wanted,” he saying eyeing her mussed appearance.

“That’s not what I wanted.”

“If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have let me do it,” he told her simply.

“I wanted answers.”

“And I don’t have any.”

“So, what was this?” she asked tears welling in her eyes. How had this gone south so fast?

“This was fucking, Lexi. You should know that. You’re really good at it.”

His words were cold and calculated as if he were trying to hurt her. It was working. “Fuck you, Jack.”

“Whenever you want.”

“So, this is over?” she croaked.

He seemed utterly surprised by this conclusion. “No, baby,” he said striding towards her and taking her face between his hands. She didn’t even have the energy to push him away. “I just need more time. This was…great, but it doesn’t change the things I still have to deal with. Now, I really have to go.” And with that he strode out of the walkway and back to his birthday party.

Happy birthday to him.

Lexi stayed outside for a minute contemplating how she had allowed things to get so out of control. She had promised herself she wouldn’t let this happen, but when push comes to shove, literally, she couldn’t say no to him. If she were to do it all over again, she would make the same goddamn mistake. That was the part that miffed her the most. She knew that she should look at it as a mistake, but she couldn’t. He had said that it didn’t change anything, but she knew deep down that it changed everything. If he could have her like this, would he want her any other way?

She bit her lip in her consternation and cursed loudly forgetting that Jack had bit down hard on the sensitive tissue. The one thing she did know is that she needed to get away from this place. She didn’t care where she went as long as it was far away from here.

Lexi darted back into the bathroom, shimmying out of her sodden, destroyed underwear and chucking them into the trashcan. She pulled her knot of curls out of the messy bun that looked like a disaster after having been scrapped against a cement wall. She applied a thin layer of clear lip gloss hoping that would cover the bruise that was forming, but she doubted it. She assessed her neck noticing a few red marks beginning to form where Jack had been too violent, but she didn’t have any concealer and hoped no one would notice as she snuck out.

There was no way she could atone for her dress though. The back looked like, well…like it had been dragged across cement. Some strings were hanging free from the material. The silky fabric was dotted with scuffs that resembled a bathing suit bottom after sitting on the edge of a pool for too long. Not to mention the scratches that covered her upper back where her hair had been held high. She would never be able to explain those. Luckily, her back hadn’t bled, but some of the scrapes were so red she was certain had he gone on any longer, they would have. She hoped her long hair would hide as much as possible.

After deciding nothing more could be done, she snuck back out of the bathroom and made a beeline for the exit. When she got there, she ducked through the double doors and stopped as she almost ran smack dab into Ramsey. She didn’t even know how long she had been gone.

“Where have you been?” he asked concern evident in his voice. “I’ve been searching for you everywhere. I had just decided to see if any cabs had taken you home, but no one knew anything. Are you alright?”

His green eyes were wide with worry. She knew she should feel guilty, and maybe a small part of her did. Ramsey was starting to grow on her and he seemed so genuinely concerned. But this was the last thing she needed after what she had done.

“Uh, yeah…” she trailed off not meeting his gaze. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’m glad you’re alright,” he said scooping her up into a hug. She bit back a cry as his hands brushed against her red, swollen back.

“I have to get out of here,” she muttered abrasively. “Can you call me a cab?”

“Where are you going?” he asked hesitantly trying to meet her eyes.

“Back to the hotel.”

“Alright. You have a key right?” he asked. He snapped his fingers at the concierge to begin to make arrangements.

“Oh, shit!” she cried. “Chyna lost the other one and I gave her mine. I have to go find her.” She turned to make an embarrassing reappearance into the club.

“She already left,” he muttered stopping her from leaving. “I think she is going to his place.”

“Fuck!” Lexi could not believe her awful luck. She couldn’t stay here any longer, but there was no way she could go back to the hotel. “I guess I can see if they’ll make me a new one,” she muttered hopefully.

“Come with me,” Ramsey said stepping closer to her. She did not want him to be in her personal space right now. He would surely notice her bumps and bruises, and she didn’t want him to ask questions.

“I can’t,” she muttered.

“You can stay in the guest bedroom…if you want,” he added for his own benefit.

“Do I have any other choice?” she grumbled wondering why the universe hated her so much.

He shook his head. “Tell them to pull the limo around,” he commanded the woman as he escorted Lexi out of the building.

CHAPTER 22

DECEMBER ONE AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER

The next morning was the gloomiest of any Lexi had witnessed since moving to New York. Snow had fallen the night before, and in typical city fashion, the streets had been cleared of the white flurries by daybreak. Brown slush took its place on the sidewalks and gutters creating a hazardous environment for any who traversed the city. Dreary, charcoal clouds covered the sky casting a depressing aura across the metropolitan area. A heavy fog mixed with the ever increasing quantities of pollution hanging thick in the morning air.

Under these conditions, most normal people would have avoided leaving their apartment at all costs on a Saturday morning. Lexi was not one of those people. She thought she had switched off the alarm set for finals, but it still managed to go off at eight in the morning. Her sleep had been restless and no matter how hard she tried to go back to sleep, it would not come to her. Instead, she made the mistake of pulling on a t-shirt, black track suit, and running sneakers to take a brisk jog around the park before the city livened up.

The wind viciously whipped her hair around her face, cutting across her delicate skin and stinging her eyes. Tears streamed from her eyes as she sprinted the last leg of her run before exiting Washington Square Park. She doubled over clutching her hands to her ribs as her breath came out in spurts. The wintry air filled her lungs causing her to wheeze in pain at the assault. Her heart was still working overdrive thumping away in her chest from the physical exertion. She attempted to wiggle her toes which felt near frozen in her soggy socks and snow-coated tennis shoes. The movement was painful as life came back into her lower extremities.

She straightened brushing her hair out of her face. The gloves she wore hardly kept the cold from reaching her fingers. Now that she had stopped jogging, the sweat she had built up was settling onto her skin making her entire body shiver. The wind picked up in velocity pushing and pulling her the rest of the way to her apartment building. She stumbled into the high-arched enclosure letting the wind break past her. A low whistle could be heard as it rushed through the streets. Lexi was just happy that she was out of that. She didn’t know what she had been thinking going on a run with the weather in such precarious conditions.

Well, that wasn’t true. She knew the real reason for her early morning jog. The message from Jack kept replaying in her head, and despite herself, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. She knew that she should be reasonable. He probably went through another rejection and wallowed in his own pity. It had happened frequently enough, and she knew he shouldn’t get worked up about it, but he had gotten worked up about it. She could tell from the tone of his voice that he was upset.

All she wanted to do was be there for him.

She wrapped her arms around herself as she strode past the security guard. He recognized her and waved, not even checking for her identification card. She was lost in her thoughts as she took the stairs back to her apartment.

Lexi knew that she wasn’t Jack’s girlfriend. They weren’t officially together or anything. They had made that perfectly clear in the beginning.

Yet, something was nagging in the back of her mind. When he had been threatening Clark, he had claimed they were together. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that they were automatically going to jump into something that they were unaccustomed to. She knew how they worked, and thus far, it had worked out surprisingly well. But it was a step in the right direction. If he could speak about them being a couple, even if it was out of blind jealously, then she saw that as a positive.

Her teeth were chattering as she slid into her dorm room. She clenched and unclenched her fingers hoping to accelerate the blood flow. Sliding her gloves off Lexi brought her hands to her mouth and blew on them as she rubbed them together.

“Where have you been?” Lexi heard someone call anxiously from a bedroom.

Startled from warming herself up, she glanced up and saw Rachelle silhouetted in the doorway. “I went for a run.”

Rachelle peeked back through her window as if to confirm that it was, in fact, miserable outside. “In this weather?” she asked condescendingly.

“Uh…yeah. I needed to clear my head.”

“Did it work?”

“Not really. I’m kind of frozen,” she told her a chill running down her back at the mention of the cold.

“You Southerners,” she scoffed, “this isn’t cold.”

“Feels pretty cold to me,” Lexi said wrapping her arms around her body.

“Whatever. Why didn’t you take your cell phone with you?” she asked disapprovingly.

Lexi cringed realizing that she had forgotten her cell. She knew when she was out in the city, especially when she was alone, that she should have it with her, but she hated carrying it with her when she was running. She felt weighed down by technology. But Rachelle was looking at her expectantly. “Uh, yeah, sorry. I guess I forgot it.”

“Yeah, I know. It has been ringing off the hook all morning...on loud,” she grumbled crossing her arms over her chest.

Lexi gulped, taking a sideways look towards her room as if her phone was going to start ringing again at any moment. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“You should call Jack back. I finally had to answer and tell him I’d give you the message, but that you weren’t home.”

“You told him I wasn’t home?” she squeaked.

“What was I supposed to do? You weren’t in your room. Your phone was still on your desk. Your purse was missing. You had to be somewhere. I told him you were out. What’s the big deal?” Rachelle asked.

Lexi groaned. “My purse is missing? Great, just great. What a fantastic morning.”

“Just call him back,” she said slamming her door angrily.

Lexi sighed and trudged into her room. All she wanted to was shower. She did not want to have to deal with this right now.

She glanced around noticing that her purse was still exactly where she had left it safely tucked under her desk. Rachelle must have missed it when she answered the phone. Lexi breathed out a sigh of relief that nothing had happened to her purse. She unplugged her phone from where she had left it charging the night before and turned it on. Eight missed calls showed up on the phone and she had four text messages, and that was before Rachelle had gotten to her phone to turn it off.

Even though all she wanted to do was take a shower and not think about anything, she reluctantly opened the phone and dialed Jack’s number. As she waited, she peeled of her running jacket and hung it on a hook on the back of her door. Her t-shirt came off next followed by the black, long-sleeve, Under Armour shirt. Her track pants hung low on her hips and her black sports bra hugged tight against her chest.

“Lex,” Jack breathed into the phone, “where have you been? I’ve been calling all morning.”

“Yeah, Rachelle told me. Sorry about that.”

“What were you doing? Who were you with?” he asked accusing her with every word.

“I was out for a run.”

“In this weather?”

She wanted to curse. Why was it so hard to believe that she would go out for a run when it was nasty outside? She needed to clear her head. It wasn’t the end of the world. That didn’t give everyone the right to accuse her of anything. “Yeah.”

“Right.”

“What? Do you not believe me?” she asked, her earlier anxieties making her jumpy.

“Sure, I believe you. If you say so.”

“Why don’t you sound like you believe me?” Her voice couldn’t hide the hint of annoyance at his tone. He was the one who had dipped out of the party, and then left a sketchy voicemail telling her not to come over to be with him. She should be the one accusing him of not being around.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had a rough night with the job interview. He was probably just irritated with that. There was no need for her to make it worse for him. “I’m sorry. It was just a rough night.”

“I know what you mean,” he whispered.

“Sorry, I didn’t bring my phone. I’ll remember to take it with me next time,” she apologized.

“Actually, we need to talk.”

Warning signals began blasting off in her brain even worse than this morning. Those words were never a good sign. Nothing good could come from saying that. “About what?” she managed to get out.

She could hear him take a deep breath. “Can I come over?”

“Of course you can come over. You’re here all the time,” she mumbled knowing it had to be bad, if he had to ask to come over.

“I have to take care of some...stuff here, and then I’ll be over so we can talk. Alright?”

She nodded swallowing heavily. Then she realized he couldn’t see her and said, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Bye,” he said hanging up the phone quickly.

Lexi shut her phone and tossed it back into the mess on her desk. She yanked her hair out of the ponytail on the back of her head and let her mass of curls fall around her face. Brushing them out of her face with her fingers, she could feel some of the tension release from her body.

The events from the past twelve hours were replaying in her head. Where had things gone wrong? They had been perfect at the party. God, they had been about to leave to have sex...make love until they had been interrupted.

The interruption.

What had Claire said about him leaving? That she had seen him exit the premises with some drunken blonde chick on his arm. Lexi could remember the look of disbelief in Claire and Chyna’s eyes when she had explained about the interview. They both had the same expression.

She shook her head not wanting to think about that. Her body hurt from running, lack of hydration, and chronic worrying. All she needed was a long hot shower and to chill the fuck out. No use worrying over something that she had no idea about. Everything her imagination was conjuring up was only successfully making her more worried about what had happened last night, and why he now so desperately needed to talk to her.

Taking the time to thoroughly wash away any lingering doubts, Lexi took extra long in the shower. She scrubbed every crevice washing away the sweat and grime from her run twice with her cranberry body wash. She lathered and rinsed her hair until it was silky smooth. When she cut off the water, the bathroom was thick with steam and the mirror completely obscured by fog. Typically, Lexi wasn’t the type of girl who primped, but today was not like other days.

After towel drying her hair, she blew it out until every long strand was dry. Then she pulled a straightener down until all the curls were gone and her hair hit her lower back. Black eyeliner rimmed her eyes and a layer of mascara touched her lashes. After adding a hint of rouge to her pale cheeks, she figured she had spent enough time in the bathroom. She was amazed that no one had bothered her already. With only one bathroom between four people, it was usually only a matter of time before someone came banging on the door.

As Lexi walked out of the bathroom, she did hear a knock coming from the door. She wrapped her skimpy white towel tightly around her body and scrambled towards the front door. “Jack,” she cried as she opened the door. “I thought you had stuff to do.”

He looked at her as if he were looking at her for the first time. The way her silky hair shone as the hallway light hit the strands. The way her side swept bangs fell neatly into her enormous brown eyes, which only looked larger and more beautiful from the make-up she had carefully applied. Her skin contrasted with the bleach white towel giving her a sun-kissed look. A smile broke out across his face as he took in the sight of her partly exposed body.

“It’s been over an hour,” he commented.

“Oh, has it?” she asked embarrassed even further. She couldn’t remember ever taking over an hour in the shower. “Are you going to come in?” she asked stepping aside and hugging her towel tight to her chest. She could feel it slipping out of place.

Jack stepped through the doorway allowing Lexi to close it behind him.

“I’ll just go change,” Lexi said walking swiftly towards her bedroom. Jack followed behind taking a seat in her desk chair. She turned to face him without moving to get clothes out of her closet. “So, what uh...stuff did you have to do?” she asked leaning back against her desk.

Jack averted his eyes to the floor. “I had to get things taken care of. It’s no big deal.”

“Oh,” she said lamely. Lexi sucked her bottom lip into her mouth biting down lightly. She could tell that it was a big deal or he wouldn’t have to be so secretive about it. But she was already afraid of what he might say. There was no need to bring anything else up until he was ready.

Lexi sat back against the desk, scooting over a few coffee mugs and class notes. “I thought you were going to change,” he noted once he finally spoke up. His eyes roamed her body.

“I was, but you wanted to talk to me.”

“I didn’t expect to speak to you naked,” he murmured.

“I’m not naked,” she told him pointing towards her tiny towel.

“Close enough.”

“No, it’s really not. You’ve seen me in less.”

Jack cringed away at her words. Not a good sign. “Just...change.”

“I’d rather we talk,” she told him standing her ground.

“Fine,” he muttered standing swiftly from the chair and knocking it back against the wall. Lexi jolted from where she was sitting. “So, let’s talk.”

Lexi waited. “I don’t know what you want to talk about,” she whispered her eyes cast to the floor in anticipation.

“I don’t really know how to begin this.”

“Are you,” she choked on the words, “are you breaking up with me?” She felt tears welling in her eyes at the prospect. The way he was talking that was the only conclusion she could come to. He had realized he didn’t want her after all and they were not going to be working towards that relationship. It didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense at all after what he had said to Clark, but she couldn’t see an alternative. She had been through break ups before and he was about hitting it on the nose.

“What?” he asked. “No. Well, I couldn’t anyway. We’re not in a relationship. I mean we’re together, but we’re not...you know...together.”

Lexi really could not tell the difference anymore. They had been doing everything together for over a month, and they had been intimately involved emotionally for nearly four years. How much more could he want?

“So, we’re not breaking up then?” she asked feeling pitiful.

“No, well, I dunno,” he muttered.

Lexi coughed running her fingers through her stick straight hair, and trying not to cry. “Why don’t you know?”

“It all depends on you.”

“I don’t want us to break up.”

Jack smiled a true genuine smile reaching all the way up to his beautiful blue eyes. “Yeah?” he asked his smile beginning to wane. “You might change your mind.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve made up my mind.”

“Look, Lex, I don’t want to lie to you. I told you I never would, and I want to stick by that.”

Lexi’s heart was beating out of her chest. It was almost painful as the weight of it slammed forcefully back and forth against her ribcage. He had lied to her as she had feared. She didn’t know what it could be about. Was it the blonde girl? Did he not go to the interview?

“Then don’t lie to me.”

“I don’t want to,” he said stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I have to tell you something.”

“What do you have to tell me?” she asked impatiently. “Is this about the girl Claire saw you leaving with last night?”

“Girl?” he asked confused. “No, it has nothing to do with that. She was just drunk and I was helping her out of the party and into a cab.”

“Is this about the interview?” she couldn’t help asking.

“No...well, yeah, sort of, but please Lexi let me speak,” he finally commanded her. Lexi waited expectedly. “I...I slept with someone else last night.”

It was Lexi’s turn to shoot up from her seat. “What?” she screeched nearly dropping her towel. She grappled for the loose material pulling it up to fully cover her body.

“I...yeah. I didn’t get the job. I wanted to go home and crash, but then there was a huge party at my place. I couldn’t get any rest so I got hammered instead. One thing led to another and...”

“So you just slept with someone?” she asked in horror.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I just fucked up. It didn’t mean anything.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Oh, I’m sorry, Lexi. It was just a meaningless fuck! How do you think that could help me? What the fuck were you thinking?” she questioned him pulling out a t-shirt and gym shorts from her dresser and hastily yanking them on. She felt exposed in her towel and realized now why he had wanted her to change.

“I wasn’t thinking. I was drunk, and it just sort of happened,” he yelled back.

“You’re absolutely ridiculous!”

“Stop getting so riled up. I came here to tell you because I couldn’t keep it from you. Isn’t that worth something?”

Lexi’s eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on him. “A very small something.”

“Oh come on.”

“Did you somehow think this would be okay? I don’t understand your motives at all.”

“Lex, I didn’t have a motive. It just happened. You of all people should know what that feels like.”

“No, I don’t know what that feels like! I never slept with someone without forethought.”

“You’re such a liar. When we first slept together you had no intention of sleeping with me and then we did.”

“Whatever. That was us though, Jack. We’re...different.” She so desperately wanted to make him understand.

“You’re such a hypocrite,” he cried throwing his hands up in the air. “What do you think we were doing the whole time we were with other people? We were cheating on them. We were the bad guys.”

“I know that,” she yelled back forcefully.

“Then why the fuck are you getting so pissed off about what happened? I fucked up alright. We’ve done that before,” he said pushing away his feeling towards his actions.

“Don’t even go there with me, Jack. You know that’s not true. We both know what we are. We cheated on other people, and that was what defined us. That was what defined our connection for quite some time.”

“Then why are you freaking out?” he asked exasperated.

“I thought that by finally being together this would stop,” she mumbled.

“You thought we would change being the people that we are, because we’re together now? Or not even really together actually.”

Lexi cringed at his words. Those had been her words. She had been just as afraid of any sort of commitment as him. “You told Clark we were together,” she whispered.

He looked away from her. “Well, we’re not together. We never have been. So please, Lex, stop freaking out. I told you what happened because of what we are.”

A small part of her wished that he had lied to her. That would have made things easier, but she knew that she wasn’t thinking rationally. Honestly, she should have known this was going to happen. She should have seen it a mile off that she wasn’t anything different to him. She would never be anything different to him. But she hadn’t seen that. She had blinded herself to his easy charm and comforting ways. She had been suckered in and left hanging out to dry all over again. Except this time it was worse, because this wasn’t happening to some poor sap that happened across his path. No. This happened to Lexi, and she knew better. She had been there when every other girl had been defeated.

Instincts sent sparks throughout her body pleading with her to stay away or else, but she didn’t listen. How could she listen? This was Jack. He was all she had ever wanted. He had always been the thing that she had wanted.

“I shouldn’t have thought you would change,” she grumbled pushing her hair behind her ears angrily. “I should have known you wouldn’t respect me anymore than the rest.”

“Come on, Lex. It isn’t like that. You know you aren’t like anyone else,” he pleaded.

“What do you even mean by that? Did you think you could just che…” she caught herself before finishing the words, not wanting to instigate another round of we’re-not-even-together conversation, “sleep with someone else, and I would be okay with it? Is that how you thought I was different?”

“Well…” he ran his hands back through his long shaggy hair, his blue eyes lighting up with the energy in the conversation. “I didn’t know you’d freak out like this. After what happened with us, I don’t know…” he said trailing off.

“See, I knew what we were. I knew that we had cheated on other people with each other, but I guess I never thought I’d be on the other end of this…this hurt. I ignorantly thought now that we’re something, that wouldn’t come between us. We’re meant for each other, Jack, and you just went and ugh,” she shrieked angrier than before at his apparent ignorance of the gravity of the situation.

“I’m sorry, Lex, but I don’t see why you’d freak out about this after everything.”

“And there in lies the problem,” she mumbled slumping down to the floor. “I thought you only cheated on other people, because it was me. After all, I never cheated with anyone else other than you. But it wasn’t me all along, was it, Jack? There were probably others, and the connection I thought I was feeling was all a lie.”

“What?” he asked shocked. “No, that’s not the case at all. I didn’t lie to you.”

“So you didn’t sleep with anyone else while you were with Danielle or Kate?” she accused.

“You mean besides Danielle and Kate?” he asked pointedly.

Lexi choked on those words. “You slept with Kate?”

He looked down sheepishly. “Uh…yeah. Did I not mention that?”

Lexi shook her head trying to wrap her mind around that. The virgin had given up her virginity to the man who had cheated on her on numerous occasions. And for what reason? To be left behind. Lexi couldn’t process the information. She just couldn’t deal with it right now…not with everything else. “Yes, besides them.”

“No, it was only you, Lex. I meant everything I said to you. I just,” he sighed heavily, “fucked up. I fucked up, Lex. How many times do you want me to say it?”

“How can I even believe you?” she asked, her brown eyes were cold when they looked upon his face. She couldn’t express emotion properly right then. All she could imagine was him sleeping with someone else the night before. He had done it without any emotion or any forethought for how she would react or take the news. He had somehow in his conscious, even if he had been drunk, thought that she would be okay with this. Their relationship, or whatever you could call it, was completely off-base if that was what he thought.

“I haven’t lied to you. For Christ’s sake, I came to you and told you that I slept with Stella,” he confessed.

“Stella?” she asked her eyes hardening. She stood back up. “You didn’t tell me you fucked your roommate.”

“I…uh…are you sure?” he asked his face shifting away from his confident air.

“No, you didn’t,” she replied biting her lip to keep from lashing out at him with all the expletives she wanted to send his way. After taking a deep breath she spoke again. “How many times have you been together?”

“What? Last night was the first time.”

“Right.” It was her turn to be disbelieving.

“What are you trying to say?” he asked regaining his earlier composure.

“I find it hard to believe that you’ve only slept with that girl once,” she cried. “You worked together. She lets you move in with her. I mean, I’m not stupid. This can’t be the first time.”

Jack walked across the room bridging the distance between them. “I have never slept with her before,” he said emphasizing each word perfectly. “She was a mistake. It wasn’t supposed to happen. She just happened to be there.”

Lexi looked up into his beautiful blue eyes unable to believe some of things that were coming out of his mouth. Did he think that he was somehow improving his case?

Her breath hitched as he took one last step entering her personal space. She could feel the heat radiating off of his body. His hair fell into his eyes as he tilted his head to look into her face. She wanted to scream, yell, and run in the opposite direction, but her feet seemed to be shuffling the wrong way. His hand came up and cupped her chin tilting her head further so he could bend down and press his lips gently to hers.