Page 19 of Pomegranate Kiss (Charmed in Charleston #2)
Chapter Nineteen
C am’s reappearance in town had been hydrogen peroxide on the open wounds across Lex’s heart. She’d barely been able to push thoughts of her from her mind in the first place, and with the way she kept stepping into her line of sight at Third Eye Coffee, at the Food Lion, hell even at the Gin Mill, there was no escaping the woman.
She’d already gotten the scoop from Danny that Cam returned home for winter break, staying the three weeks until she went back to SCAD. With Christmas approaching at the end of the week, only one and a half remained until Cam would disappear to Savannah again.
Pushing her away the afternoon she’d showed up at her door had been the hardest thing she’d done, but Lex couldn’t sustain how each encounter left her battered and broken inside.
Maybe Cam’s persistence should’ve flattered her. Hell, she’d been just as relentless.
However, despite the clear interest, Cam still refused to admit she was gay. Lex had been serious when she told her she wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole while she stayed staunchly in the closet. Danny hadn’t even known about them until Lex had confessed on that shitty bathroom floor, and she could guarantee Cam hadn’t come out to her yet.
Still, the club didn’t hold the distraction she’d been hoping for tonight. Mitch sat next to her with his glass of scotch, leaning against the bar and staring out to the crowd. He looked every bit the bartender even away from his job, because the man had almost the same commitment to black that she did.
“Are we going to talk about what’s been up your ass sideways?” Mitch asked, even as he didn’t look at her.
“What?” Lex called back, pretending she couldn’t hear over the noise.
Mitch shot her a dead-eye look. She hadn’t seen him as much since she’d finished up on his sleeve, but when he’d called her out to Notes tonight, she seized on the chance. Anything to keep her from another night alone in her house, waiting for a knock to sound on her door and then hating herself when it didn’t.
“Had a fling that went sour, that’s all,” she said, lifting the pomegranate and rum concoction she’d been addicted to as of late. “Nothing drinks and distraction won’t cure.” The thump of the bass beat reverberated through her bones, and Lex tapped her boot against the chair, even though the music didn’t slam into her like it normally did.
Mitch lifted a brow, but out of anyone, he knew better than to push. The two of them were too alike in the way they kept everyone at a distance. Yet the fact he called her up for tipping back drinks at the club meant as much as a long and overly poetic emotions talk from Cal. This was one of the few places Cam wouldn’t follow since she didn’t do the whole dancing and pulsing electronica thing.
All that made her think of was Danny’s bachelorette and the night they’d spent together in the hotel afterward. Her core pulsed, and her heart hurt. This fucking sucked, but she’d meant what she told Cam. She couldn’t risk splintering on jagged rocks again. She’d be obliterated.
It had taken hitting this low again to make her realize she’d grown tired of the chase and tired of distracting herself. But if she was going to sort her life out and begin settling down in Charleston, that meant avoiding her old holding patterns of chasing after the unattainable.
Mitch lifted his cup, and Lex clinked hers with it.
“To distractions,” he said, staring at the surface of the bar like he was lost in his own damage. Lex didn’t pry. She knew better.
Unfortunately, the very woman she’d been trying to distract herself from walked through the entrance of Notes Nightclub, looking so fine the breath caught in Lex’s throat. Not like Cam had a day where she wasn’t gorgeous enough to hurt. Lex had seen her in every state from all dolled up to casual and makeup free, and she’d found each side of her stunning.
Tonight, Cam had shown up as pure temptation.
She wore the red number that made Lex lose her mind at Danny’s bachelorette. The fabric stretched so tight every curve was visible, and those full breasts begged to be touched. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Already, her traitorous body reacted to the sight of those crimson lips, the waterfall of silken curls, and the bronze skin that tasted so damn perfect.
“Bro, pull yourself out of your brooding,” Lex called to him. “I need a wingman tonight.”
“You? Need a wingman?” he raised both brows. “I don’t think you’ve ever asked before.”
Having the woman she’d fallen head over heels for in the same room made any attempts of flirting on her own impossible. If Lex were honest, she hadn’t hit on anyone after Cam. Every time she saw a pretty face, the normal lines collected at her lips unsaid. Flirtation had been a reflex as long as she could remember, and Cam crashed into her life and ruined it.
She tried to look away from Cam, but she couldn’t help the glimpses she stole. Of course, the woman headed toward them. Because she was being just as persistent as Lex had been when she’d started her whole quest to swing Cam to the other side. A bitter, jagged edge part of her was almost satisfied when things shattered because she’d been protecting herself for so long from the former hurt that she expected it.
The times she and Cam had been together belonged to a dream or a fantasy, something that faded out of reach like an ending song the moment she tried to grasp for it. That sort of bliss, that sort of happiness where you knew someone inside and out and loved them anyway—it didn’t exist for fuckups like her.
Mitch had lured a pair of gorgeous blondes over—the man was predictable—and he cast a couple of wayward glances in Lex’s direction before murmuring in one of the girl’s ears. Her gaze flashed with interest, and she bit her lip. Lex forced a smile she didn’t feel.
“Anyone sitting here?” Cam asked from her other side.
Lex heaved out the breath she’d been holding as she shrugged her shoulders. “Spot’s open if you want it.”
She wanted her to sit there just as much as she was willing to beg she didn’t. Because her restraint stretched like a tenuous thread close to snapping, and she would never heal if she kept hooking up with Cam and hating herself for her weakness every chance she got.
After all, Cam never gave a clear answer about the fucker her parents arranged her with. Every time they’d run into each other since the night Cam showed up at her door, it had been quick back and forths with a dry quip thrown in, and Lex found an excuse to bolt every time.
No more. She wasn’t going to give any more of her heart to this woman when in a few weeks she’d head to Savannah and then Lex would get the devastating news that a wedding date had been chosen.
“I’m surprised you’re not out there dancing,” Cam mentioned, gesturing to the sea of people in front of them.
“I think you’re confusing me with Danny. She’s the one with the electronica fetish,” Lex drawled, trying not to sneak glances over at the expanse of bronze skin gleaming in the lights by the bar. God it hurt that Cam looked this sexy in the dress even now. She wanted to rip it right off her and thrust her fingers inside the pussy she knew would be drenched. But thinking like that got her into this mess in the first place.
Lex tipped back more of her drink, hoping it would wash away the anxiousness that swept over her like she’d never flirted with a woman before.
“Have you been coming here a lot recently?” Cam asked, an edge to her voice. Lex couldn’t gauge if it was jealousy or regret, but she’d made her choices, neither of which encouraged a future between the two of them.
Lex bit back the ‘none of your business’ threatening to leap from her throat. “Mitch asked me to come out with him tonight,” was all she managed without venom.
This awkwardness between them hurt. Mere months ago, Cam had been resting in her arms, splayed out in her bed, sleeping next to her like some raven-haired angel. How could she not understand that in a few weeks she’d be heading over a boundary line Lex couldn’t follow? The more Cam tried, the more it felt like she pushed for another hookup, and Lex was so sick of feeling used. She’d never let the emotion sink its teeth with any of her one-nighters, but over the years they’d accumulated into a pool of quicksand, and she sank deeper every day.
The blonde that had been eyeing her stepped up to her other side. “Your friend said you’re looking for a little company tonight?”
Saved by the blonde. And Mitch, she supposed. This girl was a looker for sure, wide hips and legs for days. She wore a skintight black dress cut high enough on her thighs that bending over would be a risky proposition. In her pre-Cam days, she would’ve been on her like ants on sugar. However, now? The chick didn’t even elicit the slightest thrill.
Lex swallowed. She could feel the press of Cam’s gaze on her, sending her careening over the edge. If she indulged in spending tonight with Cam, things would turn carnal fast. The way she looked in the red dress did funny things to her nether regions, and the moment she caught the scent of her rose perfume, she’d been clenching her thighs tighter. And then the night would end with Cam leaving while Lex sat alone in her apartment feeling like a discarded toy. Fuck that.
“Yeah, I guess I’ve been pretty lonely as of late,” Lex drawled, even as her mind and heart revolted. She tasted bile in her throat at flirting with this girl in front of Cam. It betrayed every emotion inside her, but she’d taken the chance before, and Cam refused to either come out or leave her alone.
She was done with this limbo.
“Why, are you looking for some company, tonight?” Lex asked, loading the question with insinuation. Blondie’s blue eyes gleamed, and she leaned in on the bar to reveal a slice of cleavage that once upon a time she would’ve found delicious. Instead, all she could see was Cam’s curves, the ones she’d spent hours memorizing. The woman had ruined her, for sure.
Truth be told, she didn’t need Mitch’s help attracting the girls. They still flocked to her when she made her way to the club, but she’d become tongue-tied where the words used to drip from her lips with no effort.
Blondie’s hand slipped over hers, even though the touch didn’t inspire a tingle let alone a spark. “I was planning on swinging to the bathroom to touch up my makeup.”
The intent broadcasted bright and clear.
The chair beside her screeched, but Lex didn’t dare look over to meet Cam’s gaze. Right now, she hated everything about this situation. She heard the clip of the footsteps and only chanced a glance when Cam closed in on the door. The pendulum swing of those hips had her ensnared, even when Cam cut a hasty retreat. Watching that woman walk away sent her plummeting to indescribable new depths of misery, knowing she’d been the cause.
Even if she wanted the distraction, her heart wasn’t in a bathroom fling. If anything, she felt worse than when she’d arrived here.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” she said, removing her hand from the woman’s. “I’m shit company tonight. You’d be better off finding someone else.”
The blonde frowned, following her gaze to the door. Her dark eyes clarified as she put the pieces together. “Your loss.” She strode toward the dance floor this time, losing herself amidst the crowd. Meanwhile, Mitch’s attention remained front and forward on her friend who did the usual curl and twirl with her hair.
No, Lex had chased her loss right out the door. She slumped forward against the bar and drained the rest of her drink dry. Her restraint had been tested in the past, but it paled in comparison to this onslaught from Cam. After tonight though, she’d scared her away for good.
That was what she’d been trying to do to protect herself, to heal.
However, all it felt like was devastation.