ONLY FOR LOVE, page 8
part #1 of Only For #2 Series
I see Darryl put his hand out for her, while he puts his other hand on his stomach and bows just a little. “It would be my honor.” I watch them and then I hear him from beside me.
“So what do you say, Lexi?” Kirby says my name. “Care to open the dance floor with the second co-chair?” He holds out his hand. I look around to see if I spot Trent, then look back to him, the twinkle in his eye making my heart speed up. “I dare you.”
ten
Kirby
I stand next to her as Cheryl starts talking and I’ve never in my life felt a pull to someone like I do to her. Even though I know it can never go anywhere. Even though I know she’s not that person who would ever step out on her husband. Even though I know in a few weeks I’ll leave here and I won’t see her. The thought alone makes my stomach lurch.
I hear clapping and then look over to see Cheryl reaching for Darryl’s hand, leading her to the dance floor when I turn to Lexi. “So what do you say, Lexi”—she stops mid-clap to look at me—“care to open the dance floor with the second co-chair?” I smile at her, holding out my hand as she nervously looks around her. No doubt looking for that piece-of-shit husband of hers, who’s been mingling the whole fucking time, not once going to check up on his wife. Her hands are in front of her, one hand in the other, as she contemplates my question when I tease her, “I dare you.”
She smiles and looks down at her hands before she looks back up at me, side-eyeing me while she tries not to smile too big. “I mean, if it’s a dare,” she replies, reaching out her hand to put in mine. “I sort of have no choice but to dance with the bachelors.” She steps into me as my hand goes to the middle of her back. “I guess so.”
“Well,” I laugh, “I’ll take it.” She puts her hand on my shoulder as I sway her to the side. “On a scale of one to ten, how nervous are you?”
She chuckles. “A million.” She looks around at the dance floor that seems to be filling up faster and faster. “I think I’ll only be able to do a sigh of relief once the bidding is over, and we see how much we’ve raised.”
“I don’t know how the last one went, but from the looks of this place”—I look around at the decorations—“it’s kicking the last one’s ass.” I laugh.
“You just said you didn’t know how the last one even went.” She shakes her head. “So you can’t compare it.”
“Well, I think this one is going to be better than the last one because you put your heart and soul into it.” I pull her even closer to me. “All of the touches with the dances, the videos, the silent auction. Look around, everyone is having a great time and you did that. It’s just—” She looks up at me and I can see the compliments are all new to her. “You look beautiful,” my mouth says before I have a chance to stop the words from coming out of it. Her smile goes sideways as if she’s embarrassed.
“Thank you,” she says softly and my thumb moves on her back up and down. “You look very handsome,” she adds and immediately looks down at our feet.
“I mean, it’s not what I would usually wear.” I try to make a joke out of it.
“Oh no,” she joins in on the joke, “you don’t like dressing up in a tux every Saturday?”
I laugh. “I mean, I’m usually suited up on Saturday nights.” We sway side to side. “But that is only because I have no choice.”
“I forgot, you guys have to dress up before the games.” She softly laughs. “We used to call it the thirst traps.”
“What?” I can’t help but laugh at her.
“Yeah, the guys dressing up before the game and being filmed walking in. The swagger you guys have because you are being filmed.” She’s laughing now, and not a fake laugh, it’s a real fucking laugh. A laugh that makes her eyes crinkle at the sides. “Matty was the biggest one. Then Michael was second, for sure, no doubt about it. He would even give a little smirk. Dylan did it, not even aware he was doing it. Franny’s husband, Wilson, used that as his personal fucking Tinder.” She mentions the men in her family with so much love and pride.
“I never even thought of it like that,” I admit to her, “but you might be right. I have to check next season when I do it if my follower count goes higher when I swagger in there.”
“I bet it does, for sure,” she assures me and she’s about to say something else when we both look to the side, hearing Cheryl speaking.
“Okay, time to switch out,” she says, letting go of Darryl and smiling at me. “Come here, handsome.” She motions with her head, and I let go of Lexi’s hand almost unwillingly.
“Be careful with that one,” Darryl warns, “she’s handsy.” He winks at me as he laughs at the joke, making Cheryl gasp.
“You should be so lucky.” She turns her head to the side.
“Burn, Darryl,” Lexi jokes with him, holding out her hand for him. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
“I am feeling so much love right now,” he mumbles. “I don’t know what to do with it all.”
The three of us laugh as I walk to Cheryl and take her hand in mine. “How amazing is tonight?” she asks me. I look back over at Lexi and see her in her gown, and again, she takes my breath away. When I walked in and saw her, it was as if she was the only one in the room. Her blue eyes shone even brighter as she talked to people coming in, and when our eyes finally met, it was as if the earth shifted under my feet. For the rest of my life, I will be looking for that moment, and it scares the ever-loving fuck out of me, because I am petrified I’ll never find it.
“I’ve attended my fair share of fundraisers throughout the years, and this has to be the best one.” I smile at her.
“I totally agree and I wish I could take half the credit, but Lexi,” she says, her face filling with the biggest smile, “she is the one who did it all.”
“It’s always a team effort,” I remind her, “and knowing Lexi, there is no way she would let anyone think otherwise.”
“You know her well,” she observes and I want to answer that I wish I could get to know her even better.
The song ends and she lets go of my hand and I bow my head. “That was the best dance of my life.” I put my hand to my chest. “Thank you.”
“Oh, you are smooth.” She shakes her head. “Very smooth. Now get to your seat because the auction is about to start.”
I look around to see if I can spot Kylie when I see Lexi standing at the side next to Trent, who has a glass of whiskey or scotch in one hand, while the other is in his suit pocket instead of holding his wife’s hand. The two of them are chatting with Darryl and one of the other bachelors.
“If I can get everyone to their tables, please, we are going to be serving the first course and starting the auction.”
I walk over to my table and find Kylie walking back from the bar with a glass of champagne in her hand. The smile on her face is from ear to ear. “I feel so fancy.” She sits down next to me, putting her purse in front of her name. “Table two.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “You’re a big deal.”
“It’s only because they are auctioning me off.” I lean back in my chair and look over at the table beside me, seeing Lexi is sitting down next to Trent on one side, who is busy talking to the lady beside him, while Lexi just looks around the table.
Darryl pulls out the chair next to Kylie and introduces himself to her. “I’m this guy’s sister,” she quickly points out and I have to laugh.
“This guy has a name,” I mumble, trying not to look at Lexi’s table but failing miserably. He never fucking once tries to talk to her and she’s stuck talking to Cheryl’s husband, who is sitting with an empty chair between them, no doubt left for Cheryl.
“Did you bid on any of the silent auction items?” Kylie asks from beside me as the first plate is placed in front of me.
“I didn’t see them all,” I admit, grabbing my glass of water in front of my plate. “Why? Did you?”
“Not yet.” She smiles, taking a sip of her champagne. “But I will. What’s my budget?”
I can’t help but snort when she leans in. “How much can I bid on Darryl?” she asks right before she leans back to her other side as she chats with Darryl, the two of them laughing at whatever she said.
I barely eat the food, nervously waiting for the auction part of the evening. Cheryl stands up when they are clearing the plates of the first course, with Lexi next to her. “Okay, let’s get the bidding out of the way,” she begins. “There are ten bachelors.” She names us all.
She starts with the first bachelor and he goes up to the front and she makes him do a catwalk of sorts. “I’m not doing that,” Darryl quickly states. “I’m drawing the line.”
“I think you should,” Kylie urges him, and I just look over at her with my eyebrows pinched together.
It takes no time to go through the eight bachelors, most of them going anywhere from thirty thousand dollars to fifty-five. “You can bid up to eighty-five thousand for me,” I tell Kylie, who grimaces.
“Why would I bid on you?” she retorts, grossed out. “You’re my brother.”
“Okay, fine, you can bid on Darryl up to eighty-five and then seventy-five for me,” I tell her and she shakes her head.
“Kylie,” I hiss at her as Darryl pushes away from the table and tosses his napkin down on the table in front of him.
“Here goes nothing.” He looks at me and I hold out my fist and he fist-bumps me as the clapping starts, and he goes to the center of the dance floor. He grabs the microphone from Cheryl. “Before you ask me to strut my stuff”—he looks at Cheryl—“I’m just going to say that whoever picks me won’t be sorry.” He makes everyone laugh as he hands her back the mic.
“Shall we start the bidding at ten thousand?” she questions and it quickly goes up to fifty-five.
“Sixty,” Kylie says from beside me, and I can’t help but close my eyes and shake my head, laughing. “It’s for a good cause.”
“Seventy,” someone else bids on him.
“Seventy-five,” Kylie bids. “Now it’s personal.”
“For who?” I ask her, and I hear Cheryl egging on the other woman.
“Sold.” She points over to our table at Kylie, who claps her hands together. “Come and get your prize.”
“Hold my beer,” she mumbles, getting up and strutting over to Darryl, who runs to Lexi’s table. He leans in to grab a flower from one of the vases and goes back to Cheryl, who is standing with Kylie laughing, as he hands Kylie the flower before taking her free hand and bringing it to his mouth, kissing it.
“That’s what you all missed out on.” He looks at the crowd and it makes everyone laugh. The two of them come back to the table and she puts the flower down next to her purse.
“I’m going to need to borrow seventy-five thousand dollars,” she whispers in my ear, making me laugh even more.
“And the final bachelor of the night is none other than our hometown hockey star, Kirby Materson.”
“Go get ’em,” Kylie urges, clapping her hands and cheering for me. I shake my head as I walk to the middle of the dance floor.
Lexi looks at me with a huge smile on her face, and I can’t help but smile at her. Cheryl starts to talk and I grab the microphone from her. “Before you ask, I’m with Darryl on this one. You see what you paid for after.” I look around the room. “And no refunds allowed.” I hand the microphone back to Cheryl, who is laughing.
“Okay, shall we start at ten thousand dollars?” she suggests and it quickly goes to fifty thousand from Kylie and she winks at me.
“Kirby is a very generous donor already tonight,” Cheryl pleads my case. “He’s already donated a million dollars.”
The crowd gasps and then I hear shouted out, “One hundred thousand dollars!” I look over to see Dr. Visabell’s wife holding up her hand. “It’s the least we can do.”
“One twenty,” someone else calls out. I look at Lexi, who has her mouth open and both hands in front of her, the happiness is written all over her face.
“Two hundred,” his wife says and then Cheryl closes the bidding.
“Going once, going twice. Sold,” she screams, “for two hundred thousand dollars!”
“Oh my,” Lexi yells, “this is incredible!” Her hands are over her head clapping. “That was incredible.”
I look over at Trent, who looks like he’s sneering, and I don’t know if he’s sneering at her or at me. Either way, he should be up here celebrating with her. My eyes go to the lady walking over to me and I smile at her. “I don’t have a flower to give you,” I tell her and then look over at the DJ, who gives the head waiter a nod of his head. “I just have this.” The waiter comes out with a bouquet of roses, making everyone aww.
“Thank you for bidding on me.” I hand her the flowers and then look over at Cheryl and Lexi. “How about we give a round of applause for the co-chairs of the event?” I say loudly as another waiter comes and hands Cheryl a bouquet of roses and then one to Lexi. “You guys can do better than that,” I tell the crowd and they get onto their feet and cheer for them.
Cheryl comes over first and she leans up to kiss my cheek and then I look at Lexi, who is just shaking her head in disbelief. “Thank you,” she says softly, “for everything.” I lean down and kiss her cheek, wishing it was her lips.
I escort my future date back to her husband. “I promise to be a gentleman,” I assure him and he laughs as I look to the empty seat where Trent was sitting.
“I’m sure you will,” Dr. Visabell replies. I look over at my table and tell Kylie I’m stepping out to get some air. I need to get away from Lexi before I do something stupid that will make a fool out of me.
Walking out of the room, I head to a door that leads outside. I push one open and see Trent there in the corner, his head bent, talking to a blonde. The woman is way too close to him, closer than she should be. Her front is practically plastered against him. Their eyes are locked on each other as she says something to him and all he does is smirk at her.
“Wow,” I blurt, not even sure why I said it, “this is rich.” They jump apart from each other and the blonde moves her hand up to put her hair behind her ear.
“I’ll just,” she blusters, “excuse me.”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt a private moment,” I state when she walks by me. “This is his wife’s event, after all.” The color drains from her face as she slinks back inside.
“What the fuck are you doing out here?” Trent sneers, coming close to me. “You’re just like one of those fucking annoying fruit flies we can’t get rid of.”
“I’m out here getting air,” I reply to him, “while you are out here disrespecting your wife.”
“My wife,” he hisses, stepping in even closer to me, “is none of your fucking business.” He puts his head back. “She’s a fucking nobody without me.” His words make me ball my hands into fists. “She was a nobody when I met her. For fuck’s sake, her father is a fucking drug addict. She should be thankful I took pity on her.” The gasp should have me turn my head around to look, but all I see is black in front of me. The last few weeks of treading on thin ice when it came to him. The whole time wanting to kick his ass.
It happens so fast, my hands come up to grip the lapels of his jacket. “Shut your fucking mouth,” I tell him at the same time I hear her voice scream my name.
“Kirby,” she says and I see her standing beside us now, her hand on mine holding her husband’s jacket, “stop this right now.” She looks over her shoulder. “You are making a scene.”
I let go of his jacket and give him a shove back, and he stumbles. “I’m sorry, Lexi,” I say softly.
“I think you should go.” She avoids looking at me and instead looks at her husband. I feel a tightness in my chest as I look over and see a couple of people watching and then what looks like security rushing out of the door, ready to break up the fight.
“I’m so, so sorry.” I look back at Trent. “You deserve better than him.”
“Like who?” He straightens his jacket. “Like you?”
“Like anyone who will treat her with respect,” I retort. “Who will raise her up and not knock her down to make themselves feel better.” I hit the bull’s-eye right in the center. “Anyone but someone like you.” I see she is wiping a tear off her cheek, and I know in that moment I’ve lost her. Not that I ever had her, but whatever it was is over. “You deserve better, Lexi.” That’s the last thing I say before I turn and walk away from her.
eleven
Lexi
“I’m so, so sorry,” Kirby says, his voice filled with regret. “You deserve better than him.”
“Like who?” Trent sneers at him as he smooths down his jacket that not two seconds ago Kirby fisted in his hands. “Like you?” He motions with his chin.
“Like anyone who will treat her with respect.” He looks at me, but I can’t turn and look into his eyes. “Who will raise her up and not knock her down to make themselves feel better.” My eyes watch Trent’s face as he says the words. Wondering if he’s going to say anything back to Kirby. “Anyone but someone like you.” The tears were stinging at my eyes when I stepped outside of the door and heard Trent’s words about my father. I wipe one away from my cheek, forcing the others back at bay. I will not let him see that he’s hurt me. “You deserve better, Lexi,” Kirby declares, and I wish I had the balls to look up at him but I don’t. I don’t have the balls to do anything. Instead, I listen to him walk away. “Excuse me,” he says and I look back and see this little altercation has drawn a crowd.
