Roses & Ruin

Chapter 81 (Lexi)

        Apparently the guys surprised Enzo tonight with a bachelor party. I will not be having a bachelorette party seeing as I refuse to take this wedding seriously. But for the guys it was an excuse to party I suppose. I knew they got pretty drunk because I got a drunk text from Anthony. It's been a while since we've really talked.

I think the closer the wedding comes the more I feel him pulling away from me. 

I stuck to my word about not hooking up with him anymore now that I know he's sleeping with other people, but the last time I saw him it wasn't about sex. We talked. About a lot. And he held me in a way I've never been held before. In a way I've never let anyone hold me before.

        With the obvious tension his cousin and I had on the topic of Anthony, I wondered if Enzo had a talk with him after the night he'd left the bar to drive me home. I bet he did talk to him and I bet he told Anthony he felt weird about him and I being close in any way. 

He's being selfish, worried about his image after we're married if I started stepping out on him. He's made it clear he doesn't hold the same obligation to himself and our vows to come.

Who knows what he told Anthony about it, but Anthony respects his cousin and they're good friends not just family. He'll respect Enzo's wishes to keep his distance from me and that makes me ache inside in a way I didn't anticipate.

        But tonight, while drunk, he texted me. Nothing scandalous. No sexting. He just wrote, *Anthony: I'm drunk in the middle of a club so why am I thinking about you?* It made everything flutter.

I didn't know how to react to that. I didn't want to over think this because I knew he was drunk, and people say things when they're drunk. So I said, *Me: Must not be a very good club then.* 

It was stupid, but my sarcasm is all I have.

*Anthony: Never thought I'd say I helped throw a bachelor party for the guy who's marrying the girl that I was with...but here we are* He used his infamous line. 

        I remembered the image of the man in the sharp suit. Me sitting on the grass. Him standing just under the sunshine so that his eyes were so hazel they brought a beauty to his face that was otherwise entirely handsome.

The warm hand he gave me to shake. The bruised knuckles. The retorts he kept up with when I began my banter that not all can so easily respond to. I remember his finesse. I also remember his charm. 

When we first started talking he told me he just wanted to have a good time. I remember thinking that it was perfect for me to lose my virginity to him because he was so temporary and so sexy. Fate can be cruel.

        *Me: No pretty ladies catching your eye tonight?* I decided to torture myself. *Anthony: Well there's pretty and then there's you* his charm never faltered and the ache inside me returned. *Me: You've always been quite the sweet talker, Rizzo*

*Anthony: Too bad I mean every word of it* He was relentless. 

I didn't want him saying cute things. I didn't want to be miserable when I get married in a few weeks. I don't want to compare my husband to Anthony every single day. More than I already do. When I didn't know what to say Anthony took my hesitation as my ending the conversation. He sent me another message.

*Anthony: You should come to the club. Now that the nights wrapping up we're inviting the girls to come by* he told me. I assume by 'girls' he means Mia and them. 

        I would've said I couldn't go because Vitaly wouldn't let me, but in that same moment I got a call from my brother Andrei. "Where are you?" He asked, and I could immediately tell he was out with the guys. It was loud behind him. "Home obviously" I rolled my eyes at the question.