“Oh, Chyna,” Lexi murmured softly.
“I’m so sorry. Did you guys break up?”
Chyna stopped to consider the question. Oh my God, had they broken up?
Was that what had just happened? “I don’t know. Yes. No,” she moaned, wishing she knew the answer. “Maybe. He was so mean to me. I don’t know what we are anymore…”
“Maybe it was just a misunderstanding,” Lexi reasoned. “Tell me what happened.”
Chyna sniffled a few times into the phone. She might as well start from the beginning. Here goes nothing. “Adam’s brother, John, lives in the city, but he’s a businessman who travels all over the world. He’s not here much, so I’ve never met him.” Chyna began setting the scene for Lexi. She wanted her to understand.
She wanted her to see what she had gone through—how he had been her type and how it had all gone horribly wrong.
“Well, he was in town for the weekend, and Adam wanted to introduce me to him. I thought it was a big step.”
Her tears renewed, and she broke down on the phone.
It had been a big step. Adam adored John, and he had wanted them to be around each other. He had forced them around each other, but John had taken it too far. Chyna sniffled a few more times before continuing.
“The three of us went out and had a few drinks. I tried to be low-key and handle my liquor. I wanted to make an impression,” Chyna said, summarizing the weekend for Lexi in one swoop.
It didn’t matter how much time they had spent together because she had tried to be smart about it. She had tried to be smart about John, but she had found out that he hadn’t wanted that from the start.
She had certainly made an impression on him, but now, it was clear that it wasn’t the right one.
Chyna took a breath before speaking again. “John turned out to be very similar to Adam. I mean they’re brothers, what was I expecting? Well, you know Adam.
He’s just a really nice guy. And well, his brother was exceptionally charming that night.” God, he was so charming all weekend. “I mean...not that Adam isn’t charming, but—” She broke off, not wanting to finish that train of thought.
Adam was gone. He had walked out on her.
“No, I get it,” Lexi told her.
Chyna’s thoughts fluttered back to John and the kind of person he had been when in Chyna’s presence. Lexi needed to understand that. Chyna hadn’t meant for it to go as far as it did.
“Anyway, John knew the right thing to say about everything. He was an accomplished businessman. He’d traveled the world. His family adored him. He’s such a smooth talker, and by the end of the night, he had me eating out of his hands.”
She had been eating out of his hands all along, but tonight had been the worst.
The kiss with Nitya…the tattoos…when he kissed her. She shuddered, not wanting to think about it, but she knew she had to continue.
“Oh, Chyna, you didn’t...do anything with him, did you?” Lexi asked, clearly terrified of the answer.
“What?” Chyna snapped, knowing how offended she sounded. She hadn’t done anything! John had done everything! She had done the right thing by stopping it before it went any further. She had told Adam, yet he had still left her! “No! I wouldn’t do that to Adam! That’s the point. Argh! That’s the whole f**king point, chica!”
“Sorry, C, I had to ask,” Lexi apologized quickly.
“No, I know,” she grumbled. She was being defensive. It was all still too fresh.
“Just angry, and with everything else tonight…I can’t.” Tears stung her eyes, and she wished Alexa were there to hug her. “Lexi, you have to know it wasn’t me.
John’s the kind of guy who gets whatever he wants, takes what he wants. You know those kind of guys!”
They were the kind of guys she had always gone for. They were the ones she had let take her home. Lexi certainly knew what kind of guys she was talking about.
She had seen Chyna with them far too often. Lexi had been with them herself.
Wasn’t her Jack just the type?
“Well, it soon became apparent that I was what John wanted,” Chyna told her, thinking back to the pool with his eyes roaming her body, the club with his hands on her body, and tonight, with his tongue down her throat. It should have been apparent what was coming. She should have fought against it harder. “I should have seen it coming from a mile away.
And when I did see it, it was too late.
Adam didn’t believe me. He refused to see it. He loves his brother so much that he was blind to him—blind to his arrogance and f**king stupidity.
“I think if he actually knew his brother, he would have never left me alone with him. But he did leave us alone. John was smooth, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before. Before Adam, I would have gone for him any day of the week.” She figured that went without saying, but she had to say it. She needed to see the contrast. “But I’m different now! John had his hands all over me as soon as Adam left the room, but I turned him down.
Alexa, I turned him down.”
Chyna paused for a moment, pushing her hair off of her face. She sat up a little straighter. It felt good admitting it. She might have had terrible intentions, but when push came to shove, she had done the right thing.
“When I turned him down, he got furious. He didn’t understand why I didn’t want this to continue, as if me dating his brother didn’t matter,” Chyna told her, remembering John’s anger at her rejection and everything that had followed. “I felt like Adam should know what happened, so told him, and he wouldn't believe me.
He said I was being a drama queen, and I had probably misinterpreted what had gone on.” She still couldn’t believe the things he had said. Where had her understanding boyfriend gone in that moment? Her anger returned with that thought.
“But I didn’t misinterpret anything! I swear I didn’t. Tell me you believe me!”
Chyna said, breaking down at the thought of Adam leaving. “God, someone has to f**king believe me!”
“Chyna, I believe you. Of course, I believe you. If you wanted another guy, then you could have them every night of the week. Why would you make up something about his brother?”
“Right! Ugh! Why didn’t he see that?
We got in a terrible argument about it. He wouldn't believe anything I said,” Chyna cried, feeling a fresh wave of tears coming on. “We stood there yelling at each other until he got so angry; he just stormed out on me. He left me standing there all alone. Who leaves me? Who does that?” Chyna just kept repeating that to herself. She didn’t understand it.