Thanks to Kennedy's Friday Night Delight, Alice Jericho, and TJ Sparkles for reviewing and "betaing"...lol
As soon as the pair disappeared he felt all eyes shift to him. He defiantly met them with his intense gaze as well. He felt like he was in a fishbowl, like the walls were closing in around him.
"Why does everybody have a fucking staring problem?" he growled.
"Adam, don't make a scene, you'll only upset her more." Ajay begged pacing a hand on his arm.
He tried to ignore the feeling of being watched, to ignore the hushed voices but they were driving him insane. He pulled at his cuff links, fidgeted with his tie. He kept his eyes on the door that Alex and Aiden had gone through, his stomach in knots.
"Alex, you're hurting me." Aiden pleaded, trying to keep up with his dangerous strides.
Once they were alone he let her go. Aiden busied herself with changing Lexie's diaper, not wanting to argue with Alex at all.
"Is it true?" he finally confronted her, "Have you been sleeping with Adam?"
Aiden put Lexie on her hip and stared at her husband.
"Yes." she said quietly.
"You've had him around our daughter?" Alex fumed.
"No. He comes over to Ajay's very rarely, he's never spent any time with just Lexie and I." she assured.
"No, he likes to be all alone with just you I'm sure." he said sarcastically, "I can't believe you invited him here."
Aiden was stunned, "Me? You're the one that brought a date."
"He's not yours?" Alex asked.
"No, he's not." she snapped.
"So he just showed up to fuck you after the party then huh?" he spat.
Aiden was furious, and she hated herself for crying but she couldn't help it. That emotion was directly linked to her tear ducts.
"He showed up to support me because I didn't know how you were going to act." she cried.
Alex laughed then, "I've known Adam a lot longer than you have, and he doesn't do anything without something in return."
She gestured sarcastically then, "And so what if he did just come here for that? It's not like you're not doing the same thing. What's the difference?"
"Does he know we're still married?" he questioned.
"Does Lacey? Can she even spell it?" Aiden insulted.
"This is bullshit Aiden. I can't believe you would do something like this." he muttered.
"Really Alex? That's cute, shifting the blame to me like this is all my fault." she said narrowing her eyes, "I know why you're mad though and it's pathetic."
He glared at her and crossed his arms, "Oh really, do tell."
"You're mad because you thought I was going to sit around at the house and mope around until you got done with the wild hair up your ass. You thought I would be back by now working our problems out." she laid out her theory for him, "And you never in a million years would have thought that not only would I still be gone, but that I would find someone else. You're not irreplaceable Alex, just the opposite in fact. You're just as disposable as I am.
His chest was rising and falling heavily, "You were right to be worried. You expected me to act like an ass, so I'm going to."
Aiden shrugged her shoulders, "I don't care what you do Alex, I really don't. Just leave our daughter out of it is all I ask."
He growled, "No problem. Sorry I made the mistake of thinking we could be together again."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she cried.
"The entire time I was spilling my heart out to you, you didn't say one word about fucking Adam behind my back." he shouted.
Lexie cowered into Aiden and whimpered.
"Just go be with all of your whores Alex and leave me alone. You're a hypocritical son of a bitch you know that?" she hissed.
He spun on his heel and stormed out of the room before he really lost his temper. Aiden went to the mirror to fix her make up. She had perfected her "Steel Magnolia" persona and called upon it now to make it through the rest of the party. She would go back out there and ignore all of the gossip that was going to swirl around her.
She hadn't even known Adam was there, and then to be brought out like that. She would salvage her daughter's birthday if it killed her.
"Aiden, are you alright?" Ajay called poking her head in the room.
Aiden steeled her jaw, "Yes, I just needed to change her."
Ajay frowned, "Did you want to talk?"
She couldn't even tell that she had even been upset.
"No, thank you though. We need to go ahead and cut the cake and open presents." Aiden smiled, her façade never faltering.
She went back out into the ballroom and motioned for Alex to join her over at the cake to sing Happy Birthday. He threw back his fifth shot and kissed Lacey before making his way over.
Aiden put Lexie in her high chair and put a bib on her as everyone gathered around. When everyone began singing Lexie's lower lip poked out and tears began to well up in her eyes. She lifted her arms up to Aiden who picked her up and continued singing. Lexie buried her face into Aiden's neck to avoid everyone's stares.
Alex held a piece of cake in front of her expecting her to dig in. She blinked at him, not moving. He got some icing on his finger and dabbed some onto Lexie's nose. She kept trying to look at the end of her nose and finally brought her hand up to swipe the icing off getting the red substance on her tiny palm. As soon as she saw she was 'dirty' she let out a wail and the tears began to fall as she thrust her hand at her mother for help. The crowd aww'd as Aiden got a napkin to wipe her off with.
"Don't eat it honey, it's got too many carbs!" one of Aiden's friends shouted making everyone laugh.
After opening the presents Lexie passed out and Aiden was able to mingle more. She saw that Alex had been permanently attached to the bar for well over an hour. She was fixing herself a plate to finally sit down and eat when Adam approached her.
"Hi." he said solemnly.
"Hey." she replied.
"I uhh, got these for you." he said with a tilt of his head bringing the bouquet from behind his back.
"Thank you." she smiled bringing them to her nose.
"I'm really sorry about earlier. Jess caught onto me and she of course had been drinking sooo…" he apologized.
"Adam, you don't have to do that. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed by being with you. I was shocked it was blurted out, but that wasn't really your fault. I just hate that it might have messed up your game, you know if you saw a girl you were attracted to or whatever." she grinned.
"What other girls? I haven't noticed any other girl but you. I came here for you and Lexie." he told her.
"So how did Jessica catch onto you anyways?" Aiden pressed putting a chocolate covered strawberry in her mouth.
Adam watched her lips close around the fruit remembering the last time she'd eaten them after they had just finished having sex and they were both tangled in blankets and one another's arms in the backseat of his rented Hummer.
He broke out of his trance seeing the twinkle in her eye. She was purposely teasing him.
"I may or may not have been a little jealous about Alex being all over you." he admitted with a wicked grin.
She sipped her champagne, "Jealous of my husband huh? Even when I'm going home with you?"
Adam ran his tongue along his teeth, "How'd I get so lucky?
"Maybe it's that rock star attitude or that sexy body." she suggested.
He took her wrist and brought her hand to his mouth. She fed him the petit fors that she was holding. He sucked on her finger before pulling her to him and leaning down for a kiss. She couldn't help but smile when their lips met. He framed her face, reveling in the sensation of kissing her in public for the first time.
He pulled away reluctantly, "I'm ready to go when you are."
She smiled, "You look nice by the way. I can't wait to take that suit off of you."
He bent and captured her neck with his mouth, "You're killing me here baby."
She giggled softly into his ear.
"So they really are together?" Bailey marveled at Aiden and Adams flirtatious exchange.
"They're not dating or anything…they just kind of ended up together." Ajay sighed.
She had to admit they were very cute together.
"I can't believe you're okay with it as close as you and Aiden are and knowing first hand how big of a flake Adam can be." Tessa said crossing her arms.
"They're both adults. He knows there are consequences if he hurts her." Chris spoke up.
"How did they go so wrong though?" Bailey motioned between Alex and Aiden, "After she had the baby I thought they would always be together."
Mollie shrugged indifferently, "It was only a matter of time in my opinion. They're just too different."
"No, Alex is a fucking conceited asshole to her. I'm glad she left him. He doesn't deserve her." Chris fired back.
"I see some things haven't changed. You still defend her to the death." Mollie laughed.
"And you're still a jealous bitch." he retorted.
"Chris…" Ajay groaned.
"Look at them over there. They're like fucking teenagers going at it." Alex mused darkly.
He was furious at Aiden and Adam's public display of affection.
No one had even looked his way, everyone was completely interested in the hot new couple in the corner. Lacey watched him in disinterest. Had she known she would be ditched and play second fiddle to Alex's wife all night she would have never agreed to come.
"They're not even dating, he's just her fuck buddy." he threw out there for added measure.
He did not expect it to hurt so bad to see her with another man. She was his, she belonged to him. Instead of wanting to make the problem better by adjusting his attitude, it took a turn for the worse.
"Go get Lexie. I'm ready to go." he said to Lacey.
She looked up at him warily, "No way. She told me not to go near her."
He looked at the statuesque blonde.
"She's my daughter too Lacey. I'm giving you permission to go and get her so we can leave."
She glanced over at Lexie who was asleep in her swing, "Alex…why don't you go get her?"
He rolled his eyes, "I'm going pull the car around so we don't have to walk in the snow. I'll be right back."
He kissed her cheek and gave her a nudge to get her going.
"The party was really great Aiden, you did a wonderful job." Traci complimented.
"Thank you." she smiled demurely.
Adam squeezed her hand under the table. He could still feel the tension his presence was causing but he was more than willing to endure it to be there for Aiden.
"So how long have the two of you been together?" Tessa asked, her cold eyes on Adam.
Aiden looked at him with a smile, "We're just friends, we aren't together."
"I told her that already." he said with a glare at Tessa.
"So you don't care about Alex being here with Lacey?" Bailey questioned.
She was in awe that Aiden was taking the whole situation in stride.
"Not at all." she shrugged, "As long as she…"
All eyes went to Aiden's face as she trailed off and stopped mid sentence.
"What's wrong?" Chris questioned.
He had never seen Aiden's demeanor change so suddenly. She pushed away from the table and stormed across the room.
"Oh shit!" Ajay cursed handing Kenzie off to Chris as she went after Aiden.
She went right to Lacey who was holding Lexie in her arms, trying to get her back to sleep.
"Are you kidding me?" Aiden glared, "Give me my child right now."
Lacey wet her lips nervously, she knew this would happen. She carefully handed the infant over and stood by to try and make amends.
"Shh…shh.." Aiden hushed going back to the swing and putting her daughter back in it. Lexie yawned and closed her eyes again as soon as she began swaying again. Aiden went back to Lacey, her whole body shaking with rage.
"Alex said that we were leaving and asked me to get Lexie for him because he's pulling the car around." Lacey explained thinking that would ease the situation.
"I don't give a SHIT what Alex said. I told YOU NOT to touch my daughter." Aiden yelled, getting the remaining guests attention yet again.
Ajay rushed up, "Cookie, calm down, lets go sit down."
Aiden snatched her arm away, "NO! Stay out of this Ajay."
She stepped back, shocked by Aiden's anger.
"She's Alex's daughter too." Lacey blurted out, repeating her date's defense.
Aiden shoved Lacey back with more force than anyone expected, "I'm well aware of that, and the fact that you went back on your word that under no circumstances were you supposed to touch her."
Lacey looked up from where she had toppled to the ground, "You bitch"
She stood back up and towered over Aiden, "I was just doing what Alex asked me to do."
"Do I look like I care? If you want to go we can go." Aiden said taking off her earrings and tossing them on the table.
The room buzzed with excitement.
"Aiden, no don't." Ajay pleaded.
"Just shut up and let me handle this." Aiden ordered shrilly, pointing her finger at her friend.
Ajay was too stunned to argue.
Lacey laughed, she actually laughed, "Honey, I'm twice your size and professionally trained, I don't think that would work out so well for you in the long run."
"More like three times my size and your 'skill' is highly questionable, even I know that. So if you're ready to get that fake ass weave ripped out bring your ass on because I don't care how fucking big you are I'll still beat your ass!" she shouted shoving Lacey again.
Aiden's best friend and designer Benny stepped behind her taking off his earrings too, "And I'll help… your Amazon ass shoulda listened." he tisked.
"What the hell is going on here?" Alex asked shouldering his way through the crowd.
"She had MY daughter in her arms, taking her to leave." Aiden shouted.
"Because we are." he said stepping to her.
"Not with Lexie you're not." she said putting her foot down.
"I'm her father and if I want to take her home with me then I have every right to." he hissed.
Aiden shook her head, "No, not tonight. Not with that ditz hanging around."
Alex bulked up trying to intimidate her into standing down.
She was unphased, "You can puff your chest up all you want to, but I'll beat your ass just the same as hers. Lexie's not going anywhere with you so get it out of your head."
Adam came up behind Aiden then pulling her behind him, "There won't be any need for that, right Alex? You're not going to be the cause of a fight at your daughter's first birthday are you?"
Alex steeled his jaw standing toe to toe with Adam, weighing his options, "Lacey let's go."
She kept her feet firmly planted, "Not until she apologizes. I'm not a ditz."
She lifted her chin a notch as if to prove a point.
"Why don't you hold your breath till I give you that apology you bitch." Aiden shot back causing her friends to break out in applause and laughter when Lacey turned to leave with Alex.