Page 17 of Take You

“Yeah, but like I say, one man’s weak moment is another man’s master stroke, no pun intended.”

“And he hasn’t hit you up since to find out what you wanted it for?”

“Nope. Probably a case of post-coital amnesia.” He grinned smugly, clearly pleased at his handiwork.

“Don’t push your luck. This is Xavier Cross we’re talking about. I’m sure it’s way more a case of him biding his time to catch you when you have your underbelly exposed to the world, or whatever the fuck. And knowing him, it will be when you least expect it, long after all of this shit is a dim and distant memory.” Such a poor choice of words. I regretted them as soon as they left my mouth.

Fox’s face turned to thunder. “As if this is something I could ever forget.”

“I know. Sorry man, you know I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Whatever,” he snapped. “And as for Xavier, he’s going to have to get up early if he wants that to work out for him. You know I have every angle of this thing covered, including how to deal with our ‘esteemed’ leader, if and when the time comes. There’s no catching me on the back foot on this one.”

“You know he’s going to be crazy pissed when he finds out you’ve been lying to him all these years, right? In fact, that we’ve been lying to him.”

“Well he can eat a dick. I don’t owe him shit, least of all my tragic and sordid backstory. I’m not some charity case that he needs to bestow his venerable pity on. It’s bad enough that I have to put up with that shit from you”—Ouch—“let alone deal with it from him too. Besides, we didn’t lie, we just didn’t tell him every detail of our fucking lives. He knows what he needs to. He doesn’t own our fucking souls.”

“Your life. He knows everything about me, except the parts that pertain specifically to you.

“My life, then. Whatever.” Fox was so snappy, I wondered if I needed to be worried.

“Also, I’m pretty sure he has a different opinion about the rightful ownership of both of our souls, and our first-born children.” I was only half joking. “And for the record, most people agree that a lie by omission is, in fact, still a lie.”

“Yeah, well both he, and ‘most people’, can bite me. It’s done now, anyway. And though I never thought I’d say these words aloud, Xavier Cross is really the least of my fucking worries right now. I have way bigger fish to fry. So big, they make Xavier look like Jonah lost adrift in the belly of the whale.” Definitely words I never envisaged coming from either of us, about Xavier, that was for sure.

“So what’s the plan for Rose now? Am I waiting for her to call me, or calling her, or what?”

He rubbed at his furrowed brow. “It would be great if the next move could be hers. The more she feels like she’s driving whatever it is that’s unfolding between the two of you, the less likely she is to make any kind of links between you and all the other shit.” That made sense to me.

“The longer that you coming into her world seems like pure coincidence, the harder it will be for her to work out what the fuck is going on until it’s way past too late. I want her to be totally blindsided and vulnerable, so the more you can fly under the radar, the better. That said, if she hasn’t hit you up in like thirty-six hours, it might be time for you to take matters into you own hands. Let’s see how it pans out.”

“Okay, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she never contacts me. She has way more shit to worry about than hooking up with some random guy.”

“Yeah, I wish I could have seen her face when she ran out into the hall, when that last image was frozen on the screen for all to see, and taunting her like an electronic voodoo doll. If I could have, I would have popped up on stage, and yelled ‘Mic drop!’ Not sucking my own dick here, but that was pure fucking genius.” Fox’s grin was back, and I was relieved to see it.

“Umm.... you are sucking your own dick. But that’s okay, you definitely earned a little self-pleasuring with that stunt. It was a masterstroke, no pun intended.” I found myself smiling, as I spoke.

“It was. But you did good today, also. The whole thing worked like a dream.” He didn’t know the half of it, and the guilt of that fact tore into me like a wrecking ball.

I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why I didn’t want to tell him what had happened, but I really didn’t. There seemed to be a mixture of factors holding me back, including the fact that I wanted to keep the experience for myself, or just for the two of us—Rose and me—and not taint it with everything else that was going on around it, and the less than honorable reasons it had come about.

I didn’t want to share it with Fox, and have him put every second of it under the microscope, subjecting it to his endless, intense scrutiny. Most importantly, I wanted to believe it was real, not just a confection that was a means to Fox’s planned end. Whether, in reality, that was the case or not, I hated to think of what Rose and I had shared in those terms.

“It did, and we’re a dream team.” More guilt. If I was honest, one of the biggest reasons I didn’t want to tell him was that I suspected he’d question my motives. Even worse, I suspected he was right to.

“We are. And there was chemistry there, between the two of you?” Images of the look on her face when she came both times flashed into my mind.

“I think so, but she was also shaken and distracted. I mean, she seemed into me”—As I spoke, I recalled the way she felt when she clenched around me—“and she agreed to take my number, so that’s something.”

“Of course, and as long as she wasn’t repulsed or creeped out by you, and like you say, she accepted the digits, so that’s definitely a positive.” In my mind’s eye I heard the sound of her voice as she begged me to let her come after we’d edged so long I was almost blind with desire.

“Man, go fuck yourself. When has any woman ever been repulsed or creeped out by me? I’ve been breaking hearts and creaming panties since second grade.”

“You make a fair point. Sorry. As you know, some of us didn’t have that power over women until way later in life. Way later.” Fox grimaced to emphasize his point

“Apology accepted. Now if it’s okay with you, I’m going to try to get some schoolwork done, because some of us actually have to work to keep our grades up. Strange concept, I know.” My voice was heavily laced with sarcasm.

He flipped me the bird, grinning big. “Yeah, I forgot you lesser mortals actually have to try to do well.” It was my turn to flip him off this time. “But seriously though, thank you for today. You know I appreciate you.” I could hear and see how genuine his words were. And the award for Worst Best Friend in History goes to…

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