Page 24 of Wild Promises

He looked over at the bar. "Nope."

"Any of the other waitresses?" I asked him, scanning the room.

He kept his gaze on me. "I've never hooked up with anyone who works here, and I don't like taking women home from bars. This town is too small for that."

I raised a brow. "But your reputation says otherwise."

He stretched his neck as if it was stiff. "I know it does. I don't do or a say anything to change it either. I realize I'm doing this to myself."

My forehead creased. "I don't understand."

"It was just something that happened. When I was a teenager, it was cool that everyone thought I was getting some from the cheerleaders. Then it became this thing I couldn't stop, and maybe I didn't want to."

His tone was genuine, his expression sincere.

"I want to have a relationship with someone. I just haven't met anyone I could be friends with first."

I tilted my head to the side, studying him. "You think you should be friends first?"

"Yeah, I think it has something to do with our relationship. It was always so easy." His gaze slid off my face.

"Yeah, but we met when we were kids." It was long before hormones came into the picture. "You saw me as a sister."

His nose wrinkled, but he didn't dispute my characterization. "I like our friendship. Is it wrong to want that in a relationship?"

"Not at all. Now that I think about it, I don't think Hugh and I were ever friends."

"I think you should be friends with your significant other. How else will you weather the storm of marriage?"

I pointed at him. "You might be onto something there. Who knew you had such a soft heart?"

He shook his head, his cheeks tinged pink. "I don't know about that."

"You want a relationship with someone who could be your friend. You flirt with women to make them feel good but not to take advantage of them. How did I not know any of this? I just assumed?—"

"Everyone does, and you haven't been around much since high school."

"That's true." We'd started to drift apart even then; I just hadn't realized it at the time. "You never fail to surprise me, Xander Wilde."

He winked at me as the server placed the pie on the table between us. "Don't tell anyone my secret. I wouldn't want it to get out."

There was so much more to Xander than I ever gave him credit for. It only made him more attractive.

7

XANDER

I'd never felt more vulnerable than when I admitted to Tori that I didn't hook up with every woman who showed interest in me. I knew what people said about me. I was essentially a flirt, and all I cared about was hooking up. That might have been the reason Eli and Oliver didn't take me seriously, and that was my fault. I'd allowed that reputation to fester.

The server cut slices and plated them for us. As soon as he left, we dug into the steaming pizza.

I enjoyed flirting. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. I never led women on. I never invited them back to my place. I tended to date women I met on dating apps in other towns. I didn't want relationship drama where I lived and worked. But it didn't stop people from speculating on who I was hooking up with in Telluride, whether it was real or not.

I could see now that letting that reputation continue hurt me with my family and possibly even Tori. I didn't want her to think I was a man whore. It didn't matter when she lived in New York. But now that she was here, living with me, and eventually pretending to be my girlfriend? I couldn't have her thinking that I wasn't genuine.

We ate in silence, music playing softly in the background. The atmosphere was warm and friendly. There were plenty of families and couples who came here for a night out.

I rarely ate out at a restaurant unless I was with my brothers. Maybe that's why this felt like a date. I'd rushed through my shower, trying not to register the fruity scent of her shampoo. Then I stood by the counter, not reading anything on my phone, trying not to freak out. Tori was living with me. I was taking her out to dinner. But she still had no idea that I'd crushed on her since we were teens.

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