Page 41 of One of Them Girls

She sneers at me. “Who is this?”

“This is my girlfriend, Cassandra, who I was telling you about.”

My eyes widen slightly, but I try to hide it.

“Oh,” the girl huffs. “I think I see my friend waving for me.”

She doesn’t bother saying goodbye as she hustles over to a group of girls that have gathered a little farther down the beach.

Xavier doesn’t let me go once she leaves. Instead, he looks down at me with an amused look on his face.

“What was that?” I ask.

He chuckles. “I’m just following your amazing example. Isn’t that how we met? You wanted to get rid of a pushy guy, so you pretended I was your boyfriend?”

I grimace. “I guess so.”

“So I figured turnabout’s fair play. Now you get to be my girlfriend for the night. Let me tell you, Adra. I expect my girlfriend to be doting.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Don’t you want to leave yourself open in case you meet a girl you do like? If I pretend to be your girlfriend, I expect respect. No cheating on me, fake or otherwise.”

He leans in closer, ghosting his lips across my cheek. “Don’t worry. I have no interest in those girls.”

I swallow hard. “Well then, I guess I can be your girlfriend for a little while.”

“Good. Let’s go see what Jack’s doing.”

He pulls me over to Jack and Rebecca, who are surrounded by a group of people. Xavier never once let go of me, keeping his arm firmly around my shoulder.

I don’t miss the way his thumb caresses my shoulder or how he turns, pressing his lips to my temple as he laughs.

This is comfortable.

Maybe Rebecca is right.

* * *

Xavier

I sit in a chair in front of the fire, watching the girls dance to the music playing from the portable speaker. I take a sip of my beer and relax back into my chair. Jack’s sitting next to me, but he’s talking to his friends. Not that I mind. I’m not sure I could concentrate on their conversation, anyway.

No, instead I’m concentrating on one thing.

Her.

I can’t seem to get her off of my mind today. I mean, I’m attracted to her obviously, but seeing her today was eye-opening. It wasn’t that she looked gorgeous. She always does.

No. The problem was, as soon as I saw her, this possessive feeling rose up inside me. It made me want to drag her into the other room to keep any other set of eyes from laying their eyes on her sun-kissed flesh.

It was the way my body reacted, wanting to reach out and pull her to me. To stake my claim.

I guess that’s why I did it. Why I told that girl I was taken.

She didn’t care at first, telling me she could keep a secret.

That was, until I introduced her to Cassi, purposely using her God-given name as I know she doesn’t like strangers using her nickname.

It was the best move I could have made. It kept Cassi plastered to my side most of the day, which of course kept wandering eyes from lingering too long. Most of the guys here have enough respect for Jack to avoid conflict with his college buddy.

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