Page 44 of Chasing Xander
“Hello?”
He smiled at the sound of her voice. “Hey, Kylie. It’s Xander.” He gave Finn a dejected look and then headed up to his room.
“Calling. Definitely classier than a cock shot.”
He couldn’t stop the abrupt laughter that escaped. Only she could elicit that kind of reaction from him in the middle of his freak-out. He entered his room, closed the door, and flopped down on the bed. “You sound disappointed.”
“It’s hard to be disappointed when I haven’t even seen the goods yet. I have a very vivid imagination.”
“Is that so?” He tucked his hand behind his head and grinned.
“In fact, now that I think about it, I’m not sure I want to see the goods. Reality rarely lives up to my expectations.”
“Reality will shatter your expectations, sweetheart. Trust me.” His heart rate spiked, and his stomach fluttered. A wave of longing settled over him, wrapping him in the knowledge that this girl was exactly what he’d been looking for.
Her soft, teasing laughter tickled his senses. “So cocky.”
“Confident.”
“Right. Forgot. Sorry.”
His smile spread, and he was powerless to stop it. As he lay there listening to her breathe and speak, he realized he liked the way she made him feel. In the short time he’d known her, he’d grown to crave her company. He actually missed her when they weren’t together.
“Was there something you wanted?”
He barely stopped himself from saying “you” when he remembered why he’d called her in the first place. His smile faded, and he closed his eyes. “Yeah, I forgot I had a meeting thing with Finn tonight. Can we do dinner another time?”
“Oh yeah. Sure. Whatever.” The playfulness was gone from her voice, replaced with disappointment.
If he could kick his own ass, he would. What the fuck was wrong with him? He’d met his match with her. She kept him on his toes, made him laugh, and he was seconds away from ruining it. And for what? Because she was a virgin?
Yet, there he was.
Falling hard and fast for Kylie.
“We could get together after your thing if you want,” she said.
He draped his arm over his face and let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know how long it’ll take. I’ll, um, call you tomorrow?”
“Sure.” Her tone was flat, almost lifeless.
“We’ll definitely reschedule. I promise.” And he meant it. “Maybe we can double with Finn and Celeste or something.”
“Yeah. Okay.” There was a rustling noise on her end, and then he swore he heard her sniffle. If she was crying… He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing away the knowledge that he was responsible for the pain in her voice.
“Look, I have to get to class.” She ended the call without so much as a good-bye.
He tossed his phone to the foot of his bed. Was he really that much of a dickhead? Kylie wasn’t stupid. She knew he was blowing her off. He could hear the understanding in her voice, feel it in her clipped response. And then she’d hung up on him. No matter how much he liked her, he absolutely refused to destroy her innocence. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be her friend.
…
“Xander!” Finn banged on the door.
Startled, he jumped out of bed and yawned. He didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned again. “What?” He opened the door.
“Stop jerking it, and get your ass up. You’ve got class in ten minutes, and Brad will be back in five. Don’t let him catch you cat napping.”
What had started out as a pretty good day was quickly turning to shit. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” He rushed around his room and gathered the books he’d need for his next class. After everything else today, the last thing he needed was for Brad to show up and give him another ass chewing.
