Page 69 of Chasing Xander
“Did you call to give me dating advice?” Xander lowered himself to sit on the top step.
“No. Brad’s up to something. He’s been asking around about you. Really weird shit, too. Like how we feel about your position in RAT, and if we feel you contribute to the house.”
“Shit.” He rubbed his forehead. “He’s trying to build a case to get me out, isn’t he?” He knew he was on thin ice, and missing classes wasn’t helping his situation, but for Brad to take the opportunity to turn the house against him? That was fucking low.
“Seems like it. He’s expecting you to fuck up with your grades, so I don’t know why he’s doing this.”
“He’s covering his ass. When I don’t flunk, he won’t have a reason to get rid of me, so he’s trying to find one.”
“I’m sorry, man. I’m trying to cover your ass here.”
“I know, and I appreciate it.”
“When will you be back?”
“Not until sometime Monday night, possibly Tuesday.”
“Tuesday?” Finn shouted. “Fuck, Xander. You’re telling me you’re missing three, maybe four days’ worth of classes? What the hell am I supposed to tell Brad? He’s expecting you back this weekend.”
“You think I don’t know that?” It had been weighing on his mind since he told Kylie he’d stick around until after she’d met with her grandmother’s lawyer. Still, being here with her, ensuring she made it back to campus safely was more important than jumping through Brad’s hoops.
“Well, what the fuck, man?”
“Kylie needs to meet with her grandmother’s lawyer first thing Friday morning. I can’t leave her here and hope she finds a way back.” He sighed and rested his head on the handrail. “Then I have my mom’s birthday on Saturday, so I have to leave here and drive straight to New York. And it will take a full twenty-four hours to drive back to campus.”
“Wait, you’re taking Kylie home to meet your family?” There was amusement in Finn’s voice.
“It’s either that or I miss my mom’s birthday.”
“Look, I’ll try to buy you as much time as I can with Brad, but no promises. You need to call him yourself, though, and try to do some damage control.”
He cursed under his breath. The very last person he wanted to talk to was Brad, but Finn was right. Xander needed to kiss some serious ass. That was the only way he stood a chance of being able to stay in the frat.
“I’ll give him a call first thing tomorrow.”
“Good. I’ll butter him up a bit before you do.”
“Hey, whatever you do on your time is your business, but buttering up another guy is not a visual image I want.”
“Fuck you.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
“Any time, bro.”
“All right, I gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how I make out with Brad.” Xander ended the call and walked back inside. He cleaned up what was left of their dinner, locked the doors, and shut off all the lights. Then, he headed upstairs.
His conversation with Finn raced through his mind as he changed into a pair of pajama pants. Finn was right. He needed to stop comparing Kylie to Trisha. They were two completely different people. Kylie had been honest about her virginity; she wasn’t trying to hide anything from him.
But claiming Kylie’s virginity was a big deal, an honor and a responsibility, and one he couldn’t take lightly. He needed to know, without a doubt, that she was ready. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. He needed to be sure that she was with him because she wanted to be, not because she was sad and vulnerable and looking to forget her pain by doing something drastic. Something she could easily regret later.
He flopped on the bed. There had to be a way to make things right between them. Hell, maybe he needed to tell her the truth about what had been on his mind earlier, that he’d been thinking about their conversation at the rest stop, and he wanted to be with her, in a fully committed relationship. If he did, if he took the initiative to move past whatever they currently were to each other, he’d have to tell her about Trisha. Maybe if she knew everything, she’d understand why he’d been so damn neurotic lately. He sat up. That’s what he’d do. On the drive home, he’d bare his soul to her in a way he’d never done with anyone before.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kylie flopped over onto her back and sighed. Then she kicked the blankets off and stared up at the ceiling. The room was pitch black. The only light came from the digital clock on her bedside table. It read 12:32 a.m. She’d been tossing and turning for the past three hours. Even if she hadn’t slept for five hours earlier, she still wouldn’t have been able to sleep now, not when her mind was racing with everything Xander had said, because it was much easier to focus on that than it was on the fact Nammy Joyce was dead.
All she’d done was touch his stomach and chest, and he bolted away from her so damn fast. He’d said he had a lot on his mind. Was that the truth? Or was he really just not interested in her like she was in him? Or maybe he was disgusted with how she grew up—her modest house, lack of money, and her drunk, belligerent father. Tears burned her throat, and she squeezed her eyes shut so they wouldn’t spill free, but it was useless. The tears escaped and blazed a slow, painful path down the side of her face, reminding her of all she’d lost, of everything she’d never have. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes as her lips began to tremble.
