Page 36 of Chasing Xander
Laughing softly, he said, “Yeah. You can see quite a few of them from here.” Turning his head, he watched her stare up at the night sky. Her mouth settled into a faint smile, and her lashes fluttered as her gaze shifted to take in the sight before her. The moonlight danced across her features, making her skin glow with an indescribable radiance. She was absolutely mesmerizing, and he couldn’t stop staring. The breeze blew strands of her hair around her face, and she absently brushed them away.
Sitting on the hood of his car and stargazing was not in his original plan, but the night was turning out better than he expected. A hell of a lot better. He reached over and trailed the back of his hand down the side of her face, gently turning her toward him. “You’re beautiful, Kylie.” He ran his thumb across her bottom lip.
“Yeah right.” She tried to look away, but he caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger.
“I’m serious.” He licked his lips, his gaze dropping to her mouth. He’d had plenty of chances to kiss her, but none of them had felt like the right time. Until now.
Inching closer, his eyes lifted to hers, seeking permission. She leaned in, and that was all he needed. Their lips had barely touched when his cell phone rang loudly with the ringtone he had set specifically for Finn. Surprised, she jerked back, and the moment was ruined.
“Fuck.” He dug his phone from his pocket and swiped his finger across the screen. “You’d better be dead or dying.”
Finn laughed. “What did I interrupt?”
Xander’s gaze sliced over to Kylie, who was once again staring up at the sky. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face. “What do you want?” He had no patience for his friend right now.
“You still with Kylie?” There was a rustling noise and a muffled conversation. “Celeste has been trying to call her and keeps getting sent to voicemail. Is she with you?”
“Yeah, she’s with me.”
“Oh. Shit. Sorry, dude.” There was more rustling, and then Xander heard Finn say, “I told you she was with Xander.”
“Xander? It’s Celeste. Can I please talk to Kylie?”
He handed his phone to Kylie.
“Hello?” she said, a confused look on her face. “Oh. Yeah, I’m totally fine. My phone got wet when we were thrown in the pool. It’s now drying out in a bowl of rice.”
Xander took her hand into his, lacing their fingers. He was still amazed by how soft her skin was, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how soft the rest of her would be. He brought their interlocked hands to his mouth and kissed each of her fingers. She sighed and then pinned him with some serious fuck-me eyes. He was really going to let Finn have it for interrupting this. As soon as he got done kicking his own ass for not taking her back to his room when he had the chance.
“Huh?” Kylie’s attention returned to the call. She rolled her eyes. “I did, but you were too busy doing God knows what with Finn, so I left with Xander.”
He laughed, and she playfully elbowed him, a teasing smile on her lips. His mouth ached with the need to know what her lips felt like against his.
“Are you serious?” She groaned. “All right…fine…okay…okay. Bye.” She ended the call and handed the phone back to him.
“Everything all right?” He slipped the phone into his pocket.
“Yeah, but I think it’s time to take me home.” Her voice was low and sad.
With a reluctant sigh, he nodded. “Okay, let’s go, then.” He slid off the hood of his car and opened the door for her. He didn’t miss how drastically her mood had changed. What the hell had Celeste said to her? The drive to campus passed in silence. Kylie stared out the passenger’s window the entire time. He wanted to say something stupid to make her laugh, but he had a sinking feeling she needed the quiet.
He pulled up in front of her residence hall and killed the engine. “Can I walk you up to your room?”
“I’d like that.”
He grabbed her wet clothes, handed them to her, and then took the bowl with her cell phone from the backseat. He walked with her upstairs. The pink sock was off the doorknob, and he could hear Celeste and Finn laughing on the other side of the door. Kylie lingered in the hallway as if she didn’t want to go inside.
“I had a really great time tonight,” she said.
He leaned against the wall, hugging the bowl to his stomach. “Can I see you again?”
“You’ll see me Monday in class. Unless you’re planning on ditching.”
“Oh, I’ll be in class, but I’d much rather see you before then. How about dinner tomorrow night?” Then he’d convince her to have dinner with him Saturday night and Sunday night and every other night until she decided she was sick and tired of him. But if he had his way, that would never happen.
Her mouth twitched, but she didn’t smile. “I don’t know. If you’re going to take me to the Dive again…” She shook her head.
“And what’s wrong with the Dive? They have awesome food.”
