Page 54 of Chasing Xander
“Please.” She pushed away from him, and her bottom lip quivered. “I need to go back to my room and talk to Celeste.”
His gut twisted, and he gave a reluctant nod. “Can I bring you lunch? I know you probably don’t want to eat, but I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine.” She wiped at her face again and then tucked her hands under her armpits as if she was trying to hide the fact she was still shaking. “Really. And yes.” She nodded. “That’s very sweet. Thank you.”
“Are you sure I can’t walk you home?” He shifted on his feet. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to sit in class knowing you’re so upset.”
She gripped his biceps and tried to smile, but her lips trembled and pulled down into a frown. Fresh tears pooled in her eyes. “If you want to help me, please just go to class. I won’t be able to handle knowing I’m the reason you didn’t go and that you’ll get in trouble with your dad and Brad.”
Sighing, he removed her hand from his arm and kissed her palm. Even in light of what she’d just lost, she was worrying about him. His chest constricted at the knowledge that no woman had ever cared like she did, and if anyone had, they never showed it. His muscles twitched with the need to wrap her up in his arms and never let her go. “I’ll come to your room as soon as class is over, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Xander hesitated. He was already late. Taking a few extra minutes with her wouldn’t make that much of a difference, but she was slowly moving away from him. His hand fell to his side. “I’ll see you soon, then.”
Reluctantly, he turned and walked toward his class, each step heavy as if he had lead weights tied to his feet. He flexed his fingers and stretched his neck, trying to work out the urge to chase after her. Was he a total ass for walking away? Should he have insisted on staying with her? He didn’t know, but he did know that when he saw her again, he was going to do everything he could to make this difficult time a little easier on her.
He slipped into class unnoticed and took a seat in the back of the room. Opening his notebook, he doodled pictures of cars instead of paying attention. The professor’s voice was nothing but background noise. Halfway through class, he checked the time on his cell phone. Actually, he was hoping there might be a text from Kylie, but no such luck. Each second that passed only intensified his worry, and he shifted in his seat. The girl sitting next to him gave him a dirty look, then scooted over in her seat as far as she could to get away from his fidgeting. He closed his notebook and blew out a breath. Kylie really hadn’t looked fine when he’d left her. The only comfort he had was that she’d been heading back to her room to talk to Celeste. She would make sure Kylie was okay.
Finally, when his class ended, he was out of the lecture hall and racing across campus toward Kylie’s residence hall, completely forgetting he’d offered to bring her lunch until it was too late. When he reached her bedroom door, he stopped to take a deep breath and calm his erratic heart. Then he knocked.
She opened the door. Her eyes were still red and puffy, and her cheeks were wet with fresh tears. His shoulders slumped at the sight of her. Stupidly, he’d hoped Celeste would’ve somehow managed to make her feel better.
“Hey.” She stepped aside.
He entered her room. “Where’s Celeste?” His stomach rolled. Had Kylie been here alone all morning?
“She left for class about ten minutes ago.” She sat cross-legged on her bed and hugged a pillow to her chest. “We were fighting anyway.”
“What?” He dropped his backpack to the floor and sat beside her. “Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t even know. It’s stupid.”
He waited for her to elaborate, but when she didn’t, he said, “I’m sorry you’re fighting with Celeste. That’s the last thing you need right now.”
She nodded. They sat in silence for several moments before he opened his mouth to speak again, but she beat him to it.
“The funeral is Wednesday.”
“Wednesday? As in tomorrow?” Who had a funeral in the middle of the week like that?
She nodded.
“That’s really soon.” He frowned.
“Nammy Joyce said she was going to have the most inconvenient funeral arrangement so that people wouldn’t fuss over her.” She cracked a smile. “She made sure everything was taken care of. She didn’t want me to have to worry about it.” Kylie tossed the pillow on the bed, then stood. “I’m glad she did. There’s no way I could deal with this, and my father won’t be any help.” She paced the room, alternating between crossing her arms over her chest and sticking her hands in her pockets.
Xander studied her. “When do you leave?” He assumed she’d be leaving today in order to get to Ohio in time.
“Kylie!” Celeste barged into the room. “Why don’t you—” She stopped abruptly when she noticed Xander. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t realize you had company.” Her gaze darted between him and Kylie.
“Why don’t I what?” Kylie asked. She stopped pacing and stood near the window with her arms hanging by her sides.
“Nothing. I’ll come back later.”
He narrowed his eyes. What wasn’t Celeste willing to say in front of him? “I can give you two a minute if you need it.”
“No.” Kylie shook her head. “It’s fine.” She walked back over to her bed and sat. She buried her face in her hands and shook her head again. “I’m not leaving.” Her words were muffled, but Xander had understood them.
