Page 133 of X's and O's
But he knew me.
He caught me by the arms and looked me in the eye. “What happened?”
I couldn’t answer. But it was probably written all over my face. All I could get out was, “She needs you.”
He paused, his concern etched into every crease of his forehead and the tight line of his mouth.
I waited for his eventual nod.
The second he gave it I pulled away, threw myself into my van, and got as far away from Violet as I possibly fucking could.
32
VIOLET
Isat on the cold, wet tiles with my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs.
The water that rolled down my cheeks wasn’t from the shower.
“Violet?”
I jerked my head up at the voice I thought for half a second was X coming back.
Whip stood in the doorway instead, staring down at me.
I suddenly remembered I was very naked. I reached for the pile of towels on the other side of the shower curtain, but without completely revealing myself, I couldn’t reach them.
Whip stepped into the waterlogged bathroom and picked one up.
Instead of passing it to me, he knelt beside me, his gaze locked on mine, and slowly began drying me off.
Starting with my hot tears of embarrassment.
I let him, because I was exactly that pathetic.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“X asked me to come.”
I shook my head, burying my face in my hands. “I don’t know why he would do that.”
Whip rubbed the towel over my arms, wiping away water droplets. “Because he cares about you.”
I snorted. “He has a funny way of showing it!”
Whip sighed. “X is…complicated.”
But it wasn’t complicated to me. Physically, I was in my bathroom with Whip. But mentally I was back on the bluffs, Levi taking one look at me and deciding I wasn’t for him.
X’s rejection felt exactly the same. I’d been good enough to mess around with. But not good enough to sleep with.
Whip dried me off so diligently, so gently. There was a kindness in his expression that my heart so desperately needed from a man.
I leaned in and pressed my lips against his.
There was no hesitation. He kissed me back, his hands pausing in wiping me down. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my head filled with hurt and embarrassment.
He pulled away. “Violet.”
