Page 12 of Official

“Relax.” Xander enters my room, his dark hair sticking out in every direction like a mad scientist with a softer edge.

And more ab muscles.

He’s also dressed in the same clothes from last night, where we drank ourselves into oblivion.

Or at least, I thought he did. He’s smiling too widely to be hungover.

“Did you sleep here?” I croak, my throat so dry it hurts.

“I thought about going home, but then I saw the fluffy blanket out there on your couch and thought,Gee, I bet that’s comfortable. And it was. It really was.” He hands me a mug, steam rising from the hot coffee inside, which makes me smile.

It’s like a reflex—I see coffee, and it automatically makes me happier than the shining sun through my blinds.

“There. All better.” Xander sits on the edge of my bed and places his hand on the other side of my legs on top of the comforter. “Drink up, and let’s go.”

I lick the bold liquid from my bottom lip and frown. “Where? If we made plans last night, I don’t remember, but I definitely have to cancel. I’m not leaving this bed.”

“Oh, but you don’t want to miss a trip to Maui.”

I lift an eyebrow, cupping the mug in my lap between both hands. “Did I black out? Because I’m positive we never talked about Maui.”

“You told me you want to get away for a while and hide out on a beach in peace with plenty of food and drinks. What’s a better place to do that than Maui? It’s perfect.” He claps, and his grin grows wider.

I blink.

He doesn’t budge.

After a beat, I hold the mug of coffee high over my head and kick my legs out from under the comforter, throwing them over the edge on the opposite side of him until my feet sink into the carpet. Once I’m standing, I whirl around on him. “Are you insane? I can’t go to Maui. I have to… to…”

“To what?” Xander rises from the bed until he reaches his full height over a foot above me and crosses his arms in front of his broad and lean chest. “Sam, you said it yourself last night that you need a break. You haven’t been on vacation since you and the fuckwad JasonDouchewent to Vail over the winter, and you can’t look back on your last trip and think of him.”

“I said all that?”

He crosses the short distance between us and squeezes my shoulders. “You need a breather, and I need to occupy my summer anywhere but here. I can’t be stuck in my stepdad’s house for three months. I’ll suffocate. Do you want that on your conscience?”

I roll my eyes. “What happened to your house?”

“I’m subletting it to a friend who just moved to LA. Teddy’s searching for the perfect place for him to buy, but until then, I told him he could stay at mine. I thought I was going to be working long hours this summer during filming and could crash at my stepdad’s. In small doses, he and his ideas of jokes are fine, but I can’t take long hours with Klein. The man has a last name for a first, for fuck’s sake.” He rubs a hand down his face and peers over at me. “None of my plans are working out, though. Not after yesterday.”

I nod, suddenly remembering he was fired. It’s all coming back to me in pieces.

“You and I have known each other for a few years now. I stayed here for two weeks last summer, so you know we can stand to be around each other for long periods of time. It’s exactly the escape we both need.” He shrugs like he’s got it all figured out, and it’s hard not to get excited.

How can I not get caught up in this fantasy he’s describing?

On top of that, it’s not like I have a boyfriend to keep me here.

And I could use a place to clear my head.

He grabs my free hand in both of his strong ones as he peers into my eyes in a way that feels too intimate for two friends, but it’s hard to dwell on it when he says, “When we look back on this moment in fifty years, trapped in a soul-sucking retirement home, don’t we want to be able to say we did something crazy fucking fun instead of bailing on a trip of a lifetime like a couple of suckers?”

I worry my bottom lip, chewing on his proposition like he asked me to move in with him. But it’s only a short vacation, right? To freaking Maui.

Sweet paradise.

Why am I not saying yes?

“Say yes,” Xander pleads, a sparkle in his eye and a pause in his breathing.

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