Page 47 of Savage Rose

“Beau’s already got them in the washing machine. They smelled like hot tub. Uh…” He pulls my phone out of his pocket. “Maybe if you put it in rice?”

I clench my teeth. “Yeah. Well, if I don’t answer any texts, you’ll know it didn’t work.” I bite my lip. “Max? Can you wait for me downstairs? Maybe see if you can find my flats? I left them out on the patio somewhere.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” He exchanges a long look with Xander. An unspoken conversation passes between them before Max backs out of the room.

Xander watches as I pull Beau’s pants up my legs and over my bikini bottom. The drawstring gets pulled as tight as it will go. They’re still huge, so I fold the waistband over a few times, then pull the T-shirt on. I look up when I’m done.

“You look cute.”

I shrug. “Will you talk to Aria? Call her off?”

He slicks his tongue over his lower lip and gives me a short nod. “I’ll try.”

I blink a few times. “There must be some kind of story there. Why’s she like this with you?”

His gaze shifts from me for a second, like he’s not sure what to say. “I think you kind of bring out her claws because she sees my interest in you.” His dark eyes connect with mine, and he sighs. “I think somewhere in the back of her head—even though we’ve never been interested in each other—she assumes she and I will end up together someday, like our mothers always told her we would. It’s not really her fault. They’ve been feeding her that fairy-tale-ending bullshit since she was in diapers.” He clears his throat. “Not that I’ve ever been her prince.”

My brow furrows. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying it’s not happening. We aren’t dating now and won’t be in the future.” His soulful eyes look right inside me, touching all the hopeful places I’ve tried so hard to hide from him. “I’m saying maybe I want something else.” He reaches for my hand and draws me closer again, his other hand cupping my neck. His mouth brushes over mine.

I feel myself getting pulled in, sucked further into Xander’s world, and with his soft, full lips touching mine, I don’t think I want to be anywhere else. Just one touch makes me forget everything.

“I don’t know what to say to that. Except that you’re going to have to give me some time to work through some things. And maybe you should stop letting her sit on your lap.” I step toward him, rise up onto my tiptoes, and plant a soft kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for coming to my rescue tonight.” I grab both of his hands and squeeze. “It means a lot to me.”

He lowers his head so he can stare directly into my eyes and lifts a hand to caress my cheek. “I will always protect you, Scarlett. Count on it.”

Chapter 31

On the way home, Max and I are oddly quiet for most of the trip. It’s not until we pull into my driveway that I finally feel ready to tell him everything. And Max notices, because that’s the kind of friend he is.

His voice is gruff and gritty. “Explain to me what the fuck is going on, Cupcake. I’m in the dark over here and have a feeling some serious shit must have gone down in that room between you and Justin to make Xander go off like that.” His teeth clench before he says, “When you said it was all Justin, what exactly did you mean?”

I’m unable to answer right away, but after a beat, I turn to face him with my lips trembling and tears filling my eyes.

Max slams his hand on the wheel. “Dammit! Xander warned me that Justin was sniffing around you. I should have stayed with you. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.” He takes a few controlled breaths before he demands, “Tell me. What did Xander walk in on?”

“He—” My breath hitches, then the words tumble out in a rush. “Justin was holding me down. Lying on top of me. Trying to pull my bikini bottoms down.”

Justin’s warm hand finds mine, holding on tightly. “Fuck, Cupcake. Did he …?”

I shake my head vehemently. “No. Xander found me in time.”

His head drops back against the seat. “Why were you up there with Justin in the first place?”

I draw in a deep breath, trying to control my emotions. “I don’t know how much everyone filled you in, but you totally missed Aria all over Xander in the hot tub.” I suck my lips into my mouth. “Seeing the bracelet my mother gave me on her arm made me want to throw up. She freaking dropped it—on purpose!—into the water. That’s why I jumped in with them. Then, I was all upset, and Aria was calling me awful names. I went upstairs to be alone. Justin must have followed me.” My voice lowers. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Max squeezes my hand. “Okay. What was the deal with the bracelet? How’d Aria get her hands on it?”

“I’m not sure. I took it off in English and put it in my backpack. I noticed it was missing the next morning. Aria claims Xander gave it to her. He says she’s lying. So, who do I believe? One of them has to be telling the truth.”

“Who do youwantto be telling the truth?” His brow raises at me. He already knows the answer.

“I don’t know what to do about Xander. He… he makes me feel things, and I don’t fully understand where it’s coming from. You’d think after everything it would be a big fat, hell-to-the-no, but sometimes he does things—says things—that make me think he could feel something for me.”

Max glances over at me where I’m stewing in the passenger seat. “Baby girl, maybe he’s finally surrendering to what his heart is telling him. It’s possible that Aria flipped out, and he didn’t know what to do but act like he didn’t like you in the beginning. But obviously, he does. I mean, we all know how he looks at you. There’s something there.”

I swallow. “That’s exactly how he explained it.”

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