Page 16 of Scandal

“Someone is going to wreck you someday, and it won’t be me.” Xan sounds sad, and that makes me want to show him the man I see.

I pull his arm back around me and shove him a little, so we slide down the pillow. “Obviously, it won’t be you, Xan. You’re my guardian angel.”

“Huh,” he grunts thoughtfully, and I feel his muscles relax into the bed.

It’s quiet for a long time, and I assume he’s asleep, but I can’t help muttering one last thought. “If you need me to rub your knees tonight, I’m available.”

His body jerks next to me as he chuckles, but his lips stay sealed. And on that note, I fall asleep in his arms.

***

In the morning, I can feel the warmth of Xan wrapped behind me. We’ve both managed to roll to our sides and he’s spooning me. And I can feel his thick morning wood... so I stay ultra still and soak it in. Soon enough, he’ll wake up. Probably freak out. Probably run away. Tell me that can never happen again. But for now, I’m going to enjoy my good fortune. Even though my bladder is protesting. So worth it.

There’s a knock at the door that ruins the whole vibe though. Who the hell would come by this early? The knock is pretty cheerful.

Xander rolls away from me, wordlessly, and I mourn the loss of him. The door swings open and a chipper voice sings out, “Good morning, boys, what do you got for me?”

When I turn over, I confirm it’s Nayla, holding up a brown bag high in the air. A platter of paper coffee cups are balanced in her other hand.

“Don’t you get hangovers?” I complain, shifting myself as stealthily as I can to hide the hard on that still won’t quite go down.

“She doesn’t. It’s annoying,” Xander confirms as he snatches a cup from her and takes a long drink.

“Just had to check on my new best friend, Cameron. Someone disappeared from the party last night without saying goodbye. And what the hell happened to his lip. And your eye!”

“Long story,” Xan grunts in reply. Nayla sets the bag down on my desk and sits in my chair, spinning it side to side in a motion that would surely make my stomach weak.

“I’ve got time. Spill it.”

Xan shrugs and her gaze snaps to me. “Did he do anything bad last night?”

Her tone is accusatory, and I think back to what he told me last night. What Nayla surely knows about him. “He saved me last night. I was jumped.”

It’s not a lie, per se, even though it’s a vague semi-truth. Nayla may call herself my best friend, but I just don’t open up that easily to people. One night of dancing won’t make me spill my guts.

“Xan?” she asks again.

“I’m still good. Don’t worry. Don’t think what I did last night counts.”

She’s quiet for a while, just staring, as if her gaze will make him dish. Finally, she seems to give up, because she resumes twisting from side to side in my chair. “All right then. Good. Glad to hear it.”

“Bathroom,” I groan in the pause, and make my escape.

Xander

Never done that before, slept next to someone. Not just next to someone, but holding them. When I woke up early this morning, before the dawn even broke, I rolled over to hold Cameron close to my body. He made a peaceful little humming sound as I spooned myself around him. He fits perfectly against me.

I’m trying to hold onto that memory, as I walk down the narrow halls, back to the administrative offices. My stomach fucking flipped when I saw the email this morning from the dean, asking me to come down as soon as possible. Just like I’ve expected, as soon as something good happens to me, like holding Cameron in my arms, something shit follows.

The student who sits at the front desk in front of Dean Runkin’s office recognizes me. I’m here often. Never for good reasons. He waves me right back.

“So, there is a cut on your brow too,” Dean Runkin wastes no words.

I slip into the leather chair across from his oversized oak desk. “Yes, sir. Is that what I’m here for?”

Runkin’s eyes fix on his computer screen, and he peers over his glasses. “You hit Zack Browning last night. Do you deny it?”

“No, sir.”

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