Footsteps. Xander appeared in the doorway to the living room.
Saw me.
Stopped dead.
His eyes went wide. Took in the scene. My messed-up hair, my shoes in my hand, the couch cushions askew, the general air of “we just had sex and you interrupted us.”
“Leigh?” His eyes went even wider. “Leigh.”
I wanted to disappear. To melt into the floor. To be literally anywhere else in the universe.
But Jasper’s words echoed in my head.Claim the space you want.
So instead of running, instead of hiding, I lifted my chin and said, “Hi, Xander.”
Dex came up behind his brother, jaw tight, shirtless, obviously as mortified as I was.
“How long?” Xander’s voice was carefully controlled, but I could see him processing, putting pieces together.
“A couple weeks,” Dex said.
“Does anyone else know?”
“The girls,” I said. “That’s it. Just Delaney… and Blake… and Reece… and Billie… and I guess apparently someone called Mrs Shulster.”
Xander ran a hand through his hair, the same gesture Dex made when stressed, and let out a long breath.
“Okay,” he said finally. “Okay. We need to talk about this. Blake knows? Of course she does. She probably knew before you did.”
“Pretty much,” I confirmed.
Xander paced to the window, then back. Looked at us again like he was trying to make sure we were real. “So you two have been... what? Dating?” Then he cringed and said in a strangled voice, “Hooking up?Sneaking around?”
“All of the above?” I offered weakly.
“And you didn’t tell us. Any of us.” He looked at Dex. “You didn’t tell me.”
I heard the hurt in his voice then, and quickly glanced at Dex, realising that I should have listened to him earlier.
“We were trying to figure it out first,” Dex said. “Before we made it a whole family thing.”
“A family thing. Right. Because my best friend sleeping with my newly discovered sister isn’t already a family thing.” Xander laughed again, but this time it sounded less shocked and more... amused? “This is insane. This is absolutely insane.”
“Are you mad?” I asked quietly.
“Mad?” Xander looked at me, and something in his expression shifted. Softened. “No. No, I’m not mad. I’m just... processing.”
He studied us for another moment. Dex’s protective stance slightly in front of me. My hand that had unconsciously found his. The way we were standing close even though we were clearly mortified.
Then, slowly, a smile spread across his face.
“Holy shit,” he said. “You’re actually together. Like, really together.”
“We’re figuring it out,” Dex said carefully.
“No, I mean...” Xander shook his head, grinning now. “You look at her the way Trace looks at Delaney. The way I look at Blake.” He turned to me. “And you look at him the same way.”
I felt my face heat. “I don’t…”
