“Alright, Romeo, let’s get out of here,” Will orders as he reaches down and adjusts my blanket for me again. “And, you, if you need anything, message me. I’ll get it to you as soon as I can.”
I smile up at him. “Thank you. For everything.”
He straightens with his own smile. “You still owe me the details on what that was all about at the hospital.”
Rolling my eyes, I wave a hand. “It’s history not staying where it belongs.”
Will starts to reply, but a yawn catches me by surprise and he drops it. “Hopefully I’ll see you in class on Wednesday.”
“Fingers crossed,” I reply, not sure what else to say, and snuggle farther into the pillow behind my back as he gathers Vinnie, who is locked in a staring competition with Oakley as she takes sips from a glass of water.
Once the door is shut behind them, I glance at Oakley. “That was fun to watch.”
She shrugs, then comes over to the couch, picks up my legs, plonks her butt down, and places my feet in her lap. “Having a boyfriend and being a sugar baby don’t mix. So, the easiest way to shut them down is to show them they aren’t a man yet. If they take it well, it’s a point in the pro column for them, but if they take it badly, then they aren’t someone I would have wanted to date, anyway.”
“That makes sense,” I respond, and it really does.
Oakley glances at the TV. “So, what are we watching?”
I finally look at it and grin. “Hockey.”
Her face scrunches up. “Ew, no. I’m changing it.”
Two hours later, we are deep into a new reality show where people are living on an island and their exes keep showing up, and somehow, they all have an intertwined history. It’s fucking riveting.
“Wait, wait, wait. So, Carlos is Alyssa’s ex, and Brooklyn’s, and Callie’s, and”—Oakley consults the diagram she started three episodes ago—“Michael’s?”
Nodding, I take a sip of my water. “Yeah, I think so.”
“But Alyssa has shacked up with Chad, whose exes are Jules, Heidi, and Jackie, and Jackie is also Michael’s ex?”
I close my eyes and try to visualize it all, but my headache has started to creep back in. “I’m sure we could just Google it.”
“It’s more fun this way.”
The beep of the security lock and the handle turning makes my eyes fly open. Oakley is staring at me, both of us already knowing who is about to walk through that door.
“Do you want him here?”
The door opens and Xavier waltzes in.
I huff. “Not really, but I don’t think it would be possible to get him to leave unless he actually wants to.”
He looks at us as he closes the door behind him. Dark gray shirt, one sleeve pushed up to his elbow, black jeans, slightly damp curls, and several bags. Two, I recognize as mine, and then there is an all-black duffel.
After placing the bags by the door, he puts his hand in his pocket as he approaches us, stopping between me and the coffee table. Without a word, he bends down on one knee and withdraws his hand from his pocket.
Stupidly, my heart stutters in my chest as something shiny and gold glimmers in his hand. The ache spreads as he takes my good hand and wraps my DHDX bracelet around my wrist, latching it in place.
Hazel eyes clash with mine once he is done.
The ache from my chest spreads up into my throat, making it feel thick and stuck. Xavier brushes his thumb back and forth over the back of my hand for a few moments before he stands, goes and grabs the bags, and carries all three of them into my room.
Turning back to Oakley, I stare at her with wide eyes that match her own before she breaks the silence with a hushed whisper.
“Did he just move in?”
Chapter 12
