Page 3 of Love You Like This

“Jade,” Xander calls my name, and I turn my head, seeing him through blurry eyes.

His brow furrows when he sees me, then he turns his head slowly. The fury in his gaze is instant. He crosses the room even as I stand frozen.

“Jeremy!” he yells.

The girl making out with my boyfriend screams as Jeremy’s eyes flare in recognition and he pushes her off his lap just in time for Xander’s fist to snap his head to the side. Blood splatters the couch, and I watch as the girl runs off, pulling her top up with one hand and buttoning her jeans with the other.

Jeremy’s shirt is unbuttoned and lipstick is smeared all over his face, neck, and chest. They’d clearly been making out for a while. He’s so high from whatever he took that he can’t even fight back. It takes two guys to pull Xander off him.

“Get the fuck off me,” Xander snarls as he walks away. Despite the violence radiating from him, he gently takes the duffel bag from my shoulder and tucks me under his other arm. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Two

XANDER

Fifteen years earlier

I glance over at Jade from the corner of my eye and see her staring straight out into the night. She hasn’t cried. Hasn’t said a word. Just stares out the windshield of my Jeep with strands of her beautiful red hair whipping in the wind. Had I known I was going to have to jump into protective asshole mode tonight, I would have put the doors and top on.

I can’t even check in with her as we drive down the freeway. If I were a girl, what would I want after walking in on my high-as-a-fucking-kite, loser, shithead, boyfriend cheating on me? Knowing Jade, probably a machete, but I’m going to do her a solid and keep her out of prison.

Food.

I bet she wants food.

At the last second I swerve onto the exit lane and head for the closest In-N-Out. I know she’s deep in her head about it all when she doesn’t bitch at me for the erratic driving. I pull into the drive-through and order food for both of us.

“I don’t want to go home,” she says after I grab the food and pull out of the drive-through.

“Okay.” I run a hand through my hair. “Any requests on where to go?”

“No.”

We haven’t known each other that long in the grand scheme of things, but in the nine months we have been floating around in each other’s orbit I have never heard her voice sound so empty. Despondent. It actually makes me wish I could turn around and go back to the party just to beat his ass all over again.

As we sit at a red light, I consider our options. I could take her to the canyon or the beach. The beach is closer, and I know a spot that’s a bit secluded. At least as secluded as you can get in LA.

A little while later I put the car in park and look around the empty lot. “There’s no one around if you want to change into your other clothes.”

She finally meets my gaze and nods. “Okay.”

I hand her the duffel bag from the backseat, and she pulls out a tank top and shorts. That tank won’t keep her warm with the cool ocean breeze, so I pull my hoodie off and hand it to her. “Wear this, it’ll keep you warmer.”

“Thank you.”

She tugs the straps of her dress off her shoulders before pulling the sweatshirt on. Then before I can avert my eyes, she yanks the yellow satin down, lifting her hips until she can pull her legs free. I catch a glimpse of her ivory thigh all the way up to the string that holds her thong over her hips. My cock twitches as the skimpy triangle of material covering her pussy flashes when she lifts her hips to pull her shorts up.

“Could give a guy some warning first,” I grumble as I step out of the Jeep. Before turning back, I discretely adjust my half hard dick.

“Whatever,” she sasses back. “The last thing on my mind is how you feel about me changing in front of you.”

No fucking kidding.

I grab the bag of food while she takes the drinks. “The trail down to the beach is this way,” I point with my head toward the path.

“This is pretty,” she says as we settle onto the sand. “Where are we?”

“Santa Monica is that way.” I point to the south. “Will Rogers Beach is that way.” I point to the north.