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In the heat of the moment, the threat slips out. But I’m dead serious.
Xavian looks at me like he has no idea who I am. Honestly, I don’t know this side of me, either. Until Echo, I’ve never been jealous. “Wow. What a douche. Echo has feelings for you. You keep saying you’re doing what’s best for her, but you’re full of shit.” He pushes me away and stands. “I know you’re still fucking Jayci. Her roommate told me you did her the night before we left—loudly. So I guess it’s okay for you to have your something-something, but you’ll lie to Echo to keep her sweet and virginal so that when you finally run out of Jaycis, Lindsays, Brittanys, and Angelas to bone you’ll have your bestie as a backup.”
“That’s not what’s happening.”
“Then what is?”
I can’t tell Xavian that I think I’m in love with Echo before I tell her myself. He’s not exactly a fortress when it comes to keeping secrets.
“You know I’m right,” he spits. “E is no one’s plan B. Don’t you dare treat her like that! At least I leveled with her. I told her if she wanted romance, I wasn’t her guy. But she said she just wanted to fuck—”
“No!” I snarl in his face, my blood pressure soaring.
I can’t picture him touching her without losing my damn mind.
“Why? You’re never going to treat her like more than a pal. So let her fucking get over you.”
“With you?”
“With someone she trusts who won’t break her heart.” Xavian glares at me with those piercing eyes, shaking his head. “But you already did. Good job,” he says snidely. “By the way, I’m offering E the key to my room down the hall or a place in my bed at the Westons’ for the rest of the week. After I tell her what you’re really up to, I’ll let her decide which she’d rather have. Enjoy being alone, you selfish bastard. You deserve it.”
With a shake of his head, Xavian lunges for the door and tosses it wide open, the solid wooden surface banging loudly against the door stop as he stomps into the breezeway, then disappears around the corner.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
I have to find Echo now…before he does.
Chapter Eight
Echo doesn’t answer her phone. I leave voice mails practically begging her to call me.
Thirty minutes turn into an hour. Then two. My hope that Xavian didn’t get to her first evaporates.
What else is he doing to her?
Fuck.
Has he told Echo that I don’t have feelings for her? That I never intended to make love to her? That she should settle for a night with him instead? Is he already taking off her clothes? Getting her horizontal? Working his way inside her? Those possibilities have me pacing. He won’t value her the way she deserves. She’ll regret him.
I will, too. She’s mine…even if I haven’t yet confessed to her how I feel.
Seeing her things scattered around the room makes me miss her. Looking at the sofa she lay on last night while I plied kisses to her naked body makes me ache. Remembering the pleasure of Echo’s hair in my fists as she slid my cock into her mouth…and wondering if she’s doing the same to Xavian right now because he insists I feel an aloofness I’m not sure I ever did makes me in-fucking-sane.
By noon, it’s obvious she’s not coming back soon. I can’t just sit here. I need to stop what-ifing and find her.
I search the property, just in case, but it’s raining, so it’s easy to see she’s not at any of the virtually empty pools or on the deserted beach. She’s not in Xavian’s room, either. No one is. She’s gone. I don’t know where she is or when she’s coming back…or if she’ll even be speaking to me next time I see her.
Panic sets in. My chances with her slip away with every passing tick of the clock.
Desperate, I grab the rental car keys and head toward the only other place she might be. My head hurts like a bitch because I haven’t had food or coffee yet, and my stress level is off the charts.
As I jet down the damp, winding road, it hits me that I’m not half as worried about Echo giving her virginity to someone else as I am about her being so angry that I lied to her—even if I meant well—that she’ll cut me out of her life. Ironic, right? On the day I realize I’m in love with her, she may decide she doesn’t need a manipulative best friend who she’s convinced will never take her seriously as a lover.
I could blame Xavian for filling Echo’s head with bullshit. But if anyone deserves the blame, it’s me. I was too self-absorbed, too afraid, and too busy indulging in all the easy ass to see the right woman was in front of me. At the thought of not being able to pick up the phone to hear Echo’s soft, quirky voice or being able to see her adorable dimpled smile every day, I nearly lose my shit. A thousand Jaycis, Lindsays, Brittanys, and Angelas put together can’t replace my one perfect Echo.
