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“Oh, yeah? What aboutTaz?”she teased, thankful that she was feeling more like her normal self finally. “Vannah said it’s short for Tasmanian Devil, like the cartoon, because you were such a handful as a kid. But you’re, what? Seventeen now—?”
“Eighteen,” he said with conviction and sat up a little straighter.
Xochitl couldn’t help smirk. She’d purposely thrown out seventeen, knowing he was eighteen now. Clearly, he had a chip on his shoulder about being called a little boy by Angela, even if he looked anything but. If it wasn’t because she knew he was Vannah’s younger brother, Xochitl might’ve thought him older than his sisters. He sure as hell was bigger than them, and Vannah had mentioned more than once that both hercharmingbrothers were gym rats. With his height and impressive muscle, he could easily pass for atleasttwenty-one. “You see that’s even worse.” She raised a brow. “You’re practically a full-fledged, grown ass man, and you’re still going by your childhood nickname. At least I had no say in my name. I would’ve outgrown my silly nickname by now.”
He smirked now, like he knew she was purposely razzing him. “It’s mostly just the family that calls me that now,” he clarified. “I’m named after my dad, Alex. So, to avoid confusion at home and my family’s restaurant, I’m either Taz or Lex.”
“Lex.” Xochitl smiled. “I like that. Isowould’ve lost Taz by now.” He stared at her with a smirk for a moment that went on a little too long. She’d noticed that about him since she’d first met him last year, even though they’d barely spoken the few times she’d been around before today. Most people avoided eye contact. Not Lex. He seemed to persistently search her eyes, like he was doing again now. Something she knew was a trait of someone completely, maybe evenoverly,self-confident. Thankfully, he glanced away then back at her just as quick, leaning a little closer again. It irritated Xochitl that she could so easily get utterly unnerved—and by someone younger—no less. So, she stood her ground and didn’t flinch back the way she was so tempted to.
“This bitch thinks I care,” he murmured in her face, through a smile Xochitl knew was fake but was still too damn breathtaking. “She’s laying it on thick that she’s got amannow, with all the touchy-feely shit she’s doing over there. Too bad I can’t touch you like that.” The intense way his eyes bore into hers waned a bit as his fingers played with a strand of her hair. He glanced down at his phone, as Xochitl’s grateful heart raced, but as always, her tenacity to keep her composure won. “My sisters would ask too many questions. Little boy,” he scoffed, stopping to gaze in her eyes once again. “Some of the things I did to her werenotlittle boy things. It’s why she’s probably pissed that she came here today thinking she’d be showing me up, only to find out Icanbe into older girls and might even be willing . . .” His eyes dropped down to her lips. “Sowilling to get tied up by the right one. It was justAngelawho didn’t do it for me.” Before Xochitl could even think of how to respond to that, their eyes met again as he cleared his throat. “Isn’t this some crazy shit though?” He glanced around the room and shook his head. “My sister’s not even old enough to drink legally, and she’s committing tomarriage.”
As happy as Xochitl was for her bestie, she had to agree. “I was pretty shocked when she told me too. But they seem so in love and happy.”
“Yeah, but for how long?” He glanced out to where Vannah and Byron were chatting with some of the guests. “I mean I don’t doubt they’re in love. The guy seems crazy about her, but that’s too fucking young.” He shrugged, glancing down at his phone again. “To each his own, and I hope it works out, I guess. I just think it’s insane.” He was back to tapping on his phone screen. “What’s your phone number?” Turning back to her, their eyes met, and no surprise, he looked completely unfazed as he waited.
Xochitl on the other hand, did the throat clearingagain, but lifted a brow in question. “My phone number?”
“Yeah, so I can program it into my phone. Just until this wedding crap is over,” he added quickly. “I can delete it after if you want. It’s just so I can track you down on the fly, if I need a quick fake girlfriend moment during all these events.” He frowned, glancing around the crowded backyard. “Maybe if I didn’t have three million relatives at all these events, it might be easy to just look around and find you.”
She hadn’t agreed to this yet, and normally she wouldn’t be willing to go along with this kind of silly game. But he did say she didn’t have tosayshe was his girl, just pretend to be attracted to him, and taken by his flirting. As much as she’d usually object to such nonsense, she hated to admit it, but looking like she was attracted to him and taken by his flirting was something she was certain she was already doing anyway. Technically, this wouldn’t be an all-out lie on her part. It did beat sitting alone, looking all loner boner or anti-social whenever Vannah and Nena got busy. And she could and would put her foot down at any point if he asked her to do anything more objectionable than just this. So, she figured, why not? She finished rattling off her number, and he said he was sending her a text so she’d know it was him when his number came up. Her phone dinged, and she glanced down, surprised that he hadn’t just sent a blank text. Clicking on it, she read the short sentence he’d sent.
I hear you’re into gossip.
She looked up at him, feeling her brows furrow. “What?”
“You run an online gossip column or something.”
“It’s not agossipcolumn,” she countered, though she couldn’t help smirk. “It’s a news blog.” He lifted an unimpressed brow like he was thinking she was full of it. “Itis. Your sisters inspired me to embrace social media and start my own blog. It started off as an assignment for my media relations class. I got tired of those clickbait articles that take you through pages and pages of buildup and sponsored crap before getting to the point. So, when I was assigned to write about something in the media that irks me and give a presentation on how I would do it differently, I started a blog where I posted short to-the-point stories about the latest news. Called it Quick Click News. I thought I’d only use it for the one assignment, but when I made it public, I got a lot of positive feedback and it was sort of exciting, so I kept doing more. But it’s news, not gossip.”
His eyes narrowed in on her knowingly. “About celebrities?”
“Some stories are,” she countered quickly because she knew what he was implying. It was the same thing her brother had suggested. “But it’s all facts. I get the information straight from their websites and press releases.” He was still peering at her suspiciously, so she decided to just admit something. “Iama sucker for a good juicy story online or sharing some with close friends or family I know I can trust. It’s why I’d always get caught up in those maddening clickbait articles. But I’ve never, nor has my blog ever, spread gossip if that’s what you’re getting at. Just the facts. Like the news.”
Now he laughed. “Yeah, because we all know the news reports nothing but the truth.”
She chuckled now too because he had a point. “You know what I mean. I do my research and report nothing but facts, keeping it short and sweet.”
“Speaking of short and sweet.” Xochitl had to inhale deeply at the sight of that incredible smile as he glanced behind her.
Nena and her cousins Amanda, and Viviana walked up to where they were sitting. “Taz, daddy needs you and Gordo to help him move some of the cases of drinks out back.”
He shot up but leaned over, away from his sister’s view and whispered, “Pretend I’m saying something sweet to you.” The smile waned a bit as he searched her eyes again. “Like, that those beautiful hazel eyes are beginning toownme.” Feeling the air sucked out of her, and not having the slightest idea how to react to that without sounding or acting the ways she knew he expected her to, she stared at him blankly. His smile went even flatter. “You’re supposed to look enamored, not . . .horrified.”
“Taz, are you flirting with your big sisters’ friends again?”
The smile was back as he straightened out and turned to Nena. “Always.” He kissed his sister on the forehead, before turning to wink at Xochitl and walked away.
“My apologies if he said anything inappropriate to you.” She rolled her eyes. “My brothers will never change.”
Even as Xochitl sat with Nena and her cousins, talking about all the details of the wedding, she couldn’t shake the unease and the butterflies her friend’s brother’s smoldering gazes and comments managed to cause. At almost twenty herself now, she knew he wasn’tthatmuch younger than her, and he towered over her. Despite her curvier-than-most figure, the gym rat likely outweighed her by atleastthirty pounds. She hadn’t been kidding when she said he was nearly a grown ass man. At least he was physically, ineverysense of the word. Still, something about his being her close friend’s brother made even considering looking at him in any other way than just that, feel wrong. Thankfully, the rest of the shower was uneventful. That is, when it came to Lex. He did come back eventually and spent plenty of time hanging out with her for the rest of the shower, but they hadn’t been left alone again, so it’d been much less unnerving. She drove home, grateful that the rehearsal dinner, when she’d have to see him again, was still weeks away. Hating to admit it, she’d need at least that much time to shake what she’d been so determined not to let Vannah’s brother do to her.
