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“Actually.” She glanced away mindful not to sound too defensive of Lex after just one conversation with the guy. “You know how he’d been called away the night of the wedding because his dad was in some kind of brawl downstairs? Well, it turned out it had to do with the girl I saw him with.” She explained quicklywhy Lex ended up in the parking lot with the fake drunk bitch and why Xochitl had misinterpreted what he was actually doing with her. “He said he did explain it many times over texts and voicemails I refused to read or listen to because—”
“Oh my God, Chichi. Seriously?” Izel stared at her shaking his head. “All this time you’ve been tortured over this, and all it would’ve taken was for you to read one of his texts?” He put his hand up before she could retort to that. “No. I believe it. Mom always said, if stubborn was a disease you’d be dead by now.”
“I was playing it safe, okay?” Xochitl insisted. “I’d never felt that kind of hurt before, but more than anything I’d never felt so stupid. And I told him so too. So, he knows now why I was adamant about never giving him, or anyone for that matter, the opportunity to play me the way I felt I’d been played.” Shaking her head, she thought about the other theory she’d only be sharing with her brother. “I even thought maybe it was karma for all the times I’d talked shit about girls who were dumb enough to fall for that kind of crap from a good-looking guy who was so obviouslyonlytrying to get in their pants. Didn’t tell him that but . . .” She shrugged as they reached Izel’s van. “He understood and even apologized. Even though technically he had nothing to apologize for. So at least now that I know the truth about that night, things won’t be so awkward between us. Rooming with him will be as normal as it was living with all my other roomies.”
No surprise, this had her brother chuckling. Even she’d barely been able to keep a straight face when she’d made that last comment. Her brother hadn’t even driven away, and her belly was already doing nervous summersaults just thinking about being back in her dorm alone with Lex.
Sliding the door open for Bentley to jump in, Xochitl ignored her brother’s chuckles and hugged and kissed her big sweetheart instead. “Mama loves you.” She kissed his big head as she ran her fingers through his fur. “I’ll come visit you real soon.” Kissing him one last time she slid the door closed and turned to Izel. Her brother held his arms open, and she embraced him hard.
“Thank you for coming to see me and bringing my baby.” She grunted as he hugged her even tighter. “I’ll miss you both.”
“I’ll miss you too, Chichi. But this—” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb as he pulled away. “Thiswill have me checking in a lot more often than usual. Because I hate to break it to you, but this, is going to beanythingbut normal.”
“No, don’t jynx me.” She nudged his arm even as the swarm went wild in her belly, yet another foreign feeling for her until Lex. “Him and I had one evening together where things started to feel . . . a bit romantic. But we’ve never even kissed.”
She was only glad now she’d left out about Lex lacing his fingers through hers all night and how judging by the way he spoke and gazed at her today, he’d be all for picking up where they left off if given the opportunity. But she refused to let her guard down that easily, even if, technically, he hadn’t really fooled her once already. Xochitl would like to think the whole misunderstanding and falling out hadn’t been all for naught. Her mother said every experience had some kind of purpose in life. In this case, she’d learned her lesson about falling way too fast and easily foranyone’scharm again.
“Well, you’ll be hearing from me as soon as tomorrow.” Izel got into his van and closed his door. “I’ll be dying to know how tonight goes. I didn’t know it then, but you know those scenes in a soap opera or movie where the guy walks into a room and sees the ex he’s still pining over with another dude, and you can literally feel the tension blanket the room?” Izel laughed as he put his seatbelt on. “That’s exactly what that felt like when he opened the door and his eyes zeroed in on me.” He shook his head still chuckling. “If you don’t end up breaking up with Cade and he comes down to visit, the day he shows up at your door and Lex opens the door will be the scene in the soap where the episode ends, and they make you wait until the next one to see what happens.” “Well, I’m not breaking up with Cade until I can do it in person.” Xochitl crossed her arms in front of her. “I owe him that much and that’sifI decide it’s what I wanna do.”
Izel’s smile flattened, and he peered at her. “I thought you said there was no point in prolonging the inevitable?”
“There isn’t,” Xochitl explained lifting her chin a bit. “That’s if breaking upisthe inevitable outcome. I haven’t decided yet. There’s a lot of history between us and it’s not like I have to be around him often anyway. Like I told mom, maybe once we’re both done with school and back home, I might feel differently.”
She kept to herself that she could already tell it’d be way too easy to give into any sweetness Lex might extend. Arming herself with a boyfriend might be her only hope that Lex might keep said sweet compliments that would for sure have her swooning, to a minimum.
