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It takes me a few seconds to regain control of my body and spin myself around. Play dumb, a voice in the back of my head advises. Only way you’ll get out of here with your heart in one piece.
“Huh, okay?” I mock, knowing damn well the only ridiculous person here is me. “How much have you had to drink?”
“Don’t fucking do that, Vee,” he growls, his patience wearing thin. He talks like it’s a done deal. Like there’s no point in denying it anymore. But I’m not going down without a fight.
I’m not ready to be vulnerable.
I’m not ready for this to be real.
Not when he chose Lacey over me.
Not when he’s still choosing Brie over me.
“Stay here. I’ll go get Finn so he can put your ass in a cab or something.” I turn to leave, but Xavier rises off the concrete before I can even think of storming out. He makes his way over to me in two big strides, and my heart’s fight or flight kicks in, begging me to run.
Before he ruins me.
He stops inches away from me, his eyes level with mine, and his breath fanning my lips. My throat bobs at the proximity, the inside coated in fear, but Xav? He’s a cold, unaffected riddle I’d sell my soul to solve.
I can tell he’s doing this on purpose. Crowding my space. Getting close to me in the hope of seeing me break.
“Admit it.” It comes out as a bone-chilling order.
“Admit what?” I put on the performance of my life.
If I don’t admit it, he can’t rip my heart to shreds. If I don’t admit it, I can hold on to Love a little longer. Irritated by my stubbornness, he grits his teeth together. It isn’t long before he realizes he needs to find somethingI can’t argue with.
And that’s exactly what he does.
Without a warning, Xavier yanks my left sleeve down my shoulder, denuding my skin and leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake. That’s how I know I’m screwed.
He exposed me—literally.
More exactly my caterpillar tattoo.
If that’s not a dead giveaway, I don’t know what is. I told Xav about the ink on my left shoulder once, a long time ago. I was sure he’d have forgotten, but here we are. In Finn’s garage, surrounded by Lamborghinis and custom Teslas, staring each other dead in the eyes.
Xavier’s mouth drops at the caterpillar under my collarbone. The guy talks a good game, but the look on his face suggests he wasn’t one hundred percent sure until now.
“Admit it,” Xav repeats once he’s regained his composure.
I chew down on my bottom lip.
“L, I know it’s you. Just say it.” He pauses.“Please.”
He’s begging now. Backed into a corner, I lower my gaze to my feet, surrendering with a croaky, barely audible,
“It’s me.”
Xavier stumbles back a step.
He doesn’t react for several seconds.
“But… You… I…” He blathers, trying to settle on an emotion. Finally, he comes to a decision. “This whole fucking time?” He snarls. “You just let me ramble on about how I messed things up between us when you… you were sitting right next to me?”
Anger it is.
I look up at him, my brain looping images of him eating Lacey’s face off. Taking Brie from behind while I was pouring my heart out to him in confessions, dumb enough to let him in.
