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“I mean, look at me. I’m out walking the dog after taking my lady out to dinner with our friends. Willow was tired when we got back, and she has to be at work early in the morning, so I’m the one doing the honors with this guy.”
As he bent down to scratch Scooter’s ears, Xander could tell that he wasn’t upset about his newfound domesticity.
“It suits you.”
Slade gave him a rueful smile. “I know. I’m not saying I’m not happy about it – just that sometimes it hits me how much my life has changed since Willow and I got together, and especially since we moved in here.”
Xander nodded. He loved that his old friend had moved into the cottage that used to house the tasting room up by the back entrance to the estate. Slade had always felt like part of the family to him, so it made sense that he should live here. Hannah had moved into the other cottage, Becca had moved into the big house with Jacob, and everyone seemed to have settled happily into their new lives.
Everyone except him. He’d expected to embark on a new life of his own when he retired from the Navy. And he would. He just needed to figure out what that life would look like.
Slade gave him a puzzled look. “Where were you tonight?”
Xander grinned; he didn’t have anything to hide from Slade.
“I noticed that the third DuPont sibling was also conspicuous by her absence. Please tell me that the two of you were together?”
“We were.”
Slade cocked an eyebrow. “And? I like the look of that smile.”
Xander chuckled. “I’m happy to tell you that Tori finally put a smile on my face. She wants to give things a go between us.”
Slade held up his fist, and Xander bumped his against it. “Happy for you, man.”
“Thanks. It’s taken me long enough to win her over.”
“It took years for Willow and me, too. I can tell you that it’s worth the wait.”
Xander chuckled. “Yeah, but the two of you were … together from the very beginning – and kept meeting up and hooking up over the years.”
Slade laughed with him. “True, but although they’re sisters, Willow and Tori are very different people. I don’t think Tori’s the kind to hook up with anyone, is she?”
Before today, Xander would have said with absolute certainty that no, she wasn’t. But after her little confession about how she liked sex – and the way she’d crawled all over him on that bench, he wasn’t so sure.
Slade picked up on his hesitation and gave him a puzzled look. “I mean, she’s not even with you now – and you’re here, not over there with her.”
Xander made a face. “Not because she wants to take our time about it, though.”
“What then? Don’t tell me that you do?”
“No but think about it; if I stayed there with her, I’d have to face Bentley in the morning, and if she came over here, she’d have to face Jacob and Becca – and probably you and Willow, too.”
“And that bothers her?”
“It kind of bothers both of us.”
“Why?”
Xander shrugged. “Because … I dunno. Because it’s new? Because after all this time I only want to think about her and how she feels – not have to worry about what anyone else might have to say. And for her, she feels like everyone here is watching her and judging her no matter what she does. Like you said, she and Willow are totally different – Willow does what she wants no matter what. Tori …” He frowned. She still did what she wanted, but she did it elsewhere so that she wouldn’t have to deal with whatever people thought or said.
“Tori would rather leave town than have to deal with facing people,” said Slade.
Xander met his gaze. “Right.”
“What?”
He chuckled. “You just gave me an idea.”
