My boss starts the meeting before I can lay into him, so I have a couple of hours to stew. And for my mood to sour. But as soon as the talk about new financial products and market projections are done, I motion to Xavian to follow me to the stairwell. Thankfully, he falls in line, empty coffee cup in hand.
“What’s going on?” he asks once we’re behind closed doors. “You look pissed.”
“What do you have going on with Echo?”
“Nothing.” His denial comes too fast. His expression looks too blank.
“Bullshit. She says you two have been talking.”
He shrugs. “Some.”
Since Xavian never talks to a woman unless he wants something more, I growl. “Why? You’d better not be trying to get with her.”
“She’s just a friend.”
“Then what’s with the phone calls? I know you two have something planned this Friday night.”
“Shit. She told you?” Xavian frowns.
“She hinted.” I stretch the truth a little. Okay, a lot.
“And you guessed the rest…” He sighs. “Look, I was surprised when she asked me instead of you. Maybe it’s because you two are so close, and she doesn’t want to mess with your friendship? Or maybe she just doesn’t see you that way. I don’t know. But it will be fine. I’ve done virgins before. I swear I’ll give Echo a good time.”
His words buzz in my brain. Echo asked him to take her virginity on Friday night?
What the fuck?
“You agreed to do it?”
“Yeah,” he says like it’s a no-brainer.
“Seriously? You never do any girl unless she’s the hottest in the room. Echo is…Echo.”
X rears back. “Dude, what are you talking about? She’s smokin’.”
Sure, if you like baggy shirts, ankle-length skirts, and clunky footwear. I don’t. She’s adorable…in her way. She’s got a cute face. Admittedly, her eyes are killer. Her outfit yesterday was attention-getting. But overall? I don’t see it.
“Besides, I think she’ll be an adventurous fuck.” He shoots me a sly grin. “I’m looking forward to popping her cherry.”
The way he talks about her, like she’s just any piece of ass, charges fury through my veins. I lunge at Xavian, teeth gritted. “You will not touch her. Ever. Not one finger. Or you will lose them all. Do we understand each other?”
X frowns. “What the hell? I’m not going to hurt her, just give her the ‘vitamin D’ she asked for.”
Fury turns to lava and nearly oozes from my pores. “Echo did not ask you for dick.”
“Not in those exact words. But…you know. She’s finally ready to get laid. Who can blame her?”
I can. She’s said for years that she’s waiting for someone special to make her first time memorable. Xavian isn’t that guy. She should be too smart to fall for his well-used charm. So why did she pick him?
Seriously, is there any way she’s in love with him?
“Don’t be pissed, dude. Why does it matter?” He cocks his head. “Are you put out that she didn’t choose you?”
Kind of. Yeah. I’m her best friend. No one is closer to her. And she didn’t confide in me. She knows I’d do anything in my power to make her happy.
What if she asked you to take her to bed?
I don’t know.
“What exactly did she say?” I demand.
Maybe X misunderstood. Maybe he heard what he wanted to and ran off with some half-cocked idea. Maybe he’s even yanking my chain.
Xavian shrugs. “Just that she’d promised her sisters she’d never let guys or partying derail her education. But by graduation Friday morning, she will have officially kept her word. Then…I don’t know. I guess she’s curious about sex.”
The promise is true enough, but the curiosity? That’s not Echo.
Why is she suddenly throwing away her V-card? Is she embarrassed? Is she trying to keep up with Kella, who will proposition any fellow K-Pop, anime-loving metrosexual dude who makes her vagina twitch? Which is great—for Kella. She’s happy with variety and never gets attached to any guy she fucks.
Echo isn’t built like that. If she got naked with Xavian, she would regret it. And she would cry. I would have to pick up the pieces. Then I would have to kill him.
This has shit show written all over it. I need to stop it.
Luckily, I’m both motivated and devious. “Maybe you’re right. It’s cool of you to do her a favor and all, but have you thought about…after?”
“No. I’ve slept with a bunch of girls I still call friends. It’s only weird if someone makes it weird.”
“Sure. I’m in the same boat with Jayci, Lindsay, and a few others. You’re totally right.” Except when it comes to my best friend. “But how will Echo be once the deed is done? Look at the movies she picks. Beauty and the Beast. Fifty First Dates. While You Were Sleeping. Pretty Woman. When Harry Met Sally. Sixteen Candles. And what does she refuse to watch? Titanic. The Notebook. Ghost. The Bodyguard. La La Land. All movies where the two main characters don’t end up together. Think about that.”