Staring down at the flesh I thought was mine.
“Vee, look at me.” Xavier grips my face, reeling me back onto solid ground. “Look at me,” he urges until I comply.
I plunge my gaze into his.
“He didn’t.”
I expected the waterworks to stop, but I only cry harder.
“W-what?” I sniffle.
“He didn’t,” Xavier assures me. “Axel came to his fucking senses before anything happened. Bastard ran inside to get Theo and me. You were out cold by the time we got there, but we stopped him, Vee. Nothing happened,” he stresses, his fingers caressing the side of my face delicately. For the first time since the night we drove to the springs, I recognize the boy in front of me.
For a brief moment, he’s my Xavier again.
My Zac.
Until he snaps out of it, as though he’s just realized what he’s doing, and unclasps his fingers from my cheek.
“What happened to Logan?”
“We took care of him” is all he says.
“Meaning?”
Xavier expels a long sigh. “He left in an ambulance.”
“What? Why?” I blurt.
“I might’ve given him a tiny concussion, but it was an accident, kind of.” Xavier bites back a grin, and my traitorous heart flutters.
I can tell he’s not sorry.
Not even a little.
And I like it more than I should.
“Aren’t you scared he’ll tell on you?”
“Nah.” Xav shrugs. “Bastard wouldn’t risk it. Ratting me out would only lead to what he did to you. There’s four of us and one of him.”
He’s right. I have enough witnesses to open a summer camp.
“Well… Thank you.” It comes out as a whisper.
He cringes. “Don’t ever thank me for that, Vee. Ever.”
I nod in understanding. He was just doing what any decent human being would.
“Why did you bring me here?” I ask with a wince, feeling like a sledgehammer is swinging at my skull.
“Didn’t have much of a choice.” Xavier pushes off the bed. “Dia was wasted, and I could hardly see myself dumping you on your mom’s doorstep half-dead.”
“Good call.” I rub my temples vigorously as if to diffuse my headache and pat the king bed beneath me. My hazy brain connects the dots at a turtle’s pace.
Wait, I woke up in his bed.
Does that mean we…