Xav drives a restless hand through his hair and barks out an angry “Jesus, I can’t believe this shit!”
I can’t believe I still want you.
“Oh, I’m sorry, was that before or after you shoved your tongue down Lacey’s throat?” I fire back.
My comment blows him out of the water. He clenches his jaw, confronted with the facts.
“I knew you blocked my number,” he surprises me by saying.
How the hell did he find out?
“I never meant to kiss her. You’d know that if you’d read just one of my billion fucking texts!”
“Right.” I snort. “So, you accidentally tripped and landed on her mouth. Got it.”
Why am I even bothering?
We were a mistake. A. Rookie. Fucking. Mistake. All that’s left for me to do is find Ashley, get the hell out of this house, and forget about this pen pal disaster once and for all. I reach for the knob, opening the door an inch, but Xav smacks his palm against the wood, slamming it closed.
“Get out of my way, Xavier,” I warn.
“No,” he says bluntly.
“I said move!” I bump my shoulder against his hard chest.
He doesn’t waver an inch.“You’re not fucking leaving until we talk!”
“What’s there to talk about?” I shriek. “You were right. It was always going to end this way. With you sucking face with a cheerleader while I—”
“I thought she was you.”
I backtrack, needing to put some space between us.
“You… what?” I choke.
“It’s true.” He steps closer. “You have to believe me, Vee. First thing I did when she walked in was kiss her—no, fuck that, first thing I did when she walked in was kiss you.”
My stomach churns at the thought of Xavier gripping my face and kissing me instead of her, slow and hard, liberating us from weeks of built-up tension.
My phone chimes with two texts from Dia.
Dia:Did Lacey get to you? She found your keys. Went up to Finn’s room to give them back to you.
Dia:Never mind, I just talked to her. She said she didn’t find you. I’ve got your keys. Text me before you leave xo
Holy shit.
Is that why Lacey wound up in Finn’s bedroom? To give me back my keys? Axel kept getting in my way, trying to set me up with one of his friends, which would have allowed Lacey to get there before me.
Xavier’s telling the truth, isn’t he?
“Say that was even two percent truth, it doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t notice she wasn’t m…” I stop myself. That’s not fair. He couldn’t have known she wasn’t me. He’d never seen me before, but I can’t stomach the thought of him confusing “Love” with Lacey fucking Mattson.
Does he not know me at all?
After all our texts?
All our confessions?