Then he moves his leg.
It’s almost nothing, but it opens up a spot by his side.
Did he just…
I don’t let myself think twice about how rude he was to me at Theo’s, plopping down next to him and inwardly yelling, “Are you shitting me?” at the universe when the wind smacks me in the face with a whiff of his cologne.
News flash: Xavier Emery smells good.
Of course he does.
Fuck you, wind.
“You pussies down to play or what?” Axel plucks a deck of card from his pocket.
“Jesus, Fletcher, you still on that?” Xavier drawls. “Will you drop it already? We’re not playing Suck and Blow.”
“Why the hell not? There’s three of us and three of them.” Axel points to comatose Brie and Lacey. “What else are we supposed to do while Finn and Dia are off bumping uglies?”
“I’ll play.” Lacey chooses now to returns to the land of the living. I connect the dots when she sneaks a not-so-discreet peek at her longtime crush.
Theo’s sitting on her left, completely smashed and obviously more interested in the joint in his hand than the conversation happening around him. Ah. If we were to play, Lacey would have to pass the card to him.
With her mouth.
Enough said.
“Me too.” Brie sits up. “This party sucks.”
“Not a party, prom queen,” Theo gibes.
“Whatever,” Brie huffs.
“Cox, you playing?” Axel asks.
Theo snorts. “Not in this lifetime.”
I drink him in. With his squinty, bloodshot green eyes and tousled dark hair, the guy looks higher than Brie and Lacey combined.
“What? But you have to play.” Lacey pouts.
“Way to be obvious, Lace,” Xavier mocks under his breath, his voice so low and hoarse no one hears him but me. I bite back a closed-mouthed smile at his remark.
“Just one round, for me. Please.” Lacey bats her eyelashes at Theo in a “I’ll make it worth your while” way and he sighs.
“One.That’s it,” he caves.
“Xav?” Brie turns to her boyfriend.
“Yeah, whatever,” Xavier drones, barely listening, and kicks Theo’s foot to get his attention. “Give it.” He straightens out his hand, and Theo passes him the joint.
I assume I was wrong about Xavier laying off the sauce, until he wets the tip of his fingers with his tongue and puts out the joint without a warning.
“The fuck?” Theo screeches, but Xavier’s already crushed the doobie with his shoe.
“You’re like a hit away from not being able to tell the difference between Lacey and your right hand. Thank me later,” Xavier says unapologetically, and the group laughs.
Theo blows out an annoyed “Fuck you, man.”