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I tried to hide my smirk, and most likely failed.
Xavier was Drew’s best friend, and Rocky’s… I didn’t know what. After all the water that had gone under the bridge between the two of them, I still kind of struggled to understand their dynamic. It was stupid really—if there were two people that were hot for each other, it was them. Sometimes it felt indecent just being in the same room as them with the amount of sexual chemistry sparking back and forth between them.
Even without touching, the two of them together were sex on four legs. Their eye-fucking game was so off-the-charts hot, I sometimes thought I might get knocked up just watching. As it was, it had definitely had me wanting to excuse myself to finish the job they’d started on more than one occasion.
“That’s not what I meant.” Xavier sounded pissed, but there was nothing new there. That was his standard MO.
“Which is weird for a guy as smart and as calculated with his words as you. You normally have no problem expressing exactly what you mean, and just now it sounded a lot like the biggest issue with me having broken ribs and a split forehead was my inability to carry out Cygnus business, and the inconvenience that caused to you.” He was pulling no punches, and I enjoyed seeing someone—apart from Rocky—serve Xavier a big fat dose of his own medicine.
“Oh, and by the way, I didn’t pick up your calls or anyone’s because I was asleep. Y’know, because of the broken ribs and all. Kik’s here with me, she knew Rocky and Bear would let you know what had happened.”
“Well, she got that wrong. Thank God Rocky was there, or I wouldn’t know shit. Bear’s lips were tighter than a nun’s chastity belt. I couldn’t get a word out of him until I basically threatened to set him on fire.”
“Yeah, okay. I did tell Bear not to say anything, but that was just because I needed time to lick my wounds, and work out what the fuck I wanted to do, without you guys descending on me and trying to plan World War III. You in particular, if I’m honest…” Those words were surely a red rag to a bull.
“What the fuck? So you don’t want us to know what’s happening, or help you with whatever the hell it is you need help with, but you have her there playing nursemaid or something? Who died and made her anything to you?”
Drew sighed long and loud, looking faintly bored. From what I’d heard from Rocky, the two guys were a well-practiced double act, and they went back and forth this way often.
“I could ask the same question of you about Rocky, but of course we’re not allowed to question the crazy whims of the crown prince. By the way, I have you on speaker, so watch your mouth.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just try to tell me what I can and can’t say. Did you get a blow to the head during this beat down?” Funny, I’d asked him the same thing earlier.
“Why does everyone keep saying that? Nothing wrong with my head, and for the record, unlike when ‘he who shall not be named’ handed you your ass on a plate, I didn’t get beat up. I had a fight, and I gave as good as I got. I have the wrecked knuckles to prove it. He won’t be out there running marathons or entering beauty pageants, either, trust me,.” I noted the careful omission of who he’d been fighting. He was hiding something, even from Xavier.
“Yeah, well, you can mock, but I was a fucking kid when that happened and he was a grown-ass man. We all know that if it had been today, it would have gone down very differently. As it is, it’s safe to say that I exacted my revenge in a much more meaningful way than just breaking his nose.”
“I won’t argue there. From where I was standing when you turned the tables, it was game set and match to Mr. Cross.”
I winced at the reference to recent events with Rocky. Xavier Cross wasn’t a person to get on the wrong side of, and he made sure the world knew it.
“Anyway, enough about me. As you rightly pointed out, this shit’s about you. What the hell happened? I want details—who, when, and where? And how are we going to make them pay?”
“I know it doesn’t happen except with Rocky, who seems to have a free pass with these matters, when the rest of us risk a tongue lashing and/or an ass whooping—not that you could whoop my ass—but I’m going to say no. There is no ‘we’ in this. You know as much as you’re going to know, right now. I can, and will, fight my own battles.”
“Yet you told her everything no doubt.”
I desperately wanted to interject at that point, and tell him that I didn’t know jack, but I figured it wasn’t my place to get involved in Drew’s shit with his friends, especially when the friend concerned was Xavier Cross.
I’d probably overstepped in shooing Bear away earlier, and was surprised when Drew hadn’t put up more of a fight, or any fight at all, but in the end, I figured that was testament to just how wiped out he was. I was pretty sure that if he hadn’t had seven shades of shit beaten out of him, he would have told me where to go. As it was, I knew not to push my luck.
“Do you even hear yourself? You sound like a jealous girlfriend. By her, do you mean Kik?”
“Who the hell else would I mean?”
“I dunno. Could have been Bella, my mom, or the Queen of fucking Sheba for all I care.”
“Now who’s being an asshole?”
“Well, sorry if I’m not all sweetness and light while I nurse a couple of fractures, a hand so swollen it looks like the belongs to Hulk, and a pretty decent gash above my eye. Broken ribs hurt like a motherfucker.”
“Who are you telling? That was the worst part of being beat six ways from Sunday. They got more painful as they healed, too.”
“Yep. Not my first rodeo. I know that pain very well.”
“Hmm… So you’ve been cagey and evasive for a while, and now this. Care to enlighten me as to what the fuck is going on with you these days?”
“Nope. It’s nothing for you to be concerned about for the moment, at least. I’ll tell you when it makes sense to do so. In the meantime, know that I have my reasons for remaining tight-lipped, and they are solid.”
