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“Who the fuck are you?” Xander said through gritted teeth.
“I’m her stepbrother. She has done enough crying over you. Please, if you want to do something for her, leave her alone.”
Xander backed out of the room, and David took her in his arms. She was crying so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath. He calmed her.
“Take me home, David. I want to go home.”
“I will. Let me get our coats.”
He left the room and saw Xander in the lobby waiting for a cab as he went to retrieve their coats. David helped her on with her coat and took Ava to the lobby. Xander and his girlfriend were gone by the time they arrived. He hailed a cab and gently pushed Ava inside. She buried her face in his chest on the way to her apartment. He took her upstairs and opened the door for her. Meanwhile, her phone was going off like crazy. David looked at the text messages. Tim was wondering where she was; it was time to leave. He texted Tim and told him that Ava was not feeling well and he was taking her home. He didn’t wait for a reply.
David removed his jacket and tie, than held Ava in his arms. They sat that way for several minutes before she looked up at him and pressed her lips to his. He responded but then pulled back.
“You don’t want me. You want him. I know I would be a poor replacement for him.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I saw the way you were looking at him. Ava, even enraged you still want him. Whatever happened between you two has to be resolved.”
“I questioned him about the email he sent. He said I wounded him; I never did that. He sent me an email wounding me. How could he be so deceitful to me? I don’t want to see him again, ever.”
David held her in his arms until she fell asleep. He slipped himself away from her and laid her on the couch, covering her with a blanket. Then he left her apartment. She needed time to think about what she wanted to do. He would only be a distraction. He would have gladly taken her for his own, but he wasn’t going to compete with a memory. She was destined to be alone unless she could work out her issues with Xander.
* * *
As they arrivedat his parent’s apartment building, Xander gently pulled Kaycee out of the cab. She had questioned why they left early. She was enjoying herself speaking with his friends. He only told her that they needed to go. He felt miserable because of the exchange between Ava and himself. Why would she say he cheated on her and sent her an email about it? He would never do such a cruel thing. The look on her face tortured him. He would never forget it.
He was quiet on the way up in the elevator, and Kaycee sensed he didn’t want to talk. His parents were not home yet, and Kaycee took the opportunity to start opening his belt and zipper. She slipped her hand into his boxers and grasped his flaccid cock. Normally he would be hard the minute she started to unzip him, but he didn’t desire her. He only became semi-erect and then pulled her hand out telling her no.
She was shocked by his actions since he had never turned down her advances. She demanded to know what was the cause of his behavior. He ignored her and went to the bar in his parent’s den. He poured himself a double scotch and sat down in the leather wing backed chair by the window.
“Are you going to talk to me or drown yourself in scotch?”
“I don’t want to discuss it right now, can’t you understand that?”
“Xander, there are some things that I will never understand about you. When you are ready to talk, I will be waiting.”
She turned and went back down to the guest bedroom. A little while later he heard his parents come home and go to their room. By then, he was on his third double scotch and was feeling quite drunk. He ended up falling asleep in the wingback chair until dawn.
He woke up with a start not knowing where he was. As his eyes adjusted to the surroundings, he realized he was in his father’s den still dressed in his suit. He picked up his half empty glass of scotch and poured it out into the kitchen sink. Then he crept down the hall to the guest bedroom and removed his clothes. Kaycee was curled up in the fetal position on her side of the king sized bed. He slipped in dressed only in his boxers, but he kept his distance from her. It was the end for them. He didn’t love her the way she needed to be loved. He doubted he could ever love any woman more than Ava.
Xander woke at 9:00 AM to the sound of drawers slamming. He was sleeping on his side of the bed facing the wall. Kaycee was packing her suitcase. They had a noon flight and had to get to the airport. She was upset with him that was obvious. She sat on the bed and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to her expecting to see the anger in her face, but there was none.
“I get it now.”
He looked at her puzzled. “What do you get? I don’t understand.”
“I always felt you were holding back something from me, and now I know.”
“Kaycee, I’m…”
“Look, you don’t have to apologize. I like you a lot, Xander, but it’s just not going to work out for us. You don’t love me, and I don’t know if you ever would. Your heart belongs to someone else.”
Xander sat up in bed and looked at his hands.
“I never meant to hurt you. I hoped I would forget but I can’t.”
Kaycee leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
“You don’t belong in California; you belong here.”
She went back to packing, and he slipped out of bed to get dressed. He felt a little better, but the fact that Ava hated him made his heart feel heavy.
He needed to have the conversation with his father that Peter had waited four years to have. He was coming back to the firm if they would have him. Peter was elated to have his son back on the East Coast. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to leave his position in Los Angeles until after Christmas. He had signed a contract that stated he must give four weeks notice for resignations. He would miss Christmas in New York, but there would be plenty of those once he got back.
Surprisingly, Kaycee was in good spirits even though they had broken up. She chatted with the man next to her on the plane as she noticed he was reading a surfer magazine. It turned out that he was on the pro-circuit and had just visited some relatives for the holidays. Xander was happy she wasn’t taking their separation that hard.
When they arrived back in Los Angeles, they took separate cabs back to their respective homes. Lidia and Brett were anxious to hear about the engagement party and if he saw Ava. He told them exactly what transpired, and they were floored that she would accuse him of cheating.
He told them that he was leaving to go back to the East Coast and hopefully a future with Ava. He needed her, and his life would never be complete without her. He knew he had a huge mountain to climb to get her back.
