Page 80 of Show Me

“I know what I left.” The space tightens. “Excuse me.” I don’t wait this time. I step sideways, duck under his arm, and stop when Xavier appears at the end of the hallway.

Not rushing. Not posturing. Just… there.

His attention shifts from Greg to me, taking everything in without asking: the space, the distance, the way my shoulders are pulled tight. His expression changes—small, cold.

“Everything okay?” He directs the question at me without sparing Greg a glance.

“I’m fine.” My pulse is racing despite my words.

Greg straightens, stepping back. “We were talking.”

Xavier doesn’t move. “She said excuse me.”

Silence drops between them before Greg lets out a short breath. “You don’t need to jump in.”

Xavier’s voice stays even. “Then don’t give me a reason to.”

Greg’s jaw tightens. “She worked for me.”

“She doesn’t anymore.” The line settles. Firm. Final.

Greg glances at me, then back to Xavier. “You don’t know the situation.”

“I know enough.”

Another pause. “I’m not a problem,” Greg says.

“Then it won’t be hard to stay away.” No raised voice. No movement. Just a line. Greg looks like he wants to push it, but he doesn’t.

“Call me when it all goes to hell,” he mutters, brushing past us toward the bar.

I don’t move until the noise swallows him up again. Only then do I notice my hands shaking, and the quiet after him feels sudden.

Xavier turns back to me, the edge in his expression easing. “Are you really okay?”

A nod comes before I can think about it. Not because it’s true. Because he’s here. Because he saw it. Because he came in and rescued me. Again. And because, if I admit how shaken I am, I’ll have to face how close I came to being alone in this.

He reaches up and trails his thumb along my jawline. “You don’t have to deal with him. Not when I’m around.”

“I know.” The words surprise me. I do know. Xavier won’t let anything happen to me, and that realization warms me in ways that should be illegal. He’s not my savior. Or my rescuer. I can handle things myself. But having him in my corner feels pretty damned good.

His gaze holds mine. Then he nods. “Come on. Your friends are about to come back here.”

I glance past him. Bella and Emily are halfway out of the booth, eyes locked on the hallway, ready. The tightness in my chest eases a little more. They’re in my corner too.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Xavier

I don’t take my hand off her back as we step from the hallway into the bar. Not when the noise swallows us whole. Not when Greg disappears into the crowd like he was never there.

My palm rests between her shoulder blades, light, steady. Enough to feel the tension still locked there. She doesn’t pull away. Doesn’t lean in either. Just lets it stay.

That’s enough.

Bella and Emily are already halfway out of the booth when we reach the table, both of them scanning Ruby like they’re checking for cracks.

“She okay?” Bella asks.