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I’m not gonna lie, having been away from my family most of my adult life, it feels good to help out a little.
She takes Emelia’s hand, and they disappear down the hall.
A couple seconds later, Clara reveals herself. She steps in and shuts the door. “Pretty nice thing you did.” She flips the lock.
“What are you doing?”
She walks toward me. “One thing you should probably know about me is that it gets me hot when men are vulnerable with children.”
“Is that so?” I grin at her.
She nods, her eyes never leaving mine.
Once she’s close enough, I swing my arm around her waist and pull her toward me. She laughs, but I swallow her laughter with a kiss. Things get a little carried away and I turn her, lowering her to the bed. I cover her body with mine, loving the feeling of having her underneath me. My hand slips under her sweater, grazing her soft skin to her breast that’s covered in a silk bra. My fingers slide under the cup, brushing over her nipple.
The sound of a key in the lock surprises us and we have no time to bolt apart before the door opens to reveal Nikki. “Oh, sorry. I thought Emelia was still in here sulking. I was gonna try to cheer her up.” She shuts the door.
A few seconds later, Nikki yells down to everyone, “Xavier and Clara sitting in Posey’s room K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” She laughs.
“I guess we’re out,” I say to Clara.
“I guess so.”
I give her one more kiss before I help her up, because I know my family is sure to bombard us any second. “Let’s go deal with the aftermath of Nikki’s announcement. It’s sure to be intense.”
18
“YOU’LL NEVER BE OUT OF MY LIFE AGAIN.”
Clara
Xavier wasn’t kidding about his family. Nikki’s announcement had all the women swarming us when we returned downstairs, as if she’d told them an octopus had given birth to a whale or something absurd. There’s only one person who doesn’t seem on board—Presley.
Later that night, I push aside thoughts of my sister and concentrate on Xavier. He’s on my couch and his legs are stretched out on the coffee table, the remote in his hand. How many times have we done this before? But tonight, it feels different.
I put a slice of apple pie on a plate and walk over to join him. We’re supposed to watch Netflix. “Do you want anything?”
“Nah, I’m good.” He eyes my pie and smiles. “You and your sweets.”
I shrug and sit on the other side of the couch.
He pats the spot next to him. “There’s no more cushion between us.” I slide over and his hand rests on my thigh. “What’ll it be? Documentary, movie, or a show?”
“Not a show. I don’t want to feel like I’m cheating when I watch it without you.”
He chuckles and squeezes my thigh. “It’s all right. I’m aware of how little willpower you have when it comes to television shows.”
Last time we tried to binge-watch a show, we got through the first season, then he had to go off to training camp. I tried to act as if I hadn’t watched it without him, but I’m a horrible liar.
“Okay, let’s do a movie. I’d like to relax for a bit.”
He looks my way and opens his mouth for a piece of pie. I fork a piece and he slides it off the fork. Again, we’ve done this before, but it never gave me the urge to say screw the movie, let’s go spend the night in my bed.
He chews and smiles. “A movie sounds good to me.”
He picks some rom-com, which I assume is because he thinks it’s what he should do because that would make me happy. Which spurs me to ask a question I’ve been wondering about. “X? Is it weird for you?”
He pauses the movie. “Is what weird?”
