Page 39 of Twisted Mates

“I am?” she asks, surprise on her face as I grab her arm and lead her out the door, waving goodbye to Carrington over her shoulder.

“Yeah, if you think I’m letting you out of my sight, you’ve lost your mind,” I say, leaning down close to her ear so that only she can hear me.

She looks up at me as we reach my truck, and I open the door for her. We’re behind it and shielded from the house, so she places her palm on my chest. “I need you to calm down, Xander,” she says, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

“This has to end before it gets out of hand.” I tip my chin, gesturing for her to get inside. She doesn’t put up a fight and slides into the passenger seat.

The truck rumbles, covering the sound of her steady breaths. I glance at her occasionally, the smooth up and down of her chest soothing my frayed nerves. The thought of someone watching her while she dressed sets my blood boiling. No one should be watching her like that, only—I stop the thought before I take it too far. Not even I should have my eyes on her naked body without her express permission.

She finally speaks a few minutes later. “Have you heard from Kai?”

“No.” I hate to be so short with her, but I feel like I’m on the verge of exploding. Every time I speak, it’s like I’m adding fuel to the fire.

“I wonder where he went,” she says, and when I glance over at her, she’s staring out the window. I can tell by the tone of her voice that she’s just talking to talk, because she needs to get it out.

I shove down my anger and be what she needs right now.

Because no one else is. I won’t fail her too. Not when all she wants is someone to talk to.

“I don’t know. I asked a few family friends if they’d seen him and they said no, and they have no reason to lie. I also had to keep it really casual so I don’t alert anyone he’s gone. Kai is normally so...chill. I’d never picture him running away from home, so I just don’t know where to even start besides just asking around.”

She nods and shifts in her seat. Without even looking, I can feel her gaze on me. “Clayton is pissed at me for not, I don’t know... constantly sobbing since Kai left. He practically yelled at me before I left to go to my parents’ house yesterday.”

I clench my jaw, forcing myself to stay focused on the road. The thought of my asshole stepdad ripping into her makes me furious. But he’s never been the type of person to think about how situations affect anyone else. “I can’t make any excuses for him. Clayton is an ass. I wish I had been there to shield you from him.”

“Me too, but it’s okay, I handled him. I basically told him I was going to do what I wanted and walked out the door.”

I smile. “Good for you. The two of us got into a yelling match about it earlier too; he stormed out of the house but not before he blamed me and my defiant example for what Kai has done.He wouldn’t have left if it weren’t for you showing him that abandoning his responsibilities is acceptable.”

She cocks a brow at my impersonation of Clayton. “You sound just like him.”

“I’d say it’s a talent, but he never shuts up and I have nightmares about him talking down to me.”

She looks at me like she’s unsure if I’m kidding or not. Unfortunately, I’m not. That man has made my life hell for more reasons than one, but one stands out in my mind that is unforgivable. The reason I’ll never have an ounce of respect for that sorry excuse for a man. She doesn’t press it though, whichI appreciate. I’d rather not trauma dump right now. I want to focus on her.

“Does he have any idea of where he might have gone?” she asks.

“Nothing substantial. Really just wanted to blame me more than anything. He said he warned me the other night—” I stop short when we pull into the parking lot, next to the store they had gone into. “Do you see the Jeep?”

Alexia sits up straight and looks around, craning her neck to see out the windows. She leans over me to look and her breast brushes against my arm. My cock twitches in my jeans and I grit my teeth, willing it to calm down.This is not the time.

“It isn’t here. At least not where it was when we left.”

“No more going out without someone to watch your back. I love my sister, but we both know she gets distracted with pretty, shiny things around.”

She tries to hold in her laughter, but it escapes her as a snort. Her hand claps over her mouth, her eyes going wide. Against my better judgment, because as I’ve already said, I have none when it comes to her, I curl my tattooed fingers around her bare, perfect skin and say, “Don’t do that. I like when you smile. I wish you had a reason to do it more often.”

Alexia’s breath catches in her throat, and she slides her hand into mine, intertwining our fingers. “I do,” she whispers, not meeting my gaze. “Well, I thought I did.”

“What are you talking about?” I say, lifting her chin with my free hand so she has to look me in the eyes.

She shakes her head, her cheeks reddening with, what, embarrassment? With me? I start to press her again when she finally says, “You. You make me smile, Xander. And I—” She looks up at the ceiling of my truck and then back to me. “I’m not sure if I’m reading too much into last night or what, and I’m just—I’m confused.”

I close my eyes and gather my thoughts. Part of me wanted her to think it was a mistake. It would make everything simpler if she just wanted to walk away. But then that selfish part of me is doing some kind of backflip over the confession. She has spent time thinking about what we did.

“We shouldn’t have done it,” I say.

“I know and?—”

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