Page 2 of Chasing Xander
He laughed, and goose bumps erupted on her arms. “Dinner, huh? I can handle that.”
Her heart jackhammered in her chest. “And a movie, too.”
“Whatever you want.” He winked, then stood and moved around the massive tree that stood near the edge of the sidewalk. Then he held up a pair of white briefs, a devilish glint in his eyes. “Granny panties? Now, this is a surprise.”
She glared at him. More accurately, they were period panties, and she only wore them one week a month. Not that she was going to tell him that. Instead, she said, “Everyone needs backup underwear for laundry day.”
“Not me. I go commando.”
“Oh my God.” She laughed, and then her gaze dropped lower. Was he commando right now?
“Were you just checking me out?”
Her eyes jerked back up to his face. “What? No.” She shook her head.Liar.
“Hmm, too bad.” His smile grew, as if he was pleased with himself. “Because I was totally checking you out.”
“Yo, Xander! We gotta go!” Some guy whistled and waved his hands over his head.
His name was Xander. Was there anything about him that wasn’t perfect? Picking up the final item, she dropped it into the box and then lifted it.
“Want some help carrying that?” Xander asked.
“No, I got it, but thanks.” Like she was going to let him carry the box up to her room and subject him to Celeste’s parents. Or Celeste. It was bad enough he’d already fondled her underwear. A girl could only survive so much embarrassment in a single day.
“You sure?”
“Yes.” She adjusted her hold on the box. Her palms stung from falling, and the cardboard rubbing against them wasn’t helping. Without another word, she rushed toward the front door of her res hall, refusing to look back to see if he was watching.
“I didn’t get your name,” he shouted after her.
Stopping, she turned back. “You want my name?” she asked, a hint of disbelief in her tone.
“Well, considering I just spent the last few minutes playing with your underwear, yeah, I want your name.”
Several people walking by slowed to watch their exchange, thanks to the fact Xander was using his outside voice. If he spoke any louder, people on the other side of campus would be able to hear him.
“Kylie,” she said.
“Well, then, Kylie…” He took a few steps backward. “I’ll be seeing you around.”
She blew out a breath.
“Hey, I was coming down to find you. What’s taking so long? Everything all right?” Celeste asked.
“Yeah, I dropped a bunch of stuff. But it’s fine now. My arms, however, are about to fall off. I need to set this box down.”
“Why didn’t you leave that one for my dad to carry?”
“I should have.” But then she wouldn’t have met Xander. “It’s fine.” She headed inside and upstairs to her new home for the next year. Celeste’s parents, Mike and Sarah, were in their room bickering over how to get the TV set up.
“No, you have to put that cable there.” Sarah pointed to the back of the TV and then buried her face in the owner’s manual. “Yeah, you’re doing it wrong. See?” She showed the manual to Mike.
“I know what I’m doing, Sarah,” he snapped.
Kylie dropped the box onto her bed and headed back out to grab another one. Thirty minutes and numerous trips later, they finally had everything in their room. Now they had to unpack all of it, which was a daunting task. The boxes were piled high, making it impossible to move around.
“Seriously, Mom? Did you need to pack all this stuff?” Celeste said.
