Page 59 of Chasing Xander
“I’ll tell you what.” Greg lowered his voice and glanced around as if checking to make sure no one was listening. “I’ll give you a large. On me.” He winked.
She was taken aback. “Wow. Thanks.” He wasn’t flirting with her, was he? Why would he do that when she was clearly with another guy? As if on cue, Xander stepped up beside her and put his hand on her lower back. The touch warmed her, and she instinctively leaned closer to him.
“I’ll have a double bacon cheeseburger with a double order of fries and a soda.” Xander’s voice was tight, and his expression was hard.
Greg punched in the order, then mumbled, “That’ll be sixteen dollars and twenty-seven cents.”
Xander pulled out his credit card and handed it to Greg, who swiped it before handing it back. Greg turned around to get their food.
“There you go,” he said and placed their food on a tray. “Is there anything else I can get you? Ketchup, maybe?”
Xander grabbed the tray and walked off to an empty table. She smiled. “Thanks. I think we’re all set.” Then she joined Xander at the table.
“He was flirting with you,” he said.
“So?” She shrugged.
He coughed as if choking on his food. He took a long drink and cleared his throat. “So? He’s got some nerve. You’re here with another guy. How the hell does he know we’re not together?”
“He doesn’t.” She put a fry in her mouth and chewed slowly. The only other time she’d seen him like this was when she’d gotten the picture of Finn’s dick. “But it doesn’t matter, anyway, because we’renottogether. Are we?” She raised a brow, challenging him.
“I don’t know.Are we?”
“I asked you first.” She smiled sweetly.
He took a large bite of his burger. “Do you want to be? Together, I mean.”
Her heart slammed hard in her chest, and she sat back in the chair, eyes wide. Did he just ask her to be his girlfriend? Doubt clouded her thoughts. What if that’s not what he was asking and she answered in a way that would make a fool of herself? Licking her lips, she answered the only way she could think of. “Do you?”
He laughed. “You know, we could spend all night going back and forth like this. One of us is going to have to answer eventually.” He took a drink of his soda. “Ladies first.”
“Can I have a few days to think about it?” She shoved another fry into her mouth so she wouldn’t laugh at his shocked expression.
His jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. I mean, I did just lose my grandmother. I’m not in any position to be making life-changing decisions.” She nibbled on a fry.
“Tell me about her,” he said.
Kylie smiled wistfully. “She was great. Everyone loved her. In fact, her house wasthehouse in high school. The one place where everyone wanted to hang out. I would bring my friends home on Friday, and she’d always have a plate of freshly baked cookies waiting for us. Double chocolate chunk with marshmallows. They were wonderful.”
“They sound delicious.”
“God, she had a mouth on her, though.” She laughed. “She never shied away from letting people know exactly what she thought.”
“Now I know where you get it.” He winked.
Every time he winked at her, his eyes twinkled, and every time, without fail, her breath would hitch. “She always told me not to be afraid to stick up for myself, and she definitely taught me how.”
“I had brothers to do that for me.” He chuckled.
“What was it like growing up with them? I’m an only child, so it was always just me and Nammy Joyce.” She unwrapped her chicken sandwich and bit into it. “I mean, I had Celeste and other friends, but it wasn’t the same as having a brother or sister.”
“It was…interesting. We harassed the shit out of each other whenever we could. Still do.” He paused to take a drink. “But we always have each other’s backs, too. It’s like living with your best friend.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“We have our arguments and disagreements, too, but we usually resolve them with a prank. That’s our way of saying sorry.”
