Page 60 of Chasing Xander
“A prank?”
He nodded. “This one time, Ryder and I got into it pretty bad. I was thirteen, I think. I can’t even remember what started it. I’m sure it was stupid. But we didn’t talk for like a week, and neither of us were budging. Poor Tanner, always the peacekeeper, was stuck in the middle.” He shook his head. “He tried to make amends between us, but we didn’t make it easy on him. And I would never admit it then, but I was really starting to miss my big brother. So, I apologized by taking all the shoelaces out of his shoes, mixing them up, and then tying all of his shoes together.”
Kylie laughed. “That’s horrible.”
“Yeah, Ryder didn’t think it was funny, either. He got even with me by hanging all my underwear from the tree in the front yard. To make it worse, there was this group of girls who walked by our house every day, so they saw all of it.”
“Oh my God.” She cupped her hand over her mouth and laughed until her eyes were wet with tears. She swiped her fingers under her eyes and took a deep breath. “So, now you know how I felt when you were crawling around on the ground playing with my panties.”
He wagged his finger at her, smiling and shaking his head. “Yes, but your panties are a hell of a lot sexier than mine. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
She raised a brow. “Well, I haven’t seen your manties, so I wouldn’t know.”
“My what?”
“Your manties. You know. Man panties?”
He laughed loudly. “That’s one I’ve never heard before.”
Joy spread to her limbs, causing them tingle. She loved making him laugh like that. “Your brothers sound like they’re a lot of fun.”
“They are.”
They ate the remainder of their meal in silence. The heavy weight on Kylie’s chest was gone, replaced with a light happiness that she prayed would last for a while. After disposing of their trash, they headed back out to the car.
“Here.” He handed her the car keys and opened her door.
He ran his fingers along her jaw, his gaze heated with the same intense look he’d given her seconds before he’d kissed her the other night. She licked her lips, her gaze dropping to his mouth.
“We’d better get back on the road. We’ve still got a ways to go.” He dropped his hand and walked around to the passenger’s side.
Groaning with frustration, she got in the driver’s seat. But once she was seated behind the wheel, her hands shook in excitement as she put the key in the ignition. She loved to drive but without a car didn’t get to do it much. Let alone drive such a beautiful car.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you drive.” He hooked his seat belt and then tightened it. The teasing lilt had returned to his voice.
She couldn’t believe it, either. Kylie pulled out onto the interstate and took a few miles slow to get used to how the car handled. It was so smooth and sleek. Pressing on the gas pedal, she downshifted and switched into the fast lane, passing by a handful of cars. From the corner of her eye, she saw Xander grinning.
“Nice, isn’t it?”
“Nice? Are you kidding?” She pushed the gas harder. “This is better than sex!”
“Then you clearly haven’t been having sex with the right people.” His face fell. “Oh. Shit. I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay, Xander. I know I’m a virgin.” She sliced a look in his direction, giving him a sly grin. “You don’t need to apologize.”
“Right. Of course.” Xander didn’t say anything more about it, and neither did she. He reclined his seat and closed his eyes. They fell silent for a long while, and she figured he’d fallen asleep. That didn’t stop her from stealing glances at him, though. He had one hand resting on his stomach, the other tucked behind his head. His body was lean and relaxed and so damn sexy. She let her gaze quickly rake over him and linger a moment too long on the bulge in his crotch.
“Eyes on the road, Ky,” he said without ever opening his.
She jerked her gaze back to the road. “They are.”
“Mm-hmm.” He peeked at her through heavy lids.
She glanced at him again and shook her head. “What can I say? You’re distracting as hell.”
He brought his seat back to an upright position. “If you want to keep staring, I can drive. Make it easier for you.”
Calling his bluff, she put on her signal light and slowed down to switch lanes.
