Page 41 of Dangerous Pursuit
Sawyer turns back to us and Blake's head drops onto the table with a thud.
“Damn. I haven’t realized how exhausted I really was until about now,” Blake mutters to the table, the tension of what I can only assume was a difficult exam session seemingly rolling off him all at once.
Sawyer puts his hand between Blake's shoulder blades, gently, in a non-Sawyer fashion, with the affection only seen in new couples. “You did great.Wedid great.”
Blake picks himself up with a groan. "Maybe, but at what cost?"
They both chuckle, but the air to my left where Xander sits remains perfectly still.
The bartender then comes with a tray of four lagers, doubling as a waiter. Sawyer picks up his glass and the rest of us follow suit, and he raises a toast tohigher education.
“Here, here,” I say and take a sip, almost spitting it out immediately. Worst fucking lager I’ve ever had.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Xander wincing as he drinks. Blake takes a sip, squints, moves his head from left to right as if to say,not bad. It’sgottabe Sawyer's doing.
For the next hour our conversation drifts from topic to topic, and as the minutes tick by it becomes glaringly obvious that Xander only engages in topics started by either Sawyeror Blake, skillfully remaining mute on the subjects of gym, the weather, Skin on Skin or any other subject started by myself.
He’s so fucking obvious Sawyer and Blake would pick up on it immediately, if only they weren’t fully engaged in alternating between mutual teasing, reassuring, and soothing gestures.
"I hear Jesse's sister is pregnant. With twins," I say once we've exhausted the topics of food, work and academia and transitioned straight into gossip.
"No fucking way!" Sawyer and Blake say in unison, and then Sawyer adds, "I take one week off and people start multiplying?"
"Yep. I'm sure she waited till your energy no longer dragged the mood down to seduce her fiancée."
Blake grins and says, "Yep. He does have that effect on people." Sawyer smacks both me and Blake simultaneously, and I feel more than see Xander's head snapping in my direction.
I tense up. Talk about bringing the mood down. Bracing myself, I slowly turn my head until I’m met with a murderous stare.
What now?
I raise an eyebrow in a silent question and Xander gives me the fakest smile I’ve ever seen on a person. Anyone else would look nasty, sporting a smile like that, but not Xander. Somehow, even when he tries to look bad, he’s gorgeous.
Xander's teeth grit together as he says, fake smile intact, "Excuse me." Then his chair makes an annoying, squeaky sound as he rises to his feet, maintaining eye contact with me for a prolonged moment before he snaps his head around and marches on, raising his arms up as he maneuvers between chairsand makes his way toward a tiny alcove where he disappears in the shadow.
"What's up with him?" Blake asks and Sawyer shrugs in response.
That’s it. Enough hissy fits for one day.
"I'll go check," I say as I get up and follow Xander's path.
Unlike Xander, I bump into every single chair I pass, throwing "Excuse me," left and right to people that don't even seem to notice.
When I finally reach the alcove, I fully intend to wait and confront him as he leaves what I assume is the restroom. But the second I make my final left and my eyes adjust to the semi-darkness, I take a sharp step back when I almost physically run into Xander who's all but guarding the bathroom door.
One look at him lets me know he means business. His features are sharp and focused, thick burrowed brows casting a shadow over his already deep-set eyes and he's standing very straight, with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, one foot tapping on the ground.
The second our eyes lock, his turn into thin, horizontal lines.
I mimic his pose. Minus the foot tapping. "So?" I prompt, keeping my voice low.
Xander doesn't seem to have the same fondness for privacy and deadpans loud enough to challenge the cacophony of out-of-tune instruments being abused on the stage. "Stop trying to steal my friends."
I jerk my head back and blink twice. Clearly, I heard him wrong. "What was that?"
"You heard me. Get your own fucking friends.”
I scoff. "Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?"
