6. Xander
Well, fuck. This is hot.
When I walked out of this bar and saw Sophie standing by the door, I figured she’d ignore me. Or roll her eyes at me.
Never in a million years did I think she’d grab me and ask me to pretend to be her boyfriend.
Never in a billion years did I think she’d ever kiss me.
I was happy to oblige though. I still feel bad about how I fucked things up when we met and the awkward way I approached her earlier. The least I could do is help her out.
I hum at the soft feel of Sophie’s plush lips, the firm way she presses her mouth against mine, the way her hand cups my cheek.
When she runs her tongue along the seam of my lips, my hum turns into a moan.
Fuck.This girl knows how to kiss.
Just then she pulls away, breaking our kiss. Her eyes dazzle as she gazes at me. God, they’re gorgeous. When I’m this close to her, the blue color is mesmerizing. Rich and deep and sparkly. Like sunlight shining on the surface of the ocean.
A split second later, Sophie blinks and the focus in her eyes returns.
With her hand still holding mine, she turns back to the couple standing in front of her.
I do my best to flash them a polite smile, despite how completely thrown off I feel.
That was a lips-only kiss that lasted just a few seconds, and it still just about knocked me on my ass.
A familiar throb hits my dick. My body’s way of saying it wants more of Sophie’s mouth on me.
I clear my throat and try not to think about just how badly I want to grab Sophie and crash my mouth against hers, only this time I’d tease her lips open with my tongue…
“You’re Xander Williams! Oh my gosh!”
The woman’s surprised voice jolts me back to the moment.
I clear my throat and try to smile. I stick out my hand. “That’s me.”
The tall brunette shakes my hand and says her name is Ellie. She makes a giddy noise.
“I’m a huge Bashers fan. You were incredible tonight at the game. That goal you scored was amazing!”
“Thanks. That’s nice of you to say.”
I notice the guy standing next to her—her boyfriend, I’m guessing, from the way he has his arm around her—is glaring at me. Like he hates me.
He straightens up like he’s trying to match my height. At almost six-four, I’ve got a good handful of inches on him, but hey, whatever makes him feel better.
“Good to meet you. I’m Ethan,” he says, an edge to his voice.
I shake his hand and exchange pleasantries. His gaze cuts to Sophie before he looks at me again.
“You’re the panty dropper,” he says, his tone bordering on accusatory.
I can’t help but smile. “In the flesh.”
Ellie giggles. Ethan pulls her closer to him.
This fucking guy. Does he really think I’m going to steal his girl right in front of him? Yeah, I’ve hooked up with a lot of women, but I’m not a piece of shit. If I know that a woman is with a guy or has a boyfriend, I don’t approach her. I’ve never done that.
“All those panties on the ice.” Ellie giggles. “So wild.”
I chuckle. “It definitely was.”
Ellie turns to Sophie. “Does that ever make you jealous? Knowing that tons of women are in love with your boyfriend?” she asks, her tone teasing.
Sophie flashes a gorgeous, easy smile. “Not at all. I like that he’s such a hot commodity. He comes home to me every night. That’s all that matters.”
I raise a brow as I glance down at her. Well, damn. I like Sophie’s confident, unbothered attitude about relationships. It’s pretty hot.
It’s not real, dumbass. You’re pretending to be her boyfriend, remember?
Oh, right.
I give her hand a soft squeeze before bringing it to my mouth and dusting a kiss on her soft skin. “I’m a lucky man.”
I don’t miss the way that Ethan death-glares me. Even though I was just pulled into this conversation less than two minutes ago, I’d bet anything that he either dated Sophie or wanted to. And he still clearly has a thing for her.
“We should get going,” Ethan says in a gruff tone. When he turns to look at Sophie, his frown eases. “Good to see you, Sophie.”
She doesn’t say anything, she just nods. With my arm around her waist, I feel her body tense. She really doesn’t like this guy. I don’t blame her. He’s giving off some major prick vibes.
Ellie tells us bye as Ethan leads her by the hand down the block. When they turn the corner and dip out of our view, Sophie lets go of my hand. She lets out a breath and gazes up at me, the look in her eyes shy and embarrassed.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry about that.” She covers her face with her hands for a moment, like she’s so embarrassed, she can’t bear to look at me. She drops her hands at her sides. “Ethan’s my ex from med school and we ran into each other just now and he was being such a smug jerk about how great his job is and how happy he is in his relationship now, which made me feel like crap of course because he and I dated. So when I saw you, something in my brain just went off and I wanted to make him think I was with you so I could get back at him, as petty as that sounds.”
Her chest heaves as she inhales. She was speaking so fast, she’s out of breath.
I smile at her. “It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize. I get it.”
She blinks at me like she’s stunned. “You do?”
“Yeah. Smug exes are the worst. They deserve a taste of their own medicine. And you gave it back to him good. He clearly hated me.”
Her gorgeous pink, plump mouth curves up in a smile.
“And he’s still hung up on you, by the way.”
She frowns and shakes her head. “No way. He went on and on about how happy he was to be with someone else…”
“Exactly. If he were truly happy, he wouldn’t have postured so much. He still has a thing for you since just seeing you with some other guy pisses him off.”
She’s quiet for a long moment and looks off to the side, clearly thinking about what I’ve said.
“Maybe you’re right,” she finally says. When she looks at me, there’s a tinge of shyness in her eyes. “Thanks again for saving me. And sorry about the kiss. I got kind of carried away in the moment.”
I grin at her and run my tongue along my bottom lip. “Don’t be. Anytime you want to make your ex jealous, I’m here.”
She rolls her eyes but she’s smiling.
“Where are you parked? I’ll walk you.”
A soft smile tugs at her lips. “Just over there.” She points to an SUV parked a few cars away.
She grabs her keys from her purse and bites her bottom lip as she looks at me.
“So, um, thanks again, Xander.”
“It was my pleasure.”
She starts to walk off but then stops herself and turns around back to me. “Oh, and happy birthday.” The way she says it this time, it sounds like she actually means it.
I grin. “Thanks.”
She flashes a sweet smile and walks to her car. I watch her get in, shut the door, and drive off.
The whole drive home, I think about what a weird birthday this was…and how that unexpected kiss from Sophie was the best part about it.