Chapter 20
Justine arrived home, cleaned up, and changed into comfort clothing. As if taking off her work clothes could divorce her from her work problems entirely.
She texted Xavier about game night and received an invite to pop down whenever she was ready.
He seemed so relaxed all the time, and she wondered about his lifestyle as she made her way to his apartment.
Though Xavier had said he was on a hiatus from his job, surely he’d need to go back soon.
Would he still have the free time to meet with her?
And what about when she left the Tuscan Cosmo Apartments? Would they see each other then?
Alarmed at the prospect of losing him, she knocked and let herself inside when he yelled for her to come in.
She wasn’t prepared for the sight of him without a shirt on.
He smiled, holding a shirt in hand. “Hey, Justine. How was today? Good, I hope.” He tugged the shirt over his head, and it took her a moment to gather her thoughts.
Xavier had a broad chest sculpted with muscle. He didn’t have so much chest hair that he looked like a rug, but he had enough to look just her type—manly but not furry. Muscular but not pro weight-lifter muscular. And that smile... His eyes shone like bright pennies, and right at her.
“I, ah, today was okay. Not great, but I met an old friend after work. It was good seeing her.” She meant that. She’d liked Kenzie back in college, and it made her feel good to know that Kenzie was seeing real success, especially in their shared field.
“Nice. Nothing better than seeing old friends. Unless you hated them. Then that’s not great unless they’ve gotten ugly and divorced seventeen times.”
“Ha. Yeah. But no, Kenzie’s super great. She’s married, pregnant, and running a successful business.” Everything I want, she realized. To include the pregnant part. “I’m already twenty-nine.”
“What’s that?”
“Oh, nothing.” She felt silly for thinking of babies around Xavier. Though thoughts of mentioning the B-word, just to see his expression, made her laugh.
“I’m missing the joke.”
“Nah, just me being a goof. So what are we doing tonight? Arrow Sins & Siege or another game?”
“I don’t know. Whatever Benji picks. Truthfully, I’m only invited to keep things smooth between him and Auggie. My sister is tough on the most extroverted of folks.”
“That’s true.” She cleared her throat and hastily added, “But in a good way.”
“Nice save.” He laughed with her. “Look, I love Auggie, but I’m not blind to the fact she’s a bit much to take in large doses. And poor Benji. So smart but so stuck in his own head all the time.”
“How is it you always sound like a therapist but you never make me uncomfortable when you do?”
“We’re not all pushy, trying to shrink everyone, you know.”
“I know.” She caught his teasing and eased into a smile. “I’m just... Do you miss working with patients?” A different way of asking if he intended to get back to work.
“I do, actually.” He sounded surprised and stroked his jaw, making him look like an academic despite the shorts and tee-shirt.
“I’m on a break because I needed to regroup and wanted to work on a side project.
But I’m probably going to head back to the office in July.
But not until after the wedding, so no worries. ”
“Oh, about that. My mom called me today.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Ha. Yeah.” She sighed. “We’re invited to a family dinner tomorrow night. You can say no.”
“I’m dying to meet your family. Heck no. I want to go.”
“Oh man. Xavier, they will be annoying and intrusive. My dad’s a snob, which is weird because he never had money growing up.
Most of what he has now he earned before I hit high school.
I didn’t grow up being rich or anything, though we were always comfortable.
” She grimaced. “Sorry to ramble. Money is not a taboo topic with my family. They talk about it constantly.”
“Hey, don’t worry. I’m great with parents. They’ll love me.”
“Ugh. They’re so annoying.”
He frowned. “Would you rather I didn’t go?”
“Huh? Oh, no. Not at all. I just don’t want them to put you off. I like you.”
He looked her over and smiled. “I like you too. Especially when you dress like this.”
“Like a slob?”
He laughed. “I guess. I meant without makeup or anything fancy. I like regular, funny, slobby Justine.”
“Slobby. Very funny.” She snickered.
The look in his gaze heated her up and had her heart racing.
He stalked her until she had her back against the wall in the hallway.
“Xavier?”
“Justine.” He gave her the whisper of a kiss, and her body tightened all over. “I can’t stop thinking about you.” He planted his hands on the wall on either side of her head. “I missed you last night when you went home.”
“You did?” So it wasn’t just her.
“Yeah.” He kissed her again, the pressure firmer but still not enough. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t do this, but—”
She yanked him closer and kissed him breathless. So much for taking things slowly with him. She wanted him now. Right now. And in case he didn’t get the message, she kicked off her shoes, shorts, and panties and dragged his shorts and underwear down to grip his cock.
“Oh, damn.” He groaned and kissed her back.
She kept pumping him while his hands sought the heat of her, gripping her breast in one hand, her pussy with nimble fingers.
He let her go, took a step back, and dragged a condom out of his shorts pocket. Then it was on. He picked her up, her back against the wall, and shoved inside her.
The rush of sensation had her coming soon after, and he took her with speed and intensity, coming right after she did.
She could only breathe, still awash in pleasure, as he held her against the wall, pinning her there with his body, his big cock buried inside her. They panted as if they’d run a marathon, and she let all her cares go, replete in being wanted and satisfied by her lover.
“Justine, sweetheart,” he murmured as he kissed her, his hands hot against her ass. “You’re amazing.”
She kissed him back, loving their relaxed play, now that the urgent need had been taken care of. “You too, studly.”
His laugh turned into a groan. “Uh-oh, shouldn’t have laughed.”
She could feel him falling out of her.
“Be right back.” He left for the bathroom but quickly returned, his clothes straightened, to find her all put together as well. “Aw, you got dressed.”
She tried not to blush but couldn’t help it. “I didn’t want to chance your sister showing up and getting an eyeful.”
He blinked. “Hell. I hadn’t even thought of that.”
“Well, I did. And I’m going to take a pass on game night.” She pulled him close and kissed him, reveling in his scent and taste. “Not because I don’t want to, but because I’m so relaxed I’m going to just enjoy it. If your sister sees me, no matter how put together I am, she’ll know what we did.”
He groaned. “She will, and she’ll give you the third degree about it.”
“Great minds think alike.”
He kissed her back and hugged her. “Great minds. Great bodies. Great sex.”
“Yeah.” She let him hold her, and she didn’t want to move.
His phone buzzed. “That’s probably Auggie.”
“My cue to leave.”
“Are we...” He followed her to the door. “Are we still okay?”
“We are perfect.” For now, she thought but didn’t say, starting to feel more for him than she was comfortable with. “Go have fun with Benji and Auggie. I’ll see you tomorrow night at six, and we can rehearse before dinner with my family.”
“Now I’m worried.”
“You don’t look worried.”
He gave her a wide smile. “That’s because I can’t forget that you called me studly. And you came all over me. That will live on in my mind forever.”
“Xavier.” She shook her head, her cheeks hot. “Tease. I need to go if your sister is coming.”
“Run away. Escape while you can.” He stopped her at his door and kissed her again, his hands cupping her cheeks with care and making her so very, very pliant. “Get home before I forget myself and fuck you all over again.”
“Hold on. I’m thinking.”
He winked and opened the door. “Might want to run. I can sense my twin coming up the stairs.”
She hurried away, ignoring his laugh and enjoyed her evening doing nothing.
Until she thought about what awaited them the next night and allowed herself a mini-freakout.
Ensconced in Benji’s gamer cave—what he called his living room—Auggie took one look at her brother and knew he was a lot happier than normal. And for such an upbeat guy, that was saying something. She glanced at Benji, looked at Xavier, and raised a brow. Benji gave a subtle shrug.
She should have known better than to try to get an opinion from the tall nerd, but come on, anyone with a brain could see her brother practically glowing.
Had to be the chick upstairs.
Justine in 3D, who had been invited but backed out of game night at the last minute.
Hmm.
Even without the naughty neighbor, Auggie enjoyed game night at Benji’s, especially because he seemed to finally be thawing in her presence. She didn’t know what she’d done to annoy him, but for the past few months, he seemed to freeze up whenever she came around.
And that was a shame, because she saw a lot of cuteness under that godawful hair.
“Justine canceled because her parents are getting under her skin,” Xavier announced after they’d spent an hour eating pizza and playing a few rounds using all new characters in Benji’s new game-test design.
“I know the feeling,” Auggie muttered, not pleased with her mom lately. “Mom not only had a mediocre date with your guy, but she stood mine up. Although, I guess Mike wasn’t the best with his hit or miss plans. Still, she made no attempt to get together with him after their last cancelation.”
“Huh?” Benji looked confused.
“Our mom is out on the dating scene again, and Xavier and I are helping find her a man.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” He easily defeated an ogre king with nothing more than a poisonous vine.
Auggie leaned toward his big screen monitor, approving his home decor more than she’d thought she would. Though a bachelor, Benji had nice, comfy furniture that he kept organized and clean. Or at least, he’d cleaned up before company arrived.
She liked his style, a mix of contemporary and futuristic accents.
A lot of neon against black and white. It was fun—the opposite of what nerd-guy projected.
Benji in the wild didn’t fit. He always seemed stressed or unhappy.
Here, in his home, he had relaxed and let himself be seen as a fun-loving guy with a surprisingly muscular build.
She’d been subtly eyeing him all night, still surprised to realize that without the bad and baggy clothes, the guy was seriously ripped. He also had pretty, dark-blue eyes. Huh.
“How are you killing everyone with vines?” she asked, annoyed to be losing. “I thought this game was brand new.”
“It is. We’re demoing it.” He shrugged those broad shoulders she wanted to measure. “Hey, can you grab me another slice?” he directed to Xavier.
“That’s like a whole pizza pie,” she grumbled, which had her brother laughing.
“Don’t mind her, Benji. Auggie doesn’t like to lose.” After handing Benji another slice, her brother excused himself for the bathroom, and she fled the couch to corner Benji in his chair.
“Hey.”
“What’s up with Xav and Justine?”
Benji flushed and tried to peer around her at the screen. “No clue.”
“Liar.” She yanked the game controller from his hands and tossed it on the couch behind her.
“Hey.”
“You already said that.” She invaded his personal space by straddling his lap, standing on her knees so that the only place they touched were knees to thighs. To her surprise, even on her knees, she had to look up to meet his gaze.
She’d managed to mute him, and he stared at her in shock, which was an improvement from avoidance or the stammering he normally engaged in.
She nodded. “Now quit stalling, nerd-boy. You know something. Tell me, Benji.”
He remained quiet, his gaze glued to her lips.
A funny flush of heat filled her, one that typically didn’t exist when confronted with hairy, nerdy giants.
“Y-you are really pretty,” he said in a low voice and put his hands on her shoulders.
The shock of desire stole her voice.
Then the giant leaned close, smelling of beer and sandalwood, oddly enough, to whisper in her ear, “I peeked out my peephole and saw her leave his place before you got here. She, um, looked a little like maybe they kissed.”
“Or maybe they did a lot more.” She pulled back and met his gaze, startled at the forest of lashes surrounding such dark-blue eyes.
Then Benji being Benji, he glanced away from her face. Except he chose to look at her shirt. At her boobs, to be more specific.
She frowned. Was Benji putting on an act or was he as awkward as he’d always seemed?
“What the hell?” Xavier boomed from the hallway.
Which had both her and Benji yelling in fright as the giant jolted upright, tossing her ass on the floor. “Be right back.” Benji raced down the hall and slammed the bathroom door shut behind him.
“What did you do to him?” Xavier asked, his tone accusing.
“Him?” She stood and gingerly rubbed her butt. “He dumped me like a sack of potatoes.” Her eyes narrowed. “I wonder what he benches.”
“Be nice,” Xavier warned.
“Or what?”
He had her in a headlock when Benji returned soon after, and though they continued to play and tease each other, she caught more than a few of Benji’s glances her way in addition to her brother’s suspicious looks.
“Whatever,” she said to them both and proceeded to beat them into submission in the game.
Before they left, she tugged Benji aside and whispered, “Keep an eye on him. I’ll be back in a few days for a report.”
Expecting him to stammer or avoid her gaze, she was further surprised when Benji gave a solemn nod...and a wink before he closed the door behind them.
What to make of that?