Chapter 22
The moment they sat in Justine’s car, Xavier turned to her and apologized.
He spoke in a rush. “I’m so sorry for overstepping.
Then I dominated the conversation until we left.
I don’t know what happened. I only meant to defend you when they all jumped down your throat.
And then I found myself explaining about my schooling and my practice with your father. ” He paused. “He’s a little scary.”
Justine had been relieved Xavier had been there to take the heat off her. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. My dad has a tendency to run right over you before you know it. You held your own. I appreciate you standing up for me.”
He flushed. “I feel like I talked for you. And I hate that.”
She clutched his hand in hers. “You defended me. No one does that. Well, Mallory will sometimes. But usually they just steamroll over me. It’s easier to let them. I still do what I want in the end; I just have to suffer a whole lot of unasked for advice before I do.”
He groaned. “Still, I’m sorry. I was a hypocrite, doing exactly what they do. I respect you, Justine.” He opened his mouth and closed it.
“Go ahead.” She started the car and drove them back home.
“It’s not my place.”
She laughed. “Xavier, I can feel you humming with the need to offer advice.”
“It’s like you really know me.”
She couldn’t explain how good it had felt, knowing he’d supported her with her family. Not cowed by her father at all, he’d answered questions while having her back. That arm around her shoulders had not gone unnoticed, and the gesture had gone a long way toward making her feel encouraged.
“You know what? You had enough people telling you what to do about your work life over dinner. How about we get home and go on a walk? It’s a gorgeous night tonight. We’ll walk and talk, and you can rake me over the coals about anything you want. Just so we’re even.”
His broad smile had her pulse picking up, though Justine told herself not to ask for too much from Xavier. Bad enough he was roped into going to her sister’s wedding with her and acting like her boyfriend.
“Well, if you insist.”
They made the drive back to the apartment in no time and decided to walk away from the center of town, taking in the cute neighborhood filled with a diverse mix of homes.
Apartment complexes, Craftsman-styled bungalows, Midcentury modern houses, and of course, the Fremont troll keeping watch from under the Aurora Bridge.
The waning moon offered some light, and the cloudless sky allowed the stars to sparkle overhead. The breeze smelled of honeysuckle, and as they walked, Xavier took her arm and tucked it under his. Trying not to find it all overly romantic proved impossible. Heck, she was only human.
“Ask me anything. Anything at all,” Xavier insisted.
“Such a grand gesture. You must feel totally guilty about dinner.”
He groaned. “You have no idea.”
“Fine. You asked for it.” The question she’d been wanting to ask since she’d met him came to mind. “Tell me about your relationship with your ex. You know, the one with the brother you nearly fought.”
“Ah, Christine.” He glanced down at her. “Are you sure you want to hear about her?”
“You bet.” She hugged his arm. “Come on. You said you owe me.”
“Fine, fine.” He leaned into her as they slowed their pace, caught up in the late spring night and, if she wasn’t mistaken, each other.
“I first met Christine a year and a half ago at a Christmas party. Through Auggie, actually. Someone at the gym hosted a huge get-together, and I went along. We hit it off right away.”
“So she’s pretty.”
“No, she’s a beast with missing teeth and different sized feet.”
“What?” Justine blinked.
“Of course I found her attractive.”
“You don’t have to get snippy about it.”
He chuckled. “Where was this Justine when we were at your parents’?”
“Hiding so they couldn’t devour my soul.”
“Ha. They nearly got mine, but my LMFT background saved me.”
“My dad is really into psychology. You got lucky.”
“I’ll take lucky any day.”
“Right. So…Christine?”
She didn’t examine her interest in his love life too hard. Not that it was any of her business. But she liked him sharing, liked knowing what turned him off and on.
Turned him on…
Try as she might, the thought of tangling in the sheets with him refused to leave her mind. Gah. Get it together, Justine.
“Christine is a lovely woman. She just wasn’t right for me.
I told her from the beginning I only wanted a casual relationship.
I never wanted to lead her on. I was going through a tough time at work and helping to cover another therapist’s patients, and the need to help everyone was getting to me.
I was burning out and just wanted a friend, nothing deeper. ”
“You told her what you wanted from the start.” Xavier would do that, honest to the core. “And she was okay with it, I take it.”
“Yes, at first. Then she and I grew closer. We never moved in together, but we spent a lot of time at each other’s homes. We functioned as a couple. I guess it got confusing.”
Justine could well imagine. She and Xavier weren’t even dating and she’d come to think of him as hers. Totally not cool, girl.
Xavier continued. “And then, well, Christine started to get clingy. We had to do everything together. Now look, I like people, but I also like my own space. I like to think I straddle the line of extrovert and introvert. But needing me-time used to hurt Christine’s feelings.
After we’d talk about it, she’d be okay.
Until the next time she got hurt feelings. ”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah.” Xavier sighed. “I did like her at the beginning. But at the end, I started to not like her so much. And in her defense, she said I counseled her all the time instead of just listening and being a good boyfriend.”
“Huh. You do tend to get a little preachy.”
He stopped and glanced down at her. “Really?”
“I’m kidding, Xavier. Geez. I can tell you’re a super-great therapist. You’re easy to talk to and you really listen.
You’re the most positive person I know. Heck, you felt overwhelmed and took time off for your own mental health.
That’s like, super healthy. I avoid stuff that makes me uncomfortable.
” She frowned, wishing she had a sturdier backbone.
Frank would never take advantage of her father or Angela. They’d eat him alive.
He scowled and protested, “I’m in no way a super-therapist. But I’m flattered you think so.”
“Hey, you survived my family and came out without a scratch. I’m impressed.”
He laughed. “Your family wasn’t so bad. Though it helped that you coached me before we went.
I knew what to expect of your parents and sisters.
And yes, before you ask, Angela is desperate to be your father’s clone, and Mallory just wants approval.
Your mother loves everyone but dances to your father’s tune.
And she’s happy to do that. You, on the other hand, are not. ”
“That caps it. See? Super-therapist. But I got sidetracked. We’re not done the Xavier-Christine story. So how did you break up? You tell me your story and I’ll tell you about me and Mitch.”
“Deal.” He launched into his breakup, apparently eager to hear all about hers.
“It was coming for months. Plus, Auggie kept riding me about her. She never liked Christine. Said we didn’t fit.
And Christine never understood my bond with my sister.
” He looked into Justine’s eyes, and she encouraged him to continue by quietly listening.
“I love Auggie. She’s my sister. My twin.
We obviously don’t do everything together.
But we do spend a lot of our free time hanging out. ”
“I don’t understand why that’s a problem.”
“I didn’t either. I guess Christine took my closeness with Auggie as some kind of slight against her.
” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I only knew I had to call things off.
I thought she’d be on board since she’d seemed so unhappy.
Except she burst into tears. When she saw that didn’t move me, she left after calling me a lot of not-so-nice names. ”
“Oh, now those I want to hear.”
“I’m sure.” He chuckled. “I had no idea I’d see her again after that.
But not a few days went by before she was calling and begging to get back together.
Her desperation made it all worse.” He grimaced.
“That sounds terrible, but it’s true. She came across as shrewish and nasty, a total one-eighty from the woman I’d dated.
It made no sense. She’s a beautiful, intelligent woman who could easily be out dating someone else. ”
Justine squelched the irrational jealousy that surged. Xavier had had a life before meeting her. And he’d broken up with Christine after all. Not that it should matter, since Justine and Xavier were only pretending to date. How sad she had to keep reminding herself of that.
“She managed to come over to pick up something she thought she’d left behind.”
“Nice gimmick.”
“I know. Auggie read me the riot act about it. She’s really into the phrase ‘I told you so.’”
Justine like Auggie even more.
“Then you managed to see me and Dan, her brother, nearly fight. Great first impression, huh?”
“Well, it could have been worse. He could have beaten you up.”
“Good point. He tried to get me to go back with her. As in, she sent him over to convince me I’d made a mistake.” He looked baffled. “I hate that she was hurting, but all her actions after the fact showed we weren’t right together.” His arm around Justine’s shoulders tightened, hugging her to him.
He stared at the road while she studied his profile.
“What about you and Mitch?”
Her turn. “Mitch? Talk about a fiasco.” She snorted, remembering how Dr. Mitch Dunderhead had first snared her. “We met through my mother, believe it or not.”
“Oh, I believe it. Your mother is as shrewd as your father.”
“She totally is. She tries to disarm you with a bubbly smile, pretending she’s the nice parent. All while she subtly maneuvers you until you’re doing exactly what she wanted in the first place.”
“Like dating Mitch.”
“Doctor Mitch,” she corrected. “She met him at some fundraiser and insisted I attend the next one with her. Then I was out on a date with him without being sure how it happened.” She still couldn’t remember if it had been Mitch’s idea to take her out or her mother’s.
“He was charming and smart. Totally handsome.”
“Oh, please. Tell me more,” he said with the the least amount of enthusiasm, which had her snickering.
“Don’t worry. His personality offset all the good stuff he had going for him.
He was nice at first. But when we started dating, after I moved in with him, I realized our lives would always be centered around Mitch and Mitch’s needs.
” She paused in thought and added, “I should have seen it so much sooner.”
“Oh?”
“He was nowhere near your skills.”
“My skills?”
She gave a sly grin. “In the bedroom.”
Xavier tripped and hurried to right himself.
“That crack in the sidewalk get you?”
“You can’t just say stuff like that without a little warning.” Xavier’s warm smile made her heart flutter. “Although if you want, you can—you should—say it again.”
“He sucked in bed.”
“Again.”
She laughed, pleased when he laughed with her.
He stopped her in front of someone’s showstopper of a garden just as the moon speared through the clouds, illuminating them as if on stage. “Beautiful.”
“Seriously. Are those poppies?”
“Not the flowers, doofus. I meant you.”