Chapter 29
Xavier had to wait an extra twenty minutes after Justine left for his clothes to dry, but he appreciated the extra time, certain Benji would have been at work before he made it to his apartment.
“Didn’t you wear that yesterday?”
Xavier nearly jumped a foot as he turned to see his neighbor staring at him from his open door across the hall. “Dude, warn me next time.”
Benji frowned. “Am I wrong?”
“Why do you keep track of what I wear each day? And shouldn’t you be at work?”
Benji shrugged. “I’m home today. They switched me this week with Owen.
” He looked Xavier over and smirked. “I don’t know what you wear every day, but I’m pretty sure I saw that shirt on you yesterday.
” Something fell behind him in his apartment.
“Gotta go. Later.” Benji disappeared in his apartment.
“Weird.” Xavier shrugged and let himself inside. After throwing on some fresh clothes, he picked up his cell phone and saw two missed messages from Auggie, so he called her back. “Hello?”
“Hey, dumbass. Answer your phone once in a while.”
“Well, look who took the time to call. Ms. Drama.”
“Up yours.”
He grinned. “We still doing breakfast?” He heard a deep voice in the background. “Auggie, are you calling from a boy’s house?”
“You are such a pain.” Auggie snickered and must have muted her phone, because after a lengthy silence, she said, “Yeah, yeah. I’m here. I’ll meet you at Roxie’s at eight-thirty.”
“Okay, I—”
She disconnected.
“Rude.” He snorted and gave himself extra time since his sister had bumped their breakfast by half an hour.
After looking over his Aunt Truth work, he emailed it off to the editor and sat back, staring at an email from a friend from the office. Ava always made him smile, the psychologist both funny and amazingly balanced with a happy home and work life. He wanted to be more like her.
Apparently, they needed him back because another of their doctors planned on a month-long vacation while their other family therapist took a much-needed break.
The nice thing about working at MYM Counseling was that the staff all worked hard to be mentally healthy themselves.
And they all treated each other like equals, doctors or not.
Something not every clinic could brag about.
He’d interned at one place where he’d been treated like dirt because he didn’t have a DR in front of his name.
But Xavier had never aspired to that much schooling.
He loved what he did, helping people. And he found more value in on-the-job learning.
Plus, his peers and the doctors with so much experience had been invaluable in his practice.
“I’ve got to get back to it,” he admitted aloud. Enthused about the prospect of seeing clients again instead of stressed at the thought, he knew he had taken the right amount of time to relax himself. But now he worried about work cutting into his time with Justine.
Between his stint stepping in as Aunt Truth, his new “fake” girlfriend, and jumping back to MYM, he’d have his hands full handling everything.
But Xavier thrived on challenging himself.
He just hoped he could convince Justine to give them a real chance after the wedding was over.
What if she only wanted him for a wedding date, after which they’d go their own way?
Part of him felt saddened, another part devasted, and just a slight bit of him felt relieved. Because if she pulled away, then he wouldn’t need to deal with the eventual drama when they parted. So why did that make him mourn what he didn’t even have?
By eight forty-five, he and Auggie sat at a back booth. He waited while his sister ordered the latkes and eggs before choosing the super deluxe homefries. Their server poured them both more coffee, flipped Auggie off with a grin, then left.
“Back at ya, Hermione!” Auggie called after her.
“I thought her name was Hetty.”
“She changed it the last time we were here. Didn’t you see her name tag? Just because she’s serving you doesn’t mean she’s not a real person, Xavier.” She shook her head. “Do better, Bro.”
He flushed, aware he let his sister get under his skin. “Sorry. Hermione.”
“Better.” Auggie smirked. She loved nothing better than turning the tables on him, because it was usually Xavier holding “the world”—according to Auggie—accountable for supporting people instead of tearing them down.
Not that his sister would ever try to demean anyone, but she had the old USMC attitude of “suck it up, princess,” whenever anyone voiced a complaint.
He snorted. “Nice job correcting me when I had no idea she’d changed her name.”
“Not my problem, Dr. Do-Little. Do. Little. Two words. Ha. Get it? Because you do so little?” She looked way too pleased with herself. Yet, she seemed to be hiding behind forced laughter.
“You’re not that funny.” He stared at her, aware something felt off about Auggie lately. “Why have you been avoiding me?”
“Avoiding you? Please.”
He stared at her, aware she couldn’t meet his gaze. “Who was the guy on the phone?”
“Which guy? There’ve been too many to count.” She gulped down caffeine as if it could save her from his interrogation.
“And why did you ditch me and Justine at Mom’s Sunday night?” He narrowed his gaze. “It’s the guy. You’re into him.”
She huffed. “Whatever. I like men. That’s no secret. And I will not be slut shamed.”
He groaned when a woman from another table shot him a dirty look. “Would you stop? I’ve never shamed you for being a slut. Not that you are one. Hell, I don’t even like the word.”
“Because I wear the name proudly?”
“That’s right, honey. Be sex positive,” said a person from behind them.
Xavier could almost feel the daggers being shot into his back. “Happy now?”
She snickered. “Yeah.”
They looked at each other.
At the same time, they both blurted, “I know you’re boffing Justine.” “I know you’re into this new guy, whoever he is.”
They paused, glaring at each other. “Go ahead,” Xavier said. “You first.”
“Pearls before swine,” Auggie said in a snooty voice and laughed at the face he made. “Fine. I know you and Justine are getting hot and involved. Mom liked her. I like her. I think. I don’t know her all that well though.”
“You should go out with her and get to know her better. Or would that get in the way of your new man?”
They waited while Hermione dropped off their food.
“Eat it, bitch.” She turned from Auggie and gave Xavier a huge smile. “Hey, sweetie. I haven’t seen you lately. Just the loudmouth with her shaggy boyfriend.”
“Hermione,” Auggie growled. “Go. Away.”
“I’d better get a big tip,” the server warned, flipped Auggie off, then waved at Xavier. “Let me know if you need more coffee.” Pause. “Or anything else, on or off the menu.”
He winked, and Hermione sighed before barking at the next customer.
“Hermione sucks,” Auggie muttered and stuffed her face with potato pancakes.
“Shaggy boyfriend?” He frowned, wondering who that might be. Benji immediately came to mind, but his sister would never go out with him. Too nerdy, according to Auggie when they’d discussed his neighbor upon first meeting him.
“Because he’s someone Hermione wants to shag,” Auggie said. “Just give me ten minutes in the gym with her and she’ll be sobbing with apologies.” Auggie glared at the perky server.
“The gym is supposed to be about making people fit and healthy. Not a place for punishment.”
“Keep it up and the next time I have you in there, I’m gonna hurt you.”
He rolled his eyes. They concentrated on breakfast before talking again.
“So what’s up with you?” Auggie asked.
He filled her in on the dinner with their mother and helping Justine out with Mitch.
“And?”
“And what?” he asked.
“Just admit you’re hitting that.”
“Oh my God. ‘Hitting that?’ It’s like you’re not even trying to be offensive, which I find even more offensive.”
Auggie snorted. “You’re so repressed. Fine, Mr. Uptight. I mean, just admit that you find her attractive and you’re making sweet, tender love whenever the mood strikes. Better?”
“You’re so annoying.”
She grinned. “But am I wrong?”
“No.” He sighed.
“Hot damn.” She clinked her cup with his. “Congrats. Now what?”
“Now I pretend to be her boyfriend at the wedding.” He ran a hand through his hair, stressed about a lot more than what came next.
“Then I have to figure out how to start dating her for real.” Or do I?
Should I just let this end naturally? Why am I acting so indecisive?
What’s my problem with all this, really?
“What’s to figure out?” Auggie slurped her coffee. “You’re already making hot monkey love and moon eyes at each other. You like her. She obviously likes you. Ask her on a real date. With real words.”
“That’s so…” Reasonable. Trust Auggie not to overthink things, a quality he actually admired about her.
“Fine. Maybe I will. And maybe you can tell me who’s making you blush, because not just anyone can make my sister turn red in the face.
” He recalled his mother’s blush over dinner. “I need to tell you about Top.”
“What about him?” Auggie had a soft spot for the older guy. He was crabby, a Marine, and still benched an impressive set of weight. Her ideal man if he had been a few decades younger.
“Well, I’m not sure, but I think he and Mom might have something going on.”
She paused, her cup halfway to her mouth. “What? Top? The guy who hates most people just for existing?”
He nodded. “I know. Mom asked about him. She went to the movies with him.”
“Well, talk to him.”
“I can’t do that.”
“I sure as hell can.” Auggie looked indignant. “I want to know what his intentions are regarding my maternal unit.”
Xavier groaned.
Auggie continued, on a roll. “I mean, do they use protection? Should I expect another brother or sister any time soon? And what should I call him? Dad? Father? Daddy?”
Xavier tried to contain a laugh but couldn’t at the thought of Top’s reaction to his sister’s questions. “Please let me be there when you have that conversation.”
“Oh, no. We’re both going to be there. I mean, this is our mom we’re talking about.”
“Fine.” He thought about what he knew of Top. “Apparently, Top was married before. His wife died of cancer a while ago.”
“That’s awful.” Auggie blinked. “I’m still not going easy on the guy, but no poking into his past, I guess.”
“How magnanimous of you.”
She shook her head. “You try to act all smart—”
“I am smart.”
“—but we both know that’s obviously today’s word.”
He frowned.
“Remember who bought you that word-of-the-day calendar for Christmas, dumbass.”
“Now you’re just being truculent.”
“Huh?”
“Obstreperous. Refractory.” He gave her a smug look. “Obnoxious.”
“Ah. Okay, yeah. All that. But still. You’re so much smarter thanks to me.”
“Bugger off.”
She smirked. “With any luck, I’ll be doing just that while you’re at your girlfriend’s wedding.”
“It’s her sister’s wedding.”
“Ha. You admit she’s your girlfriend. Now quit being a wanker and make it real.”
“And you can thank me for that urban dictionary calendar. Wanker is new.”
“My word of the day, jackass.”
They glared at each other before Xavier sighed. “You win.”
“Don’t I always?”
“For now.” He warned, “But don’t think I won’t find out about you and your shaggy boyfriend.”
She shrugged. “Meh. Give me a few more days and he’ll be right where I want him. Under me in chains, begging to serve his dark mistress.” She gave a dark laugh and wriggled her brows. “Now where did I put that riding crop?”
“I think I need my brain cleaned out.” He gagged. “Must. Get vision. Out of. My head.”
“Detoxify, you mean. Yes, you should. Right after you get the check.”