Chapter 30
Xavier
I’m sitting on my couch a few hours later, staring blankly at my phone. I hadn’t gotten any response when I stepped out of the shower. There was no response when I cleaned my bathroom or did three loads of laundry. There wasn’t even a response after I washed the floor-to-ceiling windows that opened to my balcony. Maybe Corrine was angry? Perhaps she changed her mind about me or isn’t willing to start over. That crippling feeling of anxiety starts to hit me as I reread her previous messages.
Corrine : I don’t want anything to happen to you.
My heart flutters when I read that sentence, which means everything. Corrine doesn’t want anything to happen to me. Suddenly, three dots appear in the message feed, indicating she is typing something out to me.
My heart races, and my knuckles tighten around my phone, but the energy is quickly replaced with calm when her message pops up.
Corrine: You never have to be embarrassed around me, Xavier. I understand this situation has been difficult. Of course, we can start over. See you tonight. ??
My brows pinch up as I stare at the butterfly emoji she left. There’s a memory at the tip of my reach, but I can’t grasp it. I lean back and close my eyes, and before I know it, I pass out.
A couple of hours later, I’m jolted awake by my phone ringing. I answer with a groggy hello, not even bothering to check who it is first.
Jonathan’s voice comes through the line. “Really man? Are you asleep?”
“I guess I passed out,” I reply.
A voice in the background says something, but I can’t figure out what it is. Then Jonathan yells to the voice, “I know, I know, okay.”
He gets back on the line. “We will be at your place in thirty minutes to pick you up for Spin.”
My sleep brain evaporates when I hear the word Spin, remembering that I’m supposed to see Corrine tonight. I jump up quickly and head towards my bedroom to find something to wear.
“I’ll be ready,” Is all I give Jonathan before hanging up on him. I settle on pressed jeans and a black, long-sleeved button-up. By the time I’ve gelled my hair, rolled up my sleeves to just barely below my elbow, and grabbed my wallet, my phone is already ringing again. I ignore it, choosing to text Jonathan that I am on my way down.
“Who the fuck is this sexy guy?” Jonathan yells over the top of the wrapped matte black Audi R8 Jamison is currently driving. His ass is literally on the edge of the window with his feet inside the car.
“Get the fuck out of here before you ruin my paint and scuff these seats with your shoes,” I hear Jamison growl from inside.
“I seem to remember you bending a certain someone over the hood on your precious paint and not giving two shits about the scuffs her heels probably left on your seats while she sucked you dry,” Jonathan replies.
“I like her better,” Jamison grits out.
With a hand on his heart, he leans back and looks in the window at his brother. ”That hurts,” he says back with faked sadness.
I grin wide as I walk around to the passenger seat. “Where exactly did you plan on having me sit? On the roof?”
Jonathan lifts his whole body out of the window and onto the ground outside without grazing the car with one quick, fluid motion. He then opens the door and waves me in like a valet.
I look at him, confused. “Where are you going to sit?”
“Oh, I brought my ride,” he says, pointing back onto the sidewalk. He walks towards his bike and grabs his helmet.
“Of course you did,” I laugh and get in the car.
Jamison is still muttering about the scuff mark when we pull up to spin and park. He refuses to valet and give anyone his keys, of course, his inner control freak shining through. We walk into Spin and straight back towards our standard VIP. Sebastian is already there with Riley on his lap.
“Hey!” Riley greets both of us, and Sebastian nods while we sit down and get comfortable.
“Where are the girls?” I ask, trying to sound nonchalant.
Riley smirks at me. “My sister is on the dance floor.”
I look over to the floor to find Corrine and Kaz dancing in much the same manner as the last time I was here. One minor difference would be Jonathan, who is grinding on Kaz from behind.
That’s new , I think to myself. Kaz must be wasted. I could have sworn she despised Jonathan. I look over at Jamison, prepared to ask him, but I pause, noticing his stiff posture. He’s staring right at them, but he doesn’t look thrilled. Any question I might have had escaped when the waitress came with drinks. She places them all in the middle before walking away. Sebastian slides a red drink with a cherry in it before me. I shrug my shoulders and take a sip before cringing. This motherfucker ordered me a Shirley Temple. I glare at him while he raises an eyebrow. “Problem, Xavier?”
Before I can respond, Corrine sits in the empty spot next to me.
“Hey, handsome, can I get your phone number?”
I thought I would be nervous, but I forgot everything else around me when I saw her beautiful face. Grabbing her hand in mine, I lean over and kiss her knuckles. “You look absolutely stunning.”
Her green eyes widen, along with her smile. “You're not so bad yourself.”
“Shall we discuss the reason we all came here tonight?” Jamison cuts in.
Riley’s face drops. “I thought we came here for a break and to have some fun?”
“We did Little Mouse,” Sebastian says as he runs his hand up her arm. “Xavier will fill everyone in, and we can have fun afterward.”
I fill everyone in over the next ten minutes with everything I've learned.
“That means you're Lockhart’s nephew?” Sebastian asks.
Jamison quickly responds, “It would seem that is the case. It would explain a lot, but not everything. Something still isn’t adding up.”
Suddenly, Jonathan laughed out loud, causing us to turn toward him. “That means you're related to Sasha.” He grabs his stomach, doubling over before sputtering. “I hope you didn’t fuck her.”
I scowl at him before rolling my eyes. I certainly never touched Sasha, but I do remember the pictures my PI recovered of her and Nate fucking. Thankfully I never actually jerked off to the pictures but instead chose to fuck with Sebastian about them. The searing memory of seeing her naked makes me sick to my stomach. I grimace before turning to Jonathan. “I never fucked her, did you?”
Suddenly, Kaz sits up a little straighter, her eyes narrowing at him.
“Fuck no. Sasha’s not my style of crazy,” he says, “And before you ask, neither did Jamison.”
I raise my brow at him in question. “How do you know?”
“I know everyone my brother fucks,” Jonathan says matter a factly.
Jamison doesn't say a word. He just stares at Kaz with a blank face as if none of us are in the room.
“Okay, this is getting boring now. Come dance with me,” Corrine says, tugging me out of my seat.
I've never been much for dancing, not because I’m bad at it, but because I loathe the thought of bodies touching me. Luckily, Corrine chooses a spot on the edge of the dance floor, further away from the crowd. She wraps her arms around me, pressing her whole body against me while we grind to the music. We dance close, not letting an inch of air pass between our bodies, my thick length pressed up against her. I’m so fucking hard for her I could explode right here on the dance floor. I feel like a teenager having his first makeout session, about to come in my pants.
“Fuck you are so sexy,” I rasp in her ear as I flip her around and grab her around the waist. I continue to grind against her while running my other hand down her waist and kissing her neck. She shutters under my touch, her eyes closing as she leans into me. My hands roam, catching the edge of her ripped band tee, and I slide it up enough to see her creamy skin. I’m pushing my hand into her jeans, fully intending to finger fuck this beautiful goddess on the dance floor, when my eyes catch on something small right by her hip bone. She gasps when I spin her around and pull her jeans down enough to uncover the tiny black and white butterfly tattoo identical to mine.
“Xavier?” she questions. I tear my gaze from the tattoo before looking at her. “I can explain…”
“I have to use the restroom,” I say, cutting her off and turning towards the bathrooms.
She grabs my arm, her eyes pleading with me. “Wait, just let me explain.”
“I need a minute,” I grit out, and she nods, letting me go.
I push through the crowd quickly, avoiding as much contact as possible, before heading down the dim hallway to the restrooms. I walk in and head to the sink, placing both hands on the edge and staring at myself in the mirror.
Corrine has the same tattoo as me. A butterfly. Is this why I felt the need to call her Butterfly? Is this why the little butterfly innuendos keep happening?
This girl must have meant something to me to mark myself for her. Fuck I must have loved her. I…I do love her.
The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. I love this girl. I love this green-eyed goddess who has wholly flipped my entire world upside down. I have a fucking butterfly tattooed on my hip bone, for god's sake. If that's not love, I don’t know what is. I notice myself smiling in the mirror like a creeper, and it drops when I realize I probably freaked her out. I need to talk to her and make sure she’s alright. The door to the restroom opens, but I ignore it and lean down to splash water on my face. Before I can pull back up, I feel a slight prick in my neck.
“What the fuck?” I slur out as I grab the side of my neck and twist around. My body falls against the edge of the sink, and the man in front of me grabs my arm to hold me up. He whistles to himself as he shoves the capped syringe back in his pocket and grips me under both arms. The last thing I see is the flashing dance floor lights at the end of the hall. As I’m drug out a back door, everything goes black.