Xavier Cold
Page 8
“Don’t do something that could separate us again,” I plead.
His jaw muscle flexes as he blows a rush of air out of his nose, attempting to calm himself.
Xavier directs his attention back to Mr. Suit Man. “You’re lucky my girl here is a saint because I’m allowing you to walk away right now.”
The man’s face twists with disgust. “Allowing me? Do you know who I am?”
“No, and I don’t give a fuck either.”
The man opens his mouth again to fire off another snide remark.
I can see in Xavier’s eyes that his cool won’t last long, so this time, I cut the guy off, “Mister, if I were you, I would leave while I could. He just got out of prison for nearly beating a man to death.”
All the color drains from the man’s face. He doesn’t say another word. He simply heeds my warning and walks away.
Xavier never takes his eyes off his retreating opponent. “Fucking pussy.”
I let out an exasperated sigh as I grab my bag Xavier wheeled over from the carousel and walk away from him.
“What?” Xavier calls from behind me as he gathers up the other bags and starts after me. “Are you pissed at me?”
“No—yes—I don’t know. Don’t you see the problem with what just happened?”
He releases one of the roller bags and grabs my wrist, halting me in place. “Hold up. I did that for you.”
“No, Xavier, you did that for you. I was perfectly capable of fending off the guy’s flirtatious behavior, and if all else failed, I would have walked away.”
“I did walk away because you’d asked me, too.”
“I shouldn’t have to ask you to do that. There should’ve never been a confrontation to begin with. You need to trust me and stop fighting all my battles for me. I don’t need you permanently ruining your career over me. If you threw everything away for me, that would kill me. You were damn lucky to get out of hurting Rex with only a suspension.” Heat rises in my face, and I know my face is red.
“You think I give a shit about all that? You’re what’s important to me.”
“Don’t say that because you know it isn’t true. You’d care if wrestling were no longer an option for you.”
“It is true. I told Mr. Silverman I would quit if they tried to take you away from me, and I meant that.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “And then I would feel guilty that you left Tension. Living with that kind of guilt would make a relationship between us impossible. You’d resent me.”
The thought of not being with him crushes me, but I know myself. I could never get over being responsible for ending his career.
His eyes soften. “Don’t ever talk like that. I can’t lose you.”
I close the distance between us and lay my hand on his chest. “Then, figure out how to control all that rage inside you before it destroys us both.”
He wraps his fingers around my wrist as my hand rests over his heart. “I’m trying.”
“I know,” I whisper. I push up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his. “No more fighting. Let’s go find our ride.”
The first thing I spot when we step out into the summer heat is Quinn leaning against her silver Honda. Her lips curve into a smile as soon as her eyes land on us.
She throws her hands up and waves them like crazy as she dashes in our direction. She throws her arms around me. “Oh my God, I’ve missed you, cuz. I’ve got loads to tell you.”
I laugh as her dark hair tickles my nose. “It’s so good to see you.”
“You want to pop your trunk, Quinn?” Xavier asks from behind me.
Quinn pulls back and then fishes her keys from the front pocket of her jean shorts. “Sorry about that. Almost forgot you were back there, X.” She hits the unlock button on her key fob and then walks over to lift the trunk lid. “We should probably get you out of here before you get recognized.”
Xavier chuckles as he loads our luggage into the car. “That would be ideal.”
Quinn extends her left hand to me, and I immediately notice a little bling coming from her ring finger.
I grab her hand for a closer inspection. “Wow! Brock did an excellent job. I love it.”
She stares down at the diamond solitaire on her ring and smiles. “I do, too. I love that man so much.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Anna.” She grins. “I want you to be my maid of honor.”
“Really?” I squeal. “I would love that!”
We instantly launch into another hug. This time, we are both squeeing. I am so incredibly happy for Quinn and Brock. Their relationship has been somewhat of a mystery to me, but they both seem committed to taking their relationship to the next level. It’s plain to see that they have a lot of love for one another.
Once everything is loaded, I slip into the backseat of the car, giving Xavier the front because his legs are so much longer than mine. Quinn starts the ignition and then steers away from the curb to get us out of the passenger pickup area.
No one in the car says a word for the first few minutes of the ride. That’s unlike my cousin. I’m surprised she hasn’t fired off a million questions yet.
Quinn clears her throat. “Okay. I’ve tried to hold back from asking this question, but if I don’t, I’m going to burst.”
And there’s the Quinn I know and love.
I’m almost afraid to hear what she’s going to ask.
“Are you taking care of my cousin, X? I haven’t heard from her in a couple of days, and then I get a text from her, saying to pick you guys up from the airport. What’s the deal? I didn’t think you guys would be back in Detroit for a while. Are you in trouble over that wrestler you beat up in the ring? Tons of rumors have been floating around the Internet, all mentioning the fight got out of hand and turned real.”
“Quinn!” I scold her for being so damn nosy, but I know it’s in her nature to pry. With her inquiring mind, she’s like the epitome of a gossip magazine.
I’m not even sure if Xavier is allowed to talk about what actually happened, not that I think Quinn would run off and reveal the truth about the situation to anyone. Tension has done a lot to get this incident swept under the rug, so I don’t want Xavier to say anything that might jeopardize that.
His jaw muscle flexes as he blows a rush of air out of his nose, attempting to calm himself.
Xavier directs his attention back to Mr. Suit Man. “You’re lucky my girl here is a saint because I’m allowing you to walk away right now.”
The man’s face twists with disgust. “Allowing me? Do you know who I am?”
“No, and I don’t give a fuck either.”
The man opens his mouth again to fire off another snide remark.
I can see in Xavier’s eyes that his cool won’t last long, so this time, I cut the guy off, “Mister, if I were you, I would leave while I could. He just got out of prison for nearly beating a man to death.”
All the color drains from the man’s face. He doesn’t say another word. He simply heeds my warning and walks away.
Xavier never takes his eyes off his retreating opponent. “Fucking pussy.”
I let out an exasperated sigh as I grab my bag Xavier wheeled over from the carousel and walk away from him.
“What?” Xavier calls from behind me as he gathers up the other bags and starts after me. “Are you pissed at me?”
“No—yes—I don’t know. Don’t you see the problem with what just happened?”
He releases one of the roller bags and grabs my wrist, halting me in place. “Hold up. I did that for you.”
“No, Xavier, you did that for you. I was perfectly capable of fending off the guy’s flirtatious behavior, and if all else failed, I would have walked away.”
“I did walk away because you’d asked me, too.”
“I shouldn’t have to ask you to do that. There should’ve never been a confrontation to begin with. You need to trust me and stop fighting all my battles for me. I don’t need you permanently ruining your career over me. If you threw everything away for me, that would kill me. You were damn lucky to get out of hurting Rex with only a suspension.” Heat rises in my face, and I know my face is red.
“You think I give a shit about all that? You’re what’s important to me.”
“Don’t say that because you know it isn’t true. You’d care if wrestling were no longer an option for you.”
“It is true. I told Mr. Silverman I would quit if they tried to take you away from me, and I meant that.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “And then I would feel guilty that you left Tension. Living with that kind of guilt would make a relationship between us impossible. You’d resent me.”
The thought of not being with him crushes me, but I know myself. I could never get over being responsible for ending his career.
His eyes soften. “Don’t ever talk like that. I can’t lose you.”
I close the distance between us and lay my hand on his chest. “Then, figure out how to control all that rage inside you before it destroys us both.”
He wraps his fingers around my wrist as my hand rests over his heart. “I’m trying.”
“I know,” I whisper. I push up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his. “No more fighting. Let’s go find our ride.”
The first thing I spot when we step out into the summer heat is Quinn leaning against her silver Honda. Her lips curve into a smile as soon as her eyes land on us.
She throws her hands up and waves them like crazy as she dashes in our direction. She throws her arms around me. “Oh my God, I’ve missed you, cuz. I’ve got loads to tell you.”
I laugh as her dark hair tickles my nose. “It’s so good to see you.”
“You want to pop your trunk, Quinn?” Xavier asks from behind me.
Quinn pulls back and then fishes her keys from the front pocket of her jean shorts. “Sorry about that. Almost forgot you were back there, X.” She hits the unlock button on her key fob and then walks over to lift the trunk lid. “We should probably get you out of here before you get recognized.”
Xavier chuckles as he loads our luggage into the car. “That would be ideal.”
Quinn extends her left hand to me, and I immediately notice a little bling coming from her ring finger.
I grab her hand for a closer inspection. “Wow! Brock did an excellent job. I love it.”
She stares down at the diamond solitaire on her ring and smiles. “I do, too. I love that man so much.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Anna.” She grins. “I want you to be my maid of honor.”
“Really?” I squeal. “I would love that!”
We instantly launch into another hug. This time, we are both squeeing. I am so incredibly happy for Quinn and Brock. Their relationship has been somewhat of a mystery to me, but they both seem committed to taking their relationship to the next level. It’s plain to see that they have a lot of love for one another.
Once everything is loaded, I slip into the backseat of the car, giving Xavier the front because his legs are so much longer than mine. Quinn starts the ignition and then steers away from the curb to get us out of the passenger pickup area.
No one in the car says a word for the first few minutes of the ride. That’s unlike my cousin. I’m surprised she hasn’t fired off a million questions yet.
Quinn clears her throat. “Okay. I’ve tried to hold back from asking this question, but if I don’t, I’m going to burst.”
And there’s the Quinn I know and love.
I’m almost afraid to hear what she’s going to ask.
“Are you taking care of my cousin, X? I haven’t heard from her in a couple of days, and then I get a text from her, saying to pick you guys up from the airport. What’s the deal? I didn’t think you guys would be back in Detroit for a while. Are you in trouble over that wrestler you beat up in the ring? Tons of rumors have been floating around the Internet, all mentioning the fight got out of hand and turned real.”
“Quinn!” I scold her for being so damn nosy, but I know it’s in her nature to pry. With her inquiring mind, she’s like the epitome of a gossip magazine.
I’m not even sure if Xavier is allowed to talk about what actually happened, not that I think Quinn would run off and reveal the truth about the situation to anyone. Tension has done a lot to get this incident swept under the rug, so I don’t want Xavier to say anything that might jeopardize that.
