“You were kissing...her,” she hisses. “Move.”
“I wasn’t kissing her.”
“Get out of my way,” she yells as tears stream down her face.
I try to put my arms around her, but she pushes me so hard I stumble back. She slips past me and heads toward the elevator.
I follow her. “Charlotte!”
“Leave me alone, Xander. Once and for all, just leave me alone.” Her eyes are full of pain, and my heart shatters.
“You don’t know what you saw. Let me explain,” I tell her.
The elevator opens. “I know what I saw.”
“No, you don’t!”
Vivian is suddenly next to Charlotte and puts her arm around her. “Leave her alone, Xander.”
I point to Vivian. “Stay out of this.”
She scowls at me and steps into the elevator with Charlotte, shaking her head.
“You don’t know what just happened,” I tell them both.
Charlotte is crying, and Vivian pulls her face into her shoulder, then pushes a button.
I step intothe elevator.
“Get out, Xander,” Vivian yells at me.
“No. You have this all wrong.”
The bouncer puts his arm against the door. “Sir, you need to step out of the elevator.”
I reach for Charlotte, but Vivian smacks my hand. “Don’t touch her.”
“You have this wrong,” I sternly say again, looking Vivian in the eye.
“Sir, you need to step out now, or we will remove you,” the guard says.
This isn’t happening. I step off the elevator. “Charlotte!” I try one more time. Vivian glares at me as the doors shut.
I turn to figure out where the stairs are, but Chase is right behind me. “Xander, just let it go tonight.”
“I didn’t do anything. It’s not my fault. I didn’t want that.”
He puts his hand on my shoulder and nods. “Let them be tonight. Tell me what happened.”
“Billie’s here.”
“Billie?”
I nod. “She’s wasted and practically jumped on me. I held her up so she wouldn’t fall, and she grabbed me and kissed me. I tried to pull out of it, and I didn’t kiss her back, I swear.”
“Shit, Xander.”
I rub my palms over my face. “Tell me this isn’t happening.”
