“Oh.” My eyes widened, and I took a step back as I felt the world spinning around me. Oh my God, it was worse than I’d thought.
“Yes.” Xander’s eyes searched mine. And my heart thudded. I felt sick to my stomach and a part of me wanted to throw up. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”
“Aren’t you happy for me, Liv?” Gabby bounced up and down, and I felt like I might vomit then and there. I was a slut, a heathen, and an awful sister. And what was worse was that Xander was just standing there, smiling at me in that way that made me think of all the ways he’d touched me. This man had been inside of me. I was going to hell. But I knew that he would be there before me. “We’re all going to be one happy family.”
“Uh, yeah.” I nodded demurely.
Should I tell her? My brain was screaming at me. What could I say?I had sex with your fiancé last week? Fuck, I wanted to do the right thing, but I didn’t know what the right thing was. Could there be a right thing to say in this situation?
“Congrats. That’s amazing news.” I looked back at Xander, and his eyes were still on mine. I was now a liar as well as a heathen. I hadn’t been to church in a while, but I had an overwhelming feeling to go to confession. I had a lot of sins to atone for. What sucked was that I didn’t even really think it was my fault. It wasn’t like I’d known who he was. Would Gabby blame me?
“You were right,” he said softly as he walked over to me, and I glared at him.
“About?” I said softly as Gabby walked over to talk to Henry and my parents.
“You are trouble with a capital T.” He winked at me as his hand ran down my back and over my ass gently. “A big capital T.”
“Don’t touch me,” I hissed and stepped back. “You’re engaged to my sister.”
“It’s not what you think,” he said slowly, his eyes piercing into mine.
“I think you’re engaged to my sister. What part of that do I have incorrect?”
“Come to my room tonight, and I’ll tell you.” He smiled a confident smile and took a step back. “I’ll tell you all the things you want to know.”
My breath caught as he brushed my hair back and leaned forward.
“And I’ll show you all the things you’ve been missing since last week as well.”
“How dare you?” I gasped.
“I dare many things, Liv Taylor.” The smile was gone from his face as he stared at me. “You’ll see that this is just the beginning of the many things I dare to do.”
CHAPTER FOUR
I was a loser. No, really, I was. And it wasn’t just because I’d slept with my sister’s fiancé. I mean, that wasn’t my fault. I hadn’t even known that she was dating anyone. It wasn’t my fault that my Mr. Miracle Tongue was going to be her husband. Oh my God, it would never feel right, saying that. Saying the wordsmysister’s husband, knowing that he was my one-night stand, was awful. Slightly titillating, but still awful.
I know; I know. I was awful.
How could I think that was even vaguely exciting? How could a part of me still feel so alive, knowing that the man in the living room had been my lover? Albeit for one night, but still, we’d had sex a lot in that night. And when I saida lot, I meant a lot. Though I supposed it wasn’t a good idea for me to brag about that right now.
Or the fact that when I had ridden him like a Texan cowgirl, he’d held my hips and told me, “Ride this cowboy all night.”
That wasn’t even the worst part.
When I got to my bedroom after hurrying out of the living room, I ran to the mirror to check my makeup. Yes, I wanted to make sure that I’d looked good when I saw Xander again.
And, oh my God, what sort of name was Xander? Was he a Greek god wannabe? Or maybe a Roman god wannabe? Or maybe he thought he was a superhero? Or his parents thought he was going to be a superhero? I mean, who called their kid Xander? I mean, I wouldn’t mind playing superheroes with him. I’d quite like to see him in a mask and cape, like some sexy Batman.
But, yeah, that was an inappropriate thought as well. Nearly as inappropriate as the way I checked my makeup and then checked my overnight bag to see if I’d brought anything even remotely sexy to wear. And when I saidsexy, I meant subtly sexy. Not obvious. Just like a quick peekaboo sort of thing. I told you I was a loser. Instead of praying for some sort of redemption for hooking up with my sister’s fiancé—I could barely even say the word without throwing up—I was looking to see if I had any cute clothes. What was worse was that I felt disappointed when I realized I didn’t have anything remotely cute or sexy. All I had were some jeans—not skinny either—and some baggy, loose-fitting tops. Nothing that was going to wow anyone. Which should have been good, right? I mean, what sort of self-respecting woman wanted to impress her sister’s fiancé with a tight top, exposing her ample cleavage? None, I tell you. No good sister would be hoping to look hot in front of her sister’s man.
I could barely believe it, by the way. How was Mr. Miracle Tongue engaged to my sister? How did they even know each other? And what sort of cheating dog was he if he’d cheated on her with me?
This was such a mess. How was I going to go to their wedding, knowing that I’d had sex with the groom at the last wedding we’d both attended? And would he be expecting a repeat, like some sort of sick reunion sex? Was wedding sex going to be our thing?
I groaned at the stupidity of my thoughts. We had nothing. We’d had a one-night stand that was now made more complicated by the fact that he was a dirty scoundrel.
I needed to speak to Xander and Gabby separately and find out exactly what their story was. Maybe everything wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Maybe they weren’t really engaged. Maybe Gabby had hired him as an April Fool’s joke. Yeah, it wasn’t April, but Gabby was kooky about jokes. She was always pulling bad practical jokes, and her timing was atrocious. This had to be a joke. A really, really bad joke. I would tell her off for it, but then it would all be okay. We’d all be able to laugh about it. And she wouldn’t be upset to know that I’d spent the last weekend in a hotel room with Xander. I tried to ignore the fact that it was a pretty impossible joke for her to pull, seeing as she didn’t know I’d slept with Xander.
