But the door opened abruptly, along with Xavi’s singsong voice. “Knock, knock!” he called out.
“You’re supposed to knockbeforeyou open the door,” I said. I was seething inside. We’d been getting somewhere – having a private conversation that had nothing to do with Xavi or anyone else. Now he’d interrupted, there was no telling how Brody would react.
Xavi beamed at me, then his eyes flicked over me: my eye, which I knew from various reflective surfaces was starting to go dark, then my lips, and then very obviously down to my swim shorts.
“Knock, knock,” he said again, softer this time, with a teasing lilt to his words that made his meaning obvious. “Are you gonna let me in?”
Brody
I almost changed my mind, for a moment.
I really believed that things would be okay when Ace said it. I let myself get sucked in even though I had already seen how wrong he was once today. His black eye was literally staring me in the face, and I almost forgot.
Thank god for Xavi, interrupting us and reminding me that I had to leave for a reason.
I reached for the leather jacket I’d left lying on the bed, picking it up and preparing to put it on. Just that, and then I could leave.
“Hey,” Ace said, looking away from Xavi and ignoring his painfully obvious invitation. “What are you doing? Come on. You’re staying, aren’t you?”
I hesitated – but before I’d taken the beat I needed to reply, Xavi was already speaking for me.
“Nah, he’s out,” Xavi said, even though he had his back to me. He wasn’t even looking in my direction. He was completely focused on Ace. “It’s just you and me, babe. Go on, Brody – get out of here so Ace and I can have the room to ourselves like it should have been all along.”
Ace pinched the bridge of his nose and screwed his eyes shut for a second, then glared at Xavi. “What is wrong with you? Literally, what is your damage?” he asked.
Xavi laughed low and throaty. “You know,” he said. “I’ll show you again in a minute. Once this asshole gets out of the way.”
“No, thanks,” Ace said, folding his arms over his chest. “Brody, you better not move an inch, I swear to god. Don’t leave me alone with him.”
“Oh, come on,” Xavi said. He sidled closer to Ace by a step. I couldn’t see his face, but by the way he moved his head, I got the feeling he was looking him up and down. “You look so pretty on your knees.”
Ace made a disgusted face. “I’d rather suck Brody’s dick than yours, thanks,” he said. He reached out and grabbed Xavi by the shoulders, physically spinning him around in place and pushing him toward the door.
I blinked.
Mine?
That was just a phrase, right?
Like a way of sayingI’d rather do anything than be with you?Because being with me – sucking my dick, as it were – would obviously be the worst possible thing to compare it to.
That was what he meant by saying that… right?
Kind of harsh for someone who had just been trying to convince me to stay.
“Don’t come crawling to me tonight when you’re all alone in bed with no one to hold you,” Xavi said in a pouty voice, and I felt a kind of jolt down my spine. Did he know that Ace and I had shared a bed last night? Had Ace told him? He couldn’t know, could he?
“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t,” Ace snapped. “Now, get out of our room before I call hotel security and tell them someone is sexually harassing the guests.”
“Alright, babe,” Xavi said, rolling his eyes as he walked out of the door. He had such a casual air about him like nothing had even happened. Once he was over the threshold, he paused and looked back. “By the way, I was kidding. You can totally come crawling to me tonight. On your knees is perfect.”
Ace hissed – and slammed the door in Xavi’s face.
“That guy…” I said, breaking the silence that settled over the room once he was gone.
“He’s an absolute fucking menace,” Ace seethed. “Not in a good way, either.”
“There’s a good way?” I asked.
