As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom I realized they were much, much too fast to be Dawn’s.
Xander was standing in the doorway.
I grabbed for the towel to secure it.
Unfortunately, my fingers picked that moment to stop cooperating with me.
I closed my eyes as the fabric slipped out of my hands and hit the floor. There was no way I could face Xander when I’d just managed to drop my towel like a pervert.
“Sorry,” Xander said, which was better than the yelling I’d half-expected.
When I risked opening my eyes again, he’d turned to stare at the wall like it had the secrets of the universe scribbled on it.
“I, uh. Dawn sent me up, said you must be nearly ready by now, I didn’t mean to, uh…”
I scooped the towel up while blood pounded in my ears.
“I’ll get dressed,” I said, then scurried into the guest bedroom as fast as I could.
* * *
“I just wanna apologize again,”Xander said as we stepped into the cool air outside. The day had been sunny, but now that the last of the light was fading over the horizon, the heat had gone with it.
Which was just as well, because I was wearing the sweater Zara had given me for Christmas that she said was the best possible color on me, and it was warm enough for Seattle. Which made it about twenty percent too warm for Otter Bay.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, as though I wasn’t still worrying about it. “Nothing you haven’t seen before, right?”
“In general, sure, but not of you,” he said. “And I get the impression, based on the sheer number of layers you’re wearing, that you’re a little shy.”
I looked down at my shirt, sweater, and suit jacket, then over at Xander’s fitted henley and light denim jacket. Okay, counting the t-shirt I was wearing underneath, there was a slight difference there.
“You shouldn’t be,” he added when I didn’t respond. “For the record. And you clean up a whole lot nicer than anyone else who’s ever been to The Friendly Otter.”
“Was that a compliment?” I asked, teasing. I’d asked that or something like it dozens of times when we’d just been two screennames talking to each other, and it came out easier than I expected.
Xander grinned at me. “Obviously,” he said. “Do I not get ayou look nice?”
“You do look nice,” I admitted. I was trying not to look too closely so I wouldn’t give away how nice I thought he looked.
“Good, because I almost had a nervous breakdown over what to wear.”
Laughter might not have been the best response to that, but I couldn’t help it. Suddenly it all seemed so silly, to be worried about hanging out with Xander. I’d spent more time with him—albeit long-distance—than I had with anyone else in years.
“What are we doing?” I asked, stopping to look at him.
“Walking to dinner,” he said, gesturing ahead at an open barn-style door set in a fence with a big cartoon otter cuddling a beer bottle painted on it. “You coming, or not?”
“You know me well enough to know I won’t refuse food,” I said. “Which is my point. I dunno if you think of me as a friend, but I think ofyouas a friend. One of my best friends, honestly,” I added, pushing away the surge of self-consciousness at saying that. “You’ve been the highlight of some of the hardest days of my life and also, you just saw me naked. What’s left to be nervous about?”
As I said it, I realized it was true. Why was I worried? Xander was my friend. Okay, my friend I had a huge ridiculous crush on, but so what? I’d been managing that just fine up until now.
Nothing had changed. We were still Seattle and Cat Dad.
“You haven’t seen me naked yet.” Xander shrugged, and it was so much like something he would have messaged me that I laughed again.
“The night’s still young,” I joked. He was the only person in the world I would’ve said that to, and itwasharder to do in person, but the smile I got in exchange was more than worth it.
“I should at least buy you a drink, since I’ve seen it all now.”
