He chuckled and lifted his hand to her cheek again, gazing at her as though he could hardly believe she was right there in front of him.
She tilted her face into his palm, enjoying the feel of his calloused hands against her skin. She wasn’t sure she would ever get tired of it—there was something addictive about the way he touched her, even when her good sense told her she should be holding back.
She leaned in and kissed him softly once more before pulling away and resituating herself on her own side of the SUV. She immediately missed his warmth.
“You think he’s going to be angry again if he finds out?” Xavier asked as he took the wheel once more.
She shrugged. “Maybe,” she admitted. “But we’ve done a lot of talking since that first kiss all those months ago, you know. By now, Lawson’s got to see that he was acting like an idiot. Big brother or not, he has no right to tell me, or you, how to live our lives. If we like each other…” She trailed off.
Likewas far too weak of a word for everything she felt for Xavier right now, but she didn’t want to jinx what had just happened by overstating it.
“He’ll just have to get used to it,” he finished up for her.
“My thoughts exactly. But we should still get back to the sanctuary—catch everyone up on what happened with the sheriff.”
“Agreed,” he replied, and he turned the key in the ignition and pulled away from the café.
She couldn’t stop staring at him, now that she knew he felt at least some of what she did for him. For so long, she had denied herself this—this closeness, these sweet moments where they could just be together. She hoped this would be the start of him opening himself up a little, too. Maybe to her, maybe to Sarah; it didn’t matter as long as he got some of the weight off his mind.
As they drove, heading up the mountain road that led through the dense forest and back to Warrior Peak, he glanced out the window at the passing scenery.
“Remind you of growing up here?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, my brother and I used to play in these woods a lot when we were young,” he remarked, smiling slightly. “I think it drove my mom insane. Max was always getting into trouble, falling out of trees, stuff like that. I can’t count the number of times I would get yelled at when we came home and he had another scrape on his elbow.”
“So he was kind of a daredevil then?” she prompted. She liked hearing these stories about his youth. It felt as though she was seeing some hidden side of him, something he did his best to keep from everyone else. It might do him good to reflect on some of the happier memories he had of his childhood. No matter how dark things had gotten, it didn’t mean he had to leave behind everything good that had ever happened.
“I think he liked everyone to think he was,” he replied, amused. “But you should have seen him when he was younger. He would come to my room at least twice a week, asking me to check under his bed for monsters. Or to sleep on the floor to keep him safe.”
“And did you?”
“Of course I did.” He laughed. “I couldn’t turn him down, and he knew it. Anything he wanted from me, he got.”
“Damn, I didn’t realize you could have that kind of power over your big brother,” she joked. “I should have tried to get more out of Lawson growing up.”
“He didn’t do all of that for you?”
“He did some of it,” she replied. “But grudgingly. Don’t know why he’s got such a stick up his butt about protecting me now.”
“Maybe because he’s seen a bit more of the world,” Xavier suggested. “He knows what can be out there if you’re not careful. He just doesn’t want you to have to deal with any of that.”
“Yeah, I guess,” she agreed.
She tried not to get upset with her brother, knowing that he was just looking out for her. But she didn’t understand how he could feel like her being with Xavier was anything other than a good thing. If there was anyone in the world he trusted, it should be his best friend, right?
Well, they would figure that out when it came up again. For now, what mattered was the relaxed smile on Xavier’s face as they drove. He reached out to give her leg a squeeze, his touch casual and easy, just as she had always wanted it to be.
“I love spending this time with you,” she blurted out before she could stop herself. “I know I tried to keep my distance after what happened with my brother, but…” She trailed off with a shrug.
“Me, too,” Xavier assured her, grinning.
She wished she could take a snapshot of his face like that and commit it to memory. She never wanted to forget the way he looked at her, the way it made her feel like she could take on the world and win.
“So you guys played a lot out here in the winter, too?” she asked, turning her attention back to the forest outside. “You must have been freezing.”
“Yeah, but we always had a warm home to go back to,” he replied. “We never wandered too far. Mom was always waiting, ready with a hot drink and a bandage for any bruises Max got along the way.”
“Oh don’t act like you didn’t get a few, too,” she teased.
