Chapter 36
It had been her outfit that had done it. Seeing her in those figure-hugging second skin yoga clothes had pushed him over the edge.
And it had been the right thing, to leave. This was Izzy, after all, and he couldn’t do with her what he would usually have done with other girls by now. It didn’t seem right.
He’d tried to tell her. At least, he’d thought about telling her, maybe not about the bet straight away. He’d have to lead into that, test the waters gently, but at least about the bar charts.
But with her dressed like that, it had been impossible. Testosterone didn’t allow him to think clearly.
What was he supposed to do?
But she wasn’t someone he could fuck and discard. She had more depth than the Giseles and Petras of his world. And he liked her. He liked her a lot.
But there was that fucking, stupid bet standing in the way.
Screw it.
And screw Luke, too.
Who the hell was he kidding?
He wanted Izzy. He wanted her more than he had remembered wanting anyone. Hell, if she’d been anyone else, there would have been no hesitation.
He had forced himself to leave, otherwise, a few more kisses like that, and he wouldn’t have been able to tear himself away. Stepping out into the night air, he took a few long breaths, then looked around, as the sound of sirens in the distance broke the silence. Only when he got near to his car did he notice.
“Fuck.” He stared at
“Fuck.” This time louder. His tires had been slashed. All of them.
All.
Of.
Them. There had been no break-in, no wonder the alarm hadn’t gone off. Just some petty, jealous, mindless thugs slashing all his tires before disappearing.
His $200K car, trashed.
Fuck.
He tapped his phone but it wasn’t working either. Looked like the battery had died completely.
“Fuck.” He kicked the lamppost, then wiped his hand all over his face.
Fuck.
He looked around into the murky darkness of the deserted street. Not a soul in sight. Enraged, and totally pissed off, he turned around and headed back to Izzy’s.
A moment later, he was knocking on her door again, and, not wanting to frighten her, rapped his knuckles gently. “Izzy?” he tried to raise his voice, without shouting. He knocked again. “Izzy?”
“Xavier?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
She opened the door, quickly and stared back. “You changed your mind?” she asked, provocatively.
“My car,” he said. “All the tires have been slashed.”
She looked horrified. No,” she gasped. “Your tires?”
“Yeah. Can I use your phone? My cell phone battery died.”
“Sure,” she said, letting him in. “We don’t have a landline, but you can use my cell phone.” She rushed to her bedroom and returned with her phone. “Here.”
He turned his back to her, and walked around, closing his eyes, pressing down on his eyebrows, and called the police, then explained what had happened.
“Sorry to disturb you,” he said, when he had finished.
“You didn’t. I hadn’t gone to bed yet.” She reached for his hand. “What did the police say?”
“They’re sending someone over to take a report.”
“I told you not to bring your flashy car around in these parts,” she said, her voice gentle. “I hate that this happened to you.”
“It’s never happened before.” But he should have heeded her advice.
“Maybe you could get a battered up runaround?”
Tobias had said the same thing, or hinted at it. His brother didn’t have any flashy cars, and the guy could afford anything he wanted.
“Mind if I wait?” he asked. “I don’t know how long they’re going to be. You can go to sleep if you want. I’ll keep a look out for them.”
All that time he’d been in her bedroom making out with her, and someone had been trashing his car. He didn’t regret it though.
Not one iota.
She yawned. “I’ll wait up with you.”
“You’re looking pretty sleepy. Go to bed, Izzy.”
“How can I sleep when you’re here?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets again. The car he would deal with.
“I’m sorry this happened to your car,” she said, taking a step towards him, and touching his arm, at the elbow.
“The car doesn’t matter as much.” He shrugged. “I mean, it matters, and it’s going to bump up my already jacked up insurance premium, but … it’s still a car at the end of the day.”
He swallowed. He liked her standing close like that, the defiance gone from those dark eyes. She was soft, with her defenses down, and she was so tempting. He shoved his hands further into his jean pockets. She tilted her chin up at him and he wondered what intent lay behind that curious expression.
“It’s just a car,” he said.
“Jacob would disagree,” she said, putting her arms around him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her, letting her sink into him. This was nice. This. He inhaled and drank in the essence of her hair, and breathed, standing still their bodies closely entwined together.
It wasn’t a lustful hug, or a tight hug, or a hug that meant anything in particular, other than ‘I’m sorry and are you alright?’ She held onto him tightly, and they stood like that, before he thought he heard the sound of a car driving up.
“That might be them,” he said, loosening his arms, and walking towards the windows. He peered out. “It’s is.” He turned to her. “I’d better go and tell them what happened.”
“Want me to wait up for you?”
“There’s no need to.”
She saw him to the door anyway, and yawned again. “Go to bed, Izzy,” he told her.
“Okay, but let me know if you need anything.”