Someone like Xavier

MELODY

Xavier fucking Clark. ~

I turned slowly toward the voice and saw him kissing my sister.

What the hell? ~

I stood frozen, my mouth hanging open.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The stranger I had been dreaming about was here, standing in front of me, kissing my sister!

I bit my lips to stop myself from calling his name.

“It’s okay, babe,” she said and turned to introduce him to our parents.

“Mom and Dad, this is Xavier Clark, my boyfriend.” She smiled widely.

“Hello, sir.” He shook hands with Dad.

“Hello, ma’am.” He shook hands with Mom.

She introduced him to my brothers as well, and they asked all sorts of questions.

Dan nudged me from my side. I turned. They were all looking at me with concern.

“What?” I mouthed to them. I hadn’t been listening to anyone; my eyes were glued on one face—Xavier’s.

Dan wiped something from my face. I hadn’t realized when tears had rolled down, and I wondered why I had tears in my eyes.

Maybe something had gotten in my eyes.

“We’ve been calling you for the last five minutes. You are staring at your sister’s boyfriend. He’s hot.” Mia giggled lowly.

Matt and Dan knew me better than anyone.

They asked if I was okay. I nodded and turned my back to my sister to wipe my eyes.

“I’ve been dying to introduce you to my sister. Mel, meet my boyfriend, Xavier,” she called.

My breath caught in my throat as the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

He was my sister’s boyfriend.

I took a deep breath and turned slowly.

All the color from his face drained the moment he saw me.

“Sara.” His lips moved slowly. My eyes dropped to his lips, and I swallowed hard.

I stared at his lips, remembering how I’d felt when he was all over my body. My core tingled with excitement. How I wanted to taste his lips again. I licked my own nervously.

My eyes traveled from his lips to his eyes, the same eyes that had been filled with lust and desire when we’d met at the club. I could still see the same desire in his beautiful green eyes.

“Hello. I am Melody. Melody Adam.” I stretched my arm out.

His jaw clenched, and his eyes turned black. He knew I’d lied to him about my name.

“Xavier Clark.” He took my hand in his and squeezed a little hard. I winced slightly.

Dan, noticing our exchange, took my other hand in his.

Xavier glared at our joined hands and then at Dan. He gave one hard squeeze again and stepped back.

Matt whispered in my ear, “Everything okay?”

I nodded.

“Mel graduated today. We’re here to celebrate her graduation, so why don’t you all join us? I made reservations at a nearby restaurant,” Dad announced.

“Dad, I want to tell you guys something,” I said.

All eyes turned to me, and I stepped closer to Dan and asked him to play along. He didn’t reply, but I knew he would.

“Dan and I are dating,” I announced.

Everyone cheered and congratulated us, especially our friends, who were rooting for us.

I told them we’d been keeping it a secret till our graduation.

“Come on, Mel. Kiss him for once,” Mia pouted.

“Yes! One kiss!” Jacob shouted. Everyone who knew Dan had been waiting for me to accept his love came forward and joined the circle and started shouting for a kiss.

My eyes found Xavier. He was staring right at me. Dan’s and my parents were beaming happily.

Dad nodded in encouragement.

I took one step toward Dan. Standing on my tiptoes, I placed my lips on his. We had only kissed once in our sophomore year. After that, it had been all platonic.

It took us a while to match rhythm, but we did.

When I pulled back, I whispered, “You better not suck anyone’s dick again, or I am gonna kill you.”

“Actually, I did.” He smirked.

Fuck. ~

“I’m feeling sick. I’ll meet you at the restaurant,” I said and ran toward the washroom.

They all laughed because once, I had commented I would puke my guts if I ever kissed him, and that was what I was going to do.

I walked into the bathroom and leaned over the toilet. Then I began gagging before throwing up.

“I thought you were kidding when you said you would puke your guts out.” Matt’s voice held amusement as he came up behind me. He came forward and grabbed my hair back.

“I certainly was not,” I gritted out.

I threw up again, and after a while, I washed my face and turned to Matt.

“When did you guys start dating?” he asked. He tried to hide his accusing tone, but I heard it.

“Can you keep a secret for me?” I asked.

He nodded. “You can’t tell anyone, not a soul, not even Layla. Promise me.”

He stayed silent for a few seconds.

“Promise.”

“We’re not dating.”

“Why? He loves you. You know that. And if not, then why did you lie? And what’s with Xavier? There was really something going on between you two.”

I laughed and asked him to sit with me on a bench. “Why are you here, Matt? You know Layla is still uncomfortable when we’re together.”

“That’s why you’ve been avoiding me?” He narrowed his eyes.

I nodded and looked down.

He tilted my face up with his finger, making me look into his deep-brown eyes.

“She has to understand you guys are part of my life. I can’t just throw you out of my life. I’m not only talking about you. She’s jealous of Mia and Sandy as well.”

I nodded. “So tell me, why did you throw up after kissing him?” He bit his lips to control his laugh.

“It’s not the first time I’ve kissed him and thrown up afterward.” I grimaced.

He laughed. “It means you have kissed him before.”

I nodded. “And that time, I also had to gag myself to throw up.”

“Why?” He continued his laughing, and I tried to ignore it.

“What would you do if someone else came in my mouth and you kissed me afterward?” I said, glaring at him.

“Phew.” He scrunched his nose and made a disgusted face.

“He is dating someone else?”

I just sucked it up and spit it out.

“He’s gay.”

“What the fuck? Tell me you’re joking.” He looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

“No, I’m not. You promised me, Matt. You can’t tell this to anyone.”

He nodded, and I told him about our sophomore year when I’d kissed him and he’d told me he was gay and that he’d given someone a blowjob.

That was the first time I’d puked, and now this was the second, and I hoped it was the last time.

He burst out laughing so hard.

“It’s not funny.” I glared at him.

“Okay, okay. But seriously, you two have been playing these games since sophomore year?” he asked, laughing.

“Yup.”

He’d wanted me to help him chase girls away from him. He’d wanted to pretend we were girlfriend and boyfriend, but I wasn’t ready for that.

Posing as his girlfriend would have blocked all my chances to have a real boyfriend, so we’d settled on the one-sided love story. He’d pretended he was head over heels in love with me.

“I can’t believe it. I really thought he loved you. Actually, the whole college thought he was madly in love with you. They were betting you guys would be together by graduation.”

He started laughing again.

I punched his shoulder.

“Ouch,” he hissed, rubbing his shoulder.

“Okay, sorry. Why hide being gay?” he asked, trying to keep his face straight.

“I never asked. Maybe because of his parents.” He nodded.

“Why did you lie then about dating him? Because of your sister’s boyfriend? And don’t think about lying,” he warned. “Because I saw the tension between you two.”

“We know each other.” I shrugged.

“Melody.”

“We had a one-night stand. I mean we hooked up once.” I looked away from him.

“What the fuck?” Dan’s voice boomed from the front door.

“The same stranger you were talking about at the graduation party?” he asked, walking closer. Matt was shocked.

“I think we should go.” I glared at Dan.

“Remind me to kill you later, cocksucker,” I hissed in his face.

“No, darling. You aren’t going anywhere until you answer my question.” He blocked my way. “And it’s not my fault you always kiss me when I—”

“Stop. Don’t utter a single word, or I will puke again.” I ran toward the toilet and emptied myself again.

They both were laughing, clutching their stomachs.

“I think we’re going to be late; we should go.” I tried to change the subject. I didn’t want to remember anything about that night.

It wasn’t like we liked each other. We’d just hooked up, nothing more.

“You’re going to tell me. He’s the same stranger, and if it was a casual hookup, why did he look furious, like he was ready to kill somebody, or especially me?” He looked up at me curiously.

I remained silent for a few seconds, thinking about where to start and what to tell them. Dan knew about it, but Matt was looking for an answer, so I told them everything from the start.

“We hooked up in New York when I went to surprise Reed on his birthday.”

“The day you broke up?” Matt asked.

I nodded.

“Wow,” Matt whispered to himself.

“So?” Matt urged me to continue.

I sighed and took a deep breath. “I went to a club that night for a drink. He approached me, introducing himself, and I told him my name was Sara Hudson,” I said, looking at both of them.

They exchanged looks.

“You gave him a fake name?”

I nodded.

“Yes, I was more interested in drinking than in him, and I thought I would never see him again. But after a few drinks and dances, I tried to walk away, but he told me what he wanted.

“I wanted to live for one night. I wanted to be a free spirit. We went to my hotel room, and you know what happened next.”

I looked away. They could see through me. I didn’t want to tell them about the connection I’d felt with him.

“Okay, but I don’t think it was only a hookup for him,” Matt said.

“What do you mean?”

“When he saw you kissing Dan, he was ready to lunge at him any minute.”

“It’s not like that. It’s been almost a year since we hooked up, and don’t forget he is my sister’s boyfriend now.” I stood and walked toward the exit.

“What are you hiding from me?” Dan asked, coming closer.