Ten Thousand Words (32 page)

Trey took her hands in his next. “I’m so thrilled to finally meet you.”

“Likewise, Mr. Fawkes.”

“Please, Trey,” he said.

“Come on, before the starving one goes homicidal,” said Jaime. Grabbing Xanthe’s hand, she started to pull her friend across the street to Wurther’s.

Ricki chucked the claw at me and followed them.

“Ugh! What the hell was that?” screeched Gabriella.

“It’s just a guy thing,” said Trey quickly. “Ricki’s known to show rudeness as affection. Come on.”

I watched as the trio went inside their favorite haunt. Then, I followed my friends over to the next block. Bianca walked beside me, no longer touching me. Gabriella’s heels rapped angrily against the ground. When we made it to the restaurant, Trey opened the door for us, the girls milling in ahead.

He put his hand on my chest as I was about to make my way inside. “What are you still doing here?”

My eyes snapped to his, finding them dancing with merriment. Then, I realized what he meant, and without even a good-bye, I turned and ran to where my beating heart had gone.

Trey knew I was done. Work was one thing, but my life was no longer merely my own. A dorky little writer in hipster glasses owned me, heart and soul.

Xanthe

“Please, do not be upset. Ollie and I are only friends. Nothing more,”
Bianca had whispered in my ear in her sexy French accent.

Nodding that I understood, I’d been trying not to scream. The whole time this bizarre situation had been going down, I could feel Oliver staring at me, trying to get me to look at him.

Asshole.

No way in hell would I give him the satisfaction. Not only had he just proven to me that I was nothing special, but he’d also just stood there like a douche drip. He’d made no effort to introduce me to his friends—even as a fucking friend! Hell, not even as the woman who had stuck his fucking mug on the cover of her book.

He’s ashamed of me. That’s the only thing that makes any fucking sense. I’m not pretty enough, skinny enough, fashionable enough for the wondrous Oliver fucking Fairfax to acknowledge in public.

We couldn’t get out of there fast enough for my liking. Jaime had taken pity on me and dragged me away and into Wurther’s.

“Bastard,” she grumbled under her breath. “You’re worth a hundred fucking Ollies, Xanthe. Don’t you ever fucking forget that.”

Our favorite corner booth was open, and we made our way to it. Rex was behind the bar, and when he saw us come in, he started pouring our beers. The looks on our faces made him raise a questioning brow.

“What’s going on? Ricki looks ready to turn someone into a woman,” he said as he dropped off our drinks.

“Ollie fucking Fairfax is a douche,” Jaime announced. “We ran into him on the street with that Bianca model chick smeared all over him. And then he just stood there like an asshat.”

“Oh,” said Rex, shooting me a sympathetic look.

Glaring at him, I grabbed my pint and chugged half of it in one go.

“Yeah, oh. So…that’s that then,” I stated.

“Ellen said you guys were making out all over the bookstore today,” Rex informed us.

“The fuck she did!”

“She said she heard you moaning like a porn star.”

“Old bitch,” I hissed. “I swear, I’m moving someplace where no one knows me, and I’m not going to make any fucking friends.”

Jaime snorted a laugh. “Bullshit. Like we’d let you.”

“If you just need someone to give you a few orgasms, I’m game. You know that,” Rex said, sliding into the booth next to me.

“I’ll let you know if it comes down to that.” I gulped the rest of my beer down.

“Fuck it. I’ll give you some right now. It’ll put you in an awesome mood, having an almost completely gay man—”

Ricki lost it. “You’re bloody queer, Rex. Just own that shit already.”

“That, too,” said Rex before tackling me back on the bench. His hands were on my tits, and his mouth was on mine. He pinched my nipples, making me laugh. “What? Can’t you take this seriously? I’m trying to help you out here!”

His mouth was completely closed over mine in quite possibly the grossest kiss imaginable. Then, suddenly, he wasn’t on top of me anymore. Instead, he was pinned to the wall next to the booth.

“You fucking put those dick suckers anywhere near
my
woman again, and you’ll be tasting your own arsehole, you got that?” Oliver snarled. “Now, fucking take your fruity arse behind the bar, and get me a fucking beer.”

Rex’s jaw hung open in shock.
All
of our jaws were hanging open in shock.

Oliver released Rex’s shirt and spun him toward the bar, giving him a shove. Then, he whacked the shit out of Rex’s arse. “And some shots, too.”

Looking over his shoulder, Rex asked, “What kind of shots, dick?”

“Don’t fucking care. Surprise me.” Oliver turned to face us.

“Holy shit. That was
the hottest
thing I’ve ever seen,” croaked Jaime.

“Thanks, doll. Way to boost your man’s ego,” said Ricki dryly.

“Pfft. I bet you’re thinking the same thing.”

“Too bloody right.”

Oliver glared at me. “Go rinse your mouth out. I don’t want to taste the last cock he sucked.”

Jaime slid her beer at me, and I took a gulp and swished it around in my mouth before swallowing.

Ollie plopped down next to me. “Good girl,” he said.

Grabbing my face with one hand, he kissed me most thoroughly. My toes curled up in my trainers, and my brain wiped clear of his lousy behavior.

Then, he broke the kiss. “I’m sorry. That…Bianca and I were doing it to piss off Gabby because she was being a heinous bitch. I was even wondering what you would say about that sort of shit when you guys came out of the restaurant, and—”

“Uh, yeah!” Jaime snapped. “How the fuck would you feel if she did that shit to you?”

“I just busted her making out with her roommate.”

“Rex doesn’t count.”

“Then, neither does Bianca.”

“Bullshit,” she huffed. “Why’d you just stand there like a dipshit? I gotta say, man, your fucking track record with my Bro Dawg isn’t so hot.”

Ollie’s eyes softened toward Jaime. “Because I don’t want her subjected to Gabriella just yet. You saw what she’s like. She wasn’t too happy when I broke things off with her.”

Rex came over, bearing a tray with five beers and five creamy shots topped with whipped cream.

“What are those?” Ollie asked.

Rex smiled cheekily. “Blow jobs.”

Ricki snickered. After Rex passed them around, Ollie went to reach for his, and Rex slapped his hand.

“Nuh-uh. Hands behind your back,” he told Oliver.

“Excuse me?”

Jaime, Ricki, and I were already in position.

Rex pulled up a chair to sit at the end of the booth and mirrored our stances. “You ready Bro Dawgs?”

“Ready!” we cried.

“One! Two! Three!”

Oliver watched as we all went down and wrapped our mouths around our shot glasses, sat up, and tossed them back.

“Oh,” he said.

Ricki inhaled deeply through his nose and then shot his glass out of his mouth, hitting Rex dead center in the forehead.

“Argh!” screeched Rex, rubbing the spot, while the rest of us howled with laughter.

“Right, douche!” announced Ricki, pointing at Ollie. “Your turn.”

Taking a deep breath, Ollie clasped his hands behind his back and went for it. After swallowing, his elegant long fingers plucked the shot glass from his lips and set it down on the table.

“That wasn’t so bad,” he stated.

“That’s what he said,” Ricki retorted, laughing and pointing at Rex. “Come on,” he said, lightly elbowing his wife. “I need a smoke. You two come with me.”

Ricki winked at me, and as he stood, my two best friends joined him.

Leaving me alone with Oliver.

I cleared my throat, and Ollie gave me his attention.

“Are you embarrassed to tell your friends about whatever the hell it is we are?”

Oliver’s eyes grew wide, and his lips parted. “Oh, love…” he said softly, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. “No. Not at all.”

“So…what happened to your dinner plans?” I asked.

“Trey let me out of them. That means he’s going to be telling Gabriella about us.”

“What do
you
tell people about us?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I’ve only told Bianca and Trey. They know how I feel about you.”

“And that is?”

The look he gave me was one of surprise. “I absolutely adore you, Xanthe. I can’t stop thinking about you. Today, I was doing a shoot with Bianca. She was practically naked, and all I could think of was the last time you and I had sex—which was awesome, by the way.”

My face went up in flames, and I turned my attention to my fresh beer.

“Don’t you think about it?” he asked quietly.

A little too much.
“Yeah, I think about it.”

Reaching out, he took my hand and laced our fingers. “I don’t want to be with anyone else, Xanthe. I don’t want to hold back. I’ve never really done this before, so I’m kind of clueless as to what I’m supposed to do. But whatever I do, I want to do it with you.”

“You scare the shit out of me,” I told him.

“You scare the shit out of me, too.”

Looking into his face, his eyes, as much as I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t over what he had done, I knew that I couldn’t help but adore him, too. He was a bit of an prick at times. Full of himself, cocky, and too damn good-looking not to be. He lived a life I had never imagined for myself, but…he was making changes to fit into
my
life. He wanted in my life for some reason, and if I was honest with myself, it was kind of wonderful.

“So…you haven’t eaten dinner?”

“Nope. I’m going to be buzzing big time.”

“Eh. Blow jobs aren’t what we drink to get tanked. You want to grab some food?”

He smiled, and I had to blink against the brilliance of it. “I’d love to.”

“I’m stuffed, so it’ll just be you. But we can get out of here after I finish my beer.”

“Let’s throw them back then,” he said.

We sat there and chugged. After, he pulled me out of the booth, and we threw on our jackets.

“Have I told you how beautiful you are today?”

I arched my brow at him. “I’m not sleeping with you tonight, Ollie.”

He grinned. “You totally want to though.”

“That’s beside the point.”

Laughing, he took my hand, and we made our way outside. Ricki and Jaime were finishing their smokes. Fishing out some euros, Ollie handed them to Rex.

“We’re heading out,” I told them. “Ollie’s getting buzzed from the blow job and needs some grub.”

“Have fun,” Jaime said, pulling me into a hug. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

I got hugs from Rex and Ricki, too. Ricki clapped Ollie on the back as he made his way inside.

“I think Ricki likes him,” Jaime whispered loudly as she winked.

“What about you?” I asked.

Jaime shrugged. “We’ll see,” she replied, giving Ollie the stink eye. “Ricki taught me how to turn men into women, too, you know.”

Oliver gave her a panty-dropper of a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ollie

The silence between us as we strolled down the street, hand in hand, was comfortable. Although, I did get the feeling that when Xanthe was quiet, it was because her brain was being extremely loud.

“What are you thinking about?” popped out of my mouth before I could check it.

She smiled. “That I was supposed to hold out a lot longer than three bloody days.”

“Don’t feel bad. My mom and sisters know the feeling all too well.”

“No doubt. I bet you get away with murder with them.”

“Not as much as my brother. He’s a lot cuter than I am.”

“Cuter than you? Pfft. Womankind is doomed then.”

Not too far down the street was a small restaurant that served some decent local cuisine. I was suddenly starving—unlike I had been since our fallout a week and a half ago.

Inside the restaurant was cozy and rustic. It was part of the reason I loved it. I pulled out a seat for Xanthe. She took off her jacket and sat down. While I ordered stamppot and rookwurst—mashed potatoes and sausage—Xanthe ended up with a black coffee.