Always with You (WIth You Trilogy) (7 page)

The digital alarm on my phone went off to tell me the muffins were ready and we broke off the kiss
, wide-eyed, breathless, and both cursing the universe for ruining our moment.

I plated them up and left a few on the side for Adam
before taking the plate into the lounge.

“Blueberry muffins,” I mumbled, setting the plate down on the coffee table and sitting on the other sofa, away from Xander.

“You two already talked about everything?” Jason asked, seemingly unaware of the tension between the two of us.

“What is there to talk about,” I shrugged.

Jason raised his eyebrow, both shocked and amused by the sharp tone of voice I was using.

“What’s up?” H
e asked, glancing at Xander apologetically, as though he was trying to excuse my hostile behaviour. Xander looked completely nonplussed as he devoured a muffin.

I shrugged and picked at my own muffin.

“She thinks I’m an asshole,” Xander smirked.

I really hate
that smirk.

Jason chuckled and grinned over at me. “You called him an asshole?”

I shrugged again, focussing on removing a large blueberry from the middle of my muffin. I called him an ass, but asshole was close enough and fit just as well.

“He’s here to help keep y
ou safe, Jamie,” Jason frowned “But she chose me so she’s a good judge of character,” he added, looking at Xander.

“W
asn’t disagreeing,” Xander replied, his smirk almost turning into a grin. “Just surprised. Ian said she was shy.”

I scowled.
What is his problem?
He seemed to get his kicks from trying to piss me off. I had to keep reminding myself that Ian had recruited Xander for my safety and I had promised to be good so he didn’t have to worry whilst he was away.

Jason grinned and shook his head in amusement. “No, not so much any more. Calling somebody who she’s barely
met an asshole is kind of a new one though. You must have made an impression.” He looked down at me with a cheeky smile and brushed his lips over my forehead.

I huddled closer to him and let his scent fill my nostrils. I knew Xander hadn’t really done anything and I’d been kind of rude to him. I needed to be a bit more friendly.

“Sorry, Xander,” I said genuinely, glancing up at him.

“S’okay,” he shrugged. We remained silent a while longer before he continued. “Damn
. Muffins are good.”

“Glad you like them,” I smiled back,
happy we were finally getting a discourse going.

“So, what are you going to do exactly?” Jason asked, looking over at Xander.

“You mean why am I here playing babysitter to your girlfriend?” Xander deadpanned.

“I know why you’re here,” Jason frowned, his jaw turning tense at the unpleasant reminder. “I just want to kno
w what it means for Jamie’s day-to-day life.”

“
Covered the basics,” he shrugged, putting his plate and mug down and turning to face us. “Wherever Jelly goes, I go. Shops, school, gym, anywhere.”

I frowned, feeling like a puppy on a leash again. Xander and Jason both noticed my reaction.

“Know you’re not used to somebody following you around-” Xander started but I almost choked on my muffin when I laughed out loud.

“I thought you knew my brother,” I said with no small amount of sarcasm.

Jason chuckled and squeezed me gently into his side.

“As I was saying,” Xander continued, not amused. “You need to let
me know your plans in advance. On my own in this. Owe your brother a favour, and intend to honour that, but I can’t be on my guard twenty-four seven. There’s a threat to you, you need to work with me so I can do my job. Got it?”

I nodded, surprised to have heard quite so many words from this normally quiet man. I could tell that he was serious. I also knew from the way that he talked about Ian that he held a lot of respect for my brother and really did want to make sure I was kept safe.

“How far in advance?” Jason asked.

“A week at least,” Xander shrugged.

“We’re going to Newcastle on Friday,” Jason cringed.

Ben would be graduating and we planned on going up there to celebrate with him and Hannah.

Xander pursed his lips but nodded anyway. “How were you going to get there?”

“Train,” Jason shrugged.

“No,” Xander shook his head firmly. “Not an option. Rent a car.”

“Alright,” Jason frowned.

I knew that would be a hell of a lot more expensive. “I can pay for it,” I offered, feeling guilty that he had to go to all this trouble because of me.

“Don’t be daft,
little squirrel,” Jason shook his head. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Where are you staying?” Xander cut in before I could protest.

“We haven’t discussed it,” Jason shrugged, glancing at me. “I figured maybe we could crash at Ben’s house, unless you want to stay with Jake?”

I thought about it. I really wanted to spend more time with Jake, we’d only just started reconnecting and we’d never been that close before. He’d been an ass to me at school and we’d not really kept in touch much after he moved out. I wanted us to have a better relationship. I wouldn’t have minded staying with Ben or Jake.

“I don’t mind,” I smiled. “I would like to spend some time with Jake whilst we’re over there though. If there’s time, I mean.”

“One more thing,” Xander interrupted us and waited until he had my attention before he cont
inued. “Do as you’re told. You don’t like it, I don’t care. Ian trusted me with your safety and you need to trust that the decisions I make are in your best interest.” His eyes pierced mine, still kind but definitely resolute. I knew he meant business.

“Okay,” I nodded glumly.

The room fell quiet again and Jason fiddled with the new TV before settling back into the sofa and eating another muffin with me nestled in his side.

I wasn’t looking forwards to Xande
r’s fairly strict seeming rules but I understood the reason for it and I figured I could give it my best shot. I’d do pretty much anything to avoid being put in that horrifying situation again.

Friday, 12th July 2013

I slept almost the entire ride to Newcastle. Xander insisted on driving and Jason sat in the passenger seat so I spread out in the back of the car and caught up on a few hours sleep. I was still waking up with nightmares fairly regularly and
it felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere near enough sleep to function on.

Ben’s graduation ceremony started at 09:30 so we’d had to leave
quite early to get there in time during rush hour. By the time we arrived and found parking, Ben was already dressed in his robes and looking very handsome with Hannah on his arm.

“Check you out!” I b
eamed once a proud Jason released Ben and it was my turn to hug him.

He grinned happily back and I turned to greet Hannah.

“I look kind of dorky,” Ben smiled sheepishly.

“That’s nothing new, Benji,” Jason retorted with a grin.

Ben frowned and crossed his arms across his chest. He knew Jason was just kidding. It was obvious Ben was crazy nervous and Jason was trying to put him at ease.

“You always pulled the dorky thing off,” Jason
added, giving his brother a one-armed hug.

Ben’s frown faltered
and he returned the hug.

“This is Xander,” I explained, noticing Hannah’s eyes on my bulky bodyguard slash babysitter.

“Nice to meet you,” Hannah replied politely, smiling at him.

Xander, true to form, remained silent and nodded in reply to her greeting. I studied Xander quietly. I knew what he was doing, I’d spent enough time with him this last week to learn how he operated. His eyes were subtly scanning the crowd of people around us. At first, I hadn’t noticed him doing it. He wasn’t overt or obvious. If I hadn’t spent so much time with him, I never would have noticed it.

I appreciated that he was doing it subtly. I wasn’t sure if he knew that I’d noticed but I thought he might have been trying to save me from being on edge by being discrete about it. I also appreciated that he really was trying to keep me safe. I knew Ian wouldn’t trust just anyone to protect me in his absence.

“We best get in there,” Ben said nervously, glancing towards the entrance to the grand hall where the graduation ceremony would take place.

He clasped Hannah’s hand tightly and brushed his lips against its back. She smiled back at him reassuringly.

“There’s a really good coffee shop round the corner,” Ben said to Xander whilst we were queuing to get in. “We should be out around twelve.”

Xander frowned and pulled me aside, away from the others.

“N
ot going in there without me,” he grunted, not meeting my eyes because he was looking past me to the crowd.

“Why not?” I demanded. “You won’t be in my lectures with me.”

“That’s different,” he shrugged.

“How?” I asked, my irritation levels rising.

“Because I’ll have already checked them and we’ll be on familiar turf. It’s too high risk.” He spoke calmly and evenly but he looked annoyed.

“Xander, it’s Ben’s graduation. I’m not going to miss it. I want to be there for him,” I argued, trying hard not to get irate. We only had three tickets and there was no way I was going to ask Hannah or Jason to miss out so I could take Xander in there.

“No,” Xander shrugged again.

“No?” I screeched. “That’s all you have to say? You’re not even going to hear my case?”

“No,” he repeated.

“God! You’re such an-”

“Listen,” he barked. He used a tone of voice I’d not heard before. It oozed self-assured command. This was a man who always got his way. He wasn’t used to being told no. “My job is to protect you. You don’t like it, I don’t give a shit. I promised your brother I’d keep you safe and you’re not going to pull some childish hissy fit and fuck it all up.”

I swallowed thickly, gaping at him with no words to answer. A childish hissy fit. That’s what he’d called it. I bit back
an angry response and forced myself to take a deep breath.

I wanted to be ther
e for Ben, and watch him receive his Masters degree, but I also wanted to keep my promise to Ian. He was out there somewhere, possibly in danger, and there was no way I was going to go back on my word.

“Okay,” I mumbled eventually, my eyes down. “I’ll just go explain.”

I kept my eyes on my feet but I thought I heard Xander sigh with relief.

“I…
I can’t come in,” I said quietly once I was back with the others.

“What the fuck, Jamie?” Jason demanded, his shoulders tensing and stretching the suit jacket he was wearing.

Even as irritated and embarrassed as I was, I couldn’t avoid noticing how delicious he looked in a three-piece suit.

I took Jason’s hand and pulled him away from Ben and Hannah. “Jason, please,” I pleaded. “I’m not happy about it either, but let’s not make a scene. You guys need to get in there.”

“This is bullshit, Jamie,” Jason groaned. “You should be in there with us. What does he think is going to happen?”

“I don’t know, Jason.
I want to be there for Ben too but he must have his reasons.”

Jason ran both his hands through his hair and glanced over at Ben who was just about to go through the doors. I pulled him back to the others and gave Ben a hug.

“I’m sorry, Ben. I’m really proud of you.”

“Thanks, Jamie,” he smiled kindly. “It’s okay, we’ll celebrate together after.”

I smiled back and made Jason promise to film the good bits.

“Where do you want to go?” I asked Xander, still not looking up at him because every time I did
, he was crowd scanning.

He didn’t seem too comfortable being around so many people so I wanted to give him the choice of where we would go for the next three hours.

“Somewhere quieter,” he answered.

“I could call my brother?” I offered. “I think he lives close to the campus.”

Xander nodded and I made the call. The idea of seeing Jake cheered me up a little. I was bummed out that Xander wouldn’t let me watch Ben graduate but at least I could spend some time with my brother.

He gave us his address and we wandered over to his house whilst I studiously ignored Xander, still annoyed at him for saying no.

“Hey, Jellybean!” Jake greeted me with a hug as he opened the door.

“Hey, Jake,” I smiled. “Sorry to drop in unannounced.”

“You’re always welcome,” he smiled back. “Besides, Danny told me you were coming up to Newcastle.”

“He did?” I asked in surprise. “I didn’t think he was actually paying attention when I talked to him.”

“You must have caught him between meals,” he chuckled. “This Xander I assume?”

Xander nodded and shook Jake’s hand. I rolled my eyes when Jake’s back was t
urned because he knew about the Xander situation and I definitely hadn’t been the one to tell him about it.

We followed Jake in to see the two Sams sat on his sofa. I hadn’t realised they were his roommates. I smiled awkwardly at them, remembering how rude I’d been last time we met.

“Come make me a cuppa,” Jake grinned, nudging me towards what appeared to be the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes at him, openly this time
, and then swatted him away when he tried to pinch me. I saw his eyes widen because he wasn’t used to me fighting back. The evil glimmer I was so used to from our time at school flickered in his eyes and I bolted away from him when I saw he was about to tackle me.

To
my delight, Xander grabbed him and put himself between the two of us, his face still not revealing any form of emotion. I found myself wanting to see him drop his walls, just once, just to be reminded that he was in fact human.

“What the hell, man?” Jake demanded, the evil glimmer turning somewhat more serious.

Xander didn’t reply but just raised his eyebrow at Jake as if it was completely obvious.

“We were just messing,” Jake scowled.

“Just doing my job,” Xander shrugged.

I moved toward the kettle, dragging Jake with me to defuse the tension.

“Glorified babysitter,” Jake mumbled under his breath.

“Jake,” I warned quietly. “Be nice.”

I glanced at Xander and finally saw him frowning at me.
Why do I bother?
I tried to be nice and he got pissed off and when I was mean to him and called him an ass, he laughed
. I don’t get this guy
.