Love Unexpected (15 page)

We said bye to her friends and left.
 

Sedona
 

Zander's heated looks burned through me. He was so intense. His gaze set me afire. He looked like he wanted to rip m
y clothes off and devour me.
 

I suggested the beach so we went to a local beach. His hands were entwined in mine as we walked to
the shops along the beach.
 

He was really a gorgeous guy. Women of all ages eyed him. He was not cocky about it. H
is attention was all on me.
 

We were inside a small boutique store that sold touristy items. I was looking at an interesting shot glass. He came up behind me and wrapped
his hands around my waist.
 

Heat crept up to my face.
 

"You like that?" His eyes were on the shot glass that I was holding. His minty, fresh breath assailed
my senses.
 

"It's interesting," I traced the engraved ‘San Francisco’ words on the glass. I liked shot glasses. They were miniature masterpieces in tiny glasses. I had a display case of shot glasses at my dad’s house. I’ve collected 57 pieces throughout the years. This would
be number 58. 
 

"It's nice." He was taller than me. The top o
f my head reached his chin.
 

"You want to get it?"
 

"I don’t know yet,” I took another shot glass out of the rack, “Look
, there’s another one here.”
 

"You smell so good.”
 

I swallowed.
 

"What do you think?"
 

He leaned close
r and eyed the shot glasses.
 

"I think the other one is more intricate. This one has vivid colors." He was an Architecture Design major. Of course, he
had an eye for these things.
 

“
They're both really nice."
 

"Let's get both of them," hi
s breath was hot on my ears.
 

He stepped aside but placed his hands back on my waist. We headed towards the counter. I was pulling out my wallet from my purse. He stopped me and said, "I got this.
"
 

My dad taught me to never argue if a guy offered to pay. He also taught me
to say thank you graciously.
 

I said, "Than
k you, they're really cool."
 

He handed me the plastic bag with the shot glasse
s and I put it in my purse.
 

We walked to a few more stores. Each time we went into a store, he touched me and held me longer. I received a few envious stares from women. We talked about school and all sorts of stuff - from football to sc
hool to our favorite places.
 

I
felt comfortable around him. He was fun and easy to talk to. I did notice that he gave guys dark looks when their gazes stayed on me longer than he wanted. He was a man. No question about it.
 

He brought me inside a tiny Italian restaurant that had great online reviews, according to his phone. The tables were so small that he and I were literally pressed against each other. He was a big guy so there wasn't much space for me to move. He asked if I was ok or if I wanted to go to another restaurant. I said no. I liked the homey feeling of the place and the truth was, I didn't m
ind being this close to him.
 

I ordered angel hair pasta with chicken and he, a steak. I had a glass of white wine and he got a beer. He l
iked beer. The table was small; there was barely any space for both our orders.
 

I bit into my food and closed
my eyes. This was delicious.
 

When I opened my eyes, he
was looking at me strangely.
 

"You're so
sexy." It was a statement.
 

"Oh, thanks," I giggled nervously, "The chicken is really good."
 

I was not in the habit of sharing my food. If someone touched my food, I didn't eat another bite of it.
I offered it to him anyways.
 

"Are you sure?" He must have sensed my hesitation, "I have an idea, why don't you feed it me? That way, I won't be touching your food with my fork." He
must’ve thought I was weird but I nodded. I sliced a small piece of chicken and wrapped pasta around it and fed him.
 

I watched his mouth
take in the fork and desire pooled in my body. Who knew feeding someone could be so hot?!
 

"That’s delicious," he said.
 

A small amount of sauce was stuck on the right side of his mouth. Before I stopped
myself to think about it, I found my lips licking the sauce off of his mouth.
 

My tongue cleaned off the sauc
e and I was about to pull away; only this time, his mouth didn't let me. He kissed me with deep hunger. He tasted of beer and food. My tongue was finding its way deep into his mouth when he slowly pulled away, "I don't want to stop, I’m just afraid I won't be able to walk back to our car if we continue."
 

I giggled. He looked like he was in pain. He was turned on as much as I was.

I shied away from making any more PDA-worthy moments because first, we were in public. Second, we were in public.

“So, how long have you been friends with Xavier and the guys?” I asked.

“We’ve all been friends since 10
th
grade. They’re my closest buddies. How about you, been friends with Kieran for a while?” Eventually, I knew he was going to ask about Kieran.

In between bites of the scrumptious chicken dish, I told him how Kieran and I met in swimming class, when I was 9. Kieran bet me that I would not be to find the quarter that he dropped at the bottom of the pool. I had a very competitive streak and almost drowned because of it. A lifeguard had to pull me out of the bottom of the pool. Kieran felt so bad. After that, he gave me his entire Mario Bros. collection of toys and promised to protect me for life.

I smiled as I recalled our story, “He’s always been there for me, through everything. When Chatty Pepper posted those pictures of Kieran and me - I felt violated because it was a private moment between friends. People can assume all they want. Kieran and I, we’ve been through the best and the worst of times.”

His tone was pensive, “We should hang out with him. Maybe have dinner or something.”

I nodded wholeheartedly.

We walked to a gelato place after dinner. We were just completing our order from the guy at the counter when his phone vibrated in his pocket. I felt it because I was wrapped around his arms. He didn't want to take the call; I told him to go ahead and pick it up. The vibration from his pocket was bugging me.
 

He was frustrated at the caller, "Xavier, this is really not a good time.”

After a pause, he asked, “Alright, where are y
ou? I'll call Dom and John."
 

He punched a few keys on his phone. His head shook after a couple of minutes.

"What happened?" I asked.
 

"Xavier's car ran out of battery. He probably left his lights on again
."
 

"Where's he at?"
 

"Main and 8
th
."
 

That was only a few miles
away from where we were at.
 

"Can't he call Triple A for
a jump start?" I suggested.
 

"He's really picky when it comes to his car. He thinks other people are going to mess it up. I tried John and Do
m, they’re not picking up."
 

Oh ok. That, I understood. I was picky too. When it came to my stuff, I trusted very few peo
ple to help me deal with it.
 

"Alright, let's go." I was already walking towards the direction of the par
king lot.
 

"No, he can wait on
his ass for Dom and John."
 

"You didn't talk to any of them, right?” I said, “They might not get the mes
sage til later so let's go."
 

"You sure?" he asked.
 

"Yeah, I'm actually looking forward to seeing Xavier's car. I’m curious why he wouldn't want
anyone else jump start it."
 

"Ok," he pulled me into his arms, "I am so going to make him pay for turning our dat
e into roadside assistance."
 

"Ok," I kissed his cheek and held his hand as we walked to his car.
Zander
 

I was going to kill Xavier. He was so weird with his car. Triple A could easily jump start it but no, he got all sorts of fucked up about it. Well, if he turned his lights off like a normal person did, this shit would
not be happening frequently.
 

It was a good thing Sedona was good-natured about it. 

When we reached the lot where Xavier’s car was parked, she got out of my car, stood on the side, and pretended to scrape the side of Xavier's Audi R8 with her nails, “Hi Xavier. This is your baby, huh
?”
 

The look on X
avier's face was priceless.
 

She was hilarious. Xavier recovered from his near-death experience
and let out a nervous laugh.
 

His car was his baby. It wasn't just because it was a really nice car. It was because it was his graduation gift and Xavier worked long hours helping in his dad's accounting firm b
efore he could earn the car.
 

"Lady, you almost made me piss in my pants," Xavier said and hugged her. I felt a pang of an unfamiliar emotion sweep through me when I saw her in his arms.
 

Shit.
Was that jealousy? I had never been jealous of my friends.
 

Xavier saw the look on my face,
"Easy, Batman. We're cool."
 

Sedona
had no idea of what we were talking about. She just asked me to lift the hood of my car.
 

Xavier had the cables ready. He connected the cables to his car. Sedona connected the other e
nd of the cables to my car.
 

A girl who knew what she was doing with cars.
How did I get to be so lucky?
  I started my car, Xavier started his and we were all good to go.
 

Minutes later, we heard cars pull up. We were in a parking lot so plenty of cars drove around us. The hood was still up. I got out of my car to help Sedona pull the hood down. Sedona was busy
staring at my car's engine.
 

I heard her say, "So this is how what a Porsche’s engine looks like? Very cool. Man, this baby here has a lot of power.”

Where the hell was Xavier? I looked around. There he was, standing a few feet away, with Dom and John, all staring at one thing.

Sedona's ass.
 

I had the strongest urge to pummel the daylights out of them. She had a fine ass. Worth ogling over. Damn, they didn't have
to be so obvious about it.
 

I walked to them. Dom was the first to talk
, "Dude, that girl is fine."
 

I said, "Yes, she is. And if you don't stop staring at her fine-ness, I'm going to clobber all of you si
de by side into the ground."
 

Xa
vier and John looked at me.
 

They burst out laughing. Sedona l
ooked at us, "So cool, huh?"
 

I smiled at her. To Dom and John, I said, "Tsk, tsk, you all decided to show up now after the car's full
y revived. No use, a-holes."
 

Sedona was still smiling as she walked over to us, "Hey, since you guys are all here. We should j
ust all hang out and stuff."
 

John was going to say, "I think that's a great -"
 

Oh hell no.

I cut him off, "I think they got something planned already. Xavier, dude, you cool? Alright, we got to go."