Prey

Chapter 84

Xander's POV:

I let out a disgruntled huff as I set the phone down.

"Who the hell rents out an entire hill?" I grumbled to myself.

That hill was one of the only places I could think of that wouldn't have had us crowded around many others and given us a decent amount of privacy.

Which I did want since I needed to talk to her about something.

I guess we could go to one of the parks or the woods.

No... the parks are going to be crowded and the woods would impede our view.

I slouched, leaning my hands onto my desk.

Honestly, to get both privacy, and a decent view, we might as well just stay here.

We had a good sight of the mountains from the window, so the view would at least be nice

I just hope she doesn't mind...

I turned my head towards the window, spotting the clear sky. Absolutely perfect for a night like this.

The sound of her footsteps approaching me from the bathroom sounded as I further analyzed the bay window.

Yeah, I could make that work. Spruce it up a bit with some pillows and blankets and it'll be perfect.

"Turn around."

I did at just the sound of her voice directly behind me before I processed her words.

As soon as I was facing her, she raised her arms and slipped something onto my head, whatever it was taking my hair with it.

I just stayed still as she altered its positioning, her eyes borrowing in focus while she bit the corner of her lip.

I tried focusing more on finally figuring out what it was more than the sensation of her fingers in my hair as she put it to her liking.

Once it was settled, she crossed her arms and took a step back, nodding to herself.

"Did you really just put one of your headbands in my hair," I asked, wildly entertained by the thought.

"Well, yeah," began her informal response, "You refuse to cut it or manage it, so I wanted to see if this would work."

Well, it did get the hair out of my face.

"And does it?"

She looked it over once more, pondering for a short moment.

"Yeah, it doesn't look half bad."

'Half bad' in 'Doe standards' was quite possibly the highest honor you could receive.

It must look good.

"Thank you then," I said, leaning my hips back till I was partially sitting on the desk, "Do you uh, have any objection to just staying here for the meteor shower tonight? The place I wanted to go is all booked, and nowhere else is gonna be nearly as good."

A hint of unease crept up on her as she looked towards the window.

Right... The last time she sat there, things didn't go too well.

I know that she loved sitting there, so I just hoped that experience didn't ruin it forever.

In all honesty, it stirred that protectiveness in me too, but I knew that nothing could happen to her if I was there beside her.

It looked like she knew that too with the resolve that replaced her initial look.

"I don't mind," she replied, "At least that way we don't have to dress warm."