Dangerous Boy

Chapter Eleven

It's nearly eleven by the time I finally get to pull the covers back from the spare bed I'll now be sleeping in for the second night in a row. Before meeting Xavier, nothing different or dangerous like this ever happened to me. I spent all my time at school or studying to try and impress my parents who I never seem to be good enough for.

Oliver has never shared this same problem with me, even though he's my brother and is barely 12 months older than I am.  I have always been incredibly jealous of how intelligent and mature he is. He was a straight A student throughout all of high school - you could imagine the teachers horror when they met me, the little sister who could barely pass a math test with a solid C.  He's like Albert Einstein and I struggle to remember my seven times tables.

English is a different story, it's the one subject I've always enjoyed and been good at since I was a little girl. Reading and writing about things that could never really exist is like some kind of magical escape from the mostly unexciting world I find myself trapped in. Whenever I'm around Xavier though, I feel like I'm in one of the many novels I've read, the way he makes me feel is like the things I saw in movies that I always thought were pathetic until now. I never knew it was possible for someone to make you feel so many different emotions all at once, I feel like a different person whenever I'm around him.

I don't feel like the second best little sister who still has bits of acne on her cheeks with the coordination of a fish out of water and I like that.  I like that he makes me feel like something I'm not, like something that's actually worthy of being cared for and cherished.

How're you? x

I send the message to Oliver before I forget, we're both bad at remembering to keep in contact with each other once he leaves for college. I guess when you're studying to become a doctor things can become a little intense, I'd hate to see how many hours he's having to put in each day, although I'm sure he thrives on it since school has always been his thing.

"Grace?" my phone slips between my fingers when I look up. Xaviers' large figure stands in the doorway between the half open door and the fact that he's shirtless doesn't go unnoticed by me.

My mouth dries completely. He's obviously just got out of the shower because his hairs still slightly damp and instead of being pushed back from his face like it usually is it just sits messily across his forehead in the most simplistically, beautiful kind of way.

"Can I come in here for a little while?"

I suddenly realise I still haven't answered and quickly snap out of my daydream, nodding my head and plastering the most normal smile I can on my lips. I don't want him to know how much his presence effects me, the way my pulse suddenly becomes the only thing I can hear and all kind of thoughts seem to leave my mind except those about him.

He steps further into the room and my body suddenly feels like it's a hundred degrees hotter than before. The indents and lines of muscle on his perfectly sculptured body is one that would easily put any body builder or athlete to shame. Each one flexes with every small movement that he makes and is highlighted perfectly by the dark tattoos that cover nearly all of the skin on his arms, chest, back and stomach.

"Are you alright?" I force my words to be as stable as they can be but they still sound uneven and breathless. He nods and sits on the edge of the bed beside me, so close that I can feel his body heat mixing dangerously with my own.