Dangerous Boy

Chapter Sixteen

After Xavier fell asleep last night I left pain killers and a glass of water on the coffee table beside the sofa. I'd planned on driving all the way back home, but I must've fallen asleep before I could because I wake up heavily the next morning on the sofa opposite the one I put him on.

He's already sitting up on the edge on it, running a rough hand through his hair and groaning lightly, still only in his black briefs, but that doesn't seem to bother him. 

"How much did I drink last night?" His voice is gruff and thick with sleep, giving it a rougher edge than usual. I meet his dark gaze, unable to look any lower to his bare skin and force myself to sit up too.

"Enough" I mutter quietly, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hands as he swallows the painkillers I left out for him. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a bus" he breathes out heavily, rubbing the back of his head where I'm sure a headache must be forming. "I'm sorry for how I behaved last night, you didn't need to bring me back here."

"It's okay" I answer in a small voice, my body aches from the uncomfortable position I was sleeping in. "I'm sure this must be really difficult for you to deal with."

"That doesn't mean I should've punched Mason, or led you out to a bar in the middle of the night. You could've got seriously hurt."

"I'm fine" I swallow when he stretches, flexing each one of his muscles a few feet in front of me.

"Thank you for looking after me, I know I was a mess. I haven't been drunk in a while, I don't usually touch alcohol. I didn't say anything stupid did I?"

The I love you he whispered before he fell asleep would be a good place to star,t but they're just words and he was drunk. He has enough to deal with without me telling him that and making whatever's going on between us even more complicated than it already is.

"No, nothing bad" I answer instead. He seems relieved by this and nods, sighing when his phone vibrates from his jacket pocket that's folded across the cushion behind him.

"Noah" there's a different tone to his voice that I haven't heard before. "I've been trying to get ahold of you for days, where the hell have you been?"

Xavier glares into space as he talks to his older brother. I'm not sure whether I'm intruding or not, but he doesn't seem to mind so I just stay seated where I am.

"What do you really want this time?" Xavier sounds more like Noah's Father than younger brother. "Money?"

It's silent for a few minutes as Xavier listens. "So you're coming to visit me at some point then?"

"Great" Xavier mutters, he looks anything but pleased.  "Oh no, I'm really looking forward to it."

Sarcasm laces heavily through each word he speaks before he hangs up, pressing down harshly on the screen with his thumb.

"So,  does he do anything illegal?" I blurt out the question before I can stop myself and for the first time in a little while Xaviers lips lift in a smile at my question.

"Noah is - a free spirit, most of the time he's just drinking and partying in different countries or sleeping around with celebrities, he's not normally involved with the gang."

"Wow" Is all I can bring myself to say. "He sounds..."

"Like a pain in the ass" Xavier finishes my sentace before I can, throwing his phone back on the jacket. "Trust me, he is and he's going to be here in twenty minutes."