The Red Lounge

Chapter 21

I slowly walked over to Xavier with my hands behind my back. What was he doing holding a small bouquet of flowers? Why is he doing this now?

He handed me the bouquet with a sheepish smile. "For you. It's an apology."

I grabbed the bouquet with a confused look on my face. "Thank you, but an apology for what?"

He slammed his fists into his pocket and sighed. "For being an asshole this morning. I was being short with you and you didn't deserve that."

"Oh, that's okay. You weren't feeling well."

"I lied. I wasn't feeling mentally well, but physically, I was fine."

"Just because I can't see you're in pain doesn't mean that pain is less valid."

He lowered his head and shook it. "You're a good friend and I treated you poorly."

I rubbed his arm with my free hand and smiled. "Dont be hard on yourself. You're a great friend, my best friend. You're one of the best people I've met."

"You really think that, huh?"

"Of course!"

He pulled me into a tight embrace and placed his chin on top of my head. "I'm glad. Now, ready to get your ass kicked in air hockey?"

"Psh, boy, you wish."

The ride wasn't awkward at all. We blasted some electronic music and jammed out to it. It's as if we never had a rough start to the day, and I loved it. I loved being Xavier's friend and feeling comfortable with him. I never had any fears around him. It's like I could be at my most vulnerable state and never have to fear that he would take advantage of me.

He instead a twenty dollar bill into the coin machine. "I wanted to come here to this weekend but somebody was busy."

"Is that why you stopped at my house Saturday?"

"Yes, and I brought you some cookies."

I shrugged. "Its not like we could've actually come here since somebody ran over a nail."

"Don't judge me."

I threw my head back and laughed. "I missed you."

He narrowed his eyes and the corner of his mouth lifted up slightly. He loved hearing that. "Really?"

"Meh, just a little." I said, lightly punching his arm and then ran to the air hockey table.

"I punch back!" He warned, running after me. He swung his arms around as if they were half asleep. I darted left to right, trying to avoid his touch.

"Fine, I'll let you get away with that one punch. Its game time now!" He inserted four tokens into the air hockey machine and handed me the striker.

The score was 2-6. There was no doubt that Xavier was going to win. He had a great arm, which explained why he was the pitcher on his baseball team.

"Goal!" He yelled as he dropped the puck in my goal.

"No fair, you're a freaking pitcher! You had an advantage."

"Oh the wails of a sore loser. Sweet music to ear!" He said, cupping his ear and breathing in loudly. "Speaking of pitcher, I want you to come to my game Saturday. It's the last one."

Before I could answer, he spoke again. "Unless you're busy with your boyfriend then don't worry about."

"I'll be there, and he isn't my boyfriend."

He crooked his head to the side. "He's not? You two seem pretty close."

"We are involved, but not in a relationship. Does that make sense?"