Never Saw This Coming

L.A.

"You can come with us too if you want, Maddy," Chris says to me. I shake my head, "I'm not sitting in a car with him for two hours." Xander flashes a dry smile at me. "It's fine, I'll see you guys in a bit." I smile at Nova who returns it. Without another word, I follow out the door where Cgc waits by the trunk of his black Mercedes. He holds his hand out for my suitcase which I hand to him. Rhys leans against the car, looking at me. He points his thumb towards the car, "Do you want the front or back seat?" he asks. I open the back door, "You take the front, I'm probably gonna nap." I say. He nods and gets into the car.

Xander exits the house, locking it behind Nova and Chris. I wait for him to look at me. When his eyes finally catch mine, he flips me off. I smile, returning it. No one noticed that exchange, but it's not unordinary either, so I don't worry too much. I slip into the car and take the seat behind the passenger seat. I buckle my seatbelt quickly and rest my head against the headrest. I hope Cgc doesn't kill us.

Cgc adjusts his mirror and waits for Valdez, who's parked right behind us. My phone buzzes in the pocket of my sweats and I pull it out.

Max: Have fun with the guys and Nova, ugly <3

What the hell is Max doing up at 6 in the morning on a Saturday?

Me: lol, go to sleep. and I will love ya.

Max: Also need to talk to you about something ?? I'll wait until you come back though.

I furrow my brows and swallow a lump in my throat. He doesn't know about me and Xander, right? That's the only thing I can really think of right now.

Me: I hate you?? I will not stop thinking about this.

Max: Stop thinking about it. It's nothing bad, swear.

I clutch my phone tighter for some reason, my knuckles beginning to whiten. I ease my grip on it and shut it off, throwing it to the side. If he says it's not bad then I'll believe him. I just hope he's not lying to me.

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The house is a bit bigger than I thought it'd be. There's absolutely no way my parents could ever afford this. The condo sits right on the beach with large glass windows that give us the absolute best view of the Pacific Ocean. If you open the doors in the back, you only have to run a bit to get to the actual beach. If only this was my view every day. "There are seven bedrooms so no one has to share unless you want to," Cgc looks at Valdez and Nova "choose whichever you want."

Both Rhys and Xander don't hesitate to disappear upstairs. Cgc, Nova, Chris, and I remain on the first level. I stare outside, it's almost eight so there are still not many people at the beach. There's a couple of morning joggers and people walking their animals. I haven't been to LA in a minute and I kind of missed it. Los Angeles has always been my number two place to live. New York is one, obviously. I feel an arm wrap around my shoulder, getting ready to pull away when I think it's Xander blowing our cover.

It's not. It's just Cgc. He looks at me as I admire the view. "It's nice right?" he asks. I don't look at him for long, looking back out. "Yeah, are we doing the beach today?" I ask. "Yup." Chris and Nova say in unison from the kitchen. They're both sitting on some clear bar stools behind the beautiful kitchen island. This house is fucking nice. I hope I can afford something like this one day. Cgc drops his arm off of me and walks over to the kitchen. The living room and kitchen are all one big, connected space, so I can still hear and see them from here.

"I can't believe you two didn't go find the perfect room to fuck in," Cgc says. I walk over to them and roll my eyes. Nova's face flushes. She's not comfortable talking about sex like that. I sit down next to her and rub her shoulders. She smiles at me, her face still has a light blush over her brown freckles. "We don't need a perfect room. We can do that anywhere," Chris says, taking a long swig from his water bottle right after. Nova slaps his arm lightly, but he doesn't flinch like I thought he would.

He swallows the water in his mouth, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What?" he says to his girlfriend who is again flushing. Cgc wears a stupid grin on his face at this. "Don't tell him that!" Nova motions her head towards Cgc like he can't hear what she's saying. Chris rolls his eyes, playfully, and shrugs. Nova covers her face with two hands and shakes her head. "Well, then I'm gonna go snag a perfect room to sleep in," I smile dryly before getting up to find my suitcase.

I carry the heavy thing up the marble stairs. There are multiple rooms at the top, all pretty spaced out. There's also a small balcony at the very top that shows the whole living room on the first floor. I walk past a room, Rhys lays on his stomach like he's already passed out. Neither of us slept on the way over here. We all talked about the most random things the whole way. I've never hung out with Rhys and Cgc alone and when I say they have the weirdest fucking conversations ever, I mean it. I think they forgot I was there sometimes.

Most of the doors are closed after that, besides the one at the end of the hall. I peek my head in, seeing Xander. Shirtless. "Psst," I hiss. He turns his head quickly and sees me. The bruises on his ribs are still there but a little less visible now. He smiles only a little, "Trying to get caught, now?" he says. I turn around, no one in sight. "I think I want your room," I say, looking around the medium-sized bedroom. He smiles, "Beat you to it, Madison." I glare at him which only makes his smile bigger. "You're invited to join me though. You know if you want." He starts walking closer to me, very, very shirtless. I hold my hand up and he stops.

"Stay where you are. The closer you get, the more you blind me," I say. I'm joking obviously. Even though I don't hate him, I still give him a difficult time and tease him. He's stopped completely which I appreciate but also miss. Though I'd probably smack him if he even spoke to me the way he used to once. He puts one hand over his heart like I hurt him with my statement. "And I thought you actually liked me now," he says. I turn my head to make sure no one's coming up. When I look back, he's standing closer.

"Who told you that?" I ask. "You," he says. I roll my eyes, "I'd never openly admit to liking you, Xander." His eyebrows only raise. "So you do like me? You just don't want to admit it to yourself and me." He smirks. I roll my eyes viscously. "I don't like you, I stand by that." I pick my chin up and put my shoulders back. He's taller than me and while I don't mind, I wish I could be at eye level with him. He's looking down at me.

"Hmm," he hums. I tilt my head a little, trying to read him. Is he mad at my answer? He says, "That's not what you were saying last night." He tries hard not to smirk arrogantly, but I see his lips twitch a bit. We had phone sex last night before I went back to my room and I definitely didn't say anything like I don't like you, Xander. I can say it now though. "You're a menace," I say truthfully. He finally breaks out a smile. "Just like you, gorgeous." He pulls me by my waist into his room. He uses my body to close the door. I push him lightly by his chest, not wanting to hurt his ribs.

"What are you doing? My suitcase is right outside your door!" I remind him. That's definitely fucking suspicious, especially if they looked, I wouldn't be in any of the other rooms. "So?" His chest falls heavily. I can't believe he's turned on right now. He comes forward, towards me again. His hands cup my face and I relax into him, looking up at his dark brown eyes. "Nobody can know about this," I say, a lot softer. Ew. "I mean it." My voice comes out a lot harder than before. He kisses the side of my mouth. "I know," he whispers.

"Then, I-"

"But I need you right now," he cuts me off. I look at him for a couple of seconds and then look down at his crotch. I can see the outline of his dick through his gray sweats. My eyes widen, looking back up at him. "We can't! Not right now," I hiss. He lowers one of his hands and cups my ass. I gasp at the unexpected grab. "Fine. I'll help myself then, but I better see you later tonight." Before I can say okay, he opens the door and guides me out. He winks at me and then closes the door on me.

Fuck, well now I'm turned on.