The Cassidy Boys

Chapter Fourteen: People Watching

I yank my arm back as if he burned me. He recoils the second he sees the fire in my eyes.

"You're listening?" I don't even recognize the laugh that falls past my lips. "I can't believe I fell for that crap!"

"I don't—" Xavier starts, but he's the one that lit the match, and now every inch of me is burning.

"Do you want to know why I sit alone?" I take a step forward. "I have one friend—one friend!" I hold up the number with my finger before dropping it back down to a fist at my side. "And I love her to death, but I know when I'm not in her sight, I'm not on her mind. And that's okay! I was okay." I curse the way my voice cracks like a fly away ember, but relish in the way Xavier practically flinches away from it all the same. "Then you came along."

Xavier flinches again. He keeps his gaze locked on our shoes, so I take another step forward.

"And I may not use my voice—I may not speak my mind as much as I should, but that is because I already know who I am! I don't need to prove it!" I take another step, and that's all it takes for Xavier's eyes to dart back over to mine. I crane my neck, and the sting in my eyes begins to turn to water, but I don't allow myself to cower away. Instead, I make venom drip into my every word. "And I most certainly don't use my so called "voice" to lie to someone I'm still getting to know."

My exit from the space in front of him would be triumphant if my hands weren't shaking. If my legs weren't wobbling. And if the tears I tried so hard to keep at bay begin to leak from my eyes. I hate crying in public.

I hate confrontations.

"You're right," Xavier's voice echoes behind me, and I hate how my legs stop moving forward.

I hear each clomp of his footsteps as he jogs through the distance I put between us, and I hastily wipe at my tears. Xavier's hand coils around my upper arm, and this time he's gentle as he propels me back around to face him.

"You're right." He sighs in defeat as his hand falls back down to his side.

I keep my gaze on the ground as I swipe at my cheeks again. I have no doubt they are splashed with the same red hue ringing my eyes. We stand there in the middle of the mall for a few more seconds before Xavier slides his converse covered foot forward.

"How about I make it up to you?" He snaps his fingers. "Smoothies."

My eyes dart up before I can help it, and Xavier takes the action as an olive branch, even going as far as flashing me with a smile.

"On me." He smooths a hand down his chest before taking a step back. "Come' on." He waves he hand before beginning to walk in the direction of the food court. When I still don't follow, he whips back around, and wiggles his eyebrows. "You know you want one."

A smile tugs at my lips before I can stop it at the high-pitched way he sings the words, and my feet finally begin shuffling in his direction only because he mentioned "smoothies" and "on me," and I can't possibly pass that up.

****

"Okay, I don't get it," Xavier says, and the slight bubble coating his words stems from the mango smoothie in his hand. The bright orange liquid sloshes around as he continues to bring it up, and down from his lips. "What are we looking at?"

"Ssh," I almost spit out my own sip of the strawberry banana smoothie in my hand, but keep my gaze locked on the store entrance across from the us.

Xavier leans down towards me in attempt to follow my gaze, but he only swallows down another gulp of his smoothie before leaning back into his own space on the mahogany bench. People continue to walk by us with either kids, shopping bags, or both dangling from their arms. A few glances pass in our direction, but they are completely casual. Spurts of acknowledgement before the people are back to striding to their desired destinations.