“Yeah, it is. It reminds me of the movie theaters in the ‘50s and ‘60s. What do you want to see? They’ve got a wide range of films playing. You can choose from any four of them.”
I laughed. “Yeah, it’s cool, but there aren’t very many screens. Not like the new multi-screen theaters.” I walked the length of the theater front and looked at the posters. The four movies playing were in art-deco frames between vintage movie posters. Eight art-deco frames lit the front of the theater. It was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. “I love this.” I looked at Xavier over my shoulder.
He smiled. “Good. I thought you would. So what’s it gonna be? A comedy, romance, or horror?”
“Ugh, I have enough horror in my life. I could use some comedy.”
After the movie, we went to a little bistro down the road from the theater. Xavier and I sat at a little table nestled in the corner of the restaurant. There was a candle in the middle of the table next to a vase of fresh flowers. That was nice. Not many places had fresh flowers on the table. Usually they were plastic and covered in dust and greasy grime. But the little restaurant was nicely decorated, with lots of little touches that made it casual, but elegant.
The lighting was low, but not too dark that you had to squint to see. The table was covered in a linen tablecloth, no paper placemats. There were fabric napkins instead of paper, and the tables were spaced nicely so you weren’t bumping elbows with the people next to you. It would have been romantic if we were on a real date, which we weren’t. A fact I found I had to keep reminding myself of throughout the night.
The staff was helpful, a little too much so when it came to Xavier. The waitress couldn’t get to him fast enough. Not that I could blame her, even though it irritated me. He leaned back casually in his chair, his long legs stretched in front of him as he waited for our orders. He looked, well, unbelievably gorgeous, a thought that pricked me with guilt. I shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. I was still in love with Chay. It wasn’t fair to either one of them for me to be teetering on the fence… I’d almost forgotten Chay didn’t want me on his side of the fence so there was nothing to be guilty about, after all.
After dinner, when we’d gotten into Xavier’s car, he turned to me. “Milayna…” He cupped my face in his hands and grazed his lips over mine. They were firm and moist, and it felt good right down to the tips of my toes. He started to pull away and I wrapped my hand behind his neck, pulling him to me. His thumb caressed my cheek as his full lips moved over mine, his tongue dipping between my lips, sending jolts of electricity through me.
Oh, this is so wrong.
Xavier lifted his head and grinned ruefully. “Sorry. I know this wasn’t supposed to be a real date, but I just wanted you to know how that felt. I’m sure your idiot ex-boyfriend is going to realize what a colossal mistake he’s made and want you back. And you’ll go because you love him—anyone can see that. But I had to do that just once.”
Silently, I listened to Xavier’s apology. I agreed with everything he said. I did say it wasn’t a real date. I probably would go back to Chay if he asked me. And… I wanted to know what it felt like to kiss Xavier as much as he wanted to know how it felt to kiss me. And kissing him felt damn good.
I reached out and touched his lips gently, lightly. My fingertips glided over them, skimming their outline. His body shuddered in response, his lips parted slightly, and the tip of his tongue moistened them as my fingers trailed across.
Xavier plunged his hands in my hair and pulled my mouth to him. I fisted my hand in the front of his jacket. Our mouths moved against each other’s, caressing, tasting, craving more. He kissed me long and deep. My breathing was quick and combined with the scent of his cologne, my head swam. He felt different. He tasted different. He smelled different. And, oh, he touched me differently, but so, so good. He and Chay were like oil and water. I wasn’t sure which he was, but I could feel myself drowning in him. And, God help me, I didn’t want to be saved.
He grazed his lips softly over mine one last time before lifting his head. Untangling his hands from my hair, he softly trailed a finger down the side of my face and across my collarbone. I shivered.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered.
***
“What are you doing here?” I asked as soon as I climbed out of Xavier’s car at home.
“He doesn’t open your door for you,” Chay mocked.
“Just answer the damn question, Chay.”
“Well, while you two were out partying, we were here dealing with a bunch of Evils. Hope you had a great time, by the way.”
“We did.” I smiled.
“What’d they want?” Xavier asked Chay, who glared at him without answering.
“They didn’t say,” my dad answered. “They asked for Milayna. When they found out she wasn’t here, they took off.”
“So they wanted her.” Xavier took a step toward me.
My dad nodded, rocking backward on his heels. “Or at least to scare her.”
18
Benjamin