Ever After Awaits (Layla) novel Chapter 41

: Layla POV

I feel like shit.

Xavier woke me every two hours. Either to make sure my condition wasn’t worsening or to give me more pain medication for the herd of stampeding elephants in my head.

I’ve been awake for the past 20 minutes, internally having a meltdown after what happened between us last night.

I could probably chalk my lack of judgment up to the hit on the head. But that would be a copout, and I don’t do those.

At that moment, while he was being sweet, kind, and caring, I let my guard down and gave in to my deepest, darkest desires.

Apart from Cade, he’s the only other guy I’ve been so intimate with. And I know it’s wrong because he is my stepbrother. But at that moment, I felt connected to him in a way I would never have anticipated.

He’s always been broody and blunt and sometimes downright mean. But seeing him be so gentle with me, taking care of me even though he didn’t have to, sparked something in me that I’m afraid I won’t be able to get extinguished again.

What’s amping up my anxiety even more is the fact that I don’t know how he’ll react when he wakes up. Will he be the Xavier who came to my rescue last night, the one who bandaged me up, the one who gave me immense pleasure? Or will he be the Xavier I’ve been exposed to since day one, the downright malicious guy who called me degrading names without having all the facts?

His warm body is wrapped around me from behind, doing weird things to me and my brain. His fresh ocean breeze smell makes my senses go haywire, simultaneously making me think of hot summer nights spent walking on the beach and getting lost in the stars above.

“How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?” he suddenly says from behind me, his breath tickling my neck. His morning voice is raspy and sultry. Heavens help me.

“I didn’t want to disturb you. You must be tired after a long night of watching my sorry ass.”

He snorts and his arm that’s across my waist tightens, effectively pulling me closer, making me come to the startling realization that his morning wood is pressing into my lower back. Should I ignore it? Should I tease him about it? Or should I try to pull away?

He luckily decides for me when he rolls away, gets out of bed, and walks into the ensuite without a word.

When he returns, I slip inside to handle my morning routine. As I stare into the minor, I contemplate taking that shower that I missed out on last night, but the marching band in my head makes me decide to eat something first so I can get some more pain pills into my system.

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I might have to skip classes today because having to read and concentrate with this headache is going to

be a bitch.

Xavier is waiting for me, sitting in the wingback chair, mostly dressed apart from his bare feet. Why are even his feet attractive? So unfair.

I sit down at the end of the bed, intent on thanking him so he can leave and not ask the questions running through his mind. I know he wants answers about what happened last night which caused me to get injured, but I don’t know how to give him those without divulging every hurtful thing my mom said to me.

“Thanks again, for everything,” I say, fiddling with a fraying string on my sleep shorts, unable to make eye contact with him, hoping he’ll take pity on me and not give me the third-degree.

“The guys should be here soon; I phoned them while you were in the bathroom. Do you want to wait until they are here to tell us what happened, or do you want to tell me now and I’ll relay everything to them?”

My head snaps up at his highhandedness. “Who said you could phone the guys?” I grumble at him.

“Princess, if you didn’t want them to know, you wouldn’t have phoned Hunter last night for help,” he says smugly.

I can’t argue with him because his reasoning is sound. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it though.

Before I can mention what happened between us last night, I hear footsteps stomping up the steps. Lots of footsteps. It seems the whole gang is here.

Hunter is the first to burst through my door, followed closely by AJ and then Cade. Moira trails behind them a couple of feet, unable with her short legs to keep up with their long strides.

Hunter crouches in front of me, lifting his hand towards my face, presumably to get a better look at the cut on my forehead now hidden behind my messy bedhead hair. But Moira pushes him out of the way so she can stand between my knees. “Move boy,” she instructs, and he reluctantly sits back to make room for her.

“Precious girl, what happened to you?” The look of concern and affection she gives me makes my throat contract with emotion.

“I fell last night and couldn’t get up on my own. Xavier came to my rescue.” I’m deliberately evasive with all the details, hoping they won’t give me the third degree.

But Moira is more intuitive than I gave her credit for. “Do you want the boys to leave so you can tell me the real story? Or are we all sitting here until you come clean?”

“Fine.” I roll my eyes at her before I move back so I can lean against the headboard.

Moira sits on the edge of the bed next to me, close enough to place a reassuring hand on my knee. Hunter comes to sit next to me against the headboard, AJ sits on my desk and swings his legs like a toddler, while

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Chapter 41: Layla POV

Cade leans against the wall next to the door with his arms crossed.

Head down, fiddling with my cuticles, I recap everything from when I got home to when Xavier arrived. I don’t think it’s the right time to open Pandora’s box regarding what happened between me and him just yet, at least not while Moira is in the room.

There are about 30 seconds of complete quiet as everyone processes what I just told them. And then

complete chaos erupts.

Cade’s face turns thunderous as he storms from the room. AJ jumps from the desk to pace the room like a caged tiger. Hunter clenches his fists in his lap so hard his knuckles turn white. And Xavier launches his phone across the room against the wall, the screen shattering in a spiderweb of cracks.

Moira is the only one staying calm, moving closer to take my hands in hers, and gently rubbing her thumbs over my knuckles. When I look up, her eyes are full of sadness, compassion, and warmth.

“Next time, you call me, no matter what time of day it is. You feel like a daughter to me, and I would never turn you away if you needed help.”

At her kind words, the tears that have been threatening to spill since last night start streaking down my

cheeks and I fall into her comforting arms with quiet sobs.