Ever After Awaits (Layla) novel Chapter 58

Has she replaced us already? Did we mean that little to her?

“Princess, who’s Mason?” I ask in a restrained voice, not wanting to scare her, but letting her know I’m not happy about what I’m hearing.

Xavier?

Her question is filled with surprise. Who else would it be? Not Mason, because that fucking prick is with her.

“Answer the question, Princess,” I growl at her, my patience wearing thin. If I don’t get an acceptable answer within the next ten seconds, I’m hunting her down myself.

Her following words obliterate my last shred of emotions, making me see red in naught point five seconds.

He’s this handsome young man who’s treating me to a movie tonight.

Everything around me ceases to exist, my rage a visceral thing as I clench my phone so tightly, I won’t be surprised if the screen’s cracked by the end of this call.

“Layla, I swear to all things holy, if you are out on a date with another guy, I will hunt you both down, and he will wish he had never even looked in your direction.”

Rationally, I know I’m being unfair. I was the one who dragged my feet in letting her know what I wanted for us. But along with my calm of earlier, rationality has flown out the fucking window.

*That’s not a very nice thing to say, Xavier. At least I don’t have to worry that Mason will ever be so rude.”

Her retort has me jumping up from my seat to start pacing the room. If I don’t get rid of some of this pent–up anger right now, I cannot guarantee all the furniture here will stay intact.

My fury hangs on by a hair–thin thread as I ask her with a steely voice, “Where are you? Tell me, right fucking now.”

* Xavier. Language.”

She fucking reprimands me. After what she’s done, she has the gall to chastise me?

But before I can go off on another tangent, her following muffled words slice through the heart I didn’t know I still had.

I’ll be right there, Mason.

Wholly speechless and numb, she rips the last pieces of said heart from my chest with her next parting words.

Sorry, I need to go, Mason needs my help with something. Good night, Xavier.

And that’s it. That’s the last fucking straw. Hurtling my phone across the room, I roar, “Fuck!”

Not knowing what to do with myself, I lean back against one of the living room walls, my hands pulling at the hair on my head, breaths ragged, and my emotions raw.

I know I have no right to be mad. I was the one being a douche time and time again. And after a few intimate moments, I disappeared on her. Most likely solidifying her belief that I was pursuing her for sex only.

But fuck, it hurts. I can’t believe she’s moving on so quickly. Did those moments that I thought were special not mean anything to her?

And that’s why I’m pissed at myself because i was too much of a coward to go for what I wanted. For thinking she felt about me like I feel about her. For opening myself up to the possibility of finding someone that could be more than a one–night stand, just to be proven correct that no woman can be trusted.

Another thought strikes me. Do the guys know about this “Mason“? Because I can’t see her finding another guy and not being open and honest with them about another potential suitor. Have they known all along and kept it from me? How long has this guy been in the picture? Was he waiting in the wings

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Chapter 58, Xavier POV

until I inevitably screwed up fo swoop in and save the day?

Fuck, I’m spiraling.

Looking around the room, trying to see the others‘ reaction to the mention of this interloper, I see no emotion from them, except veiled amusement

Dropping my hands, I look closer at their relaxed postures, the slight smiles on their faces, and the conspiratorial look Hunter gives the others before he types something out on his phone.

What do they know that they’re not telling me? Since when do we keep secrets from each other? Have I lost them too because of my indecisiveness?

Directing my gaze at Hunter, who seems to know more about what’s going on than he’s willing to divulge, I ask, “Hunter, do you know who this Mason is? I’ve calmed down somewhat, so the words aren’t said through clenched teeth like they would have been a few minutes ago.

“Who?” he asks, looking up from his phone with a smile, but not giving me his full attention.

“Mason. The new guy Layla just mentioned.” His nonchalance is starting to piss me off again. How can they be so casual about another guy’s name on our girl’s lips? Yeah, she’s still our girl.

“No idea, man,” he says, “Do you guys know who this Mason is?” he directs his question at Cade and AJ, who shrug indifferently before shaking their heads “no“.

“Do you know where she is tonight?” I ask the room as a whole, hoping to get some answer that isn’t evasive as shit.

Cade answers me, “She mentioned something about movies and popcorn. She didn’t say with whom, though.”

“AJ,” I ask, hoping against all odds, he has more information than these two idiots I call friends, “where’s Layla?”

“Last I checked in with her, she was at home,” he replies. But that doesn’t ease the tension in my shoulders one bit.

“Whose home?” I ask suspiciously, needing to hear the words, so I can feel justified when I go over to this fucker’s home, wherever it may be, to burn it to the ground.

“Tessa’s place,” is his short answer before he goes back to channel surfing, the movie having finished somewhere during the time I was losing my fucking mind.

That can only mean one thing. He’s with her, at her place. Enjoying her company, hearing her laugh joyously, and most likely touching her every chance he

gets.

Well, fuck that. And fuck him.

I can guaran–fucking–tee that by the end of the weekend, she’ll know exactly who she belongs to, and that she’s not getting rid of me that easily.

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