XANDRYMy gut was tied into a thousand knots. The kind that it took days to settle. I could feel the hesitation in her action, see the confusion and worry in those eyes, but above all, there was hope in that embrace. I could feel the pulsating of her vein, the quickening of her heartbeat— only for me.I left her though my heart told me not to. At least her heart didn’t lie—and that was what I was holding onto.I had plans for tomorrow, so I slept like dead the moment I rested my head down against my pillow.The constant ringing of my phone woke me up from a deep slumber— it was a call from the hospital, telling me that Sunshine had wakened up.“Hey, how do you feel?” I smiled down at Sunshine still on her bed. She looked better—a light pink color tinged on her face, though her body was still weak, she was able to seat on the bed without support.They transferred her to the private room I paid for h

XANDRY“No, you’re lying!” Blaine exclaimed, then chuckled sarcastically.I carefully closed the door behind me, and they haven’t noticed me got in. I shifted my gaze between Blaine and Sunshine, who was crossing her arms over her chest, lips pressed together. Her eyes narrowed back at Blaine.My brows furrowed. “Lying about what?” I moved closer to Blaine, and their posture turned rigid like a deer caught in the headlights.“Your coffee, sweetheart.” I gave her the medium cup.With a short and jerky movement, she took it and mumbled thank you.Sunshine cleared her throat, causing me to shift my gaze back to her. “I was telling her that—”“Xandry.” Blaine grabbed my arm. “I told her—”“Xandry,” Sunshine called out from her bed, and I quickly looked at her. She was clutching her abdomen, grimacing.“Sunshine, are you okay?”“Xandry.” Blaine gripped my arm. My gaze ping-ponged between th

XANDRY“So, are you two like really official now?” Pyke asked with a wicked grin. He and Sean exchanged a look with amusement plastered on their faces.I knew what he meant by that. The ’I told you so’ kind of shit. I sat on the long black L-shaped lounge with Bash Hughes. His grandpa, Mike King married my grandma.“Now you know what we meant, leg-spreader?” Bash hit my abdomen playfully, making me jerk and laugh.“Don’t tell me you’re still sticking your falling off dick to someone’s pussy?” Sean reacted.“I doubt it, Rexwell. He’s a pussy-whipped. I mean pussy, a single pussy. I saw how he was losing his shit when he thought Blaine might leave him,” recalled Pyke, “he looked like shit.” And laughed out loud.I gulped my beer, cursing silently. If I hadn’t known they were screwing up with me, I already walked out of this VIP Lounge without a second thought. But we

XANDRYMy stomach churned as I walked out of Dad’s, determined to prove to him that I deserved to be happy and the position he had for me at the Williams was mine. I did everything I could and it wasn’t my goddamn problem if he wasn’t satisfied with the effort I did. Hell, I didn’t fucking care anymore.Gasping for some air, I walked outside of the employees’ exit of the club. It smelled cigarettes, pees, vomit, and alleys, but I couldn’t care less. All I wanted right now was to scream all my frustrations out of my fucking life, then made love to Blaine in my bed all night.Fuck!“Hey.”I turned to face the voice calling me from my back, and to my surprise, Blaine looked like she was carrying the world on her shoulder. Closing the space between us, I cupped her face and searched for the answer in her eyes. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”She shook her head, pressing he

XANDRYDays went by uneventful. I submitted the first half-year report a week earlier than I used to, but Dad, well, he wasn’t impressed. During our family dinner, I was like an invisible person to him, until after dinner when I walked to his office. Dad was in the red lounge chair with an empty glass, where he usually sat when not behind his desk.My stomach rolled. “What’s the deal with your silence, Dad? Did I happen to develop some kind of invisibility?”He didn’t reply or move. He kept staring at the old painting owned by his late father, Henry Archibald Williams.“Are you going to ignore me throughout our lives? Until one of us is eventually dead? Because I have no plan on leaving Blaine if that’s the reason why you’re doing this to me. You talked to her but it didn’t scare her away, in fact, I’m asking her to move in with me. With her son. Just do me a favor not to be harsh on her. Treat her civilly at least.”