“We will. Don’t even worry about it.” She pauses before clearing her throat. “So did you, umm…” She coughs. “I mean, did you…” She coughs again, then finally manages to ask, “What did you think of Xavier?”
And because Hudson’s diabolical nature has obviously rubbed off on me, I respond with, “Xavier who?”
Hudson snort-laughs but must realize I plan to chat with my cousin for a bit because, with an arched brow, No Exit magically appears in his hands once more, and he opens it up to somewhere in the middle.
Macy’s mouth drops open at my question. Like, literally drops open, and she sits there for what feels like ten seconds just staring at me, mouth ajar. “Xavier!” she finally says. “You know, the guy in the gray shirt? With the green eyes and the funny jokes?”
“No.” I shake my head, give her a puzzled look. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“How can it not ring a bell?” She sits up, all aflutter. “We just spent, like, ten hours with him! Xavier.”
“You know, you’re a terrible person,” Hudson says with a very British sniff as he continues to read. “Truly horrible.”
“Xavier,” I say musingly. “Xavier. Xavier. Xavier.”
“Yes!” she squawks. “Xavier! You know—”
“Do you mean the great guy with the gorgeous face who you were making googly eyes at all day?” I ask slyly. “The one who spent an awful lot of time showing off his muscles right in front of you? Yeah, I might have a general idea of who Xavier is.”
“Oh my God!” She throws a pillow at me, and when I dodge, she follows up with a stuffed animal, another pillow, and then one of her favorite bear slippers. “How could you do that to me! I thought you really hadn’t noticed.”
“How could I not notice him?” I chuckle. “He spent the whole day making everybody laugh and trying desperately to impress you.”
“He wasn’t actually trying to impress me,” she says, looking shy for what might be the first time since I got to Katmere. “Was he?”
“Oh my God, yes. At one point, Hudson and I were both convinced he was going to strip down and start flexing his abs right in front of you.”
“His abs and everything else,” Hudson adds dryly, looking up long enough to wink at me.
“Really?” Macy leans forward excitedly, even as she clutches another pillow on her lap. “You think so?”
“I know so. He was totally showing off for you. And I told you, I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Hudson asked several times if we were sure he was a wolf and not a peacock.”
My cousin laughs delightedly, then says, “You mean Jaxon.”
“What?” I ask, confused.
“Jaxon said all those things, right? Not Hudson.”
“No,” I tell her, even more confused by the question. “It was definitely Hudson, not Jaxon, who was paying attention to what was happening between you two—and who made all the comments.”
“Oh.” She gives me a weird look. “I didn’t realize you and Hudson…”
“What?” I ask when she trails off, looking awkward.
She clears her throat the way she always does when she’s nervous. Then says, “I guess I just didn’t realize you and Hudson had gotten so…close.”
67
Talk Darcy to Me
“Close?” I repeat as her words send a shock wave of…something through me. I croak out, “We aren’t close.”
“You aren’t?” she asks, and now she’s the one who sounds confused.
“Of course not!”
“Ouch!” Hudson says, turning a page in his book.
“Hush,” I snap back before focusing on Macy. “I mean, we talk, but that’s because he never shuts up.”
“Umm, double ouch,” Hudson interjects, slamming the book closed and walking over to the window. Suddenly, I’m worried our mutual truce might disappear again, and I honestly don’t have it in me to go another round with His Royal Snarkiness. At least not right now.
“I mean, yeah, he makes me laugh sometimes,” I blunder on. “And is strangely charming on occasion. And he notices everything about me and the world around us. And yeah, sometimes he helps me when I’m least expecting it, like when I was nervous about changing into a gargoyle or when I couldn’t figure out how to light the candles in the library or when I was—” I break off as I realize what I’m saying. What I sound like.