“’Preciate you, man.” I nodded at Roman while adjusting Xylina in my arms. She hadn’t budged since we left the restaurant and I didn’t see a reason to wake her.
His eyes shifted from me to Xylina. I was carrying her bridal style while her head rested peacefully on my chest.
“Try not to go too hard on her.” He smirked, giving me his eyes again.
Replying with a grunt, I turned and started for my front door. Since I was unable to get my keys at the moment, I used the keypad to unlock the door instead.
Xylina groaned, mumbling something I couldn’t make out, and curling her body more into me the moment we were inside the house. I kicked my shoes off and started for the steps. Xylina’s room was on the opposite side of mine. Having two separate wings helped keep things between us civil.
It had been a while since I’d stepped foot in her room. It was decorated in pink, white, and silver. Pictures of her and Princesscovered her walls. Her California king bed sat at the top of the room, the canopy over top pulled back, displaying her made bed where Princess laid wide eyed, eyeing us at the foot of the bed in a nest Xylina made for her.
“She made such a fuss about you having your own room, but yet here you are,” I mumbled, walking toward the bed. Xylina was insistent that Princess had her own separate room that connected to hers. She also insisted Princess had separation anxiety and preferred to be in here when Xylina was gone. I didn’t understand it but learned early on that it was easier to just let things go instead of trying to argue or understand.
Laying Xylina in the bed, I contemplated if I should change her. I knew she didn’t like outside clothes on her bed. My eyes went around the large bedroom. She had so much shit in here I decided to let her be, not wanting to go on a search for her pajamas. I was tempted to leave her jacket and shoes on just to punish her but decided against it last minute.
When I leaned down to remove her jacket, I paused, inhaling whatever perfume she had on. It had been invading my nostrils since I picked her up. It was sweet like vanilla cake or marshmallows, with a subtle fruity smell. That wasn’t a shock to me though. Xylina always smelled good. There were times I would walk in the house and whatever she was wearing lingered, indicating she had just left that area. Even now, her room was filled with her sweet scent. Whatever shimmery stuff she had on her gave her milk chocolate skin a pleasant glow too.
I shot my eyes to her face. Xylina was a beautiful girl. The way she carried herself you would think she was a real life Barbie doll. It was a shame such beauty was wasted on a girl like her.
Continuing to remove her jacket, I tossed it to the end of the bed and moved down to her shoes when her hand landed on my wrist. She gripped it tightly, gaining my attention. Frowning, my eyes lifted to her face.
Her eyes were on me, low and glossy. Her lips tightly pinched together.
“What are you doing?” I squinted and went to pull away, but her grip tightened, causing her nails to dig into my covered wrist.
“Don’t go,” she mumbled.
An exasperated breath fell from my mouth. “Xylina, don’t make things worse. Go to sleep.” I was trying to keep the annoyance I felt about having to pick her up at bay. Dealing with her drunken state was something I didn’t have the patience for tonight.
A pained expression passed over her face, alarming me. I wanted to chalk it up to her being drunk, but I’d never seen her look so troubled.
“Don’t want to be alone. Tired of being alone.” Her words low, and for a second, I thought I might have misheard her. But the way her face balled up, I had a feeling that wasn’t the case.
Her eyes fluttered and closed slowly. That quickly, she was back asleep. What caught me off guard was the tear that fell from her eyes. Something in my stomach twisted. I was never one that could deal with a woman’s tears.
While I made a point to keep my distance from her most of the time, I wasn’t a complete monster. There was obviously something troubling her. This wasn’t the first time she had gotten drunk out of nowhere like this, but I always chalked it up to her having too much of a good time.
Pulling my wrist out her now latent grip, I reached up, hesitating only for a second before brushing her tears away. Before pulling away, I brushed the back of my hand down her face, tracing her sharp jawline. Her skin smooth as butter. Her mouth and nose twitched. She muttered and shifted, turning to her other side and curling her body into itself.
Blinking a couple times, I shook out of whatever haze had come over me.
She’s fine.
Whatever was bothering her wasn’t my concern anyway. Our chapter would soon be closing, so it was better not to get caught up in whatever issues she had.
Moving down, I quickly removed her shoes, placing them at the end of her bed. There was a throw blanket on the opposite side of where I laid her. Grabbing it, I covered her body and turned to leave the room. Just as I headed for the door, I paused, noticing the picture hanging next to the head of her bedframe. It was a picture of the two of us on our wedding day. My face was stoic, void of any emotion, my body stiff, but Xylina hugged my arm tightly, smiling brightly. I knew pictures were taken that day, but this was the first time I had seen one. Even I could admit we looked good together. That was something I never noticed before. The picture was a perfect representation of our whole marriage. Not much had changed between us since then.
Before leaving, I gave Xylina one last glance. Princess had made her way up the bed and was now tucked into her side. Both of them looked small in the bed, but Xylina looked fragile, curled into herself as if she was trying to hide from the world.
I shook my head; it wasn’t any of my business. We weren’t lovers or even friends, just two people co-existing until our expiration date finally came.
CHAPTER 5
Xylina
It took me a second to realize I was home in my bed when I woke up the next day. I didn’t expect to drink as much as I had yesterday and was feeling the effects of it now. Slowly fluttering my eyes open, I wiped the sleep from my eyes, blinking a couple times through the pounding in my head.
It took me a few seconds to gather myself and start my morning routine. Normally I would go live in the morning and do my face and get ready routine with my followers, but the way I was feeling, I skipped that part of the process. Princess was nowhere to be found, meaning she was more than likely entertaining herself in her room next to mine. Her walker always arrived early in the morning to take her out and refill her food and water, if needed.