Time Will Tell (Maybe #3)(19)

“It is true,” he murmurs, “but I can’t say that I blame them.”

“Smooth talker,” I mumble, causing him to chuckle.

“Just the truth, babe,” he replies, leaning back on his elbows.

“There you are,” comes a voice from behind me. April plops down next to me, sitting on the sand. She looks to Xander. “Hello, sexy stranger from the other night.”

He nods, his eyes crinkling. “April.”

I look at my best friend. “I thought you were going to be here an hour ago.”

“And I thought you would have called me with juicy gossip about why you’re hanging out with him,” she says, wiggling her finely arched blonde eyebrows. “Are you finally getting some action?”

I sigh heavily. I’m used to her lack of filter, but did she have to say that in front of Xander? Her eyes sparkle. Of course, she did. “Why are we friends again?”

I glance at Xander to see him watching our banter with amusement.

“Because you love me,” April replies in a singsong voice and then adjusts her ice blue bikini top. “Where are all the hot guys today? I swear, they’re all in hiding.”

“They probably heard you were on the prowl,” I fire back, smirking.

She rolls her eyes. “If they heard I was on the prowl, they’d be lining up.”

Looking to Xander, she says, “So I heard you’re a friend of Zach’s. How long are you in town?”

Xander glances at me before replying. “Not sure yet, maybe a week or so.”

Before, he’d said a few days, so a week was an improvement.

Staring into the water, I squint when I see a familiar mop of reddish-brown hair. “Is that Zach in the water?”

Xander and April both look along my line of sight.

Yes, it’s Zach. He’s chest deep in the ocean, his mouth all over some woman.

“When did he even get here?” I ask, wondering why we’re only just seeing him.

April sniffs. “Who knows with him? He’s an easy * magnet. If it’s easy, he’s there.”

Something once happened between Zach and April, but neither of them will speak of it. Things were awkward for a while, but now they’re back to being friends. However, whenever April has to actually see him with another woman, this side of her comes out. I personally think they hooked up and Zach ran scared. It sounds like him. I don’t think he wants to be in a long-term relationship right now, or at least that’s what he’s said in the past. I’m curious, but I don’t want to pry. April will tell me if she wants me to know.

Xander chuckles. “He’s single and likes to enjoy life.”

April glares at him. “Of course, you’ll stand up for him.”

I stand up and dust the sand off my ass. “Is it safe to go back into the water?”

“What do you mean?” Xander asks, also standing up.

I point to Zach, who I’m pretty sure is having sex in the ocean.

In the open.

In broad daylight.

“Fucking hell, there could be kids around here,” April growls, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you guys want to get something to eat?”

My stomach chooses that moment to growl, as if it heard what April was saying and was answering for me.

“We’ll take that as a yes,” Xander says, casually wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you fed.”

April glances over at me and mouths the word ‘hot’. I shake my head at her and mouth ‘stop it’ back to her. She grins and quickly catches up to us, coming on the other side of me and threading her arm through mine.

“So, Xander,” she starts, her tone casual, but I know her better. “What is it that you do for a living exactly?”

And let the best friend interrogation begin.

*****

“Do you have any children?” she asks him, making me almost choke on my French fry.

“No,” Xander replies patiently. “No kids.”

“That you know of,” April says in a quieter voice.

My eyes narrow on her. “April, seriously?”

She shrugs and leans back against her chair. “Just making conversation. I have a shift at the bar tonight so I better get going. Are we still having lunch tomorrow after your class?”

I nod. “We are. I’ll meet you there around one.”

“Sounds good,” she says, standing. “Nice seeing you again, Xander.”

“You too, April,” Xander says in a friendly tone.

She leans down and kisses me on my cheek. “See you.”

“Drive safely.”

“I will,” she says, exiting the café.

“She cares about you a lot,” Xander says, watching me with a warm look on his face. “Everyone who knows you does.”

“I know,” I reply. “I’m lucky that way. Don’t have that many friends, but the ones I do have are amazing.”

“You don’t have any other family around here?” he asks, pushing his fork around his plate.

“My dad’s sister and my cousins live in Melbourne, and some of my mother’s family lives in Sydney, but I don’t talk to them,” I say. I don’t talk to anyone on my mum’s side, but I do talk to my aunty and cousins every month or so.