The jerk was messing with me.

Refusing to let him win, I kept chewing, swallowing with dramatic flair.

Then, smirking, I raised a hand and used one finger to tip his chin up. Leaning in close, I murmured, “I’ve already done that with you-does it really matter?”

Xander’s eyes darkened, but before he could react, I pulled back, spun around, and dodged toward the bathroom to wash my hands.

He’d ruined a perfectly good meal with that jab Even so, it wasn’t the same kind of sour feeling got when dealing with Wayne. Thinking of Wayne brought back the memory of his behavior last night, and I felt a wave of disgust creep over me. Things between us were o to be painfully awkward now. I couldn’t keep using him for information either; the risk of him flipping the game on me was too high. If I kept pushing, I’d lose control before I could get what I needed.

And then there was Xander. Wayne wouldn’t just let him off the hook-not after last night. Xander had disrupted his plans and bruised his ego. Confrontation wasn’t Wayne’s style, but retaliation? That was inevitable.

By the time I finished washing up, Xander had already set the table. The cream soup was poured, steaming gently beside an array of dishes. “Where are you going after this?” I asked casually, taking a sip of the soup.