Michelle Valentine - Phenomenal X

“I, um…”

God, what is wrong with me? He has me stuttering like an idiot. This man is infuriating. I wish I wasn’t at his mercy, but until I get my things back it looks like I have to play nice with him. “Is there any way you can,”—Quinn nudges me again and again mouths to have him meet us tonight—”meet me at Gibby’s on Third tonight and bring my things?”

“That’s a really public place, beautiful. I was hoping the next time I saw you, we’d be somewhere a little more secluded, if you know what I mean,” he says, amusement lacing his voice.

“No way,” I fire back.

“What’s wrong, Anna, don’t trust yourself to be alone with me? Would it really be so bad if I found my way into those panties of yours?” he teases and the tingle that rippled through me on the plane comes back with full force.

“Please,” I say with a chuckle, attempting to make a show that he’s not getting to me. “I don’t know where you get off believing for one second that you’d be able to get inside my underwear. It’s not happening, X.”

Quinn’s mouth drops open and her eyes widen as she gets the gist of the conversation I’m having with this absurdly sexy man.

“So it’s ‘X’ now, is it? I thought I told you to call me Xavier. X is reserved for people who don’t know me.” All traces of the playful tone have been erased from his voice.

“I don’t know you,” I answer without any hesitation, because other than the fact he makes my body crazy, I know absolutely nothing about him.

“Not yet.” His reply is simple, but confident. “But you will. I’ll see you tonight, beautiful.”

Before I have a chance to say anything else, the line goes dead. I pull the cell away from my ear and stare down at it.

Shit.

Why do I get the feeling that I’m in for it? I run my hands through my hair as I hand the phone to Quinn. The knowing grin on her face only adds to the gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that Xavier Cold is about to be the tornado that flips my world upside down.

Anna

Up or down? That’s the classic debate most women face when trying to get ready for a night out. I thread my fingers through my brown hair and pull it up off my neck as I stare at myself in the mirror. I twist my head from side to side. Of course I want to look sexy, but I don’t want to give Xavier the impression that I’m easy. I’m far from that.

“Oh, my God, Anna. I can’t believe you were sitting next to professional wrestling’s resident badass. Not to mention one of world’s sexiest men alive—according to the last magazine I read. You got to sit next to this tasty treat of a man for nearly four hours…how did you keep from spontaneously combusting right there on the plane?” Quinn wonders out loud as she lies on her belly, scouring the Internet for information on Phenomenal X. “I don’t think the guy takes a bad picture, ever. He does the whole ‘fuck me’ vibe without even trying. Since you’re so adamant you aren’t into him, you might have to stop me from jumping his bones in public.”

I allow my hair to fall loosely around my shoulders. Down it is. “Why would someone like him be into someone like me?”

Quinn’s eyes snap up in my direction as I spin away from her dresser mirror to face her. “Puh- leese , Anna. Please tell me you’re not one of those self-loathing chicks who can’t see her own beauty. I know you’re smarter than that.”

I shake my head. “It’s not like I just said I was ugly, Quinn. I just meant that he’s a celebrity and I’m…well…boring and plain.”

She shoves herself up from the bed. “Boring, yeah…I might have to agree with you on that one because if a guy like Phenomenal X showed the slightest bit of interest in me on a plane, we’d be joining the mile high club in a snap—even if I had to turn myself into a human pretzel to make it work in that tight as hell bathroom.”

She laughs at herself as she makes her way over to me, and spins me back around to face the mirror. “But, Anna, plain you most certainly are not. We are Cortez women. We are naturally beautiful. No man can resist our charms when we use them. It’s a gift from the deities, designed to help us maneuver this crazy manmade world.”

I stare at Quinn through the mirror. “Easy for you to say. You’re beautiful.”

Her hands slide up on my shoulders. “Not as beautiful as you. I’ve always been insanely jealous of your nose and green eyes.”

My eyes widen at the thought that my drop-dead gorgeous cousin thinks I’m prettier than her. “Really? I can’t believe I’m going to admit this out loud, but I would kill for your legs.”

She chuckles. “Lots of working out, babe, but don’t discount that rockin’ bod you’ve got going on. I’m sure if you allowed yourself to see it, you’d notice that men flock to your beauty.” She sighs. “So you see, you have all the tools to be confident—you just need a little experience in how to use them. And you’re in luck because I just happen to be an excellent flirting instructor. You can practice tonight on Mr. Sexy.”

I frown. “I doubt all the training in the world can help me gain enough courage to flirt with him.”

All the overtly sexual comments he made, and the way my body instantly reacted to him, flood my brain. A man like Xavier, who has already shown that he is well versed in how to arouse the opposite sex, is not the ideal candidate to be honing ones flirting skills on. He’s the kind of guy a girl like Quinn can handle. But me? I’ve only had one serious boyfriend my entire life, and as much as I would like to say I attracted Jorge on my own, I can’t even take credit for landing him. If it weren’t for my father, that relationship wouldn’t have happened either.

“Hey.” Quinn taps the top of my head. “Whatever’s rolling around in there just forget it. Whatever you’re thinking about right now, think the opposite. Today is the first day of your new life—out with the old, shy Anna, in with the spunky new one. It’s time the rest of the world got to experience some of the fire that I know is hiding inside there. I’ve seen spunky Anna before and I like her. It’s time to explore the world.”

That’s the second time today someone has encouraged me to be the me who’s deep inside—to do what I feel, instead of what I think I should do.

I nod and smile at Quinn. “You’re right. That’s what coming here was supposed to be about. I need to learn to loosen up and live a little, and a sure thing like Phenomenal X feels like a good place to begin. I’m so tired of being the good girl, Quinn. The Goody-Two-shoes nobody ever wanted to be real friends with. Did you know I didn’t get invited to one single party in high school because kids were afraid I would narc them out?”

Quinn frowns and strokes the back of my head. “Oh, Anna, girl, that’s terrible, but I’m sure college was much better, right?”

I shake my head and fight back the tears that threaten to expose the years of sadness that plague me to this day. “Not really. By that time Father had set me up with Jorge who went to another Christian college across the state, and I never accepted any invites to any parties because I was afraid of upsetting Jorge or Father. Even though we’re not together a lot, I still feel like you’re my closet friend. You’re the only person who’s ever been really there for me.” I wipe a lone tear from my eye and sniff. “Ugh. Admitting that makes it all sound even lamer.”

She wraps her thin arms around my shoulders and pulls me in for a tight hug. “Screw all the assholes who can’t see how awesome you are. I’ll gladly accept the title of your best friend.”