Begin Again (Again #1)(7)

But before I could give it another moment’s thought, Dawn opened the door and burst into the living room.

“Dawn!” I hissed and hurried after her.

Kaden was in the kitchen grabbing a beer from the fridge. Even from the back—or maybe particularly from the back—he was a knockout. He wore midnight-blue jeans that hugged his butt and a close-fitting dark green shirt that stretched over his shoulders and drew my gaze toward his muscular back. Next to Kaden, leaning against the kitchen counter, stood a black-haired guy. He was tall and kind of lanky. His plaid shirt was loose, its sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

“Hey, you must be that weird roommate!” Dawn stopped in front of the dark-haired guy, who turned toward her in surprise. His inquiring look was remarkably friendly, unlike Kaden’s. “First of all I wanted to tell you that I think your rules are a bunch of crap. I mean, look at you and then look at her.” Dawn gestured toward me—and at that moment I wanted to sink into the floor. Or just disappear altogether. Definitely one of the two. “And I don’t think she has any desire to get it on with you. Besides, it’s awful that you have such a clichéd image of women, painting us all with one brush! How would you even know how we spend our free time? I mean, we could be into wrestling and pro football for all you know.”

Kaden closed the refrigerator door and turned around slowly. He eyed Dawn with a raised eyebrow and watched, bemused, as she berated his friend. It almost looked as if he was smiling.

But not quite.

I slipped behind Dawn and put my hands on her shoulders. Leaning forward, I whispered: “That’s not him.”

She stiffened. “What do you mean, that’s not him?”

I nodded in Kaden’s direction. “This is Kaden, my roommate. Kaden, this is my friend Dawn.”

By now, the other guy was grinning broadly. Deep dimples appeared on his cheeks. He turned to Kaden. “Dude, is it possible that you could have been mean to these ladies?”

Kaden shrugged his shoulders and popped the cap off a beer. He shoved it across the kitchen counter to his friend and opened another, which he lifted to his lips. Then he wiped his hand across his mouth and looked me up and down. He frowned and turned, heading for the couch. He didn’t even look at Dawn. Oh, great.

Otherwise inclined, his friend reached out to shake hands with Dawn and then with me. “I’m Spencer,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” I replied. “I’m Allie.”

“Heard about you,” he said, glancing briefly in Kaden’s direction. He gave his head a little shake, and his grin widened even more. “And you’re Dawn, the wrestling fan and pro football player.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make a bad impression.” Her voice had gone almost meek, and I couldn’t help laughing.

“Oh, you didn’t. Trust me.” Spencer winked, and for the first time I noticed his brilliant blue eyes. Black hair, blue eyes. What a mix.

While those two were talking, I remembered the real reason why we’d ventured out of my room. If I wanted to have a good night’s sleep, I needed to set up my sofa bed.

“Hey,” I said, lightly kicking the couch behind my roomie. Kaden looked over his shoulder at me, frowning. “Do you happen to have a drill?”

“What do you want a drill for?” he asked, curious but still scowling.

I wanted to say “none of your business,” but changed my mind at the last second. After all, I needed a favor from him. “Somehow, there aren’t enough holes in the wooden frame of my sofa bed,” I said, putting on the friendliest tone I could muster. “I have to drill some new holes.”

Kaden nodded briefly and turned away. “I don’t have a drill.”

It took a second before I understood what he’d said. “So why were you asking why I needed one?”

“I just wanted to know if you really need one, or if you’re just too dumb to read the instructions,” he said, shrugging. Then he picked up the remote from the coffee table and switched on the TV.

I felt a flood of insults rising but dammed them up. “So you mean, you have a drill but don’t want to lend it to me?”

He didn’t even bother looking up from the TV. “You got it.”

Dawn and Spencer had stopped talking and were staring at me.

“Don’t be an ass, bro,” Spencer said finally.

“Yeah. Don’t be an ass, bro,” agreed Dawn. Normally, I would have laughed. But I was practically boiling over with anger. One look at Kaden’s clenched lips told me that he, too, found the situation anything but funny.

He gave me another one of those unbearably mistrustful looks. “You’re on thin ice,” he muttered and rose so suddenly that I drew back and banged my calves on the coffee table. My eyes opened wide as I began to stumble; I flailed my arms wildly to keep my balance. But Kaden had already grabbed me under the arms.

I felt his chest against mine, felt his heart beating.

He blinked and the moment was gone.

Just as suddenly, he let go of me and stormed out of the living room.

I managed to catch my breath, hoping Dawn and Spencer hadn’t noticed. When I turned toward them, they were both looking in the direction of a loud clatter in the hallway.

Kaden appeared at the door. “Here,” he barked, holding up a dark green tool case. “Give it back the way you got it, or else.”