He's not wrong.
As much as I hate the idea of waiting, I can't shake the image of her earlier—how terrified she looked, the way her body wouldn't stop trembling no matter how hard she tried to hold it together.
Maybe rest really is what she needs first.
I glance at Kentaro. "Then I'll move her to my room and you can have your bed back."
I start to head upstairs, but Kentaro stops me with one flat, clipped line: "Just... leave her."
I blink. "Really?"
He gives me the faintest nod, deadpan as ever. "She's already in there. There's no point waking her up just to swap beds."
I stare at him for a beat, surprised. "...Thanks, man."
"I'll crash at Elijah's or something. You can take my room tonight," I offer.
Kentaro's already walking toward the kitchen, muttering a bored-sounding, "Yeah, whatever."
The rest of us trade looks, all of us thinking the same damn thing as we watch his back disappear down the hall. He's pretending not to care.
Acting like Taylor's just an inconvenience in his bed. But the guy who doesn't letanyonecross his bedroom threshold—suddenly letting Taylor take over his space?
Yeah. Kentaro's full of shit.
I bite back a laugh, because he's trying so hard to keep the act going.
And honestly? Watching him huff around like she's the biggest inconvenience to ever cross his path is almost cute.
*****
The next morning, we're packed into the weight room, while a couple of players are grinding it out in the cardio room next door.
Kentaro's stretched out on the bench press, knocking out reps like 142 kilos is child's play. Liam and Cody are off in their dumbbell showdown, both pretending not to care while blatantly trying to one-up each other. And Luke? He was buried in the power rack, grunting through squats.
Elijah's got the cable machine, focused as hell. I'm on the other side, pretending I'm just as focused, but really? I'm mostly stressing about how the hell I'm supposed to make Caroline trust me again.
We didn't make it to La Playa last night for the big "brainstorming" session—thanks to the whole Taylor situation. She was still asleep when we left half an hour ago for team workouts, and honestly, she needed it. Girl's been through enough. Once we're done here, I'll take her straight to Campus Safety to file the report.
So here we are, making the most of it: gym sweat, clanking metal, and my pathetic love life on full display. Not exactly the cozy beer-soaked vibe I had in mind.
And yeah, I regret it. Bad.
Because beer would've softened the blow when I started spilling my guts. Instead, I've got nothing but a dry throat and my boys grilling me like I just confessed to arson.
I told them everything. The history. The fallout. The whole Zach-and-Caroline saga in 4K, IMAX, Dolby surround sound.
And when I say everything, I mean...everything.
Yep. Even my most tightly guarded secret. My crown jewel of shame. Mypurity.
There it is. Out in the wild. Like some ugly baby photo your mom posts on Facebook and tags you in. I didn't want to go there, but if these guys are gonna help me pull off Mission Impossible: Win Back Caroline, then they needed the full play by play.
Liam's head snaps toward me so fast I'm surprised he doesn't pull a muscle. His jaw drops like it's about to hit the damn floor.
Cody and Luke follow right behind, both staring like I just confessed to murder. Kentaro? Still lifting, stone-cold expressionless. Elijah's back is to me, so who knows—maybe he's choking on air, maybe he's zen as ever.
"For real?" Liam blurts, eyes bugging out.
