With a deeply worried frown, Kaden plopped down on the edge of the bed next to me. His vaguely-annoyed-roommate facade was gone, now replaced with genuine concern.
“There was an overbearing customer yesterday,” I began, and Kaden nodded instantly because he knew exactly the type of alpha I was talking about. We got them all the time. “And he… he waited outside for me after I finished my shift.”
“Waited why?” Kaden asked cautiously, already on edge.
I grimaced thinking about Shane’s fake kindness. “I dunno. To get my number, or date me, or something worse. He was up to no good.”
“And you were all alone?”
“It was after closing and everyone else had gone,” I confirmed.
“Oh, Sky…”
Kaden hugged me, and I sighed contentedly into the embrace. It felt good knowing that Kaden and all my other coworkers had my back.
“So I’m guessing that Rafael guy helped you out,” Kaden said, looking a little sheepish now.
“Yeah.” Just thinking about him made my chest flutter. “Rafael practically punched the guy’s lights out, then escorted me home so I’d be safe. And I asked him to stay because I was still a little shaken up, honestly.”
Kaden nodded, his hand rubbing my arm to soothe me. “I get it. Sorry if I scared him off.”
That made me laugh. “Don’t worry, he’s not fragile. I’m sure he’ll come crawling back, if I don’t invite him over myself first.”
Kaden tilted his head. “Wait. You really like this guy, don’t you?”
My throat tightened, and I felt my heart beat a little faster.
Shit…
Do I?
“I mean, I heard you guys moaning through the walls, but I thought it was just you needing a good lay--”
“Oh my god, Kaden, shut up!” I yelled, playfully hitting him with a pillow. He laughed snarkily and defended himself as I beat the crap out of him. When I tossed the pillow aside, I huffed. “And we werenotthat loud.”
Kaden grinned. “Sure. That’s what you think. Meanwhile, I literally thought you were watching a porno without headphones on.”
A huge blush spread over my face. “Ugh. Next time we’ll be so quiet you won’t even know.”
He raised a brow. “Next time?”
My blush turned redder.
“So you do like him,” Kaden said, more of a statement than a question.
I grumbled. I’d barely put my feelings for Rafael into concrete thoughts, and here was Kaden assuming I’d fallen head over heels for the guy.
Not that he was wrong, but still.
He kept staring at me, and I realized he was expecting an answer.
“I mean, yeah, I like him,” I said. “We’re just taking whatever this is slow, though.”
A sudden look of confusion appeared on Kaden’s face and he blinked. “Slow?”
“Yeah. Why?”
There was something behind his expression I couldn’t read. Maybe a vague sense of disappointment. But what reason did he have to be disappointed in me?
