“What?”
“Now’s not the time, Kadence.” My hands drop to her shoulders, pushing her back and turning her to face the water. I pull the shower head down and wet her hair. Take my time soaping her up, washing her hair, rubbing her shoulders until she’s calmer. When I’m finished, I open the door and give her a nudge. “Go get ready for bed. I’ll be out in a minute.”
She looks up at me with dazed eyes and nods. I’m not used to this quiet version of Kadence. Fixing all the broken shit between us is gonna take some work.
Work I’m more than ready for.
When I’m done, I wrap a towel around my waist and head into the bedroom. She’s quietly sitting on the edge of the bed. Her head tips up when she hears me, and her mouth falls open.
“What?” I ask.
“No…nothing.”
I move a little closer to her, practically shoving my towel-covered dick in her face. “See something you want?”
Her face hardens and she looks away. “No.”
I snort in disbelief and make my way over to my dresser. I don’t bother being discreet and almost laugh out loud when I catch her watching me get dressed.
“You ready for bed?” I ask.
“I can’t sleep with you again.”
“Why not? I was a good boy last night.”
That gets a small smile from her.
I drop the cocky bullshit and sit next to her, taking her hands in mine. “What’s wrong, Kady?”
“What are we? What are we doing?”
“I’m your man, and I’m keeping you safe.”
Her jaw drops. “How can you say that after what I did to you?”
“What’s a little knife-play between lovers, Kady?” I tease. She doesn’t laugh. I place two fingers under her chin and tip her head up. “You wanna do this now?”
“What?”
“Hash this shit out.”
“There’s nothing to hash out. We’re done.”
“Like fuck we are.”
“I stabbed you!” she yells, pulling out of my hold and moving to the opposite side of the room.
“I’m aware, babe. I was there.” She covers her face with her hands, and I think she’s actually sobbing—Kady’s not a crier, and I hate seeing her so torn up over something so stupid. “Baby, did you mean to?”
“Of course not. But—”
“No buts. I told you, I could give a fuck about the fucking knife. I’m pissed you lied to me. None of it would’ve happened if you’d told me what was going on.”
She sobs even harder, but this is the shit that needs to be worked out. I rise and stalk to her side of the room. Silently, so she’s surprised when I pull her into my arms. “We were living together. I know we were going through a rough time. You were stressed about graduation.”
Her body stiffens as if she’s surprised I figured that out. But I know everything about my girl. She’ll learn soon enough.
I continue in a lower voice. “Even though we hadn’t come clean with our parents yet, we weretogether, Kady. We would have gotten through all the other stuff.”
