Chapter 7
In the weeks that followed, my life settled into a routine, and Fall crept up on us. I went to class, hung out with Dawn and other classmates, and gradually became more comfortable. By now I could even tell the tasty dishes from the inedible ones at the dining hall—if you consider that progress.
I rarely saw Kaden, mainly because of my full schedule. I spent a lot of time in the library and made an effort to memorize the material from the start. My profs didn’t waste any time when it came to pop quizzes and major exams. I’d already joined several study groups, and sometimes we worked together in the library until late in the night. By the time I’d get home, my roommate would either be holed up in his bedroom or sitting in the low-lit living room, engrossed in his PlayStation.
This particular night, my friends and I wanted to visit a nightclub for the first time.
I was just about to apply eyeliner to my second lid when the doorbell rang.
“It’s for me!” I called out, in case Kaden had any intention of moving his butt.
As I dashed out of my room, I saw him fumbling around in the kitchen. Frowning, I turned and peered through the spyhole in the door. “It’s actually not for me,” I said, opening the door for Spencer.
“Hi Allie,” he said, and gave me a hug.
“Hi Spencer.” I checked him out. “Looks like you have big plans today.”
He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Oh yes. Didn’t Kaden tell you that there’s a party tonight at Hillhouse?” he asked, walking with me into the living room. I glanced toward the kitchen and shook my head.
“No, but I’m going with some of my friends.”
“We could go together, if you like,” he suggested. Obviously he wasn’t aware that Kaden was avoiding me.
“I don’t think that’s—”
“Good idea,” Kaden interrupted me and came toward us. “We can also braid each other’s hair and watch Disney movies together.”
“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Kaden.” I clenched my teeth.
“And that outfit doesn’t suit you,” he retorted, handing Spencer a soda. Then he took his phone from his pants pocket and, frowning, began typing on the screen.
I looked down at myself. My dress was blue and almost knee-length. I had only chosen it because of its pretty neckline, which was somewhat daring without being indecent.
“Well, if a connoisseur like you says that, I’ll have to change right away.” I adjusted the top and looked at Spencer with my eyebrows raised. “Or what do you think?”
Spencer shook his head slowly. “I think you look hot.”
“Really?” I turned around for him. “So I shouldn’t change?”
“No, definitely not.” He took a swig of his soda while eyeing me once again, from head to toe.
I mouthed the word “thank you” and threw him a broad grin, which he returned without hesitation.
I heard a snort coming from the direction of the couch. But before I could get into another war of words with my roommate, I was saved by the doorbell.
In the end, we did go together with the guys.
At Hillhouse they were loose when it came to age restrictions. Their eyes might graze our fake IDs, or maybe they’d wave us in and stamp our wrists, no questions asked. Once inside, Dawn and I searched for our classmates while Spencer and Kaden went looking for Monica and company.
Once Scott spied us, he gestured for us to join him. I greeted him with the kiss on each cheek, which he always demanded from us. Then we hugged Grace, Cody, and Madison, classmates with whom we often spent breaks between classes. They made room for Dawn and me at their standing table.
“You ladies look hot,” Scott purred. “Why didn’t you bring your companions along?”
“We just came here together,” Dawn said with a shrug, poking me in the ribs. “And besides, Mr. White isn’t particularly nice to our little one here.”
“Our little one?” I repeated, looking down at Dawn.
Despite her extra half-inch, I was more than a head taller.
“Yes, you’re my little chick. Whatever your size,” Dawn said, with a grin. “I protect my chicks. I take care of them, build them up and help them until they can fly on their own.”
“Chickens rarely fly. That’s a mean metaphor,” I replied, laughing.
Dawn and I made our way through the crowds to the bar. Amen for the generous “over 21” stamp I got at the door. I could get used to this ordering-at-the-bar thing.
I handed Dawn her drink, and we returned together to our table.
A little later, I had another drink. After a while, Scott grabbed my hand and led me and Dawn out to the dance floor. We shimmied with abandon. It was great not to have to worry about what others thought of me. I felt exuberant down to my toes. At least until I turned and saw Kaden.
To be exact, Kaden and a girl, around whose body he had wrapped his well-formed arms. She moved with him, pressing her body into his.
I gulped.
“We can do that, too,” suggested Scott, dancing around me. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me close. I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the game. Because I knew that Scott wasn’t interested in me, or any woman, for that matter, I unleashed the dance goddess within. I raised my arms in the air and swung my hips, then turned toward him and put my hand on his shoulder. Dawn danced toward Scott from behind, and we laughed as we moved together as one. As I swung around in the other direction, my hair fell across my eyes. I flicked it away from my sweaty face.
Kaden’s stare caught me unprepared. He was only a few yards away and was watching my every move. He hardly noticed the girl he was with anymore, even when she possessively threw her arms around his shoulders.
Instead, he tilted his head toward me, and grinned. He didn’t look away for a single instant.
Suddenly I imagined that he was the one dancing with me, that it was his hand on my waist, steering me.
“Bingo,” I heard Scott murmur in my ear.
I turned to grin at him and Dawn.
“Have I ever told you guys how much I love you?” I asked, wrapping my arms around both of them.
Dawn laughed and returned my embrace. “Yes, but I can’t hear it often enough.”
Over the course of the evening I noticed that Dawn hadn’t been exaggerating: She had no tolerance for alcohol. After only two drinks she was already praying to the porcelain god, and I had to hold back her hair while she puked.
While we were waiting for our taxi, I sat Dawn in a chair then headed to the bar to get her a glass of water.
“Make that two, and for me a tequila,” I heard a soft voice tickle my ear. Kaden’s breath grazed my neck and made me shiver. Normally my alarm bells started to ring as soon as a man came this close, but with Kaden my body seemed to follow another set of rules.
I resisted temptation and turned to him with a skeptical look. “You’ve been watching me.”
Kaden came closer and leaned his hands on the bar, on either side of me. I backed away and felt the edge of the bar against my back. He came closer and closer until his lips touched my ear. I shivered again. “Maybe.”
“You’re drunk,” I said.
Kaden drew back a bit and frowned. “That could be.”
“What’s up with you?” I asked him.
“You are up with me,” he said, tilting his head. “You don’t make any sense to me.”
“Then you know how it feels,” I retorted.
“You’re always whining and spreading your perfume around the apartment,” he continued.
“Shut up, Kaden. This isn’t like you.”
“Why can’t you just be a guy, Bubbles?” He kept me trapped between his arms as he bent a bit closer. My pulse quickened. All my limbs tingled as if they had awakened from a deep sleep.
“Sorry, but we can’t do anything about that now, can we? These things here just grew,” I said, pointing to my chest.
Kaden followed my hands with his eyes and stared down at me. Then he raised his eyes again, slowly, as if he wanted to be sure that he didn’t miss an inch of my skin. He stared at my lips a bit too long, before looking at my eyes again. I held my breath.
Kaden blinked several times. And then, as if he seemed to realize how close he was to me, he stepped back and lifted his hands from the bar, running them through his hair. He uttered a frustrated groan.
Just then the bartender set Dawn’s glass of water down in front of me. As I tried to squeeze past Kaden, he held my arm in his grip. His thumbs stroked my skin and my arm broke out in goose bumps. “Where are you going?”
“I have to take care of Dawn, then I’m heading home. You have a nice evening with her,” I said, jerking my chin toward the girl with whom he’d been dancing, and who was now staring daggers at me from across the room. “Look, she’s pining for you already.”
He drew me a bit closer. I felt his breath on my temple as he murmured: “And what is it that you pine for, Allie?”
I shook my head. “For my bed, Kaden. My bed.”
With these words I left him standing there, and headed for Dawn.
A racket outside my room startled me awake. My heart pounded. Then I heard cursing from the hallway.
I sighed with relief. It was Kaden, who had finally come home at the fine hour of 3:30 a. m.
More clattering; then something hit the floor with a massive thud. Kaden swore at the top of his voice.
Suddenly there was only silence. That was more unsettling than the string of explicatives I’d just heard. After a few minutes, the silence began to worry me, and I got out of bed. I went to the door and opened it a crack.
“What’s going on?” I hurried over, my arms crossed over my chest.
Kaden lay on his stomach, stretched out in the hallway. Now I saw where the rattling had come from: While trying to remove his shoes, he must have knocked into the jackets and fallen, ripping out a few coat hooks on the way.
He let out a muffled groan.
I sighed and knelt down beside him so I could remove his boots from his feet. No sooner had I managed that, than he began to kick.
“Leave me,” he muttered. He tried to stand but only managed to prop himself up with his back against the wall. His head sagged to the side, his lips were parted, and his eyes were closed.
“You can’t sleep in the hallway,” I said.
He wrinkled his nose and tried to shoo me away with his hand.
Sighing, I shook my head.
“Come on, Kaden,” I murmured, leaning down to wrap an arm around his waist and put his hand on my shoulder, so he could support himself.
“Leave me alone.” This time his voice was loud and clear.
“Get a grip and let me help, for God’s sake!”
Stubborn, I got him standing. I barely managed to maneuver him through the living room. With every second step he banged into another piece of furniture. It almost seemed like he was doing it on purpose.
Finally in his room, I helped him spread out his blanket. I was becoming an old pro at this. I’d done the same thing for Dawn a couple of hours before. Then I went in search of aspirin and a bottle of water.
As I reentered the room, Kaden was wrestling with his belt. His shirt and socks were strewn on the floor. I put the water on the nightstand, just as he fell backward onto the bed. Wearing only tight boxer shorts. I looked away.
“Here, take these,” I urged, holding the pills out to him. He shoved them in his mouth and swallowed them dry. The sight of this made me queasy. I handed him the water bottle. “Now drink at least down to here,” I indicated the topmost groove.
“You realize I’ve been drunk before, right?” Kaden said with a crooked grin, placing the bottle to his lips.
“Can I leave you alone now?” I asked.
Kaden set the bottle down on his nightstand. A sly grin played on his lips. With his tousled hair and laugh lines around his eyes, he looked irresistible. I wanted to turn away, but couldn’t take my eyes off him.
He must have done some weight training. Oh yes, I was pretty sure of that. Such defined muscles didn’t come from hiking. I stared at his naked torso, the pattern on his biceps, his belly, and the narrow path of hair that disappeared under the band of his underwear. Damn. What a body.
“You’re checking me out,” Kaden observed, sitting up. He looked pleased with himself, almost excited.
“What?” Caught in the act, I tore my eyes away and shook my head vigorously. “No I’m not. I’m just trying to make sure you’re still breathing.”
“You turn red when you lie. Did you know that?”
I covered my cheeks and moved away from his bed, so I could get back to my room as fast as possible. “Whatever. Go to sleep.”
“You know it’s true!” he called out, laughing. Self-satisfied, he crossed his arms behind his head. Narcissistic asshole.
“Good night, Kaden.”
I turned my back to him and headed for the door.
“Allie?”
I paused and turned back to look at him. His grin had disappeared.
“I lied,” he said. The words came hesitantly, as if his tongue were heavy. His voice was deeper than usual.
“What do you mean?” I asked as I turned out the living room light.
“That dress,” murmured Kaden. “It looked amazing on you.”
Grinning, I made my way down the hallway and closed my door behind me.