AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How did he get your back?” she asked softly.
“My dumbass animal…” He shook his head. “I don’t even know. Lucas was locked up with him because Gunner was headed back for town, and my animal thought Lucas was in trouble…” He shook his head, his frown deep as he stared at the carpet. “I don’t know, he’s never done that before.”
“Protected anyone?”
He cleared his throat and nodded. “Yeah. Or maybe he had a freaking death-wish, who knows? I have no control.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Maybe he saw Sasha and was just like nope, we’re dying tonight.”
She let off a surprised laugh. “She’s pretty terrible.”
The smile faded from his lips as he studied Cadence’s face. “I’m sorry that happened. And I’m sorry about the timing.”
She shrugged and shook her head. “It’s okay, friend.”
“Chh,” he uttered immediately, and then stood and sauntered into the kitchen. “I made you a hangover cure.”
She watched him rummage in the fridge. “I’m not hungover.”
He twisted around, tensed at the movement on his back, and barked a curse. “I thought you went out for girls’ night.”
“Well, I did, but it took a turn.”
“Someone messed with you?” he asked.
“No, no.” She grinned to herself at how protective he was. “We went to Lucia’s house and just…talked. And drank grape juice. And laughed.”
His handsome face had gone comically blank. “Lucia laughs?”
“I was surprised too, but…yeah.”
He put a plate of something that smelled delicious in the microwave and set the timer, then rested his hips against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. She admired how sexy he looked in her house in his gray sweats and million muscles.
Friendship.
She let off a small cough and told him, “I’m going to get ready for bed.”
“Okay. Hey, Cadence?” he asked.
“Yeah?” she said from the mouth of the hallway.
“Can we talk?”
She pursed her lips. There it was. He wanted the friend-zone talk.
“It’s late.”
“I know. It’s just…I tried to sleep over there,” he gestured in the direction of his mobile home. “But the animal keeps dragging me back here. I can’t get some stuff out of my head and I know I’m going to fuck up everything on the jobsite tomorrow if I go to work this distracted, and I just…” His chest rose with a deep inhalation. “Please.” His bright eyes were so earnest and pleading.
“Okay, Kru.”
The nerves got to her as she meandered down the hallway to her bedroom. When she got inside, she closed the door behind her and pressed her shoulders against it, rolled her eyes closed and wished she could take their kiss back. She liked him so much, but he was taken and she wasn’t the kind of woman to compete with another.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed the bed. She always made it, her animal required tidiness, but the covers had been turned down and the pillows on the bed were formed in a U-shape. There was a water bottle on the nightstand next to a couple of painkillers, and on the floor was one of her popcorn bowls.
Had Kru…had Kru set up a barf-bucket for her? A grin consumed her face. How freaking cute and sweet of him! But also, she had questions about what he thought girls’ nights were. On the foot of the bed, he’d laid out her favorite pair of pink-and-white flannel pajama pants, a pair of pink lace panties to match, and a giant T-shirt she didn’t recognize. She stepped forward and sniffed it and oh my goodness, this was his shirt. It smelled of his cologne and his skin. It wasn’t the one he’d worn tonight, so he must’ve gotten this from his house. He’d worn it though. It had his scent all over it.
What did this mean?
Cadence hugged it against her chest and sniffed it. She closed her eyes as a purr rattled up her throat.
