Chapter 27
Gavin
Even with the doors and windows of the house shut, the sound of laughter still filters out onto the walkway as we reach the front stoop of Cade’s home. The small, farmhouse-style rambler is rocking with the noise of a raging party.
I thought it would just be Ainsley and Cade and a few of their friends tonight, but it sounds a lot like a college kegger happening. I’m not sure I’m in the right frame of mind for this tonight. But I wanted a chance to talk with Cade about Kady, and this is my opportunity.
Christian and I were reluctant to leave mom tonight, although she practically begged us to go, pushing us out the hospital doors and shoving money in our hands.
Attending a party, where I need to be social, smiling and acting like everything is great in my life, should earn me an Oscar nomination. I paste on a dim smile as we enter the small home filled to the brim with towering bodies. The delicious aroma of beer and pizza wafts through the room. That will at least hit the spot.
Christian is immediately bombarded by teammates and I gesture with a thumb that I’m heading out back to get some beer.
There’s a keg on the patio, illuminated with a flood light, where a group sits around in lawn chairs, laughing and chatting. I see a ping pong table has been set up in the back of the yard with the obligatory game of beer pong happening. There’s also some chicks playing corn hole, giggling and screeching over their near misses.
I grab two solo cups and wait behind a guy as he fills up his cup. The guy moves out of the way, handing me the tap hose and I begin to fill the cups when a sound of husky laughter grabs my attention. My head turns on its own volition toward the source of the sound and my gaze lands on Kady. Her head is tipped back in her musical laughter.
She looks the same, expect with one noticeable difference. The strip of blue hair she wore in Italy has been replaced with a hot pink swatch, braided in an intricate weave around her head. Otherwise, she looks just as beautiful as she did, and my stomach wrangles in knots at her presence.
She’s effortlessly beautiful and vibrant. Like the colors of a rainbow when the sun streaks across the sky, shining against the bright dewy background.
Even if I’d never met Kady before, my heart would have sought her out over the crowd. My gaze would have found her and remained latched, unable to break the connection because of the way her vivacious soul speaks to mine. She draws me in and holds me captive in her light. The bubbles in the champagne float that leave me floating with happy dizziness.
I return to Christian and dispense his cup in his hand, turning back in the direction of Kady. She’s surrounded by three guys all vying for her attention. Poor schmucks. She has them eating out of the palm of her hand with her effervescent personality. She’s telling them a joke, as they all laugh at her raunchiness.
“What's worse than waking up at a party and finding a penis drawn on your face?” she asks them, her hand toying with the braid suggestively.
The three dudes shrug and one of them responds, “What?”
“Finding out it was traced.”
Their laughter is boisterous as I approach. Stopping a foot behind her, two of the guys turn to look up at me, their laughter dying down. Kady peers curiously over her shoulder at me.
Her gaze initially lands on my chest and then she tilts her head back until her eyes meet my face. She lingers a moment on my lips, which draws out a smile from me, and then our eyes meet.
A spark ignites – the one that’s been dim for weeks. I feel the flame blaze hot through my body, burning me up from the inside out.
As realization hits, her welcoming smile is quickly replaced with a frown and the gleam in her eye is dimmed. She raises a brow and then turns back around togive me her backside.
“Here’s another one,” she says, ignoring me completely. “Why can't blondes count to 70?”
The boys snicker and shrug. I answer for her, since this was a joke I told her one night when we were in Italy.
“Because sixty-nine is a mouthful.”
The guys hoot in laughter, one of them spilling beer over the edge of his cup. Kady turns to glare up at me, her expression as transparent as glass. I see a flicker of uncertainty at first, quickly doused and replaced with steel-toed anger. In fact, I take a small step back from her and drop a hand in front of my crotch, worried she might haul off and kick me in the balls.
Instead, she crosses her arms under her chest and lets out a long-suffering sigh before turning back to her admirers.
“Burn,” one of the guys coughs under his breath when he sees I’ve been dismissed, and I glare at him with a “Shut the fuck up” look. He snickers but wisely shuts his mouth.
“Kady, can I talk to you for a second?”
My tone implores for her to give me a chance. Pleads for forgiveness. Vulnerability seeps through the edges of my words.
She cocks her head and gives me the “Go ahead,” gesture with her hand.
“Alone?”
