Page 147 of I Choose You

I hoped that I could cheer him up and help him through whatever it was.

“Wait a sec.” I hurried back up the stairs I’d already gone down and went back to my door. I passed the out-of-order elevators and checked my hair as I went by.

Habits were hard to break, but even still, I barely registered if my ponytail was messy now.

I let myself back in and headed toward my closet. The bag from that shop was tucked way in the back of my shelving unit. I doubted I’d ever actually use it.

I held up the plaid lingerie, wincing again at the coarseness of the fabric.

“Just why?” They couldn’t even sew a soft liner on the inside?

If there were ever a time to use a gag gift to cheer up my man, I imagined this would be it.

Worth a shot.

49

KADEN

Nineteen minutes after I got off the phone with Brooke, I opened the door to find her standing there with an iffy smile. She didn’t greet me and seemed uneasy with a questioning gaze. More like an amateur solicitor than my girlfriend, she hesitated without a word.

I imagined my terse phone call freaked her out. I hadn’t given many details—more like none—and she was probably envisioning all kinds of worst-case scenarios.

But she’d come. Regardless of any doubts or worries, she’d hurried to me.

A duffel bag’s strap was slung over her shoulder, but in her hands was a pint of ice cream.

I did a double-take. Yeah, that was ice cream all right.

I arched a brow. “What’s with the ice cream?” I stepped back, urging her to come inside.

She exhaled and stepped in. “Whenever Rena and I have a bad day, ice cream makes things better. I don’t know what makes dudes feel better, so I stuck with what I know.”

The tension in my shoulders loosened as I laughed.

“If ice cream does not appeal, I do have a backup idea, but it’s, uh, unconventional.”

I crossed my arms. “Now that’ll pique my curiosity.”

She shook her head and held out the ice cream. Mint chocolate chip, my favorite. She sure paid attention and took notes. “No ice cream?”

I took it. “The ice cream will do. For now.”

For now? I had no right to be joking around. I had no doubt that her “backup” idea involved something either incredibly sexy or outrageously silly. Both of those had to wait until I talked to her. To really talk to her. Kody had flat-out refused to own up to what he’d done to her, so it fell on my shoulders. Enough was enough. I couldn’t stand this idea that I was hiding anything from her. I was too damn eager to move forward with her, and I had to clear this before that could be possible.

“I did not have the foresight to also purchase sprinkles though.”

I stopped her hands. She’d busied herself in getting spoons out to break into the ice cream right now.

“Let me guess.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and peered at me. “The sprinkles aren’t a deal breaker.”

I shook my head and set the ice cream in the freezer. “No. They’re not. I want to tell you something.”

She grimaced. “Maybe I will need the ice cream now.”

Several minutes later, with two bowls of mint chocolate chip ice cream sans sprinkles but laden with potentially expired whipped cream, we sat across from each other at the island. Neither of us picked up our spoon.

“Kody and I had a disagreement.”