Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,64
gold star.” Insert smug grin from the woman here. “But we’re talking about wading through deep oceans of dick to get there and not in a good way. Speaking of dick-wading, there’s Casey.” She waved at someone at the bar, who waved back and walked over.
The new arrival had long dark, curly hair, bright blue eyes, and an easy smile. Kennedy instantly took to her.
“If anyone has opinions on the players, it’s Casey Higgins,” Mia said with authority. “She sees them every day as they pass through the inner sanctum.”
“Uh-oh,” Casey said. “What have I walked in on?”
Mia turned to the table behind her and asked if she could borrow one of their chairs, then stood and placed it for Casey. “Sit and tell us all the Rebels gossip. I might have family and a boyfriend in the Rebels weeds but none of them will spill to me because of the vault. Casey, meet my pals Kennedy and Tara. And you know Sadie. Casey is Harper the boss lady’s assistant. She has all the dirt.”
My pals. That felt nicer than it should have.
Casey blinked. “Which I am sworn to keep close to my chest. I only popped in here for a bottle of wine because the liquor store on the corner is closed for inventory and Tina has the kind I like.” She held up a bottle of red with a picture of a fox on it.
“And now you’re going to sit with us and have a drink. Unless you have a hot man to go home to.”
Casey slumped in her seat. “No hot man, just this lovely bottle of wine, which is all I need. I’ll stay for one drink, but don’t make me say anything I shouldn’t.”
“Two drinks it is, then,” Mia said as she got the attention of the server.
By the time Kennedy was on her second glass of wine—Mia had ordered a bottle, the sly vixen—it was clear that Casey was not the problem. Kennedy had always been a lightweight. Now she was the embodiment of loose lips sink ships. As in relationships.
“But no sex? At all?” Mia gawped at Kennedy. “For a whole season?”
“That’s what he said. Something about focus. All part of his training regimen.”
“Cal tried that for a few weeks after …” She glanced Tara’s way. “I think he wanted to punish himself because he and Tara had that weird breakup.”
“You mean when he forced me to dump him at Levi Hunt’s wedding? The rascal.” Tara seemed very amused by this, which was good because otherwise, Awkwardsville. If Kennedy had the story right, after the Cal-Tara breakup, Mia had asked her brother’s best friend to train her for a shot at the Olympics—and a shot at another man. Sounded complicated, but probably no more so than Kennedy’s own living situation.
“Too right he should take a hit in the sex department,” Tara was saying. “Of course that didn’t last long as soon as you started wowing him with your moves on and off the ice. So how do we get Reid over his hang-ups and onto the Kennedy train?”
Kennedy held up a hand. “That’s not the goal here. Of course I’m attracted to him.” The memory of him emerging from that hot tub was burned into her retinas and playing on a loop. “But this isn’t just a case of hot, horny roomies with no choice but to consummate their lust. There are brains involved.”
“Hearts, too,” Casey said wisely.
“Yes—no! Not hearts. Not souls. Nothing in the chest area.” She waved at her breasts, then realized that this didn’t help the point she was trying to make given that her breasts, or more specifically, her nipples turned into bullets in Reid’s presence.
Nipples were always the first to know.
She came at it from another tack. “It’s not like whatever that dude said when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest?” When all she received was a collection of unfocused stares—everyone was on their third glass by now—she said, “Because it’s there. That’s what the guy said.”
Mia squinted. “So you’re saying that proximity alone shouldn’t be enough to dictate how your genitals are used or not used in this situation.”
“Precisely! If you were to ask me ‘why do you want to ravish Reid Durand?’ the answer shouldn’t be ‘because he’s there!’ That’s ridiculous. It should be because there’s a connection, an attraction, a buzz whenever we’re in a room together.”
“And is there?” Casey eyed Kennedy over her glass. “A connection, an attraction, a buzz?” She emphasized