Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,85
and talk about doing a yoga class for the WAGs. Like a brunch n’ stretch. We’re calling it Downward Dog and Daiquiris. We’re going to do it between Christmas and New Year.” Before she left for good. She rushed on, not wanting to dwell on it. “I checked in with Edie. Turns out she’s been busy.”
“Yeah?” His breath was warm against her temple.
She lifted her head. “I can’t believe you took her ice-skating without me!”
“She said you’ve been putting her off because you’re, in her words, ‘a coward.’ And it was just a quick circuit of the Rebels practice rink.”
“A Foreman-Durand sandwich is how she described it, then “the three-way of her dreams” in the next breath. Please tell me someone filmed it.”
He extracted his phone from his pocket and after a few seconds, played the video of Edie being squired around the Rebels rink in the safe hands of Cal and Reid. A crowd cheered off-camera and Kennedy’s heart squeezed at the happy memory Reid had created.
If it was happy, then why did she feel teary?
“Ma belle, what’s wrong? Are you mad at me for not clearing it with you first?”
“No. Maybe. Edie’s a grown woman and it’s probably better I’m not involved. This bucket list business freaks me out. That’s what people do when they think they’re going to go soon.” She rubbed her eyes and faced him. “You’ve probably figured out by now that I don’t have a lot of people.”
“It’s hard to make connections if you move around so much.”
“So I have only myself to blame?”
He admonished her with a look that said they were better than that. “That’s not what I meant. I know a little about it. This is the fourth city I’ve lived in for the last five years, but that’s largely down to me. I’m a dick.”
She burst out laughing. “But you’re a dick with talent. With a talented dick.”
He doffed an imaginary cap, which made her laugh again. God, she loved how droll he was.
“My talent—on the ice—isn’t enough to keep me on any team. Which means I really should try harder to be nice to my teammates, to the management, to the press, to the fans. A team might be more likely to keep me around if I was easier to get along with but I’m usually suspicious of people. Of what they want from me.”
More lessons from Henri, no doubt. “People just want to connect with you, Reid. It’s not rocket science.”
He squeezed her hand against his chest. “So connect with me.”
She brushed her mouth against his. “How’s that?”
“You can do much better.”
She applied more pressure, her lips curving into a smile. “Bon?”
He closed his eyes and slanted his lips over hers. “Tres bon,” he whispered. They kissed for a while, another perfect moment in the blanketed dark, crafting cozy healing with a kiss.
Her eyes felt wet. “God, I’m ridiculous.”
“You’re many things, but ridiculous isn’t one of them. You endured a heartbreaking tragedy. And today, you were reminded of that loss when you thought Edie might be hurt. I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t you dare apologize!”
“Do you know how rare this is? Take the win, Coffee Shop Girl.”
That made her laugh. And then it made her kiss. Perhaps saying sorry was the perfect seduction.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing her eyelids, then her nose. “So sorry.” He whispered his lips over her cheekbone, down to her jaw, then a brush at the corner of her mouth. “Sorrier than I could ever be.”
He was commiserating with her over so much more than not running Edie ice-skating jaunt by her first, and she adored him for it. Her lips found his and applied a sweet, sultry pressure. The tightness in her chest eased slightly in this precious space with Reid, who was so solid, serious, and generous.
“Thank you for spending time with her. It’s sweet of you.”
“It’s not sweet. I’m determined to become a bingo champion.”
Reid playing bingo with the oldsters was adorable. “Always the competitor.”
“And when you’re gone, I’ll continue to visit her. If that’s okay with you.”
When you’re gone. She didn’t have time to process the words—the pain of them—because he was still talking.
“Unless … you’ve thought about staying longer. It seems a shame to disappoint all your doggie clients, old and new. And maybe this yoga thing with the WAGs could turn into something. People need you.”
In the half-dark, she watched his eyes fixed on hers. What was he asking? That she stay with him as his roommate, employee, or something