Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,96

necessary.”

His pain broke her heart. She had known the relationship between the brothers was complicated, but she had no idea of the extent. Reid still carried this guilt about how he had treated Bast all those years ago—but Bast had clearly forgiven him. She saw the love shining between them.

“Bast loves you, Reid.” I love you.

She would have said it but his self-loathing was on fire, eating up all the air between them. “Well, he shouldn’t! I just stole his spot on the Olympics team. Took something that rightfully belonged to him. My teammates think I’m a fuckup and the fans love to hate me and my brother has been knocked off Team Canada, but hey, I’m here. Reid Durand, the alternate, the NHL’s biggest asshole. Did you think I was going to become a different person because I got a dog?”

He sounded so hurt, like the bargain he had made with the universe had turned around and punched him in the face. But she saw how far he had come and tonight’s events, though painful, were a temporary setback. A gentle creature like Bucky would only bond with someone who already had a heart as big as Reid’s.

“Not because you got a dog. Because you are a good man who wants to be a better one. You’d rather buy into your father’s messed up worldview than accept you’ve made a ton of progress? You took a step back. It’s not the end of the world.”

His expression reeked of disgust. She knew it was with himself, not her.

At least that was her fervent hope.

“Kennedy, you might have landed here like Mary Poppins, sprinkled some magic fairy dust, fixed a frightened dog, and made an asshole hockey player 5% less asshole. Good for you. In a couple of weeks you’ll be on a plane to somewhere warm and sunny and you won’t cast a backward glance to me or Bucky. Just off to the next assignment.”

Wow with the dismissal. That stabbing pain in her chest couldn’t be good.

This was why you shouldn’t get too close. She had thought this might work—she and Reid might work—but no. He was too entrenched in his jerk persona and maybe he was right about her: the soles of her shoes were nonstick.

“That—that pretty much says it all.” She took a shallow, useless breath. “I’ll be packed and out of your hair by the morning.”

“No, you won’t. Because you still work for me, remember? You’ll stay here and do the job I hired you for—looking after my dog. Then you can run back to Asia just like you planned.”

Okay, then. The job. The plan. Back to basics, to where it all began.

Maybe it was better that this was ending before it started.

Which was funny because they were way past the point of starting. They were in the middle. The painful, messy, fucked-up-in-love middle. Or at least she was.

Tell him. Tell him you love him. Even if it’s the last thing he wants to hear.

She tried to find the words but they wouldn’t come, not when she knew he would only ball them up and throw them in the trash. He stared, burning those midnight-dark eyes into her until something clicked in him and he walked out of the lounge. She let him go because she wasn’t brave enough to put her fear aside and love all his many shades, the asshole and the hurting man.

For all her claims to being a free spirit, Kennedy was nothing of the sort. She was caged. By memories. By fear. She might have fluttered outside it for a while but she could feel the whoosh of wind as the door slammed on those silly dreams.

34

Reid woke up with a weight on his chest. A pair of deep-set brown eyes above a stubby little snout met his sleepy gaze. Sleepy, because he’d managed about three hours of shut-eye.

He picked the bundle of fur up and sat, his hands still embedded in the Pom’s warm body.

He missed his dog.

The door to Foreman’s guest room cracked open. “Reid?” Mia put her head in. “Gordie Howe, leave Reid alone! I’m sorry, we had the door to our room shut so he found you, the next best victim.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for butting in. When I stopped by last night, I didn’t realize—”

“That I practically live here now? It’s not a problem. Did you get any sleep?”

“Enough,” he lied.

She nodded. “I’m about to make coffee, so join us in the kitchen when you’re ready. Come