Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,97
on, Gordie Howe! Give Reid some peace.”
The dog jumped off Reid and followed her out. Reid lay a forearm over his eyes and thought about the unthinkable.
Kennedy would be leaving soon.
She had that plane ticket and an assurance that he was an asshole. Last night he’d laid it all bare.
Witness my envy and greed. Look at what a fuckup I am.
Think you can pit your sun against my dark and win? Ha, nice try!
Reid didn’t have it in him to make her happy so it was better to quit now before he fell too deep.
Sure. Before.
His chest hurt—and not because that damn dog had been camped on it for the better part of the morning.
He picked up his phone from the nightstand. Several texts from Bast had come in during the night.
Where r you?
Need to tok.
Talk.
I’m texting with one fucking hand here.
Where the fuck r u?
Hmm. He didn’t sound as pissed as he should have, just Bast’s version of annoyed, like a baby wasp.
He texted back, You OK?
No response. Must be asleep. He checked the GPS tracker for Bucky and was relieved to see he was safe at home, though the tracker wasn’t sophisticated enough to be able to pinpoint the exact spot. Probably in Kennedy’s room.
Five minutes later he appeared in the kitchen to find Foreman and Mia being vomit-inducing cute while they made breakfast. Their heads were close together and they were whisper-smiling something unintelligible.
“Reid,” Mia said. “How do you take your coffee?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Let her, Durand.” Foreman turned and folded his arms. “Checked in with your brother yet?”
“He’s been texting, so still alive.” Last night, Foreman had given him the usual teammate spiel about shit happening and it would look better in the morning. Well, it was the a.m. and improvement was nowhere to be found.
“What about Kennedy?” Mia asked, setting a cup of coffee down in front of him.
“What about her? Have you talked to her?”
Mia’s look Foreman’s way affirmed she had.
Foreman snorted. “Maybe you should talk to her.”
“I’m not her keeper. And she’s not mine.” At Foreman’s speaking look, he went on. “I’m giving her some space and it’s just easier if I’m not in the same apartment.”
“Because you might have to deal with your problems in a productive manner?” Mia pushed creamer and sugar toward him. “Skim? That’s all we have.”
“That’s fine. We’ve already discussed it. She thinks I’m a jerk, which is true, and I think she never planned to stick around, which is also true. We’re pretty much back to square one, so no harm, no foul.”
He had always prided himself on his no BS truth-telling. Look at how easily those words flowed from his lying tongue now.
“Can I interest you in some bacon and eggs?” Cal held up an egg in one hand and a bowl in the other. The bacon was already crisping and Reid was starving. Surely if his appetite was unaffected, he must be absolutely fine with this Kennedy business.
“Let me guess, it comes with a side of folksy Masshole wisdom and straight-from-the-heart girl-power talk.”
That snarky outburst yielded a condescending hand pat from Mia. “Now, you’re getting it. Foreman, crack those eggs.”
An hour later, Reid stood outside his brother’s place, having first stopped at home, changed his clothes, and grabbed an overnight bag. Knowing Kennedy’s schedule almost as well as she knew his, he planned it around her being out of the apartment. Cowardly, to be sure, but neither did he want to make it awkward for her. That was her home until she had to leave the country.
Leave the country. The words were cuts to his soul.
This was the logical endpoint to what had happened here, yet he couldn’t quite believe it. Apparently, during these last few weeks he had bought into his own bullshit.
I’ve fallen in love with a dog and a woman and it somehow makes me a better person.
Had he really thought that was possible? Well, it clearly wasn’t. Deep down he was the same dick he had always been, only now he was so good at it he knocked the competition—his own brother, no less—out of the game. Achievement unlocked.
Maybe he didn’t even deserve Bucky.
Taking the self-pity a little too far, perhaps. He might be a miserable worm but there was no way he was giving up that dog.
He had to find someone to care for the little guy, preferably someone who wouldn’t mind taking the puppy into their home. No more inviting anyone into his for a while.