Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 116254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Returning to the galley, he sank to his haunches in front of the cabinet housing cookware, but as he pulled out a frying pan, the memory of Tuesday night swiftly surfaced in his head. When he’d cooked for Breck. When they’d eaten together. The chemistry between them had been so easy. So good.
Another pang lanced through his chest. That night had been the beginning of his change of heart. When he’d let himself believe in possibilities. When he’d allowed himself to entertain the notion of a true connection. Smirking sardonically, he shook his head at his stupidity, and—
A knock at the front door interrupted his thoughts.
He glanced in its direction, then toward Tad’s bedroom down the hall.
Sigh.
Pushing back to his feet, he turned off his tunes and made his way to the foyer, gave the doorknob a crank to the right and quickly opened things up.
Shit.
Breck. Frozen, and staring back at him, his expression that of absolute and utter surprise. “Kai… What’re you doing here?”
Kai donned his cool façade, even as his heart thumped hard as hell in his chest. “I told Scott I’d help him move Tad over to his place.”
“Oh.” Breck’s gaze flicked past him into the apartment. “I… Uh… I told Tad the same.”
Wonderful.
Kai smiled tightly. “I guess that means I should probably let you in.” Stepping back, he gestured for Breck to enter.
Breck stepped inside, then peered around with a frown. “Is Tad even here?”
Kai glanced down the hall as he closed the door. “Yeah. They’re packing up Tad’s bathroom. They’ll be out in a minute.” Or maybe closer to thirty.
Breck nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. Shifted his weight, seemingly unable to meet Kai’s gaze.
Understandable, considering what he’d been up to last night.
Thing was, he looked more than just guilty. He looked like… well, like royal shit. Kai regarded him. Dark smudges under his eyes, skin pasty, t-shirt wrinkled. Like he’d grabbed it off the floor before heading out. Which made sense in the scheme of things. That’s what people did when hungover as hell.
Kai struggled to keep his face impassive, memories of Breck and those girls surging straight to the fore. “Anyway,” he muttered. “I’ve got stuff I’m doing, so…” He turned toward the kitchen.
King Breck could entertain himself.
“Kai, wait.”
Kai clenched his jaw and briefly closed his eyes. He didn’t want to wait. He wanted to put as much distance between them as humanly possible. Just Breck being so close was physically paining him.
He paused and turned his head Breck’s way. His expression must’ve been harsh because Breck held up his hands in an I-mean-no-harm gesture.
What an irony that was.
Kai would have laughed if his heart wasn’t squeezing so hard.
“Look,” Breck started. “I know what you saw last night… and I know how it looked, but… it wasn’t what you think.”
Kai turned back to him and crossed his arms, incredulous. And there came the laugh. A dark, humorless chuckle up the back of his throat. “So you weren’t sprawled out drunk on the couch?”
Breck rubbed his nape and winced a little. “Ah… No… I was.”
“Hm. Then I guess what you’re referring to is the part with those two girls. You know, the one with her tongue in your mouth, and the other who was grinding against you like a cat in heat—”
“I wasn’t awake!” Breck blurted. “I was completely passed out.”
Kai stilled. Closed his mouth and just stared at him. Was Breck seriously trying to lie his way out of this? Except… a tiny niggle rose up in the recesses of his mind. Reflecting back, Breck hadn’t been moving on that couch. Not even a little. And that one girl had been holding his hands plastered to her tits.
He frowned, reluctant to hope. After all of Breck’s bullshit, he refused to play the fool one more time. “Convenient excuse,” he muttered, determined to maintain indifference.
“I swear to God!” Breck insisted. Then just like that, his expression turned grim. “I… drank as much as I could… intentionally… to knock myself out.”
What the hell?
Kai openly scowled. “And, what, you think that makes what happened somehow better?”
“Versus me consciously allowing those chicks to molest me? Yes!” Breck looked beside himself.
Kai exhaled harshly, a part of him relieved, the other even more pissed than before.
“Look…” Breck dragged a hand down his face. “I was upset. Couldn’t deal with the atmosphere… and people kept hounding me and… I didn’t have my ride back so I couldn’t just leave—”
“Jesus, Breck,” Kai ground out. “Do you even hear yourself? I mean, I know you’re on edge about the Draft and what happened to your car, but you can’t just—”
“It wasn’t about that stuff!” Breck’s raw gaze locked hard with his. “It was about you, Kai. I was upset about my situation with you.”
Kai’s chest squeezed tighter.
He couldn’t cave. He wouldn’t cave.