My phone interrupted my melancholy thoughts, vibrating across my desk.
Weston.
West: My brother really likes you.
Me: Hi to you too. And ??? Likes sleeping with me?!
West: I don’t mean that. He’s catching feelings.
Me: What? Why do you say that?
West: He’s a bit drunk.
Me: ???
The three dots appeared as I sat on my bed, impatiently waiting for Weston’s reply. After about five minutes had passed, maybe longer, I suddenly got a long message from him.
West: Cass told him you phoned earlier & you were upset. Said you were trying to get hold of him. He’s worried about you. I can’t remember him ever stressing about a girl before. I know he’s drunk but he’s been talking about you nonstop for the past 10 mins. Not just in a friends kind of way either. Can’t explain it properly but if you were here you’d see.
Right. He’d barely admitted that he wanted to sleep with me; I highly doubted that he had actual feelings for me all of a sudden.
Me: Um. I don’t know what to say to that.
West: He really likes you. I can tell.
Me: He’s drunk. Don’t read too much into it. He’s worried because he’s a good person underneath his asshole exterior. You can tell him I’m OK.
West: Are you OK though? I’m worried too after what Cass told me.
Me: Yes. Mostly. Just more shit with my mother. Talk about it tomorrow?
West: OK. Come for pizza? Z can pick you up. Your car will be ready too.
Me: Finally! No more relying on people for lifts. Sounds good. What time?
West: I’ll check with Z and let you know.
Me: OK.
West: See ya tomorrow.
Me: *thumbs up emoji*
Me: Thanks for checking up on me BTW.
West: I care about you.
West: NOT in the same way as Cade.
Me: Haha. Love you too.
TWENTY-SIX
“Ever been on one of these before?” Zayde raised a brow at me.
“Nope. But it can’t be too hard, right?” I eyed the bike doubtfully. I pulled the straps of my small backpack tighter and stepped closer to the huge beast of a machine. Taking in my expression, Zayde gave me an amused smile and handed me a shiny red helmet.
“Wear that. Hold on to me, and lean with me. Okay?”
“I guess so.” He straddled the bike, all dark, lethal male, with ripped jeans and black boots and his leather jacket stretched over his biceps. Yeah. Not that I was interested, but he was insanely hot.
And he still scared me, to be completely honest.
Pulling the helmet on, I climbed onto the bike behind him. He reached back and pulled my arms around his waist, then snapped his visor down. The engine came to life with a powerful roar that I felt through my entire body, and I screamed, mostly with excitement but partly from fear as we shot away from the campus and onto the main roads. I hung on to Zayde with a death grip to begin with, but once I got used to the feel of the bike, I loosened my grip slightly, leaning into the turns with him. By the time we came to a halt outside the Four’s house, I had a huge smile across my face.
“That was amazing,” I told him as I climbed off the bike on slightly shaky legs and handed him the helmet I’d been wearing.
“Give me a bike over a car any day.” He jogged up the steps to the house, leaving me next to the bike.
“Hey, wait. Where’s everyone?” The driveway was completely empty.
He paused with his hand on the door and turned back around to face me. “Don’t know where Cass is. Cade and West have gone to pick your car up.”
He disappeared inside the house, leaving the door open for me. I reached the front steps when I heard the distinct low, throaty purr of Caiden’s R8 and spun around.
He stepped out, and I drank him in.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” He was distant, closed off, his face an inscrutable mask.
“Winter!” came the shout, and I tore my eyes away from Caiden’s to see Weston grinning at me, standing next to my car.
Except it wasn’t my car.
“What happened to my car?” I ran towards Weston and skidded to a halt in front of my little Fiat 500.
“Caiden asked the garage to make a few improvements,” he told me in a low voice. “And don’t let his appearance fool you—I think inside he’s second-guessing himself, thinking maybe he made the wrong decision. What your reaction might be, you know?”
My gaze bounced between Weston, Caiden, and my car.
“How much do I owe for all this?” I whispered to West.
“Nothing. Cade felt bad about vandalising your door. Not just that. Bad in general, I think, for all the shit he did to you. So he took care of it.”
My heart started beating faster.
I took a step closer to my car and trailed my hand over the smooth metal, my lips curving into a smile. The scratched and chipped burgundy colour was gone, replaced with matte-black paintwork. The exact same paintwork that Zayde’s bike and Cade and Cass’ cars sported. I walked around the car, examining it from every angle, noting the tinted windows and the huge shiny black rims complete with low-profile tyres.
Honestly? I think I was in shock.
When I reached the front of the car again, I glanced over at Cade, who was still watching me impassively, and turned to West, who had a huge grin on his face. “Thanks. Can you give us a minute?”
“Yep.” He gave me a quick hug and bounded into the house, leaving me and Caiden alone.
We stared at each other.
I moved closer to him.
“Why?”
He shrugged, his hands in his pockets, leaning against the side of his car. “Because.” His tone was final.
“Okay. Well, thank you. I don’t know what to say, other than I love it. So much.” I stood awkwardly in front of him, scuffing my toe in the gravel. He looked at me in silence for a minute, then made a low noise in the back of his throat and grabbed me around the back of the neck, spinning me so I was pressed up against his car.
Then his mouth was on mine, and I was lost in him.
He gripped my neck more tightly, kissing me fiercely, and I pulled him closer, returning his kiss with everything I had. Butterflies were rioting low inside my stomach, and I moaned, gripping his ass as he thrust his growing hardness against me.
“You two gonna stay out there all night, or what? Come on, me and Z are waiting to order pizza.” Weston’s shout interrupted our moment, and Cade released my neck, stepping back, running a hand through his hair. He looked about as dazed as I felt.
I collapsed back against the car, short of breath, my heart racing, trying to gather my composure. Once my breathing had mostly returned to normal, I moved over to Zayde’s bike, where I’d left my bag.
“Come on.” Caiden inclined his head towards the house, and I followed him inside. He stopped me in the empty hallway just outside the lounge. “We’ll continue that later.” Dipping his head, he kissed the tip of my nose, then tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, before strolling into the lounge to meet the others. What were we doing? Were we still just “fucking,” as he’d put it, or was West right? Was he starting to like me more? He was bloody impossible to read.