Chapter Five - Cade

I’m wasted. My vision is blurry, my feet won’t stay still. Am I even moving them? I’m laughing hysterically at something, but I have no idea what it is. I had one too many beers tonight and my body feels numb. A great pain-free numb. It's a relief from the weight I carry around normally.

My phone keeps vibrating in my pocket, but I press the ignore button. Or at least I think I do. Whoever it is can wait. My keys drop from my hand, and I stoop down to scoop them up.

The bouncer yells something at me, but I wave as I get into my pickup and start the engine. I just need to get back to my apartment and go to sleep. I’m going to feel this tomorrow. I maybe young, but I'm not eighteen fresh out of college young anymore. Plus I can't remember the last time I drank like this. So this is what it feels like to get another year older.

I take the back road toward the apartment building and drive ten miles per hour. I don’t have a death wish. I concentrate with what little focus I have left. The gate guard eyes me as I pull in, and I don’t even bother giving him hell tonight. My head is pounding too much, and I figure his aggravated looks won't do it for me today.

I park my truck and let out a breath of air before I grab my keys and open the door. I stagger outside, and my boot catches on the mat, sending me face first into the door.

I yell obscenities, as I soar to the ground and my cheek hits the hot asphalt beneath me. I debate even trying to get up. Is life worth it? People sleep outside all the time, right?

Then I taste the metallic in my mouth and spit a puddle of blood onto the parking lot. Yep, the night just keeps getting better and better.

I stare at the chrome of the tires next to me for a while, not even caring that gravel is piercing my skin. When I hear a car door slam I stagger upward, groaning and moaning like an old man on the way up. A couple whispers to each other but avoid eye contact. I don't blame them.

The stairs try to take me down, but ultimately I win, even if I’m sweating and gasping for breath by the time I get to the third floor. Using the rail, I sway toward room 306. Once I get there, I lean my head against the door and pound on it. “Let me in!” I scream.

Is it hot out here? Am I in Hell? Fisting my shirt, I pull it over my head and let it hang from my fist. I fumble with my belt buckle for several seconds before unzipping my pants. It feels like summer in Death Valley.

The door swings open a few seconds later, and Jaden looks out at me. Her pink lips part and a line creases in her forehead. Her eyes drop down my bruised face and then to my chest. Now her eyes are on my unzipped jeans. The embarrassment on her cheeks heat my flaming skin.

She's excessively innocent, Cade. Don't go there.

I don't listen to my voice of reason and reach out to trail my finger against her lip, but she steps back, holding her hand up against the spot I just touched. There go those cheeks again. Bright red, just like the barely there tank top she’s wearing. Red looks good against her skin. God—I am definitely drunk. This is Adam’s little sister.

“What happened to you?” she says, waving me inside. Music plays softly in the background, and something smells good. My stomach growls and reminds me of my lack of dinner and the excessive amount of amber liquid sloshing around in my stomach.

The door clicks softly behind her and she turns to look up at me. “You’re bleeding.” She starts to touch my lip but thinks better of it.

Good girl, Jaden.

Her touching me like this will only lead to me stripping her of those clothes and her innocence. She has to be a virgin. If those wide doe eyes don’t give her away, nothing will.

“I’m fine,” I say, waving her off. Turning, I see two bowls sitting on the table with ice cream. There are two empty wine glasses sitting beside each one. Is she on a date? “Who are you eating with?”

“We’re just having some ice cream. It’s Will. He’s in the bathroom.”

Eating with Will? Drinking with Will? I scoff and run my fingers into my hair. The overly aggressive side of me says that Will is a dead man, testing the waters in no man’s land. The passive side of me … who am I kidding? There is no passive side of me.

“Right, makes sense. He’s our roommate, after all. Because giving underage girls alcohol seems to be a hobby of his. You’re still a kid,” I say, eyes daring her to argue.

She crosses her arms over her chest. I guess she catches sarcasm easily. “I made dinner for everyone several hours earlier, and he happened to be home first. My brother is studying at the library, and I’m not drinking wine; it’s grape juice from dinner. Not that it’s any of your business.”

It doesn’t matter. Or it wouldn’t, if Will wasn’t trying to get into her pants. “You’re right, it’s none of my business,” I say. “I’m gonna go shower.”

“Wait,” she says, grabbing my arm. Her fingers are small and soft against my skin. “Let me wash off your cut. I have some ointment in my room.”

A stray piece of hair falls onto her cheek. Before I think better of it, I tuck it gently behind her ear and slide my fingers down to cup her jaw. She’s not breathing. I trace the pad of my thumb against her soft lip. “I can take care of myself. You just worry about feeding Will his ice cream,” I whisper. I watch the anger dance across her features.

She bats my hand. “Don’t touch me.”

I groan and ease my back against the counter. “Feisty, today, huh? Do you smack Will when he touches you?” God, I sound like a girl. Her eyes widen, and she curls her fists tight against her sides. I lean closer, smelling her flowery scent. “Or do you like it when he does it?”

“Jackass,” she snaps, shoving me in the chest. I lean backwards, my back hitting the cabinet behind me. She’s out of the kitchen before I have a chance to say anything more.

“What happened to you?” Will says, walking into the kitchen.

“No baseball practice today?” I ask, grabbing his bowl off the table. He eyes the food and lifts an eyebrow.

“Coach canceled. Why are you worried about it, grease monkey?”

Smiling, I take another bite from his ice cream. Alcohol and ice cream are not the ideal combination. I hope I don’t regret it later. “This is delicious. But, you’re right. See you tomorrow, bro.”

I scarf down the last bite of ice cream quickly. I could have slapped the smirk off his face, not that I know why exactly. Sure, Will is always a dickwad, but he doesn’t normally piss me off this badly.

Stashing the bowl in the kitchen, I walk into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I strip out of my work pants. Freedom. Someone knocks on the door but I don’t answer. I don’t have time for Will’s mouth tonight. My fingers lace through the waistband of my underwear when I hear another knock. Groaning, I stay silent, hoping they’ll go away. I just want to get in the shower and take care of these stupid cuts. I would fall out of the truck onto the—the door flies open.

Jaden is on her knees. My mouth opens. “First off, what the hell? And second, how did you get in here?”

She stands, slides the door closed, and looks up at me. “You wouldn’t answer the door, and I got worried. So, I picked the lock. Now sit down on the toilet so I can clean your cut.”

My mouth is still open, so I slowly close it. She looks uneasy now. Her arms tuck around her chest, and she gnaws on her bottom lip. I avoid looking at it, because seeing her do it makes me feel like a thirteen-year-old boy. Sliding my hands against the counter, I lift myself onto the tile, my legs spread wide. She takes a few steps forward until she’s close enough to touch. She looks small between my legs. Small. Flexible. Portable. Okay, Cade, turn your dick off.

Her eyes dart toward my boxer briefs, but she quickly bends down and starts rummaging through her first-aid kit. “Where did you learn how to pick a lock? I'm sure there wasn't a class on it in that prep school?”

Her back stiffens but she keeps her eyes on the bag. “I didn’t forget what you said to me earlier. I’m just being nice right now.”

Jaden straightens and takes a step forward. Grabbing her elbow, I drag her another step toward me. Her arm brushes my knee, and her body goes rigid. I’m close enough that my breath brushes her cheek. “I’m ready to be fixed, doctor.” I slowly recline and open my arms.

Jaden narrows her eyes, and then grabs a washcloth from the basket behind her. Holding the cloth underneath the faucet, her dark green eyes never stray from the task at hand. She’s doing a good job at pretending to ignore me, I’ll give her credit.

I keep my smile at bay and sit completely still as she runs the cloth over my lip. It’s warm and stings a bit, but I don’t take my eyes off her. She squirms, and I move closer, leaning into her touch. She’s freaking out, her breath coming faster. She quickly turns, grabs a small ointment bottle, and dabs it on my lip. I dart my tongue out against the medicine. Her eyes watch the movement carefully.

My lips turns up, and her eyes snap to mine.

“Stop it,” she warns. Like I'm scared of her, and can't see past her façade at being mad at me.

Before she can pull away, I grab her waist. It fits into my palm nicely. She’s shaking when I pull her toward me. Her hips press into the inside of my thighs. Grabbing her chin, I lean down. She watches my lips, my face. When my lips touch her ear, I swear she moans.

The entire sentence that forms on my lips stops. I don't know why I'm doing this, teasing her, making her blush. I'm no better than Will doing this to her, and yet, I can't help it.

“And you’re not just being nice right now, Jaden.” My lips graze her ear. “Because if you were really mad at me, you wouldn’t have come in here with those tight pants on. You would have stayed in your room for the rest of the night where you should be. Let’s not start something we can’t finish. It would be a shame to lose my best friend because I want his little sister underneath me, and we both know, that can't happen,” I whisper.

I hate myself for saying it, I'm blaming the alcohol tonight. Where is Jamie Foxx and T-pain when you need them?

She stays completely still against me for an entire minute, not moving, just standing. Her scent is making it hard to stay still. My fingers tighten around her waist and the other hand around the edge of the cabinet. Then the door pulls open. Adam is standing on the other side, holding a plate of food and gawking at us.

“What are you two doing?” he asks. “What happened to your lip?” The skeptical look on his face should worry me but it doesn't. 

My eyes move toward Jaden. She’s tugging on her first-aid kit.

“What’s going on?” Adam demands again.

I focus. “Nothing, man. She was just helping me with my lip. I fell out of my truck and hit my mouth on the door. I was drunk.”

Still am, I think. Am I? Surely. I’d have to be, right? I know hitting on Jade, or just messing around with her would piss off Adam. I don’t want to piss off my best friend. What is wrong with me?

He eyes both of us and then shrugs. “This leftover lasagna is so good Jaden. I think we’ve found our new cook. What do you think?” Adam leans against the doorframe.

My eyes find hers. She’s blushing and busying herself with her first aid kit. “I thought it was delicious.” Okay, one more time, just to see her blush.

Her eyes hardened around the edges. “Goodnight,” she says before marching to her room.

“What’s her problem?”

I jump from the cabinet. “Beats me.”