Wherever…

The couches weren’t familiar.

I scanned the room and remembered we were in her dorm’s basement. “Fuck!”

“What? Huh?” Sam flew alive, jerking upright on the couch. Her hand raked through her hair. She blinked at me and blinked at the chick, and her hand dropped to land with a thud against her side. “Summer?”

“Yeah. Hi.” She moved closer a few steps, glancing nervously at me. “Uh, I got woken up this morning. Ruby came down to grab more coffee from the kitchen. She saw you guys and told me that maybe I should check on you. Here I am.” She gestured between all of us, back to herself, and around to Sam and me again in a wild flying motion. “Checking on you. My job is done.” She began edging to the door, backward, her gaze skirting to me and jerking back to Sam. Right before her back hit the door, she paused, and her hands did another abrupt movement. She looked like she was doing a cheer that was failing miserably. “So…okay. Anyway, in case you needed to be somewhere…”

The last statement was directed to me, but she wasn’t meeting my eyes. Her head hung down, and she kicked at the floor.

I could almost hear Logan laughing in my head. Dude, you broke the model. You scared her fighting spirit right out of her. Damn, you’re good.

I grunted, running a hand over my face, feeling my scruff. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I had to go. I gently touched Sam’s shoulder, leaning over to press a kiss to her, and I whispered against her lips, “I have an early morning run.” My lips moved to her ear, adding, “Love you.”

She nodded, grasping the back of my head, and she moved, so she could kiss me again. “Love you, too. See you.”

“Uh…” The roommate opened one of the doors. Her back moved, holding it open as she waited for our exchange. One arm was crossed over her chest with a firm grip on her other arm hanging down. It looked like she was holding on for dear life.

I had no time for her. I touched Sam’s arm once more, and then I was off. It was seven in the morning. I’d missed my run with Drew by an hour. Fuck.

I called him as soon as I was in my car and on the street, heading home. He didn’t pick up after the first time.

He did after my second call. “Shit, Kade. Where were you?”

“I’m coming now.”

“Fucking hell. We’re done. The guys and I are heading to get breakfast now.”

I gritted my teeth. The urge to yank my steering wheel off and throw it at the nearest car was powerful. I let out an irritated breath instead.

“Dude, don’t get pissed at me. You asked for the run and didn’t show.”

“I know. Something came up.”

“Yeah?” His irritation eased.

Mine didn’t. I took a turn rougher than I needed to, and I forced myself to slow down. I wasn’t mad at Drew. I was mad about Nate. I was mad that I had to leave Sam—no, I was mad that I’d lied to her.

“Sorry. Okay. I’m going for a run by myself.”

“You need someone to time your sprints.”

“I’ll make my brother do it.”

“Okay.” Drew sounded cheery all of a sudden.

I frowned. The asshat sounded too happy to get out of that.

Whatever. I shook my head, turning onto our street.

As I pulled into my driveway, Drew came out of the football house with his phone to his ear. He saw me and waved, heading over.

“Hey.” Drew pointed to the football house. “If you want, we can wait. You could eat with us and do sprints this afternoon? Nick and Rome didn’t join us this morning either.”

The idea had merit, but as I was considering it, the door to my house opened. Logan stood there with a scowl. He waved at me to get inside.

“Or,” Drew noted, “maybe not?”

“I should do my run anyway. I have a nine am class. I can get it done before.”

“Okay. We have practice at three today.”

I nodded. “I got the schedule. I’ll be lifting in the evening with the guys, too.”

“Good.”

Some of the guys from the team were coming out of the football house. They all nodded in hello to me but waited on the sidewalk for Drew.

He started for them, pointing at me. “The guys miss you. They want to rib you about Sebastian. You know that, right?”

The group overheard him, and Rome yelled over, “Yeah, when are you going to finally smash that pretty face of his? I thought you were the all-star fighter, Kade?”

I shot back, heading for Logan, “You hit like a two-day-old kitten, Rome. You’d have better luck sneezing on him.”

He groaned. “I should. That’s my new weapon if someone gets in my face. Watch out. Here come my germs.”

A couple of the other guys started laughing, but I got inside. Logan shut the door, crossed his arms over his chest, and lifted an eyebrow. He didn’t say a word. I felt like I was being schooled by Mama Malinda.

I asked, “What?”

The corner of his mouth curved up. “Where have you been all night, son? I’ve been worried sick. I’ve been sitting in this living room, waiting for you, since the crack of dawn.”

“I’m fighting the urge to slap you on the back of the head.”

He dropped the facade and moved back, holding his hands up. “I surrender. Sorry. Thought some parental acting might make you feel loved.”

“Is that Mason?” came from the second floor. “Is it? Logan? Is that Mason?”