Page 96 of Begin Again

Chapter 27

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was Kaden’s smell. The second was the fact that Kaden hadn’t let go of me the whole night.He lay behind me, his arm over my belly, his face on my shoulder, and our legs were so tangled with each other and the blanket that I couldn’t move. I closed my eyes and savored his peaceful, rhythmic breathing against my neck.

Kaden White was a cuddler. Who would’ve thought?

A flutter spread in my chest, and I smiled into my pillow. This felt so right. And it wasn’t just about the sex—which had shaken my world—but mainly about the fact that we’d dropped our defenses. We connected. Kaden knew everything about me and still wanted me. A little voice in my head warned me to be careful, but I ignored it.

“Your thoughts are so loud that I can’t sleep anymore,” mumbled Kaden behind me. “Cut it out.”

I giggled into the pillow.

He pulled me even closer. His fingers covered my ribs, and he pressed his lips behind my ear. I trembled.

“I have a weakness for your laugh,” he sighed as he buried his nose in my hair. “To be frank, I have a weakness for pretty much everything about you.”

I laughed again. “Same here. You’re pretty tolerable yourself.”

In one second he had me on my back and was straddling me.

“I’m pretty tolerable?” He raised an eyebrow. His eyes sparked playfully.

I shook my head. “On a scale of one to ten you’re a solid seven.”

“Seven?” he repeated in shock.

I had to laugh out loud at his dumbfounded expression.

“Oh, Bubbles. That was a mistake,” he growled, grabbing my hands and holding them up over my head. Then he placed his face right in front of mine. I stopped laughing and looked at him. He rubbed his nose against mine and let his lips wander over my face, resting against my neck. His stubble scratched my skin, driving me crazy in a good way, and my body reacted. Now it was Kaden who was laughing.

“So let’s turn the seven into a ten,” he growled.

And that’s how we spent the next few hours.

Kaden and I were inseparable the entire day, from our morning in bed to our shared shower, getting the entire bathroom wet, and then our cozy afternoon on the couch, watching the latest episodes of our favorite series.

Now I was leaning on Kaden, wearing one of his T-shirts. His chin rested on my head, and once in a while, I would tip my head back against his shoulder to look into his shining eyes.

Oh man. It had really happened.

The doorbell interrupted my reverie. It must be our food. Kaden jumped up, grabbed his wallet from the table and went to the door.

I heard him open it. But instead of the usual exchange (“Hello”… “That’ll be such-and-such dollars”… “Here’s something extra for you”… “Enjoy”), there was silence. I stretched out across the back of the couch, but could only see Kaden leaning against the doorframe.

“Hey,” he said. “You want to come in?”

“Do I want to come in?” a voice huffed.

Alarmed, I sat up straight. It was Dawn. And she sounded pretty angry. “You stupid jerk! This is for Allie. And for Spencer’s black eye.”

Kaden gasped in surprise as Dawn suddenly groaned in pain. I was on my feet and dove toward the door.

What I saw made my mouth hang open.

Kaden was holding his chin and staring at Dawn, who was shifting her weight and clutching one hand with the other. Tears spilled from her eyes.

“Dawn?” I asked in shock, and she looked past Kaden at me.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she said, staring at my naked legs and Kaden’s T-shirt. Then she looked me in the eyes. “You’vegot to be kidding me.”

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