Page 86 of Rebound
“What do you want to bet it’s Kai on the other side of the door?” Roman doesn’t wait for me to answer before he unlocks the door and opens it.
Holden is standing in the hallway, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. His mouth snaps shut as soon as the door opens, and his wide eyes bounce between Roman and me. There’s an earbud in his ear and I know there’s someone on the other side of it.
I step up behind Roman. “For the record, I win this bet because I know Kai would never.”
Kai is far too sweet to get roped into whatever this scheme is.
“Vin, hey!” Holden’s smile widens when he sees me.
“And Roman, you know, the guy whose door you knocked on?” Roman leans on the doorframe beside me, his hands in the pockets of his sweats. Holden’s smile drops a little and he straightens to his full height.
“You can’t have all the attention,” I say. “Leave some for the rest of us.”
Roman’s eyes skate over me in a slow perusal that has my blood warming and my belly fluttering. The way he looks at me is like he’s already seen me naked, like he already knows meinside and out. Like I belong to him. “You always have all of my attention.”
I blush and look away from his heated gaze. My skin is still tingling from where he was touching my waist before and the heat in his eyes is not helping.
“How can we help you, Holden?” I ask.
“Coffee,” he says. “Do you have some? I ran out.”
Roman glances at me with a raised eyebrow, not that I have any idea what it means.
“Yeah, let me take a look.”
He walks back into the apartment, shooing the cats inside so they don’t try to sneak out.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” Holden says. His mouth lifts in a smile which is classic Golden Boy. The one who got away with everything because he was class president, had the highest GPA in school, all the while leading his sports team to victory. Which is why I’m not buying his innocent smile.
“In my husband’s apartment? Where I told Kai I was going?”
Holden’s blue eyes shift a little to the left, almost as if he’s listening to whoever is on the phone and in his ear.
“Who are you talking to?”
“What?” He laughs. “I’m not talking to anyone.”
“Holden,” I say his name flatly. “Is my brother on the phone right now?”
Holden shakes his head quickly. “No! If Drew finds out, we’ll be in so much trouble. We wanted to check up on you.”
I can’t be mad with these guys. They’re like family. I didn’t realize how annoying it is to have more than one brother.
“Thank you for checking up on me. It’s sweet.” I step out into the hallway and arch up, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Please know that Roman’s not going to hurt me, so tell Ford he can sleep easy tonight.”
Holden’s smile widens. “Ford says it’s not him.”
It makes me laugh, and I step back as Roman opens the door with three boxes of coffee pods in his hand. His eyes look between Holden and me, and the lack of distance between us. Reaching out his free arm, he wraps it around my waist and subtly pulls me closer to him, resulting in an eye roll from me. These guys really do belong on a team together.
Holden takes the coffees from Roman.
“When did you start drinking coffee, by the way?” Roman asks.
My friend looks like a deer caught in headlights and I push him gently down the hallway with a laugh. “Good night, Holden.”
I lead Roman back into his apartment and close the door behind us. “By the way, my parents have invited you to Thanksgiving dinner. If you don’t have plans already.”
Roman freezes in the middle of the kitchen, slowly turning to face me. “I don’t really do family holiday parties.”
