He ventured over to the double sink and opened the cabinets. He pulled out a downy gold towel and laid it beside the tub.
Caeden looked around and scratched the back of his head. The movement caused his shirt to ride up and flash his smooth tan muscles and light smattering of dark hair. “I’ll… uh… be in my room. If you need me,” he pointed his thumb over his shoulder.
I smiled. “I’ll be fine.”
“You’re not going to pass out in the bathtub are you?” he asked. Concern flooded his eyes, turning them from their normal pool blue color, to a stormy sea gray.
“No,” I laughed. “I’m tired but not that tired.”
“Don’t take too long or I’ll be forced to barge in here,” he said in all seriousness.
“You wouldn’t dare,” I stuck my hands on my hips.
“I’ve already seen everything anyway,” he said. He tenderly caressed my face and in a soft tone said, “You don’t need to hide from me, ever.” His long black lashes fanned out and brushed the high planes of his cheekbones. He cupped my face in his warm, large hands. He took my breath away.
I blushed and words failed me.
He kissed my forehead, my nose, each cheek, and finally my mouth.
“Seriously,” he said. “Don’t take too long. I’ll worry.”
“Give me thirty minutes,” I said.
“Twenty,” he countered.
“Thirty,” I said stubbornly.
He grinned. “Fine, thirty minutes and don’t think I won’t be counting.”
“Go,” I pushed him out the door. He laughed at my persistence. I finally got him all the way out the door and locked it.
I divulged myself of my dirty clothes, turned the water off, and sank greedily into its heavenly depths. An embarrassingly loud sigh of pleasure escaped my lips. I closed my eyes and leaned back; letting the hot water work its magic as it uncoiled my stiff and tired muscles. When my body began to loosen I chose one of Amy’s body washes. I was happy to smell like a normal human being again and not a sweaty mess. I pulled the plug and watched the water circle down the drain. For some odd reason I’d always found the swirling motion of the water relaxing. I pulled myself out of the tub, dried, and dressed in my clean clothes. I spotted Amy’s brush and ran it through my unruly locks.
Was that a stick in my hair? Ew.
I bundled up my dirty clothes to take back to Caeden’s room and opened the bathroom door.
“Oh my God!” I screamed when Caeden’s tall presence startled me. The clothes dropped to the floor with a plop.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he bent down to pick up my clothes. “I was worried. You were gone for thirty-one minutes.”
“Caeden,” I whined. “I was fine. You worry far too much.”
“That’s true. But I would rather worry too much than not all.”
I shook my head at him. “Nap time?” he asked.
“Now that I’m clean? You betcha.”
I followed him down the hall and into his room. He closed the door and tossed my dirty clothes into his hamper. “Don’t do that! I’ll take them home and wash them,” I tried to grab for them but Caeden grabbed my hands instead.
“It’s fine,” he kissed the side of my mouth while I squirmed in his grasp.
“Caeden, your mom doesn’t need to clean my dirty clothes.”
“It’s not a problem. Besides,” he said huskily in my ear, “my mom doesn’t do my laundry. I do my own, just like a big boy.”
I laughed.
“And you know what else?” his lips brushed my ear.
“What?”
“I even make my own bed.”
He picked me up and tossed me on the bed. “Caeden!” I cried but then began to giggle.
He jumped onto the bed beside me, yanked the covers down and then over our bodies.
“Nappie nap time,” he kissed my forehead.
I cuddled into his side and fell fast asleep.
* * *
When I woke up the bed was cold. I lifted my head from the pillow and saw that Caeden was gone. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock. Ah, dinnertime. That explained his absence. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and thought to myself, if I keep this up I’ll sleep my entire spring break away.
I looked around Caeden’s room for my hairbands. I knew I had stashed some somewhere. There was no way I was going downstairs with my hair looking like this. I thought I had put them on top of the dresser but none were there.
Maybe he put them in the bathroom, I mused.
I didn’t see them in there either.
Caeden! I called in my mind.
Huh? Are you okay?
I’m fine. But where are my hairbands?
Your what bands?
Ponytail holders, Caeden. I left some here but I can’t find them. I thought I put them on top of your dresser but they’re not there.
Oh, he said, those weird brightly colored circle things? I put them in your drawer.
I opened the drawer and sure enough there they were.
Found them. Thanks. I said.
I smoothed my hair down with my fingers and pulled it back into a ponytail. It wasn’t the best-looking ponytail ever but it was better than looking like Medusa.
I found Amy, Caeden, Bryce, and Charlotte eating dinner in the kitchen.
I went to go grab a plate when Caeden said, “I already fixed you a plate.” He then patted the empty seat beside him.
I slid in and eyed Charlotte, looking between her and Bryce. She blushed profusely and looked down at her plate.
Dinner was fairly quiet, which was a rarity in the Williams’ household. Dinner was usually a raucous.
Amy had made some kind of health food dish that was barely recognizable as food. I basically pushed it around on my plate while my stomach rumbled.
Amy finished her dinner and cleaned her plate. “I’ll be in the library if you need me.”
When she was gone we all breathed a sigh of relief. We dumped our food in the garbage disposal and Caeden then rummaged through the fridge for something edible.
“Who wants ice cream?” he asked, now digging through the freezer.
“Me!” Bryce screamed.
“Shh,” Caeden scolded. “Don’t let mom hear you.”
“Sorry,” Bryce said. The kid seriously reminded me of an eager, over active, puppy.
“We have…” he looked through the various ice creams, “pretty much every flavor. What does everyone want?”
“Rocky Road,” Charlotte and Bryce said together. They looked at one another and blushed.
“Soph?” he asked.
“Umm,” I peered at the different flavors. “Banana.”
“Good choice,” he said and handed it to me. “I think I’ll have mint chocolate chip.”
Bryce and Charlotte were eating out of the carton but Caeden grabbed us bowls. He opened a drawer and pulled out a scoop. He took the ice cream carton from me and made me a bowl. Sticking a spoon it he grinned and handed it to me. “Dig in,” he said.
I took a big bite. “Mmm, yummy,” I said.
He laughed as he scooped his own ice cream. He put the ice cream away before it could melt and hopped up on the counter to eat.
“I have the next two days covered for duty so we can redecorate your room.”
“Caeden,” I said. I had completely forgotten about decorating my room. “That’s not necessary. I don’t want the others to have to work overtime.”
He waved his hand and blushed. His feet thumped against the cabinet in a steady rhythm as he swung them back and forth. “Yeah well,” he rubbed the back of his head nervously, “I realize that I overreacted. Our usual patrols are more than enough to keep check. I’m new at this whole Alpha thing and I just don’t want anything to happen to the pack.”
“I understand,” I kissed his dimple. A smidge of ice cream was left on his cheek and I wiped it away with my thumb.
He smiled at me. “I’ll get the hang of it ev
entually.”
“We both will,” I leaned my head on his shoulder.
nine.
“No, no, no. No way!” I shook my head and looked at the offending black motorcycle. “I am not getting on that thing!”
“Sophie, it’s a motorcycle, it doesn’t bite.”
I turned my head to look at the beast. “Really? It looks like it could bite, to me.”
“Please, Sophie,” he held out a helmet.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What if I fall off?”
“You’re supposed to hang on to me, Soph. What happened to my mighty little she-wolf?”
“She packed her bags and left,” I said.
“I’ll go really slow,” Caeden said in a coaxing voice that was meant to soothe me. It did anything but. “The hardware store is only two minutes from here. We can go there, get your paint, and come right back. I won’t make you ride the bike to Target, we can take your car.”
“I don’t want to.”
“It’s safe Sophie. I wouldn’t ask you to do something that isn’t safe.”
I bit my nail. “You’ll go really slow?” I asked.
“Of course,” he said, grinning. Obviously he could sense my imminent defeat.
“Give me that thing,” I snatched the helmet from his hands and pulled it over my head.
Grinning like a fool Caeden climbed on the bike and started it. The loud rumbling made me jump and let out a squeal.
“No! No! I can’t do it!”
Caeden began to laugh. He held his own helmet in his hands. “Just put one leg over here and hold onto me. I started towards the bike but ended up taking three steps back. I bent down at the waist.
“No! No! No! No!”
“It’s fine Sophie,” he said softly and held out a hand to help me.
I started once more towards the monster before screaming. “I can’t! I don’t think I can do this!”
He grabbed my hand in his and pulled me closer to the bike. I let out a high-pitched girlish scream.
Caeden dropped my hand and covered his face in order to hide his laughter. I was too busy screaming to tell him he failed miserably.
I saw a few neighbors peek out their doors to see what the squealing was about.
“Sophie, it’s fine, really,” Caeden wiped away tears of laughter.
“No, no, no, no!” I squealed.
I closed my eyes. I can do this. It’s just a motorcycle. Come on, Sophie, don’t be a wimp. I told myself this with as much determination as I could muster. I swung my leg over the side of the motorcycle and wrapped my arms around Caeden; all with my eyes closed.
He revved the bike and pulled out of the driveway much too fast for my taste. I would have preferred one mile per hour. It got even worse though when he sped through the neighborhood.
“Caeden!” I screamed and my thighs dig into his sides while my fingers gripped his shirt.
When he parked in the hardware store parking lot I was still screaming and apparently paralyzed. “Sophie?” he rubbed my leg. “You okay?”
I closed my mouth in order to cut off the high-pitched keening escaping my lips. Who knew a wolf could scream like a jungle cat?
“Sophie, you need to get off now,” he coaxed.
I finally found my voice a few moments later. “I can’t move.”
He chuckled, which shook the bike, and made me scream again.
“I’m going to help you off the bike. Okay Soph?”
He sounded like he was trying to talk a suicidal person off a ledge.
“Put your feet down on the ground,” he said. I did as I was told and a whimper escaped my lips. “Good, now let go of my shirt.”
“No, no, no,” I leaned my head against his back. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” he pried my fingers from his clothes. “Now swing one leg over and you’re off.”
I slowly swung my one leg over but held onto Caeden’s shoulder for support. My heart was beating faster than it ever had before and my stomach was rolling. I was afraid I might throw up so I quickly pulled the helmet off.
Caeden climbed off the bike, locked our helmets inside the storage compartment, and then took my hand.
“You did great,” he kissed my forehead.
“And you’re a liar,” I said. My voice sounded shaky.
He laughed as the sliding doors opened with a gush of air, ushering us inside. Caeden led me straight to the paint section.
“What do you have in mind?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I picked up a few paint chips to study. “Something different.”
Caeden snorted. “I kinda figured that.”
There were so many colors to choose from and since I had no idea what I wanted to do with my room anything was an option.
“What do you think of this color?” I held up a peach shade to Caeden.
“Eh,” he made a face. “Do you really want to sleep inside a fruit?”
“Good point,” I said and put the chip back.
Caeden picked one up. “What about this one?”
“It’s blue,” I commented.
“Yeah, so,” he glanced at it and shrugged.
“My room’s already blue,” I stuck my hands on my hips.
“So? That’s an old, faded, ugly blue. This is a nice pretty pale blue,” he said.
“No,” I said and took it from him. “I don’t want blue.”
“What about green?” he asked.
“Hmm, green? Maybe,” I said, “I do like green.”
I switched my focus to solely shades of green. I settled on a funky shade of green that wasn’t overwhelming.
“This is it,” I said.
Caeden motioned to a person working in the store. The man came over and said, “Can I help you with something?”
“Yes,” Caeden took the paint chip from my hand and gave it to him. “We need a gallon of this and a gallon of white ceiling pant.”
“It won’t take long,” the man said.
I watched as he mixed the colors and then the machine shook it. For some reason this process had always amazed me.
Caeden ventured down the aisle and returned with paint pans, rollers, and brushes. He put them down on the counter while we waited for the paint to finish mixing.
“Here you are,” he handed the two jugs of paint to Caeden. “Checkout’s over there,” he pointed.
“Thank you,” I called to the man as he left to do something else. I gathered the paint supplies in my arms and followed Caeden to the checkout.
The cashier entered the prices of the paint, scanned the other items, and I pulled out my gift card.
“Have a nice day,” she said, giving me the receipt.
Outside, Caeden took the helmets out and placed the paint there instead. He tossed a helmet to me and said, “Please, no screaming this time.”
“I’m making no promises Williams’.”
He chuckled. “I’ll probably lose all my hearing.”
“What a shame,” I said. “I think the punishment is just for forcing me on this… this… creature,” I pointed to the bike.
He stuck the helmet on my head to shut me up.
Caeden climbed on the bike and put his helmet on. He tilted his head towards me.
“Are- aren’t you going to- to- start it?” I stuttered.
“I was going to wait until you got on this time,” he said.
“Oh,” I played with my fingers. I gulped and swung my leg over and then wrapped my arms around his muscular middle. My heart was beating so fast I was sure he could feel it through the thin cotton if his shirt.
He started the bike and it growled beneath me. I screamed and some guy turned to look at me before shaking his head and chuckling under his breath. Jerkface.
Caeden peeled out of the parking lot, going faster than he had before, and my fingernails dug into his abdomen.
Insider (Outsider Series) Page 9