Page 19 of Fair Catch

That hellish smirk from earlier returns, growing into a full-blown grin now. And from the look of it, I’m not sure I’m gonna like the answer.

Scratch that: Knowing Mal’s theatrics, I definitely won’t like the answer.

Six

Hayes

The front door opens when I’m in the middle of cooking dinner on Monday night, and I don’t have to turn around to know it’s Kason getting home from practice. One, because I’ve come to know his schedule since he’s moved in, and two, because he makes more noise than a monkey playing the cymbals when he gets home. Kicking off his shoes, dropping his key to the counter, stomping through the house, all while grunting like a freaking gorilla or something.

Then again, men are supposedly descended from apes. Kason just must be a little less evolved than the rest of us.

Do not lose it. Donot.Lose. It.

“You got a minute?”

“Plenty, actually. If I live to be eighty, I have about,” I pause briefly, doing the math in my head. “Twenty-eight point five million left, give or take.”

“Did you just make that calculation in your head?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him why he can’t, but then again, he is a football player. He’s likely taken one-too-many hits to the head to even count past fifty.

Instead, I just mutter, “What is it you need?”

“A house meeting.”

That piques my interest, however slightly. Rolling my tongue over my lower lip, I debate continuing with my smartass remarks or not, before going for aloof.

“Considering I can’t leave the stove unattended, I guess I’m at your mercy,” I reply dryly.

I hear him moving around behind me, then the audible scrape of the bar stool on the laminate that immediately grates on my fucking nerves. Jaw clenching, I continue stirring the homemade sauce I’m using for my spaghetti. Hell, maybe if I ignore him long enough, he’ll just go away.

Unfortunately, it only takes about thirty seconds before he breaks the silence.

“Can you at least turn around, so I’m not talking to your back?”

Rolling my eyes, I turn to face him and plaster on myI’m trying not to kill yousmile.

“You were saying?”

Kason’s gaze locks with mine briefly before he finally speaks, breaking the silence. “I think it’s time we make some rules. To make this whole living situation go a little bit smoother from here on out.”

“Do you, now?” I cross my arms, leaning back against the granite countertop as I take measure of his fucking audacity. “You’ve been here less than a month, and you wanna start deciding how things work around here? Or did you forget I was the one who invited you to live here in the first place?”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I still deserve respect and privacy.”

Ah, yes.

Now I have a sneaking suspicion that I know exactly what he wants to address at this littlehouse meeting,seeing as he’s made himself scarce around the apartment since our little rendezvous in the bathroom yesterday.

“Maybe you do,” I agree, tainting my tone with venom. “Just like I deserve some peace and fucking quiet, but it seems like we’re both gonna have to live in disappointment.”

Some mix of a scoff and laugh leaves him. “You walked in on me in theshowerwithout so much as a word.”

My sneer is involuntary, as is the taunt that falls from my tongue. “Is that really the issue here, or is that your self-love session was interrupted by my presence?”

His cheeks heat, embarrassment rushing to the surface after confirmation I knew what he was doing behind that curtain. Which, of course, he denies.

“I wasn’t—”

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