Page 11 of Collide
I smile. “Can we talk?”
She rolls her eyes. “I'm busy. I don’t have time for whatever this is.” She gestures to the flowers, then slams the door in my face.
What the fuck?
I stare at the brown door in disbelief.
I knock again. No answer.
“You won’t even let me explain?” I knock harder with each passing minute.
My pounding halts when the door swings open to a very irritated blonde. “I have the worst hangover, can you shut up!” She drops her hand from her temple and looks up at me. “Aiden?”
“Hey, Cassie.”
Cassidy Carter is the twin sister of Cole, a junior defender on our team. Cole lives with us, holed away in the basement. She occasionally shows up at the house to yell at him for hitting on her friends. I had no idea she lives in Iona House, or that she’s friends with Summer Preston.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“Getting your roommate to forgive me.”
She voices a dramatic gasp and turns to Summer. “Thisis the guy who ruined your project?”
I can’t hear what Summer says but I’m pretty sure it includes the wordsjockanddouchebag.
“Cassie, can I come in?”
“I don’t know, Aiden. You didn’t exactly leave the best impression,” she whispers.
“I know, and I want to change that. Which can only happen if you let me in. Please?” This smile failed me once tonight, but I try anyway. When Cassie opens the door wider, I smell victory.
Summer’s sitting on the couch with her laptop when her eyes come up to mine. She shoots a glare at an apologetic Cassie. Instead of helping alleviate the tension that clips the air around us, Cassie turns and runs out the door.
“Roommate?” I ask.
Summer doesn’t answer. She also doesn’t look at me. My confidence is withering by the second. “Can I at least apologize?”
Silence.
“Come on, Sunshine.”
Her head snaps up so suddenly, I take a step back.Wrong thing to say.
“Don’t call me that.” Blazing brown eyes pierce mine, and it’s kind of terrifying. She pushes her laptop off her legs and comes to stand a few feet away from me. “I know you’re the captain and you think people should bow at your feet when you ask for something, but you won’t get that from me. I don’t care if you feel bad now or if you’ve decided to retire that asshole behavior and turn a new leaf. You made your decision, and I made mine.” She opens the front door. “You’re free to go. Don’t waste your breath on me.”
I watch her in a trance. There’s so much fire in every word she spits at me, it’s like watching a captivating performance. Momentarily, I’m distracted by the thin T-shirt she’s wearing that reaches her thighs, and I’m busy reading the text on it when she snaps her fingers to bring my attention back to her face. Impatience riddles her features, but I don’t move. I need her, and if I have to deal with her uptight behavior, so be it.
“I was rude.”
She arches her brow.
“Fine, I was an asshole, and you deserve an apology. I’m sorry for the way I acted in Kilner’s office, he sprang it on me with no discussion. It’s nothing against you or your research.”
Summer stands by the open door with a stony expression. In a move that may get my balls crushed, I walk right up to her and push the door closed. Her eyes mark the movement, but I don’t see her knee come up, so I continue.
“Will you give me a chance?” I ask. “Let me prove to you that I’m not the asshole you think I am.”
Her gaze drifts to the flowers in my hand. I extend them to her, but she doesn’t move to take them. “You got me a mourning wreath?”
