Page 8 of Catching the Captain

I didn’t expect her to be home yet, and now she’s entertaining Kaiden.

Coming now.

Tossing my phone onto my bed, I open my door and hurry down the stairs. I smooth a hand over my hair and tug down the hem of my tank top before I round the corner and head into the living area.

“Hey,” Serena says from her seat on the couch. Her dark eyes are filled with questions.

I smile, showing too many teeth. “Hey, I didn’t expect you to be home yet.”

“Yeah, I didn’t either, but my date didn’t go as planned.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Meh.” She shrugs. “Plenty of other men out there to choose from.”

“That’s true. I take it you two have already met.” I glance back and forth between them.

“We have,” Kaiden answers, his gaze slowly traveling up and down me.

“Did Kaiden tell you about my wipe out?”

She shakes her head. “What happened?”

“I was crossing the street at an intersection and a car turned on red without stopping. It was coming right at me, and I had to dive toward the sidewalk. I landed on my right side.” I point to the scrapes on my leg and turn my arm to show her the massive scrape on my shoulder.

“Oh my God. That’s horrible. Did you get the car’s plate number?” she asks.

I snort. “No. I was too busy hugging the pavement.”

“I saw it happen and I didn’t get a chance to either. Getting to Rori was all I could think about.”

“Good thing you were there,” Serena tells Kaiden before her head swivels my way. “And you need a babysitter.”

My mouth falls open in protest. “The hell I do. I can’t help it if people drive like assholes.”

“Kaiden, this isn’t her first near miss with a car. She’s like a magnet.”

I plop down on the other end of the couch. “No, I’m not. Don’t exaggerate.”

“Okay, let’s do the math.” She holds up one finger. “There was that time when the guy on the bicycle crashed into you.”

“That wasn’t my fault—”

“Then you almost got hit by a school bus.” Cutting me off, she adds a second finger to the count.

“Not my fault.”

“What about the accident that happened as you were running by?” She waves three fingers at me.

“I can’t help what happens with other people.” I huff, crossing my arms.

“Wasn’t there a mishap with another runner?”

“Yeah, but I think he crashed into me on purpose, because he asked me out afterward.”

She raises a fourth finger. “It still counts.”

“Okay, okay. We get the picture.”

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