Chapter 26 – Kat
TWENTY-SIX
KAT
The sun peeks through the sheer curtains, casting a soft glow on the tousled sheets. As I stir from my slumber, I feel warm breath tickling my neck and strong arms holding me close. My eyes widen as I realize it’s not just a dream—there is a body pressed against mine and fingers gently tracing circles on my stomach.
My eyes snap open in a moment of panic, my heart racing until I remember that Tanner and I must have fallen asleep together after our late-night marathon of Community . I try to sit up and remind him that this is not something friends do, but the comforting warmth of his arms around me makes it hard to move. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this sense of closeness with someone and it feels nice.
So, I do what any reasonable woman would do…I pretend I’m still sleeping.
As I sink back into him, allowing myself to fall into the sated state between sleep and awake, I feel his muscular arms tighten around me. My heart nearly leaps out of my chest as my stomach erupts with butterflies, but I’m far too tired to delve into the implications of what that could mean.
Warmth washes over me as I close my eyes, the sun’s gentle rays warming my skin. I drift back to sleep, the room fading away behind my closed eyelids.
“Kat.”
A groggy whisper ghosts past my ear and the warm breath causes goosebumps to erupt all over my skin.
I ignore the voice in an attempt to hold tightly to my last bit of sleep.
“Katarina.” The voice is playful, amused, and says my name in an almost singsong tone.
I groan, lifting my arm to cover my eyes, a flimsy attempt at hiding myself from the day, the sunlight impossible to escape now.
He laughs. “It’s noon—we should get up.”
“Noooo…we sleep,” I mumble through a yawn, inching back against him without much thought for the action.
This time, he groans. “Kat, we need to get up.”
The pained voice urges me into consciousness as I remember exactly who is in bed with me. Not some guy I met at a bar, not even Elijah in a drunken, terrible decision, but…Tanner.
Go figure: this is the exact moment I realize that, while Tanner is clearly as awake as the sun, so is… little Tanner. His morning erection is pressed firmly against my ass, and if I were more awake, I would probably jerk away. However, my sleepy state and lack of awareness leaves me with no filter.
“You have a boner,” I say matter-of-factly, not even bothering to open my eyes. I expect him to jerk away at my spoken observation, cower into the teenage version of himself, humiliated by his morning wood, but he does none of those things.
He…he…laughs. Not in a mocking way, but with pure, unadulterated amusement.
Tanner releases his hold around my waist before messing up my hair—which is more than likely already catastrophic—and gets out of bed.
I sit up and glance around the room. I know I should feel weird about waking up in Tanner’s arms; I should be reiterating that it can’t happen again. And yet…it felt good to be held, far better than I’d like to admit.
As if he can hear my thoughts, Tanner looks down at me with his brow quirked.
“What?” I ask.
“Are you spiraling right now?”
I definitely feel like I should be spiraling, or at the very least verbalizing that it meant nothing—because it did mean nothing. However, I simply shake my head. “I’m fine. We fell asleep together. I’ve done much more with Jenna.”
If I thought his brows were strained before, they now nearly hit his hairline as his mouth splits into a shit-eating grin. “Please, do elaborate. I’m a visual person, but a very detailed description would do, given that Jenna isn’t here…”
When I swat his arm, he breaks into a bellowing laugh, and I can’t bite my own laughter back any longer. “You’re an idiot!”
I stand up, adjusting my shirt to cover my partially exposed stomach. I don’t miss the way Tanner’s attention lingers on my navel. We both look away awkwardly.
My cheeks flush as I peer around the room before grabbing an oversized flannel out of an open box. I feel like I need to cover up, put a barrier between us—as if I wasn’t nestled in his arms only seconds ago.
“I’m gonna head down and grab some food. You in?” he asks. He’s so casual—a level of casual that I can’t seem to muster.
“Sure.”
Tanner leads us out of my room. As we start to walk toward the stairs, Elijah exits his room. I instantly clam up at the proximity and the pinched expression on his brow, fighting back the urge to inform him nothing happened between Tanner and me. Frankly, it’s none of his business.
So I do what any rational—but maybe a little petty—woman would do…I pretend we didn’t make eye contact as I follow Tanner.
As we descend the staircase, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and sizzling bacon wafts up to greet us. We reach the spacious kitchen, where Brendan, Regina, Aaron, and Jenna are gathered around the massive island in the center.
We all agreed the kitchen was the selling point when we signed the lease—with its sleek granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and ample space for cooking and socializing, it’s no wonder why. We’re a little farther from campus than most of us would have preferred, but it was far nicer than the beat-up houses near school.
“Where’s Marcus?” I ask Jenna as I grab a piece of bacon off the plate sitting next to the stove.
“We ran out of milk for the scrambled eggs, so he went out to get some.”
I nod before grabbing another piece of bacon, but Jenna quickly swats it out of my hand. “That’s for breakfast, you heathen. It’ll be gone before he even gets back if you guys don’t stop.”
I notice Tanner had the same idea as me when I see him pause with a strip of bacon halfway to his lips. The pause only lasts a millisecond before he shoves the entire strip into his mouth. It doesn’t seem humanly possible, but he manages to do it nonetheless.
“You’re an idiot,” Jenna says as she rolls her eyes.
“Seems to be the mantra today.” He laughs, grabbing a paper towel to wipe the grease residue off of his hands.
Marcus appears in the doorway with a gallon of two-percent milk and Jenna all but tackles him when he walks across the threshold. She wraps her fingers around the handle of the jug, but he doesn’t let go of the bottle.
“Nope. Pay the piper, my dear.” He puckers his lips dramatically, earning an eye roll from Jenna, though it’s crystal clear she isn’t the least bit annoyed as she lifts onto her toes and places a gentle kiss on Marcus’s lips before grabbing the bottle from his hands and beelining for the stove. She swiftly starts mixing the ingredients needed for scrambled eggs as we begin chatting around the kitchen island.
“How are you?” Regina asks me timidly, pushing her long auburn hair over her shoulder.
I’ve only met her a handful of times, so the awkwardness she probably feels is evident in her question. Either way, I appreciate her inquiry. It’s no secret that I had a rough summer and an even harder spring. I spent a long time pulling myself out of my hole, but I’m proud I got out.
“I’m good!” A forced kind of pep seeps into my words, so I repeat myself, correcting the borderline psychotic enthusiasm. “I’m good. Tired, but good. I have to go to the campus bookstore today, which isn’t fun because I know it’s going to be a madhouse. But I’m good.”
“Good.”
Jenna says, “Wait, you’re going to the bookstore today? Can I tag along? I need to pick up the textbooks I ordered.”
I’m not sure why she even asks—we’ve gone to get our books together since we started rooming together.
“I actually do care; I don’t want you in my car.”
“Well, bite me, because I’m going anyway.” She laughs, shutting off the stove as she pulls the pan away from the heat. “Food’s ready!” she yells, though there is only one person who isn’t in here already.
I try to tamp down my irritation at the reminder that I’ll have to coexist with Elijah for the next eight months as he appears in the doorway and walks over to the stove.
“Looks great, Jenna,” he says softly before walking over to me. “Can we talk?”
I freeze. I don’t want to talk to him, but also…I do? It’s the weirdest feeling and I don’t know what to do with it. How the hell are you supposed to navigate the mixed emotions of hating someone with every fiber of your being but at the same time holding so much love for them that they’re constantly at odds?
Being a human is ass.
“Yeah, sure.” I swallow hard, stepping toward the doorway, but suddenly Jenna appears at my side.
“No can do, E,” she says brusquely. “Kat promised she’d take me to the bookstore, like, right now, so you’ll have to talk later.”
He pins her with a glare but doesn’t say anything.
It’s abundantly clear she just pulled the bookstore excuse out of her ass, as there is a plate piled high with freshly cooked, untouched eggs.
I love her for that, really.
“Oh yeah. Um.” I swallow before glancing upward to meet his eye. “We can talk later, okay?”
Elijah simply nods, and I can’t tell if he is irritated or relieved. My guess is he’s probably a little bit of both.