Chapter 11

Kaden looked up at her, guilt now fully written all over his face. “Mima, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way, I wasn’t trying to replace you, or disrespect you. I messed up.”

She stared at him for a long moment, then quietly said, “yeah, you did.”

Kaden shifted his weight, looking down at his shoes like they had answers written on them. “I don’t know…I guess I thought I was just being friendly. But, I guess I should’ve thought how my actions were affecting my girlfriend.”

He looked up at her again, his deep voice quieter, “I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I don’t ever want to make you question where you stand with me.”

Jemima let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding. The tightness in her chest slowly loosened, but her face stayed guarded.

He was sorry for his actions, which meant he didn’t do it intentionally and did not have any intentions of replacing her with the new girl.

Talking things out was good.

“And yet, that’s exactly what you did.”

Kaden rubbed his hands over his face. “I know and I’m sorry, I’m such an idiot sometimes.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, but a small reluctant smile tugged at the corners of her lips, “you kinda are.”

He saw the crack in her anger, the glimpse of affection she was trying to suppress, and he latched onto it, stepping a little closer. “I messed up and I’m sorry. For putting you to the side like, for not thinking, for being an idiot. My pride is to big to ever let me say that a milkshake messed things up between us, so let me make it up to you, please?”

Jemima looked up at him, her heart warring with her pride. No doubt Vanessa and Zoe would be furious if they saw her even considering forgiving him. But then again, they weren’t the ones who saw the way his face lit up when he looked at her, or the way he remembered the little things about her- like how she liked her fries a little soggy and her milkshakes extra thick.

She sighed, giving in to his pretty smile. “I won’t make it easy for you.”

“I’ll spend the rest of the semester making it up to you,” he quickly said, “I’ll cancel plans with everyone else, I’ll bring you milkshakes after every class, I’ll even sit through those boring film analysis classes with you-”

“Aht aht,” she said, finally letting the smile win, “you’ll suffer, but not that much.”

Kaden grinned, hope replacing the guilt in his eyes. “So…we’re good?”

She tilted her head slightly to the side. “We’re better than we were this morning. Let’s start there.”

Then, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, she added, “but if you ever lie to me again or make me feel like I’m not important to you, I’ll let Zoe carry through with that bodybag promise.”

“Fair,” he nodded, holding up his hands, “completely fair.”

Kaden stepped closer, his hands snaking around her waist and pulling her flush against his chest. “Am I forgiven enough to get a kiss?”

Jemima faked a thinking face, “hm, I don’t know if you deserve a kiss Mr. Solomon.”

“No?” He smirked, his face lowering until their foreheads were touching, lips just a breath away from each other. “I guess I’ll have to steal one then.”

Butterflies fluttered wildly in her stomach when his soft pillowy lips pressed against hers, a small delicate kiss.

“I can’t afford to lose you,” he mumbled against her lips and she grinned against his.

“Make smart choices and you won’t.”

“Ahem!”

The sound of someone loudly and annoyingly clearly their throat had the pair reluctantly breaking apart.

“Nate? What do you want?” Kaden sounded annoyed, his blue eyes narrowed on his teammate and friend who interrupted them.

Nathan’s eyes shifted from Kaden to Mima, “I’m handing out flyers,” he handed a flyer to each of them from the thick stack he was holding.

“A fundraiser?” Jemima raised an eyebrow, reading through the contents of the flyer.”

“Yeah, Alexa’s hosting a cake-sale fundraiser for a local dog shelter, she’s putting the whole thing together herself,” Nathan nonchalantly explained, barely noticing the change in the air the moment he said the new girl’s name.

“Oh! How sweet of her.”

Jemima’s eye twitched at Kaden’s words, she subtly side-eyed him to see a small smile playing on his lips as he read the flyer.

It was as if he threw their entire conversation out the window the moment that ugly name was mentioned.

She slowly exhaled through her nose.

They just made up, she was not going to make a big deal out of this.

“And why are you handing out flyers for her?” She asked Nathan, scrunching up the flyer into a ball and carelessly throwing it behind her.

She wasn’t a litter bug but she was too irritated to care.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at her actions, then looked over at Kaden who didn’t seem to notice as he was still deeply engrossed in the flyer.

Jemima wondered what could’ve had him so interested in that flyer that he gave it all of his attention.

There was a title, a date and time, a location, some cheesy line about buying a cake for a cute pup, and a grossly cute drawing of a dog wearing a chef’s hat. That was it, nothing to keep his attention on the damn thing for that long.

She shifted her attention back to Nathan who still hadn’t answered her question and was slightly caught off guard to find his green eyes already looking at her, a knowing smirk on his lips.

“What?”

He shrugged, then looked down at the stack in his hands, “to answer your previous question, Alexa politely asked, and I can’t say no to a pretty face.”

Jemima rolled her eyes. Of course Nathan of all people would fall under her spell, like he said, he could never resist a pretty face.

Hell, the only reasons he never made any moves to Jemima and her friends were: one- Jemima was taken by his best friend, two- even though they weren’t together, everybody knew the silent claim Andrew had over Vanessa, and finally three- he was terrified of Zoe.

Truth be told, as much as Nathan couldn’t say no to a pretty face, a pretty face could never say no to him either. He was a walking Greek God with ginger hair- so the girls on campus said.

He could get any girl he wanted-

A lightbulb lit up so bright in Jemima’s head it had Angels singing above her with white doves flying around her head like a halo.

She smirked, “she’s pretty right? That new girl?”

Nathan eyed her, “of course, pretty eyes and banging body too…if you look past the odd way she dresses.”

“I like her style, it’s different,” Kaden shrugged, neatly folding the flyer and pocketing it.

Of course you do, Kaden Solomon.

“So,” she folded her arms across her chest, “you’re helping her with the fundraiser? That’s cute.”

“Nah, I don’t involve myself in good deeds like that, just handing out these flyers because she saw me and asked,” Nathan quickly cleared his name before he could get mistaken for a caring sweet guy.

“But, wouldn’t it be good if you did help her out though?” Jemima’s glossed plump lips stretched into a ‘sweet’ smile, “she’s new and probably needs a friend?”

Kaden rocked on his feet, “I mean, I could help her out.”

“No you can’t,” she shut his idea down with a stern look his way, then turned back to Nathan with a smile.

“And maybe it’s finally time you get a girlfriend, not only is she pretty but she’s also new which means she probably has no idea you’re a whore so you get a clean start with her!”

“What?” Kaden scoffed but Jemima ignored him, keeping her calculating eyes locked on Nathan, who was intensely studying her.

A small shiver ran down her spine at being under his heated gaze. It was like he knew what she was trying to do and was letting her know that he knew with his eyes alone.

Nathan coughed, hiding his smirk, “yeah no thanks, she’s pretty-yes, but not really my type. I like my girls a little more…seasoned.” He looked her up and down.

Jemima blinked.

Was that- did he just- was he-???

“You have type?” Kaden scoffed out a laugh, “and here I was thinking you were willing to lay down with any girl.”

Nathan’s eyes shifted to his friend, turning bored, “I don’t sleep with every girl I see, Solomon.”

Kaden shrugged, then his hand snaked around Jemima’s waist, “well if that’s all the news you have for us, I’ll walk my girl to class now, later.”

“Give what I said a thought,” Jemima lowly told him as they walked past him.

Nathan only waved in response with a sarcastic smile.

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