Free Awaken Me (The Jaded Series Book 4) by Alex Grayson Page A

Seeing even his back in the light of day mesmerizes me.
    On his lower right side there is a rainbow that only has the colors black, blue, and green. The blue and green are bright against the black. Across both shoulder blades is a bird of some kind. Its wings expanded. It’s mostly black, but there are bright yellows, greens, and reds throughout the entire bird.
    I guess he senses me standing there, because as soon as I move to walk in the kitchen, he whirls around and barks, “Stop.”
    I freeze in my tracks.
    “I dropped a coffee mug and there’s glass on the floor,” he says and walks over to a door, opens it, and pulls out a broom. Looking down, I see blue glass all over the floor. I totally missed it while I was ogling his body.
    “I can help.” I take a step into the kitchen, but don’t get far.
    “Fucking stay there, Chris,” he says, and pins me with his intense blue eyes. “No sense you cutting your feet to help when I can do it myself.”
    I stay where I’m standing as he sweeps the broken glass into a pile, being careful to get it all. The muscles in his arms flex slightly with every swipe of the broom. Once he’s done, he grabs a dustpan from the same closet and deposits the mess in the garbage can.
    He turns to me after he puts the broom and dustpan away. His eyes sweep up and down my body, and I swear I see desire in his eyes a split second before they narrow. I watch with trepidation as a tic appears on his scruffy jaw. His hands bunch into fists at his sides. It’s not until his eyes linger on my legs that I realize I’m standing there with no pants on.
    Crap!
    “Where the hell are your pants?” he asks, his lip curling up in disgust.
    I wince and shuffle my feet backward through the doorway, keeping my eyes locked on his.
    “Sorry,” I mumble. “I jumped up when I heard a crash. I forgot to put them back on.”
    I stand there like an idiot as he continues to watch me.
    After a couple of seconds, he lifts his brow. “What are you standing there for?”
    I turn on my heel and rush back to the living room.
    “Jerk,” I mutter to myself.
    “What?” he hollers.
    I ignore him, grab my pants, and fight to pull them up my legs. I also maneuver my bra back on. My boobs aren’t big, but still big enough for a man to tell if I’m not wearing a bra. And I know my nipples are hard.
    Shit. I wonder if Nick noticed.
    I make a pit stop in the bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face, and pee. I try to tame my hair, but there’s no help for it. After looking in the cabinet, I find a comb and spend several minutes trying to brush out the tangles. Giving up, I take the hair tie I always have on my wrist and pull it back into a loose bun. When I make it back to the kitchen, Nick is standing in front of the stove cooking something.
    “What are you making?” I ask and walk over to the coffeemaker to pour myself a cup.
    “Pancakes. You’re leaving today, right?” he deadpans.
    I feel a little pain in my chest. It shouldn’t surprise me; I knew he would ask sooner rather than later.
    Instead of answering his question, I ask one of my own.
    “How are you feeling this morning?”
    I don’t look at him when I ask, but I feel his gaze on me. He waits a few moments before answering.
    “Fine. A bit of a headache,” he replies.
    I peek at him from under my lashes and see he’s back to flipping pancakes. He has one hand on the counter beside the stove, leaning on it. His head is bent, and I can tell he’s thinking about something. I wonder if it’s Anna.
    “Do you need help?” I ask.
    “No,” he says simply, without looking at me.
    I grab my coffee and go sit at the bar. Although I’m glad he’s at least being somewhat cordial, it still saddens me that he disregards me without a second thought.
    We both stay silent, me with my thoughts on Nick and the devastation that surrounds him, and him with… well, there’s no telling.
    I watch as he stacks pancake after pancake on a plate. He pushes the