"Oh God, I love Roman with every bone in my body," Alex laughed as the four young adults pooled into the living room after dinner.
"That was so painful," Kaden mumbled and put his palm to his forehead. He finally allowed himself to look at Jason, only to find the other boy looking at him as well, as if in deep thought. The blond was puzzled by this but decided to look away and engage with the others once more.
"Poor Kaden. I felt so much secondhand embarrassment there," Avery chimed in with a pout.
"He did it on purpose," he plopped onto the sofa and hugged the plump, velvet cushion whose place he had taken. "He never talks about that stuff and especially not in front of other people."
"I lost it when he said that if you were with a guy that you should always top so that you can protect your reputation," Alex said between giggles.
"That was a bit machismo of him to say when you think about it," the freckled girl pointed out to her girlfriend.
"Nah, I think he was joking after a while. Roman isn't like that," the brunette said as she sobered up.
Kaden regarded her with a look that said 'are you kidding me?'. It was obvious, at least to him, that his father said all of that to punish him and put him in his place after the glares he had sent his way.
He knew that Roman had a more affectionate and accepting side toward his step-daughter and wife, but he thought (or hoped) that Alex had been observant enough to see past that. But apparently, she saved her attention to detail for Avery and Jason.
His father wasn't an awful man nor a bad father and so Kaden didn't have much to complain about. He sheltered him, made sure he had a good life and was always taken care of. He cared about Kaden in his own special way. Some of his only faults were that he could be a bit standoffish, passive-aggressive and withdrawn at times.
"Yeah," Kaden half-heartedly agreed for show.
"So..." Alex started off mischievously. She was now lying on the couch, her legs dangling off the armrest and her head on Avery's lap while the shorter girl's hands played mindlessly in her long, dark hair.
"Are you gonna tell us now who the mystery hookup is?"
YOU ARE READING
The Kaden Complex
Teen Fiction[ON HIATUS] Kaden Aldridge and Jason Long have been friends for years. But, when they're thrust into quarantine together, they find out they don't really know each other at all.
