Caged (Defiant Kings, #1)

by Bella Matthews

“Do you think you’ll be okay to go to the bar this weekend?” “You worried about me, Maddie?” His words are a step above a whisper, which does crazy things to my body. I stare into the depths of his cobalt eyes, lost for a second. Of course, I’m worried about him. He’s my friend. Even if this feels like more. Carys stands with her empty wine glass and clears her throat. “More like she’s worried Cade will kick her ass if you screw up your leg any worse, Hud.” She holds her glass up to me. “You sure you don’t want any?” I shake my head and wait for her to go into the kitchen, so it’s just Hudson and me still in the room. “How are you feeling? You guys were in the gym for a while. You’re supposed to be taking it easy.” “It’s sore, but I’ve had worse. I took it easy, and we just worked arms. The damn stairs were worse than the workout.” He reaches toward me, like he’s going to touch my face, but I pull away. Hudson drops his hand, and the look in his eyes turns glacial. “Don’t worry about me, Maddie. But we’re going to talk about that one of these days.” I blink, shocked by the tone in his voice just as Cooper announces, “Dinner’s here.” “There’s nothing to talk about, Hudson,” I murmur as I get up, ready to hurry from the room before he can push harder. And thank goodness, he doesn’t push. Just waits for me to walk in front of him, then follows me into the kitchen. “Hey, Carys . . .” She spins around to face me. “Want to pour me a glass of wine too?” “Oh damn.” Carys looks bet...