“For once?”Ollie apparently couldn’t believe what he was hearing either.“How can you have hundreds of men fawning over you every night, not to mention two guys who get in a brawl over your fine ass, and you still not realize how desirable you are?”
“Technically, I punched you.You didn’t fight back.”Van couldn’t help but get another jab in.
“He’s right, you know.You didn’t fight for me.You let go.Despite what people say, I don’t see anyone knocking down my door.Including you and Van.”
“The guy knocked down the damn bed for you.”Ollie grimaced.
Van’s chest puffed up until Kyra rolled her eyes then continued, “And hasn’t mentioned it since, acting like it never happened.Hell, I’m only talking about a date here, not marriage.Although I suppose I could accept Number One’s proposal if I get desperate enough.”
“Hold up.I’m lost.”Ollie scrunched his eyes closed as if he was mentally rewinding her tirade like Van was, focusing on that Number One part.
Kyra smacked her palm into her forehead as if he, and probably every other guy she was ranting about, was impossibly dense.“Jesus, Ollie.That guy.The one who sends me stuff.He calls himself my Number One Fan.And in the card he left the other day, he asked me to marry him.”
“Oh.That’s pretty messed up.”Ollie shook his head as Van racked his mind for some memory of this dickwad who was about to find himself on the band’s blacklist.“Who proposes to someone they’ve taken selfies with a few times?He can’t be serious, can he?”
“Uh, yeah.I actually think he is.Number One is a little…immature, is maybe the kindest way to say it.”Kyra remembered thinking he made up for his lack of social skills with boundless enthusiasm.
“What else can you recall about him?”Van stood taller as he geared up to smash Number One like the bug he was becoming to Kyra.
“Not much.He’s pretty young, probably not even able to drink yet.Scrawny.Harmless, I’m sure.He probably lives in his mother’s basement and plays video games all day long.Not that there’s anything wrong with that.He’s just not…the kind of man I’d be afraid of.”She shrugged, though her gaze shifted to the space between Van and Ollie.Were they the kind of men she feared?Why?She seemed to focus on something far in the distance when she said, “I was stressed out and let my imagination get the best of me.Can we please move on now?”
“I don’t know.”Ollie surprised Van when he didn’t immediately capitulate to her demands.He cupped Kyra’s upper arm and rubbed it.“Maybe you should let Van look into it some.I can still hear how shaky your voice was when I answered the phone.”
“What the hell were the Hot Rides going to do from three states away?”Van growled.“Next time you have a problem, you callme.Got it?”
Ollie winced, as if he knew that tactic wouldn’t work on Kyra.When it came to her safety at least, they were on the same team and had the same goals.
Sure enough, her eyes flashed and she glared at him.“I’ll do whatever the hell I want.Just because I let you stick your cock in me doesn’t mean you own me.”
Ollie stepped between them before her jab could escalate to a full-on verbal assault.The other man kept his voice calm and soothing when he asked, “Is that why you didn’t tell Van about whatever happened even though I asked you to?You were feeling like he had too much power over you, weren’t you?”
“Yeah.”She took a step closer to Ollie.“Exactly.”
Huh.Okay, Van could learn a thing or two from the other guy.Try to understand where she’s coming from instead of attacking her.Check.Or at least he’d try things that way, though he wasn’t as skilled at this emotional shit as Ollie obviously was.
“Kyra, that’s—” Van stopped short of denying it.He groaned as he implemented his shiny new resolution.“Probably more accurate than I realized.I should have considered how avoiding you would come off when I was really just trying to figure out what to do next because when I’m near you I can’t think at all.I’m sorry.”
“You are?”Kyra seemed as floored as he was.
“Yes.”Van glanced at Ollie, but he didn’t care about the other man or the rest of their audience.They each had their issues.He’d had a front row seat as Kason, Wren, and Jordan worked through theirs.So it seemed only fair that they witnessed his.“I don’t mean to be an asshole.”
“It comes naturally, huh?”Ollie ribbed him.
Van shot the other guy the finger.“I’m doing my best to take care of you, even if I suck at it sometimes.If anything happened to you, it would crush me.And not only because it’s my job to keep you safe, okay?”
She leaned into Ollie’s hold and asked, “Because you want to fuck me again?”
“I’m going to go ahead and say yeah, he does,” Quinn interjected.
“Stay out of it,” Roman hissed.
Ollie groaned.Still, he didn’t abandon Kyra when she needed his support to unearth her emotions even it had to be pretty much torture to know he was helping her get together—orstaytogether—with someone else.
Van rubbed the ache in his temples.How had life suddenly gotten so damn complicated?His dick was screaming hell yes, he did want to sleep with her again, but the more mature part of him, the parts above the belt, were shouting that he should show her he cared about more than only the physical aspects of their relationship and that he could still be professional.“No matter what happened between us before, my priority is to protect you.”
Kyra deflated.“Right.It’s what you get paid for.I guess that’s part of it.I didn’t want to remind you that we’re coworkers above all else.”
Kason spoke up.“For the record, you’re adults.No one knows better than me that letting a job dictate who you can and can’t be in a relationship with isn’t the right answer.I don’t have a problem with whatever you choose to do in your personal lives.”