I shrugged. “Just wondered.”
“Looks like you had a wild night, sis,” Dominic said, pointing to the living room. There was a half-eaten bowl of popcorn on the coffee table along with three empty energy drink cans.
I slid off the counter and went to pick up my mess, ignoring the gnawing feeling in my stomach. “Thanks for letting me know everything went well with the trade. Really appreciate that.”
Xavier swiped the bowl of popcorn from my hands and began inhaling it. I picked up the empty cans from the table and threw them in the recycle bin. I grabbed my hoodie and put it on, preparing to head out.
Kane grabbed my arm before I could leave. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Look, that fight was stupid. It didn’t have anything to do with Lauren.”
I rolled my eyes at her name, because honestly, if I heard it again, I was going to gouge my ears out with a rusty screwdriver. “I’m not mad because of that. I’m mad because you all went and did something really fucking dangerous, didn’t let me go along, and then went to a bar afterwards without even a text to say everything went okay. I was fucking worried.”
His dark eyes softened as he pulled me closer to him. I glanced around to see Xavier and Dominic racking a game of pool, not paying attention to us.
“You were worried about me?”
“No,” I said quickly. “I was worried abouteveryone.”
He smirked and rubbed my chin with his thumb. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you any updates. I did check on you though.”
“You…what?”
Kane pointed at the camera in the corner of the ceiling. My eyes widened and just as quickly narrowed. “You creepy motherfucker.”
He shrugged, twisting a piece of my hair around his finger. “I wanted to make sure you weren’t out causing trouble.”
“Like you were?”
“Hey, I was simply defending myself against a large group of big drunk dudes.”
I forced a smile before pulling away. “Well since you’re…you know, not dead or whatever, I’m gonna head out.”
“Stay.”
My eyes narrowed, trying to determine what his play was. Kane was a mystery. I never knew if he was going to ignore me, insult me, or try to fuck me. The last option was a new one on the table. Frankly, the look in his eyes told me the answer wasn’t option one or two.
The flutters under my shorts came back as soon as Kane’s eyes roamed my body, stopping on my bare thighs. His tongue jutted out of his mouth, like he was imagining licking his way up. I clenched my legs together as I took in his wide, hard body. He was wearing black from head to toe, his shirt stretched tightly over his muscles.
The way he was looking at me, like he wanted me more than air, like I meant something to him, like I was special…it was too much.
Finally giving in and having sex with him was more than I ever imagined–and I imagined it a lot–but there was too much baggage. We worked together, lived together at times, and then there was his “fake” girlfriend–who didn’t seem all that fake.
Bad fucking idea.
“You’re staying then?” Kane asked as his pinky grazed the outside of my thigh.
Lord give me strength.
“Uh, can’t. I have to be up early for training.” It wasn’t a total lie. If I didn’t keep up on my training program, I would look like a complete amateur at Ethereal. I liked staying up on my game. Just in case.
His face dropped, his eyes darkening. He took a swig from his beer bottle before speaking. “If that’s how you wanna be about it.”
“I’m not fucking you while you have a girlfriend.”
He grabbed my arm, jaw clenched. “I told you, she’s not my fucking girlfriend. I’m not fucking her. And I never will.”