THRUST(36)

“Then why are you with him?”

She gives me a confused look and shakes her head to herself. “I don’t know. I guess to keep busy. It helps sometimes to have sex with someone that you know you won’t fall for. It saves you from getting hurt. I guess Brad is safe . . . I know I won’t get too attached, and so I keep holding on. Men scare me. Real men that is.”

I stand here in a daze and let her words really sink in. Kyan is exactly the opposite. He’s the guy that I see myself falling for, except I can’t make myself stop having sex with him. My body physically aches for his touch whenever he’s near. I don’t want to stop, no matter what the consequences are.

I feel a hand on my arm so I turn beside me. Some dark haired guy, wearing a polo shirt and a pair of khakis, smiles at me.

“You’re too beautiful to be standing here alone.” He holds up his beer. “Can I get you a drink?”

I shake my head and offer him a friendly smile. “I’m not here alone.” I lean into him so he can hear me over the music. “Thank you, but no.”

When I look over his shoulder, Kyan is walking with his hand on Brad’s shoulder. I see Brad thanking him, so I’m guessing he took care of his tab to save him the trouble from bouncing around.

His eyes look away from Brad to meet mine, and his jaw steels. I can clearly see his hard body tense up.

“Are you sure?” The guy places his hand on my arm and leans into my ear. “I don’t see you with anyone. Just one drink.”

Kyan’s hand grips the guy’s shoulder, pulling him out of my face. “She’s here with someone.” Pretending that the guy doesn’t even exist, Kyan smiles at me and grabs the back of my neck. “Let me give you a ride back home.”

Mumbling something under his breath, the guy turns and walks away, clearly realizing that he has no chance against Kyan.

“Okay,” I say with a smile. “I guess you sort of owe me a ride home after kicking my ass in pool so many times. It’s the least you can do.”

Tori gives me a huge, face-ripping smile and hands her keys to Brad. “I’m going to have Brad drive me home and we’ll pick up my car tomorrow morning. I’ll see you at home.”

Kyan says bye to Tori and Brad, before pulling me through the crowd, keeping his eyes on me instead of all the girls that seem to be staring at him in passing.

Why do I want to choke all of these girls? Every damn one of them is making it so obvious that it seriously looks desperate. The good thing is that it doesn’t even seem to faze Kyan like it would most men.

We have small talk the entire way back to the apartment and I find myself cracking silly jokes all the way into the building. I’m ashamed to say this always happens when I get too tired. Mix it with alcohol and it’s worse than you can imagine. Sometimes I want to run from myself. It’s that bad.

Kyan holds the elevator, letting me step in first.

“I hope you don’t have to work in the morning.” He leans against the wall and smiles when I do. “I’d hate to see how that shoot comes out.”

I slap his arm and laugh. “No, I don’t, thank goodness, but I can guarantee I would still rock that wedding,” I say, pointing at him.

He smiles at me and places his arm on the small of my back as the elevator stops on the sixth floor. “I believe it,” he says. “You’re amazing at what you do. I could see that from the shoot we did. It comes naturally for you.”

I find myself smiling bigger than I probably should be by his comment. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

Pulling out my key, I unlock the door and turn back to him. He steps closer, bringing our bodies together. His eyes meet mine as he brings his lips down and kisses the side of my mouth.

His lips linger there for a second, causing my heart to pound with anticipation. I want his lips to crush mine, but they don’t.

He pulls away, grinding his jaw as he looks into my eyes. “Goodnight, Calla.”

I swallow as I look up at him. “Goodnight, Kyan.” I grab his tie and tug on it. “Thanks for tonight. It was a lot of fun. I needed it really bad.”

He nods once while looking me up and down. “I forgot to tell you that you look incredibly sexy tonight. It’s taking a lot for me to just walk away instead of inviting myself in.”

My heart races as my eyes lock with his.

Does he want me to invite him in? Do I ask him? Crap!

He’s the first to break the silence. “We need to catch up on some training. Meet me at the gym around noon?” He rubs his thumb over my bottom lip. “Can you manage that?”

I nod my head and open the door behind me. “See you then.” I smile. “ I think I can manage.”