Page 12 of Melt His Heart

“You going out after this, Carson?” Sam smirks against the rim of his beer bottle, “Yeah, I’ll join you if you are.” Dillan says, laughing.

“Nah, you guys know I’ve been good lately.” Carson chuckles.

“Right.” Sam drawls, “Or has someone settled you down?” He laughs.

I can feel Carson’s body tense next to me. He did look like he went out a lot; from what I’ve seen on his page, nightlife knows him well. Maybe it stopped recently because he’s getting serious with his girlfriend?

My jaw clenches.

“Shut the fuck up, Sam.” He says, glaring at him.

“Relax, I know, I know.” Sam laughs. I don’t have any right to feel any way about what they’re implying, so I try to ignore it completely. Carson and I make eye contact, and I give him a tight smile.

“You ok?” He asks, voice low when the guys get distracted talking about other hockey teams, “Of course.” I smile, a real one this time.

The party moves along, Carson had to step away to help with Dillan. I guess he had too much to drink, so they’re laying him down upstairs. I’ve slowly backed my way into a corner of the kitchen. There’s less people here. I just need to catch a quick breather.

“Hey.” I jump at the voice.

“Oh, hi,” I mumble. It’s Kane; his form seems so much bigger this close. He reaches over and grabs another beer from the counter next to me.

“Where are you from?” He asks. His voice is deep, and he has an accent as well, different from mine.

“Uh, South Korea. Where are you from?” I ask.

“Russia.”

“Oh? Lots of figure skating there.” I chuckle nervously.

“Yeah. There is. Do you miss home?” He asks.

“All the time. But it’s ok here.”

“Same,” Kane says, tilting his head before taking a sip of his beer.

“There you are!” Carson says, stepping into the kitchen, his eyes lingering on Kane.

“Captain.” Kane nods.

“What you guys talking about?” Carson asks.

“Not much.” Kane chuckles.

“Hm, well, I think Sam’s gonna start on his bullshit soon, so I came to find you, Julian,” Carson says, filling the space at my other side, opposite Kane.

“Oh, uh, yeah ok.” I say, “It was nice talking to you, Kane.” He gives me a small nod.

Carson grabs my wrist gently, taking me to Sam’s family room, “Kane doesn’t usually talk to people.” He says.

“Really?” I ask, pinching my brows.

“I guess he likes you,” Carson chuckles, his words flat.

“I guess?” I shrug.

Kane seems nice enough.

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