Page 127 of Kyle

“Thank you for always being such a great friend, even when I wasn’t a good one.”

“Say what? Girl, you’re crazy. You’ve always been a good friend. Always. When my mom died, who was the first one to rush to my side and hold me together when I was falling apart? You. And when Tommy Bradshaw broke my heart into a million pieces, who offered to go key his car and kick him in the balls? You. I can go on and on. Story after story. You always being the first person to lend an ear, a hand, your support. So shut up with the ‘I’m not a good friend’ shit.”

“Tommy was a dick,” I reminded her, then turned to Kyle. “He was married. Married with kids and lied to Evie for six months. She had no clue. He worked hard to make her fall in love with him. He even had an apartment. Can you believe that shit?”

“No, sweetheart, I can’t.” Kyle’s lips tipped up. “I’m thinking it’s a shame you didn’t get to kick him in the balls. A man who would set out to cheat on his woman, then go about getting his hooks in a good woman while he was tied to another isn’t just a dick—he’s no kind of man. I’m thinking a kick to the balls would’ve been sweet to start but he deserved a hell of a lot more than that.”

“Right? That’s why I wanted to key his car, too. But Evie wouldn’t let me.”

“That’s a shame.” He chuckled.

“See?” I turned to Evie. “He gets it. You should’ve let me do it. The pompous asshole loved that stupid Mercedes. He would’ve pitched a fit if I’d scratched it to hell.”

“And she thinks she was never a good friend.” That came from Evie but she wasn’t talking to me, she was talking to Kyle.

“She knows better now,” he told her.

“Thank you,” Evie whispered.

“No need to thank me.”

The two of them were talking like I wasn’t in the room, but instead of being annoyed, I was grateful.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be thanking you, because now I’m gonna have to get on a plane to go see my best friend and I hate flying.”

“I wish I could say I was sorry, but that’d be a lie.”

Evie laughed and turned her blinding smile to me. “I think I like him.”

“That’s good, because I love him and it would suck if my best friend didn’t like my boyfriend.”

“Not your boyfriend, Anaya.”

“What?”

“I’m not your boyfriend, first because I’m not a boy, I’m a man.” I shivered at his declaration thinking he was correct, he was a man—all man—nothing boy about him. “That would mean I’m your man, but more than that, I’m the man that’s gonna make you my wife.”

The shiver turned into a full body earthquake and I tried my best to stop the quaking. But I must’ve failed because Evie’s peal of laughter filled the room.

“I love it,” she said through her hilarity. “So worth the stupid plane ride. I’ll take a thousand of them if it means my girl gets this kind of happiness.”

Kyle and I stayed a while longer, the three of us laughed a lot, Kyle and Evie got to know each other, and when we got up to say our goodbyes, Evie promised to fly out to Maryland soon and I knew she meant it, she’d brave flying to come and see me. Evette London was the best and I couldn’t wait for her to meet Tatiana, Emerson, and the rest of the women. She was going to love them, and they’d love her.

When we walked down to the car I felt lighter, freer, better than I had in forever—save when Kyle told me he loved me, or when he was holding me, or when he made love to me, or when he was being sweet, or bossy, or protecting me, or healing me. Those were the best of times and nothing could compare to how he made me feel. But knowing I’d given Evie what she needed—which was all of me—was definitely a close second.

The second the hotel room door closed behind us, Kyle pressed against my back. His hand swept my hair from my shoulder and he gathered it in one hand, the other went around and pressed to my belly. Then it was moving down.

“Before I get you naked, I got something I wanna say,” Kyle said conversationally. “Your friend is right.”

“About what?” I asked even though he’d unsnapped the button of my shorts and his hand disappeared into my panties, which meant I was close to not being able to comprehend his answer.

“About everything.” His finger dipped inside of me and he continued. “Made from steel.”

“Kyle,” I panted as he continued to tease me, coating his finger with my excitement.

My head hit his shoulder, his lips went to my jaw first for a kiss, then to whisper against my skin.

“So fucking proud of my girl. So strong.” He added a second finger and his thrusts become harder. “So beautiful.”