AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m saying,Kay, notKai. That’s the first time you’ve called me Kay.”
“Is it? It sounds right.”
“I… I think I like it, too.”
“Good.”
I bring the Harley to life. Enough talking. Enough flirting. From now on, I have to be good. We put on our helmets, and we ride.
CHAPTERFIVE
Kayla
Our arrival in Vegas isn’t the spectacular light show that it’s been the other times I’ve visited. Mainly because it’s only four thirty p.m., the sun is still blazing, and the Strip’s not shining into the desert as it does at night.
My body is sore from the riding, so I’m relieved when Kai stops at a diner just outside the city. He pulls into the parking lot, and we both step off the bike. Despite the soreness, part of me wants to stay on the bike with him. It’s the perfect excuse to press myself against his body, to feel his heat, to feel something deep within us both communicating, starving for each other.
No, I can’t think about that. We had some fun at the gas station and a few laughs. That doesn’t erase what I heard. He doesn’t want me to be here. He’s just making the best of it.
“Hungry?” he asks.
“I could eat.”
He looks down at me, his black hair messily swept to the side when he removes his helmet. His jaw is tight like he’s holding back all that fire, the raging infernos I used to write poems about.
Kai, burning.
My soul, yearning,
My desire churning.
That was a juvenile attempt. I can’t remember the rest. It was a little sloppy but also true.
We go into the diner, a few truckers sitting at one end, a family at the other. The floor and surfaces gleam as the sun shines through the window walls.
“Let’s sit over here.”
Kai walks quickly to the opposite corner, a booth with its back to the kitchen, most of the diner in sight. He does it instinctively as if he’s always expecting something to go down and wants the best vantage point. I imagine him thinking,I’ll see the fight coming. If we need to run, we can go through the kitchen and out the back.
We sit opposite each other, Kai seeming even bigger in the tight confines of the booth. When he removes his jacket, I try to look anywhere except for his arms. He’s wearing a gray tank, his muscled shoulders on display, the red, roaring Titan tattoo shifting on his shoulder as he changes his position. Each muscle is massive, hard, and outlined like a rock, as if touching him could snap a fingernail.
If I notice it—big time—I can’t be surprised when the waitress does, too. She’s blond and wears a short skirt, her athletic legs on display. She’s got a full face of expertly applied makeup, blending and sculpting as I could only dream of. Her nipples are poking through her shirt. There’s nothing wrong with any of this. It’s her choice. Maybe it helps her get more tips. Perhaps she feels more confident.
However, I don’t like the way she eyes Kai. She doesn’t glance at me as she asks what we’d like to order. Her voice is bright, bubbly, and inviting. I can’t hate an innocent waitress just because she looks at Kai as if she’d devour him here and now. It’s notherfault I’ve crushed and amstillcrushing hard on him.
“I’ll take three burgers, no bun, no sauce, with a side of scrambled egg and five rashers of bacon. Kay?”
He looks up at me, eyebrow raised. I might be imagining it, but I think he’s a little uncomfortable with the waitress ogling him. She’s not even being subtle about it, staring at his arms, still not looking at me even when Kai says my name.
“Uh, is this dinner or a late lunch?”
“Late lunch. We’ll eat later, too, but get whatever you want.”
He says this like he’s reading my thoughts. He knows I’m hungry and want to eat, but I don’t want him to think I’m greedy. When I hesitate for a moment, he narrows his eyes at me.
I always wished he’d look at me with this level of attention, as though nothing else mattered or existed, as if it was only us, not this waitress, not my big brother, not the guilt. Now that he is, I feel spotlighted, and it’s worse when the waitress turns to me with a subtly mocking twist to her lips. Or maybe I’m just being paranoid.
