Page 59 of Mine to Ruin

He’s smart, really smart. I’m a newbie, he will wipe the floor with me. Yet, I have no problem taking him up on his idea.

“In or out?” he asks, daring me.

“In. So what happens if I win?” I should start packing some things because there is no way I can win against him.

“I stay at your place from Friday to Sunday,” he says dead serious.

Laughter bursts out of me and I wipe the corners of my eyes. “When do we start?”

“On Monday.”

“I’ll be there.”

He taps the table, his face drawn in victory. “I’ll understand if you’d like to quit?”

“Never.”

He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my palm. “Get packing.”

“I will,” I say and we both chuckle.

After the restaurant, we walk hand in hand down the strip. People buzz around, cars honk, and lights shoot up in the sky. The city roars and pulses with life, sounds, and colors. The cloak of anonymity firmly splayed over Las Vegas as if there’s a secret understanding between people not to stare, not to gawk. The city where everyone can do whatever they want without being judged.

Even with my hand tucked in his, his thumb caressing my palm, it feels surreal being with Kian. There are moments I think I am dreaming.

I lean my head on his arm and confess, “You make me so happy, it scares me a bit.”

He kisses the top of my head and says, “You and me both, Ellia.”

Ease stretches in the comfortable silence around us, but then I open my mouth, poking the bubble with a sharp needle.

“So you and Brandon?”

“Don’t start, please.” His upper body tenses behind his jacket.

“But why? I just want to understand.” I curl my hands around his arm, and he sighs.

“If you hadn’t noticed, I am fucked up in more ways than one.”

I halt and place my hands on his face. “No, you’re not. Do you hear me?” I drop my hands and interlink our fingers, squeezing his in comfort. “We can be our greatest enemies,” I continue. “I guess our mind has its own personality that likes to screw with us. And still, if we conquer our mind, then we win.”

“You are an eighty-year-old woman trapped in the body of a wet dream.” He shakes his head in amusement. “You’re dangerous.”

“Luckily, you’re not shy in the face of danger,” I quip.

He bursts into laughter and his eyes sparkle with amazement. It does funny things to my heart, like it’s running a marathon in my chest.

On the drive to my place, he caresses my knee with his thumb, and I wonder if the carousel of sensations he awakens in me will ever slow down. When the car halts, I crawl over to him and straddle him while my fingers play with the hair on the back of his neck.

I kiss him and he snakes a hand around me when I try to leave. “Stay.”

“I have to feed Luna and pick an outfit for the opening tomorrow.”

He lets go of me to run a hand down his face. He looks tired, and he shuts his eyes.

Seeing the tension evident in his stiff muscles, I caress his jaw, wanting to ease him. “What’s wrong, hmm?”

He opens his eyes and sighs. “Nothing, just a little stressed right now.”

---