Page 70 of 1 Last Shot

"Have you ever thought about going to college?" I ask instead.

He winces, but doesn't shy away from talking about himself the way he would have a few weeks ago. "College wasn't really on my radar," he admits. "I didn't even get my GED until I was twenty-one."

I debate pushing him a little further with a dreams and aspirations type conversation, but I can tell by the tension in his shoulders and the stiff set of his jaw that admitting even that much was hard for him. So, I take pity on him and lighten the conversation.

"So, no psychology, and no true crime. What do you like to watch then? Sitcoms? Docudrama? Oh my God, are you a reality TV kind of guy?"

The corner of his lip twitches in amusement. "I think that cheese whiz went right to your head, princess. What kind of reality TV could you ever picture me watching?"

I shrug, biting my lip to tamp down on my smile. "You seem like you might enjoy a good cooking show."

He chuckles, and I think I'll never get tired of that sound. "I do actually enjoy a good Hell's Kitchen episode. But no, that's not my go-to."

When I only wait expectantly, he finally says, "I like sitcoms. Animated sitcoms, preferably. But anything funny, especially if it's smart humor. It's my favorite kind of… distraction."

Humor. I should've guessed that's what Kane would gravitate toward. And as much as it makes my heart hurt all over again that a twenty-six-year-old man has to watch TV for a little bit of laughter in his life, it just makes me even more determined to make him smile outside of that.

"So, then you like Family Guy over the Simpsons, right?"

Kane freezes in his bite and turns a glare on me. "Blasphemy. Take it back."

I let out a loud and happy laugh. Which makes a half-smile appear on his face.

"So, what have you been watching lately?" I ask, leaning forward to swipe a little bit of cheese that’s dripping out of Kane's sandwich. His gaze follows the path of my finger, and when I pop it in my mouth, his eyes blacken.

"I've been doing a Rick and Morty rewatch lately," he says slowly. His attention moves up to my eyes. "Ever seen it?"

I shake my head.

"You should watch it sometime," he says.

I open my mouth to say something that hopefully isn'tI would absolutely love a Netflix and chill date with you,but thankfully, I'm stopped from embarrassing myself when my phone chimes with a text message.

"Everything good?" Kane asks when I check my phone before quickly putting it away.

"It's just my mom," I answer with a sigh. "She's been checking in with me a lot since I moved down here. I guess she's having a hard time letting go. I'll call her when I get home."

Kane's voice is stilted when he says, "It's nice of her to be worried." He starts to wrap up the last of the cheesesteaks and collect all the trash from our table.

He seems to be mulling something over in his head as he does it. I think he's going to say something else, maybe reveal more of himself, but suddenly, he's standing up and throwing our trash away.

"Let me get you home, princess."

I want to tell him I don't want to go, that I want to spend more time with him and get to know him better, but I also don't want to push him further than he wants to be pushed. So, I stand and press a chaste kiss to Kane’s cheek before saying, "Thank you for dinner."

His expression softens at that. “So polite,” he murmurs.

And when he takes my mouth in a kiss, there’s none of the chasteness that mine had.

22

KANE

I'm standing at the front door of the club, clicking the pen in my hand, when Marcus finds me.

"Hey, man, Crystal’s finishing up with her guy now, so we should be ready to flip for who closes with Bobby in a few minutes."

I give him a gruff nod and go back to glaring out of my head.

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