Page 20 of Ruthless Blade

He took a few steps toward me, my back still pressed firmly against the shed, refusing to back down. His gaze darkened as his chest pressed up against mine. My breaths were heavy, and I wondered if he could hear it above the sounds of nature in the distance.

He placed one hand on the shed, and the other on my jaw. “What are you doing?”

My heart hammered against my chest, and before I could protest, his mouth was moving against mine. It tasted like stolen gum and aggressive desperation. It’s as if he wanted this as much as, if not more than, I did.

It was hard.

Messy.

And oh so perfect.

Then, in the blink of an eye, it was over.

He pulled back, looked me up and down, whispered “Happy Birthday,” then disappeared back into the house.

I heard someone ask him before he closed the door what he had been doing outside. “Nothing important” was his response before he slammed the door shut.

My lips were bruised and my mind was completely fractured wondering why something so perfect could turn into a disaster...

My eyes blinked several times, bringing me back to the present and the fact that once again his body was in very close proximity to mine. I glanced at his lips, remembering and wishing that things were different. That we didn’t hate each other so much.

I looked at Hazel; she was watching us with a weird expression. Dylan cleared his throat, “Come get a drink with me. Why don’t you meet the rest of the guys real quick. Let these two catch up?”

She rolled her eyes, “Lookie there. Making excuses for the golden boy once again, huh? Fine. I’ll go with you, but only for five minutes.” She glared at Kayden. “You hear me? Five minutes and you better not harm one hair on my girl’s head or I’ll cut your balls off.” She met my gaze, “I’ll tell Josh to come back when the bozos are gone.”

I clenched my teeth. I didn’t think she would leave me so easily, but she did. They both went to the bar on the other side of the room, leaving me at the hands of Kayden’s mercy. He moved out of the booth and went to where Hazel was sitting.

I released a heavy breath. Thank fuck.

“Why are you here, Kayden? You say you want nothing to do with me, yet you somehow keep showing up anytime I’m out? First the restaurant, now this? I’m starting to sense a pattern.”

He rolled his eyes, and damn if that man wasn’t the sexiest guy on campus. He was top tier in the looks department; too bad his personality didn’t match.

“I’ve got an idea on the whole parent side of things.”

My shoulders stiffened, and I bit my lip. That was definitely not what I thought he was going to talk about. “Do I even want to know?”

“It doesn't matter if you do or don’t. You’re going to come through on this deal because, as I’ve mentioned several times—you fucking owe me.”

I shook my head, “You’re being delusional. We were in Elementary School; are you seriously still bringing that up?,”

His gaze narrowed, “Yes.”

I took a deep breath and scanned over that memory. It was a silly bet, racing to the kitchen table. We were kids; so much has changed since then. How can he still be holding onto that? “It was so long ago.”

“And? I said you owe me. I also said it could come at any place and any time in our lives and you’d have to pay the toll. You can’t back out.”

I would love to kick him in the nuts right about now.

I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest. He really was still a child on the inside. “And why not?”

The next thing he said almost put me on my ass.

“Be my girlfriend.” Point blank, no explanation, nothing.

I was starting to think that he wasn’t okay. He kept bringing up random things, and now this? Girlfriend? What was he smoking? Kayden Daniel didn’t just ask someone to be his girlfriend. If he wanted it, he demanded it. I’d never known him to have a girlfriend anyway. He had fuck bunnies; that was it. He slept with a girl and discarded her the next day. No strings attached, no distractions.

“Be serious, please.”