Page 21

CHAPTER 21

KAI

I n the days that follow, I don’t think about her.

Not really.

Not in a way that matters.

It’s just—she crosses my mind. In the quiet moments. In the lulls between training, between conversations. In the spaces where my brain has nothing better to do than wander.

I shake it off. Because it was just a night.

Her name. What was it again?

I think I remember it. Something with a D.

Dylan? Yeah. That’s it, I think. Dylan. That’s what she said, right? Or maybe it was Darian? Or Deanne?

That’s what I get for using nicknames instead of asking again. Usually, it’s a trick. A way to cover my ass when I forget.

But Trouble? That one suited her. I chuckle under my breath, thinking about it. The way she gave it right back to me. The way she never gave an inch.

Her touch.

Not just the way she felt beneath me, around me. But the way she grabbed my face when she kissed me. The way she laughed at my cockiness instead of melting under it. The way she didn’t fall at my feet.

She challenged me. Met me beat for beat, push for push.

She didn’t want anything from me. No games. No expectations.

And now? She’s gone.

I glance at my phone out of habit. But there’s nothing. No number. No message. No way to track her down.

I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head. “Well, shit.”

I guess that’s that.

It was just a perfect, fleeting night. The kind of night you hold onto for a little while, just because it was good. The kind of night that doesn’t mean anything. The kind of night that doesn’t follow you.

And yet…

She lingers.

In the scent of whiskey and perfume still faint on my sheets. In the way my fingers twitch when I think about how she fit against me. In the phantom press of her nails down my back, in the echo of her breathy moans still stuck in my goddamn head.

I tell myself I’m only thinking about her because I can’t have her. Because she slipped away before I could get bored, before I could peel back the layers and find the flaws.

That’s all this is.

Stop it, Kai. You barely know her. For all I know she’s completely crazy. You’re only obsessing over her because she’s still a mystery.

My phone buzzes.

A message from home.

A reminder of the real world waiting for me. The weight of everything I left behind pressing back in, as heavy as ever.

I exhale, running a hand through my hair. I’ve got bigger things to deal with.

My family.

The weight of everything back home. The pressure. The expectations. The things I can’t outrun forever.

This?

This was just a break. A distraction. Something to burn through the chaos in my head for one night. That’s all it ever was.

And so, I do what I do best.

I let it go.

At least, I try to.