We had taken another cab to Shot’s, and when the driver pulled up there was no mistaking the tall, tattooed man standing outside laughing with the doorman. Kane was wearing a dark pair of blue jeans and a dark blue button-up shirt that had the sleeves rolled up mid forearm. The shirt fit him nicely, hugging his chest and arms in all the right places. His lip ring glinted in the lights and made me go warm all over. Who would have ever thought I would be so attracted to a lip piercing? Not me, that’s for sure.
Jessi opened the door to the cab and climbed out, but I had to take my time sliding across the seat and shimmying my way out of the car so that I didn’t flash my coocah at everyone. I mean I was wearing panties, but still, how trashy.
My dress had ridden up a good inch or so on my thighs by the time I’d finally emerged from the car, so I quickly tugged it back into place before looking around to make sure no one had noticed. Kane was staring at me with a look on his face I had never seen him use before. I had seen that look before but it had been never directed toward me. It was a look of hunger. He was looking at me like I was the last piece of triple chocolate cake and he had deprived himself of sweets for years. I felt a tremor run though my body just from the intensity of his stare.
I took my sweet time making my way toward him in one of those slow-motion effects you see in movies … and also because I still wasn’t used to the death traps on my feet; and eating it right now would ruin the vibe I had going for me at the moment.
Jessi and Landon were standing next to Kane by the time I’d reached him, and everyone just stood there gawking at me for a second. I was beginning to feel a little insecure at the way they were all staring until Landon let out a long whistle, looking me up and down.
“Damn girl. You look good!” he howled—earning him a soft punch to the gut from Jessi.
“What about me, jerk?” She glared up at him.
“Baby, you’re so beautiful all the time that you knock the words right out of me.”
Jessi rolled her eyes and muttered—“Kiss ass”—Making us all laugh, but when I looked at Kane, he wasn’t laughing. He was still starting at me.
“All right, kids. You ready to get in there?” Jessi said and looped her arm around Landon’s waist.
We all nodded and made our way into the building. The boys offered to get our drinks after we found a table, and other than asking what I wanted to drink, Kane didn’t say a word to me. Nothing about how I looked, or even a quick hello when I first walked up.
Maybe he doesn’t like the change in my appearance like I thought he would.
Jessi laid a hand on mine and leaned in close when she noticed my quietness. “What’s wrong chick?”
“Nothing.” I shrugged.
She gave me her ‘spill it’ look and I sighed before leaning in close to her ear so she would hear me over the music.
“It’s so stupid, really, but I don’t know—I kinda hoped that maybe Kane would like getting to see a different side of me or something.”
Jessi looked at me for a while before busting out laughing.
“What, Jess?! I know it’s stupid to want him to notice me, but do you really have to laugh at me right now about this?”
“Kelsey, honey, I’m not laughing about him not wanting you. I’m laughing because you don’t realize that he does.”
What in the world was she talking about? Kane looked at me as nothing more than a friend, and we had agreed on being exactly that just one week ago. One week. It really seemed like I had known Kane so much longer than a week.
The boys returned to the table before I could question Jessi more about her last statement. Kane slid in beside in me but never uttered a word to me. He placed my drink in front of me and began sipping from his bottle of beer. This night was shaping up to be one of the most pathetic nights of my life.
I was about halfway through my drink when Nate approached our table. He smiled at everyone before looking to me. “Wow, Kelsey. You look amazing.”
I felt a blush creep up my neck to my face. At least someone had noticed and commented on my new appearance. I just wished it had come from a different person.
“Thanks,” I said, managing a small smile at him.
“So, could I bother you for a dance?”
Everyone at the table was deathly quiet while they waited for my answer. They all stared at me, including Kane, who was staring at me so hard you would think he was trying to look through me.
I shook my head. “Maybe later? We just got here. I’m still not finished with my drink.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Nate nodded and winked before walking away.
I can’t tell if it’s the music playing, but I could have sworn I heard Kane growl at Nate before he left.
We sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Jessi drug Landon out onto the dance floor. Kane’s actions tonight were making me nervous and I began fidgeting—messing with my hair, pulling at my dress … anything to distract me from the awkward tension between us.
After a few moments, Kane cleared his throat and I looked at him through my lashes.
“You really do look amazing, Kelsey.”
“Thank you,” I clipped out. I knew I sounded bitchy, but I was a little hurt. I couldn’t figure out if he was only telling me because Nate had said it. Because if he had meant it, why in the world would he have waited so long to tell me?
He let out a loud sigh and began scrubbing his face with his hands. I watched him for a second before he turned in the seat to completely face me. “Look, I know I should have told you earlier but I was stunned when you stepped out of the cab. I’ve never seen you in anything other than jeans, and, honestly, those sexy legs of yours had me floored. I loved what I was seeing, but it also made me jealous that other guys would be seeing it—enjoying it—just as much as me. And for that I am a complete ass.”
It took me a moment to fully grasp what he was saying. He liked how I looked and the reason he was so quiet about it all this time was because he didn’t like the idea of other guys checking me out? So did this mean … No he couldn’t. Could he?
I took a good look at Kane. His eyes never wavered from mine. Could the feeling that I have been feeling for him actually be mutual?
Just as I opened my mouth to ask him that question, he surprised me by speaking first.
“Can we just start this night over? Will you dance with me?”
I couldn’t seem to make my brain function enough to form words so I just nodded. Kane slid from the booth and took my hand to help me out of it as well, and we made our way to the dance floor. A slower, more relaxed song was playing, and I was so thankful for the change of pace in the music. I wasn’t really sure I could handle any bumping and grinding at the moment. Not with the realization that Kane may actually be as attracted to me, as I was to him.
Kane held tight to my hand as he led us through all the bodies to the middle of the dance floor. We stood surrounded by people, but I was so focused on Kane that they began to blur from my vision, and then it was like they weren’t even there at all. When he took me in his arms and began to sway to the beat of the song, I cleared my mind and lost myself in the music.
I slowly ran my hands up his arms, feeling every indention from every muscle and I could feel them flexing under my touch. When I finally made it to the top of his arms, I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and stared into those gray eyes I couldn’t get enough of. The song playing was an older Lenny Kravitz song, and when Kane began to whisper the lyrics in my ear, I knew I would never be able to listen to this song again and not think of Kane and this exact moment.
He released his hold on me long enough to reach up and tuck my hair behind my ear before slowing running his fingers through it and laying it over my shoulder, exposing my neckline. Leaning in, he placed his lips on my bare shoulder—first kissing, and then giving a little nibble. He continued lightly running his nose and lips along my shoulder to my neck. I felt my eyes drifting close and my knees beginning to weaken.
I wasn’t even sure if we were still dancing. I was too caught up in Kane and what his soft kisses and caresses were doing to my body. He made his way to my ear and pulled my lobe into his mouth, catching my diamond stud between his teeth before releasing it to nibble on the sensitive spot just below my ear.
I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped my lips when I felt his warm tongue touch my skin. My whole body was on fire. If his lips felt this good touching my neck, I could just imagine what they would feel like pressed against my own.
I slowly pulled back enough for him to look at me, and pled with my eyes for him to understand what I wanted... needed in this moment. His eyes were hooded leading me to believe he was feeling the same desire I was feeling. From the moment I had met Kane, he had sparked something in me that was undeniable. The attraction I had felt for him was no longer just attraction. I couldn’t deny the feelings that were laced within all the want I had burning inside for him.
“Kelsey,” he whispered, “I’m sorry I just did all that,” I’m not. “I want to kiss you so fucking bad right now. I have wanted to for so long, and I don’t think I will be able to tell myself no any longer. But if you say no, then I will somehow find the strength to not crush my mouth to yours and make you forget every problem you have ever had—make you forget even your own name.
Just say the word Kelsey and I will back off. But I can’t go another moment without letting you know that right now, all I can think about is how good your skin tastes, and it’s driving me crazy. I need to know how those lips taste, how soft they are, how they would feel moving against my own. Please, Kels…”
I couldn’t catch my breath, let alone pull enough air into my lungs to speak and tell him that I wanted nothing more than his lips on mine. All I could do was hope the look I was giving him was enough to convince him not to stop.
He stared at me for a minute, and when it was obvious that I wasn’t able to speak just yet, he went ahead and leaned in ever so slightly, touching his lips to mine. I could feel the cool metal from his lip ring against my lips, and it made a fire inside me come alive.
It was the lightest kiss, but it had my body feeling like a live wire. Like an electric current was rolling off me. I felt him pulling away, and disappointment from the loss of contact of our lips filled me. But that feeling was short lived—he came back in hard and fast, crushing his lips to mine once again.
His eager tongue traced my lips, begging for entrance into my mouth, which I happily obliged. His warm tongue slid into my mouth and massaged my own. I could taste beer from his kiss, but it only made me want to devour him that much more.
My breathing was shallow and ragged when he pulled back and rested his forehead against mine. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I would ever really breathe right again.
He finally pulled his head back and lightly ran his thumb across my cheek bone. I automatically leaned into his touch and realized I didn’t know if I would ever really be able to be without his touch ever again. Kane was addicting, plain and simple. He was like a hard drug I couldn’t get enough of.
“That was better than all the times I have dreamt about it,” he finally whispered.
Deciding I would have to try to converse back before he thought I was a lunatic, I did my best to gather the strength to speak. “You’ve dreamt about kissing me before?”
“I’ve dreamt about a lot more than just kissing you, Kelsey.” He stared into my eyes as he said this, and I could feel my chest grow warm and tight just from the thought of him dreaming about me.
“I’ve dreamt about you too.” I couldn’t believe I had been so bold as to tell him that.
My dreams were far from just kissing him. In my dreams we knew each other on intimate levels. This friendship thing was nonexistent when I was sleeping.
Kane slowly closed his eyes. “Kelsey, you shouldn’t tell me stuff like that right now. Not when all I want to do is drag you out that door and up the stairs to my apartment so I can….”
Before Kane could finish his sentence, a shouting match interrupted him and another fight broke out. People were pushing and shoving and I could hear a few girls screaming. This was nothing like the fight that had taken place the first night we had met. This fight was much larger. When I scanned the room, it looked as though everyone was throwing punches left and right. More girls were screaming and crying by the minute, and I was scared that maybe a few of them were receiving some of those blows in all the chaos.
“Come on,” he said as he began dragging me away from the madness, but in all the commotion, the grip on our hands broke and we lost each other.
“Kane!” I screamed. I didn’t want to be left in the middle of all this. It brought back way too many memories. I could feel the panic ceasing up my lungs. “Kane!” I yelled again, but I couldn’t see him anywhere.
I felt am arm wrap around my waist from behind, and I thought, finally Kane has found me. It wasn’t until the face of the person holding me leaned in, and I could feel the scruff of his facial hair against my cheek did I realize this person was not Kane.
“Here now little darlin’. It’s gonna be all right, let ol’ Rick getcha outta here,” he breathed into my ear. His breath alone was enough to turn my stomach, but the thought of him holding me was making it worse. I grabbed hold of his forearm and tried to pry myself loose but there was no use. He was too strong.
“You just keep real quite now, and we will slip on out this door over here where it’s less crowded.”
I tried to remember some of the self-defense moves I learned in a class that Jessi and I had taken our sophomore year in high school; but with the panic and adrenaline coursing through my veins, it was making it harder to clear my head and think.
When he started pulling me back toward the door, some of the smoke in my head finally cleared. Thinking quickly, I brought my knee up and stomped as hard as I could on his foot. This caused him to loosen his hold on me, enough for me to break away and run.
Pushing my way through body after body, I just kept going. Terrified that he was right behind me … coming after me. I heard my name being called about the time that I was scooped up into another set of arms. Panic flooded through me again before the smell of Kane’s cologne filled my nose, and I took a deep breath. With my face buried into his chest I tried to control my breathing.
“I lost you, Kels, I’m so sorry! I tried to get back to you, but you weren’t there and I have been calling out your name trying to find you. Are you okay?”
I shook my head no into his chest—unable to form words right then. He placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back a little bit so he could get a good look at my face.
“What happened, Kels? What is it? Did someone hurt you?” His voice was calm and steady, but I could hear the pure rage laced within it.
“Some … some guy grabbed me. Said he was going to slip me out some back door.”
He immediately started to walk away from me, but I hurried to grab hold of his hand and stop him before he could get too far.
“Where are you going?” I asked him. Not wanting him to leave me alone for another second in this madhouse. People were still shouting, and I wasn’t even sure if the bouncers had put a stop to the fight yet.
“I’m going to find him, Kels. And when I do, I’m going to beat him within an inch of his life.” He went to turn again and I gave his arm another tug.
“Please don’t leave me again, Kane. You don’t even know what he looks like. Just get me out of here … please,” I begged him.
His face softened and he paused before nodding. I know what he really wanted to do was find that man and follow through with all of his threats, but the night had been a roller coaster of emotions and I really just wanted to get out of there.
Kane gently took my hand and began leading me back toward the doors. He pulled his phone from his pocket, and tapped the screen a few times before putting it to his ear.
“Hey, I have Kelsey. I’m going to take her up to my apartment for a little while. Some dude tried to grab her in all the commotion and she’s pretty shaken up,” he said to the person on the other end. “Okay. See you guys in a few.”
He slid his phone back in his pocket, and then looked at me. “Landon. He and Jessi are going to meet us at the stairs to my apartment. I just live above the bar.”
Well there was a fun fact I didn’t know. I never really thought to ask him where he lived. Even though the thought should have crossed my mind after the story Nate had told me about Kane leaving the frat and all.
We exited the front doors to the bar and made our way down the sidewalk. When he started pulling me down a dark alleyway, I paused and started to pull my hand from his. There was no light except for a small, yellow bulb at the top of a stairway attached to the side of the building that the bar was located in.
It wasn’t as though I was scared of the dark, but places like this creeped me out—and it would creep out any sane person really. We’ve all seen those movies where the dumb girl goes off into the dark hallway and the killer is lurking in the shadows somewhere before he jumps out and grabs her. It was that type of darkness. Chills ran down my spine at the thought of the man from the bar hiding somewhere in the shadows.
Kane stopped when I pulled my hand from his, and turned to look at me. “What is it?” he asked.
I nodded toward the alley. “It’s really dark.”
He took my hand in his again. “I’m so used to it that I guess I don’t realize that it could be a little freaky for others. It’s okay, Kelsey. I’m here with you now. I would never let anything happen to you. If I hadn’t been such a dumbass, what happened in the bar would have never happened. But I can promise you now that I can make damn sure it never happens again.”
He was brushing his thumb over my knuckles so vigorously that they were starting to feel a bit raw. Out of instinct I reached out with my other hand and placed it against his cheek. His expression softened and he covered his hand with mine.
“I’m fine, Kane, really. I feel safe with you. It may be crazy but I have since the moment we met.”
He smiled as he pulled my hand from his cheek and laid it against his chest where his heart was. Even through his shirt I could feel its steady beat.
“I’m so glad I met you, Kelsey. From the moment I saw you in the café that day, your face has been stuck in my head. Even when I closed my eyes to sleep … all I saw was your beautiful face. I thought it was crazy since I didn’t even know you.”
Oh I knew exactly what he was talking about. Since the moment I had laid eyes on Kane, he had consumed my every thought. I had been just chalking it up to him being so different from any other guy I had ever met before. Back home, tattoo sleeves and facial piercings were just not the norm, but he sure wore them well.
This past week with Kane had really shown a side of him I would have never known existed had I not taken the time to get to know him. It was the little things he would do; like holding the door open for not only me, but for anyone else who would also be behind us. And one day we had gone to the market closest to campus so I could restock mini fridge in Jessi’s dorm room and mine, I had been talking my time browsing over every pop tart flavor known to man when Kane walked away from me.
At first I thought he was tired of standing there waiting on me to finally make my decision, but I was surprised to find he had actually just walked the short distance to the front of the aisle to help an older lady who was desperately trying to reach a box that was placed on one of the higher shelves.
Guys who took the time help others like that couldn’t be the awful womanizer type that some people were portraying Kane to be, could they?
The sound of giggles and then someone clearing their throat pulled me away from the memories from this last week. When I looked to where the sound had come from, I saw Jessi and Landon standing off to the side of the ally, staring at Kane and me. I realized then why they had those shocked, yet pleasantly surprised looks on their faces—Kane and I were still standing toe-to-toe with one of my hands in his, and my other pressed against his chest.
I nervously took a step back away from Kane. For a few more seconds he continued to hold my hand until I gently pulled it free from his grasp. I didn’t miss the way his expression turned slightly irritated before the corners of his mouth dipped down into a frown.
“We were just checking to see if Kelsey might want a ride home.” Landon wavered a bit, as if he were nervous.
I heard Kane sharply inhale before Landon went on.
“I was taking Jessi back to the dorms, and we thought we would go ahead and take Kelsey. Save you the trouble and all.”
Kane stood there in silence for a few seconds—seconds that felt more like an eternity—before answering. “I don’t mind taking her … but she can do whatever she wants.” He finally turned to look at me. There was something about his expression, as if he was testing me. But, stupidly, when I opened my mouth to speak, my insecurities got the best of me.
“Well since they are already on their way there, I guess I will just catch a ride with them. No sense in dragging you out.”
The disappointed look on his face let me know I had failed his test and the whatever he huffed before turning and heading up his stairs, was the bright red pen marking my forehead with a huge F.
I watched him stomp up his stairs, but before he entered his apartment, he gave me one last look. There was no mistaking the hint of sadness in his eyes, and right there, in that ally … I wanted to die.