Chapter 24
KAI
Anticipation buzzes under my skin.
I look for Diana at the Wing and Flame, trying to find a trace of that red dress she was teasing me with before she left the arena.
My fists clench at my sides.
It took everything in me not to storm over to the stands, tear off that dress, and rail her until her moans echoed through the entire arena.
The thought makes me hard, and my fists clench tighter.
“Putain.”
My patience cracks as I push through all the drunk people clogging up the farmhouse deck.
Located smack dab in the middle of nowhere, the Heart Meadow Farm is a rustically posh place known for hosting weddings and other special events.
That’s why, on the night of October 1st, the wholesome farm is transformed into the notorious Wing and Flame.
“Chug it! Chug it!”
People whoop and holler as our goalie, Jordan, downs a whole bottle of beer around one of the blazing fire pits.
The stench of booze mingles with the smoking hot wings being grilled nearby.
You can smell the grease as it trails down the stairs, connecting the deck to the barns.
Rows of fairy lights glint over our heads like a canopy.
They curtain the main barn house up ahead that’s filled with people dancing.
“There he is!”
Familiar arms ring around my neck. I roll my eyes and shrug Luke off. I can already tell he’s drunk the second I turn around. His glass-blue eyes glimmer brightly, and he has that lazy smile drawing across his lips.
I laugh and wipe at the lipstick mark smearing the edge of his mouth. “You having fun yet?”
“Emilie’s dad is out of town this weekend,” Luke drawls. “The fun is about to begin at her place.”
He sobers up a little to tug me close. “By the way, I heard there’s a secluded tree house suite down by the stables.” Luke sneaks a condom out of his pocket and eases it into my hand with a wink. “Just in case you and Diana decide to go there.”
“Wouldn’t tons of people be using it?”
Luke snorts. “You think anyone here is sober enough to walk through the dark to get there? It’s meant for brides and grooms to sleep there for the wedding night. It’s a perfect getaway for you guys.”
“Dude, I can’t even find her—”
Familiar laughter suddenly catches my attention.
I look over my shoulder. Across the fire pit, I see Diana dancing with Wallace and his girlfriend Shelby in the barn.
Her coat is gone. Her silky black hair sways freely under the strobe lights. They rove over the sweat on her skin, making her little red dress cling to the subtle curves of her body. My jealousy flares up when I catch a few guys staring at her.
Diana isn’t yours. Even if she agrees to be friends with benefits, that’s all you can be.
Diana spins around. Her gaze collides with mine across the crowd of drunk, oblivious people. Her eyes glimmer. Then, she gives me that slow, wicked little smile only I get to see.
I don’t know why it’s taken me this long to notice her. Diana burns like a star, and she draws me in like gravity. I just want to lose myself in her every chance I get.
I tuck the condom in my back pocket and start walking towards her.
“Atta boy!” Luke whoops.
I tug my tie off the closer I get to the barn.
Like all the other guys on the team, we wore scraps of our game-day suits to the Wing and Flame.
My white dress shirt staves off the autumn chill, but the heat from so many people dancing together has me rolling the sleeves up and shoving my tie into my pocket.
My hands wind around Diana’s hips when I reach her. Her flowery, vanilla perfume drowns out the stench of booze and firewood in the air.
She glances up at me, teasingly batting those long lashes.
“You look familiar.”
I chuckle and lean down to whisper in her ear. “I was the guy who scored the winning goal if you recall.”
“Hmm. . .” she muses, “are you sure about that? Because I thought that guy was far more good-looking.”
“You’re really going to tempt me in front of all these people, princess?”
“And?” Her fingers brush over mine, making shivers surge through my skin. “What are you going to do about it?”
My grip tightens around her hips until she pushes against my hard-on. Diana gasps, her eyes fluttering.
I smile slowly against her ear. “Come with me, and I’ll show you.”
Diana gulps. “Where can we go?”
“Go out those doors in front of you, and I’ll meet you outside.”
Diana smooths a shaking hand over her hair. I let her go, watching her weave through the crowd with her head ducked down. I wait a few seconds before I follow her outside.
No lights shine out on the other side of the barn. Only moonlit green fields and a sky full of stars surround us.
“Di.”
She turns around just as my hands curl around her waist, and our lips crush together, hard and needy. I pin her against the barn wall. Diana gasps. Her taste is so fucking tempting and intoxicating; it takes so much self-restraint to stop and drag my lips up to ear.
“Come on,” I whisper. “I know a place we can go.”
Intrigue flashes on Diana’s face as I take her hand. With one quick look over my shoulder, we sneak off into the dark.
DIANA
“Sssh! We gotta be quiet, Di!”
“Me?” I narrowly avoid a pile of mud as we run through the green fields. “Your giant feet are probably waking up all the farm animals as we speak!”
Kai laughs. When he looks back at me, everything in me quiets down and flares alive at the same time.
He’s so devastatingly handsome that I can’t believe this is real.
The wind tousles those black curls I always yearned to touch.
His eyes are utterly vivid and green under the stars, and I hardly notice my red lipstick stain on his collar.
“This is it.”
A lavish tree house rises into view, bathed in the golden light of the lanterns hanging from the oak branches.
Kai pulls me to the top of the spiral staircase. I can see our wild, unkempt reflection in the French doors leading into the tree house.
“Wait, wait.”
Kai braces a hand against my cheek. His eyes soften on me as we catch our breaths.
“A-Are you sure about all of this?” He swallows hard. “I remember you told me you had feelings for me the last three years and—”
“My feelings have changed.” The lie slips out easier than I expected it to. But I need him to believe me if there’s any chance I’ll get the release I need. “With everything on the line, all I want is stress relief.”
A relieved breath unhitches from his lips. Kai cracks a smile and nods. “So, we agree?”
“This is just sex.”
“Just sex,” Kai affirms.
My nerves twist with dread when I remember why I’m considering this arrangement in the first place.
“But we have to keep this a secret. My father would cut you down in whatever way he could to keep you away from me. I’ve gotten in so much trouble for something I didn’t even do, and imagining what would happen if he found out about this—”
“Hey,” Kai assures, “I get it. I don’t want anyone finding out about this either. It’d blow up into something bigger than the both of us can handle.”
Despite how understanding he is, my pulse hammers wildly under my chest.
“And lastly, um—” I scratch my furrowed brows. “You should know that I’m on birth control…but I’ve never gone all the way before.”
Surprise overtakes Kai’s face. “So, what we did at the apartment…”
“Was the first time I’ve ever done anything like that,” I confess.
I expect him to back out or revel a little too much in the fact that I’m a virgin, but Kai only looks at me with care and concern.
“Are you sure you want me to be your first?”
He’s so gentle and warm at heart; I don’t want to do it with anyone else.
“Yes, Kai. I want you to be my first.”
Awe flickers in his eyes. He licks his lips and smiles a little shyly.
“Alright, then.” Kai tucks my hair behind my ear. “Tell me if it gets too much, okay?”
I smile. “Okay.”
Our lips brush together. Kai rakes his fingers through my hair and kisses me so deep and slow that my worries fade into mere whispers. My hand curls into his dress shirt while the other falls on the doorknob.
I push open the door and draw us into the dark.