Chapter 9
K yla woke the next morning feeling deliciously sore, exhausted, but oh so satisfied. Dylan had taken off in the middle of the night, as per his usual M.O.
The two of them had had a fling going for years but it had never been anything more than sex, a mutual recognition of being attracted to each other and trying to wear it out with red hot sex. So far, all that had happened was their sex had become nothing but a game, a constant clash of control of who could better the other.
Kyla had had her fair share of others, but none of them quite understood her like Dylan did. He knew exactly what to say and when to say it. He also knew exactly what to do and when to do it. The problem was, he was hardly ever around to satiate Kyla’s borderline nymphomaniac tendencies.
He would stick around for a month or so and then disappear for three months or more. The longest he’d ever been gone was a year. Even then, he’d strolled back into her life and fucked her brains out like he’d never been away at all. Their dynamic was odd, but it worked for them.
As she looked over at the empty space next to her, smiling at the rumpled sheets, she realised she wouldn’t have things any other way. She had the best of both worlds—singledom and a drop-dead gorgeous fuck buddy.
Kyla’s phone sprang to life, pulling her from her daydreams of Dylan. Grabbing it from her bedside table, she turned it over to see Sam calling her.
“S’up, homie?” she said, answering the call.
“Are you up for some breakfast at the café?”
“Sure. What time?”
“I’ll meet you there in thirty?”
Kyla held the phone away from her ear to see the time on the top right of her phone screen. Nine thirty-two. “Sure, I can do that.”
“Cool. See you then.” Sam paused and then said, “Oh. My shithead brother is back so he might join us, he’s still deciding. That ok?”
Kyla’s heart skipped a beat. “Yeah, no worries at all.”
“Great. See you in a bit.”
Kyla hung up the phone and tried to ignore the gnawing feelings of guilt biting at her conscience. Throwing back the duvet and heading for the shower, Kyla stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the carnage from last night laid out all over the landing and bathroom floor.
Her phone pinged with a text message. Looking down at her hand, she turned her phone over to see a message.
Dylan: I mean it, I’m not paying for it. That’s what you get for being a brat.
Kyla couldn’t help but grin. She loved being a brat to him. The way it set off his dom side turned her legs to jelly every time.
Kyla: I don’t need a bathroom door anyway *shrug shoulders emoji* I live alone and even if I didn’t, I’ve got a hot enough body to walk around naked *grinning face emoji*
She hit the send button and grinned to herself. Dylan knew she had sex with other people, but he didn’t like it. The thought of her walking around naked and the implication of not living alone would have him seething for the rest of the day. Which, of course, would only make for a good fucking tonight.
He replied almost instantly.
Dylan: I’ll break down all the other doors in your house as well then, shall I?
Kyla: Go for it, Daddy. It’ll be like an advent calendar—you won’t know what toy you’ll find me with behind each door.
Dylan: There’s only so many doors in your house, Kyla.
Kyla: I love it when you first name me, Daddy *winky face emoji*
Dylan: Carry on and I’ll fuck you silent again x
Kyla: I’d rather you fuck me til I pass out but maybe you might need some help with that...*winky face emoji*
Kyla held her breath. Her comment was dodgy territory, like walking through a live minefield blindfolded. It could go one of two ways—very well, or very fucking bad. Years ago, when they’d first started sleeping together, Dylan had teased Kyla with the idea of a threesome with him and a friend. Kyla had jumped at the idea—two hot guys willing to pleasure her, hell yes, why not? Except when it came down to it, Dylan hadn’t been able to handle it. The instant his friend laid a finger on Kyla, he’d pulled the plug on it and told his friend to leave.
Every now and again, Kyla would have a dig at him about it, which usually ended with Dylan getting defensive or shitty, and they wouldn’t speak for a couple of days. The meaning behind that happening had always niggled at her. Did Dylan want something more? Did he have feelings for her that he couldn’t express for one reason or another?
Dylan: I can fuck you until you pass out. No help needed.
Kyla let her breath out and grinned. He’d bitten but not fully. Picking her way in between the shards of wood, she reached the shower and set her phone down on the side. There was nothing more to be said to Dylan—she’d given him his challenge and now she just needed to wait for the challenge to be completed.
***
K YLA PULLED UP AT HATTIE’S café at quarter past ten. Seeing Sam’s black golf TDI in the car park already, Kyla couldn’t help but wonder if she’d come alone or not.
Parking her Audi A3 next to Sam’s car, she switched the engine off, jumped out, and rushed inside, ready to be scolded for being late.
“Afternoon,” Sam said, grinning up at her from the table.
Kyla rolled her eyes. “I had to shower before I left the house.”
Sam wiggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively. “Oh, really? Had a visitor last night, did we?”
“I wish,” Kyla said, taking the seat opposite her friend. “Is your brother here?”
Sam nodded. “He’s in the toilet.”
Kyla’s heart did a backflip as heat rushed to her cheeks. She couldn’t say anything more about him though or it would look odd. “What are you having?”
“Usual full English I think. You?”
“Same,” she said. “So, where are you torturing me with going tonight?”
Sam’s green eyes lit up. “So you’re going to keep your promise then?”
“Yes, of course. Unfortunately.”
Sam launched into a full-on excited chat about all the different clubs in the neighbouring cities and who had what on and all the varying prices. As she chattered on, Kyla found herself thinking how blessed she was to have a friend like Sam in her life. Struggling with her own breakup at the moment, Sam was still powering on through and being Kyla’s constant. Sam was the only person who had been Kyla’s unfaltering rock, right from when they met at playschool. Suffering a night out in a trashy local club was the least Kyla could do to repay her for what she had done, and still did, for her.
“Hi,” said a familiar, deep male voice.
Kyla jumped out of her thoughts and glanced up into a pair of dark eyes she knew all too well. “Hey.”
“Dylan,” Sam said. “Can you go and order us two full English breakfasts please. And of course, whatever you want.”
Dylan looked at his little sister and nodded. “Sure. What drinks?”
“Orange juice for me, please,” Kyla said.
Sam nodded. “Same for me.”
Dylan gave Kyla a brief look with a hint of a smile before heading over to the counter to order.
“Don’t do that,” Sam said, dropping her voice to a whisper.
Kyla frowned. “Do what?”
“Look at my brother like you’re undressing him with your eyes.”
Kyla sucked in a sharp breath, almost choking on it. “What?”
Sam rolled her eyes and laughed, leaning back in her chair. “Please. I know that look on you, Kyla.”
Kyla couldn’t deny it. The guy was freakishly hot. If she denied it, Sam would know something was up. Kyla grinned at her. “The guy is smoking hot, Sam. I know he’s your brother but Jesus, even you’ve got to admit if you weren’t related, you totally would.”
Sam quirked an eyebrow up. “I’m not even having this hypothetical conversation with you. It’s got so many icks attached to it, it’s unreal. He’s my brother and I think he’s gross. End of.”
Kyla smirked at her and decided to test the water. She had never lied to Sam about anything. Except Dylan. And it killed her. Every time they were around each other, with Dylan present especially, Kyla couldn’t help but feel like the world’s worst friend.
“But he’s not my brother,” Kyla said, licking her lips and wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.
Sam opened her mouth, then closed it. After a few seconds, she said, “I’d do anything to see you happy, you know that, even if that meant you shacking up with my brother. But you can’t give him what he wants, Kyla, and that’s where my issue is...would be, if it were ever a thing.”
A tsunami of sadness hit Kyla square in my chest, completely consuming her heart and filling her stomach with nausea. With water hazing over her vision, she faked a smile and shrugged her shoulders. “Good job it’s not even a thing then, isn’t it?”
Sam faltered for a second before nodding. “I’m sorry,” she said, leaning over the table and reaching for her friend’s hand but Kyla moved her hand away. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Me and my big mouth.” She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “I’m a terrible friend.”
Kyla’s mind was racing, wondering if she knew about her and Dylan and was fishing for information or warning her away from him in a subtle way. If she knew Kyla had been lying to her...Kyla stopped that thought as her stomach churned.
It will all come out in the wash sooner or later, the little voice in the back of her mind told her. Dirty laundry has to be washed at some point.
Kyla didn’t know what would happen if Sam found out about her and her brother. Being an only child, Kyla had never shared a sibling bond or been privy to its deep roots, but her relationship with Sam was founded on something so old and loyal, she looked at Sam as if she were her own sister.
They had never had to worry about going after each other’s men as Sam had a tendency for liking the older gentlemen, whilst Kyla preferred them her own age or younger. Sam always claimed if Kyla found an older guy, she’d never look back, but Kyla wholeheartedly disagreed.
“There’s nothing like experience,” Sam would say, with a cheeky wink. “And they know how to be gentlemen. None of this baggy jeans crap with the crotch hanging around their knees and taking you to McDonald’s for a first date.”
However Sam liked to see it, it was as simple as she loved a sugar daddy and liked being taken care of. Kyla could take care of herself and only wanted a man for one thing.
“I think I’ll drive tonight,” Kyla said, smiling at Sam.
Sam pouted. “Why? What fun are we supposed to have if you’re not drinking? Is this because of what I said? I didn’t mean it. You know I didn’t.”
Kyla shook her head and waved her hand dismissively through the air. “Water off a ducks back. It’s just close to pay day and we’ll save a fortune in taxis if I drive.” Kyla shrugged her shoulders. “It’s as simple as that.”
Sam’s green eyes clouded over with worry. “Are you struggling? Do you need some money? I have plenty left from Melvin still.”
Kyla chuckled and shook her head. “I’m good, Sam. I’m being an adult and budgeting accordingly.”
Sam shrugged her shoulders. “Come over to the darkside, Ky, you don’t know the freedom you’re missing out on.” She gave her friend a mischievous wink. “No pervy bosses, no restrictions on what I can do, no one telling me what to wear or who I can see. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Kyla grinned. “Until you take their trousers off. Then you get the worst of it all.”
“Nothing a little blue pill can’t fix.” Sam dropped her voice and leaned forwards. “Plus, then when they’ve finished, they can still go some more.”
Kyla laughed. “But then I’ll just get bored. The whole excitement is getting him to finish.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Different strokes for different folks. I prefer to indulge.”
Dylan placed three glasses of fresh orange juice down on the table, the glasses covered in water droplets. “And I think that’s the end of that conversation,” Dylan said, narrowing his eyes at his sister. “You keep your girl talk for when I’m well out of ear shot.”
Sam glared at her brother and snatched her glass of juice, her fingers slipping on the condensation and nearly tipping the glass over. “Spoil sport. Anyway, change of topic,” Sam said, taking a sip of her juice and quirking an eyebrow up at Kyla. “I wonder if we’ll see you know who out tonight.”
Kyla frowned. “Who?”
“Have you forgotten the two hunks you bumped into last night?”
Kyla’s heart froze. She could feel the burn of Dylan’s eyes boring into her, but she couldn’t look at him, not after the conversation her and Sam had had only moments ago. “Ah yes,” Kyla said, clearing her throat. “How could I forget them?” She giggled and reached for a glass of juice, daring to catch Dylan’s eye as she did. Nothing but a cool, hard stare glared back at her. “I guess it depends on where we go as to whether we’ll see them or not.”
“You think they’ll stay local?”
Kyla nodded. “Definitely. They’re only just back. They’ll stick with what they know.”
Sam ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “I could just be tempted to try your age range of men you know.”
“I saw them first so I get first dibs,” Kyla said, grinning at her friend. “I quite like Adam but Ben has this whole quiet, sultry thing going on. They’re both hot...maybe I’ll just have them both.” She gave Sam a wink.
Sam laughed. “Nothing would surprise me with you. We’ll see what happens later. I guess if we’re going by your theory, we need to go to The Black Iris then.”
Kyla nodded. “Sounds good to me. I’ll pick you up at what, eight?”
“Good for me. I might even go shopping this afternoon, find a new hot little dress to wear. You never know, I might be the one taking them both home.”
Dylan cleared his throat and shot his sister a look that could kill. “Enough. Both of you. I didn’t come here to listen to you two talk about men and sex like a pair of teenage girls.”
“If you don’t like it, you know where the door is,” Kyla said, staring right at him with a playful smirk tweaking at her lips.
The waitress appeared at that point with three plates of full English breakfasts. Her appearance cut through the growing tension somewhat, settling Dylan back into his box with the distraction of food.
When the waitress left, Sam laughed and said, “I guess we need to save our chat for later, Ky.”
I grinned and bit into my toast, looking over at Dylan. “I think we definitely do.”