23. Rose
Rose
DO NOT ANSWER
Does he know how your claws come out when you climax? The way you drag your nails against my skin when you finish has been on repeat in my head for months, Angel.
Tuesday night, Rose nursed a much-needed beer at the local sports bar, The Griffin’s Nest, when she felt him.
Kirin had spent the weekend and part of Monday at her place, only separating when absolutely necessary.
They’d navigated the mundane—laundry, groceries, errands—trying to knock out her chores before her flight to Los Angeles for their two-game stretch.
They’d texted throughout the day and she’d seen him during class, but they were on opposite sides of the room and he’d rushed out right after for practice.
It was stupid, but she missed him. That realization had her taking a long drink while she kept an eye on the door.
Kirin was a step behind Harrison. As they wove into the crowd, she spotted the flash of platinum blond: Leon was with them, too.
She’d agreed to come out with Ainsley, Harper, and their random assortment of overlapping friends on a whim. Try as she might to keep her cool, the constant barrage of noise in the bar had her on edge after her calm weekend.
She hadn’t expected to see Kirin tonight.
He hadn’t mentioned meeting up after their morning run, which had mostly been a ridiculous argument over whether Ryan Gosling could be the same character in The Notebook and The Gray Man.
She tried not to dwell on how seeing him in the same space steadied her.
“You can’t be serious. Just miss one!” Harper hissed from the other side of the pool table, earning a deep laugh from her opponent.
Rose’s gaze flicked toward the ongoing face-off before returning to Kirin.
They were moving deliberately through the crowd, talking, laughing, unaware of the eyes trailing them.
Clearly in no hurry. Kirin and Harrison were talking, laughing over something, while Leon flirted with a blonde girl in a low-cut top.
At the bar, Kirin leaned against the wood, patting a friend on the shoulder.
Around him, girls adjusted their stances, drawn like moths to a flame.
Rose felt the same pull, her chest tightening at the sight of him—tall, strong, effortless.
He had always made her notice everything about him: the way he filled a space, the quiet confidence in his smile.
Harrison drew attention too, but her gaze always found Kirin first. And after days of asking one another questions and spending every waking second together, tonight was supposed to be her time to regroup and take a break from her growing feelings for him.
After a tense text from Preston, Rose had shut her phone off, retreating into the protective cocoon of her sweatshirt and assignments she was already weeks ahead on.
That was about an hour before Ainsley and Harper caught her gnawing on the sleeve of her sweatshirt, reading the same page over and over.
She blinked back into reality. She was trying to focus on Harper’s game, but her eyes kept drifting to the back of Kirin’s head.
Her heart stumbled when he turned. A couple of girls had edged through the crowd, one of their hands trailing over Kirin’s shoulder.
Her heart stopped when he turned and smiled, his eyes bright until he got a look at the owner.
It dropped off just as fast, eyes dimming, then he stepped back as far as he could.
Both of the girls pushed their chests up and batted their eyes, oblivious to the annoyance dragging Kirin’s brows down while he tried to maintain his distance.
Over Kirin’s shoulder, she caught Harrison’s eye and snorted into her beer when he rolled his eyes.
Harper’s head jerked her way, and she waved off the look.
Thankfully, her roommate thought nothing of it, returning her attention to the game she was losing against the weekend bartender, Jesse Turner.
She discovered that over a few games of watching him, he was taking her roommate for a ride by playing the long game.
She’d watched him earlier against Kevin Malloy, one of the baristas at St. James Sweets, and caught on fast. Jesse knew it, too.
He purposely added a few bad hits to draw the game out, but Harper wasn’t catching on.
Rose would bet Harper couldn’t fathom giving someone the upper hand.
She was brutal in her video games, cutting down enemies like they were stalks of wheat.
Drawing out a game and toying with people wasn’t really her thing, but it appeared Jesse liked to play with his catch, and he confirmed this when Rose caught his eye and got a wink in response while Harper growled.
Rose excused herself and slipped down the dim hallway toward the bathrooms, craving quiet.
The chatter and laughter of the bar faded, leaving only her racing heartbeat and the soft scrape of her shoes on the floor.
And then he was there—Kirin. Just behind her, filling the narrow space like he owned it.
Butterflies erupted in her stomach, a storm she didn’t want to tame. He leaned slightly closer, and the heat of his body pressed against her back. She could feel it—the deliberate weight, the unspoken claim—and it sent a thrill racing up her spine.
“Flower,” he murmured, low and intimate, and her knees threatened to buckle. She closed her eyes, letting the sound wash over her. The nickname, once teasing, now felt like a secret meant just for her.
“Daddy,” she whispered back, the word trembling on her lips, betraying more than she intended. The tight coil of longing inside her ached, a mixture of comfort and fire.
His hand brushed the curve of her waist just long enough that she gasped, startled at how much the simple touch made her skin tingle.
Every nerve seemed to spark—a friction she could neither hide nor resist. Her pulse thundered, her breath catching as she leaned just slightly into him, drawn by the same magnetic pull that had kept her up the last few nights.
Aware of how close he was in her bed, not touching, until they reached for one another in their unconsciousness.
“You hiding from me?” His voice cut through her haze, teasing and confident, yet soft enough to make her shiver.
“Not hiding,” she managed as she turned to face him and leaned back against the wall. She swallowed, trying to focus on something—anything—besides the heat radiating from him. It was impossible. Her skin hummed with awareness. “I thought you might want some time with your friends.”
Kirin tilted his head, studying her as though he could read every thought she was trying to hide.
His smile turned self-deprecating as he shook his head. “Funny. I thought you might want some space.”
Rose blinked, caught off guard.
His smile widened and his hand hovered at her side, a phantom pressure that made her stomach flip as his expression grew serious. “Are you saying you don’t want space?”
No, I don’t. I want you as close as you’ll allow.
She couldn’t look away from his gray eyes. They held both promise and restraint, warmth and fire.
“We could stay here for the evening, hang out with our friends.” He leaned a little closer, his voice low and intimate. “Or you could join me at my place for a change.”
Her heart skipped. The suggestion was simple, casual, but it hovered in the air like a challenge. Every instinct screamed yes. She tilted her head back slightly, breathing shallow, aware of the warmth of his chest, the slight scent of him, the electric proximity of his body.
“I have an early team meeting,” she murmured, pressing harder against the wall behind her, both resisting and craving his nearness.
He nodded. “Right, the two LA games. On Thursday and Sunday.”
She nodded, warming at the knowledge he remembered her schedule.
Trying not to breathe, to avoid getting lost in his scent, just as she was attempting to avoid pressing herself against him and making a fool of herself.
Kirin nodded again, his eyes dropping. Then, he leaned closer, his grin slow and deliberate, letting the tension coil tighter.
“You look good in my clothes, Flower.” His fingers traced the hem, brushing a sliver of bare skin.
The touch was gentle but electric, each movement igniting heat that pooled low in her belly and raced through her limbs.
That had her gaze dropping to the sweatshirt she’d forgotten she’d yanked on after the game review and her eight minutes in the ice bath.
It explained the side-eye she got from Laurel and Maya when she’d rushed out of the locker room.
She exhaled a desperate laugh that had her chest rising and falling faster than usual.
Every instinct screamed both a warning and an invitation.
She leaned just a fraction closer, letting his fingers drag over more of her skin. “It must have gotten mixed in my pile by accident.”
“It looks better on you.” He slipped another finger under the edge of the sweatshirt until his hand was gliding over the skin at her waist. Breathing was hard.
Keeping her lungs functioning felt like it took all her focus.
His voice was quiet, like he was whispering a thought out loud without knowing it when he said, “Bet it smells like heaven now.”
Her stomach turned over, and her skin tingled at his touch.
Kirin leaned down a bit, brushing a stray hair off her shoulder.
A guy walked down the hall, and Kirin pressed himself into Rose.
Her cheeks flamed when the guy glanced at them with a knowing look.
When he disappeared into the men’s bathroom, Kirin pulled back, nudging his fingers under her chin until she looked up and met his eyes.
“I thought about you all day,” he admitted, voice brushing against her ear, thumb tracing the side of her face. “I hate being away from you. Especially now that I know about Preston.”
Her stomach twisted with want and longing, and she realized she’d been holding her breath.