Don't Love Me

Chapter 3

The three of us stood frozen together for a minute, taking in the situation. I pulled my eyes away from his first and looked to his left at the bodyguards. Teresa recovered next and made a beeline for Kian. The bodyguard stopped her before she reached him, but apparently, Kian held up his hand to his guard and said something to him before the guard moved, and Teresa approached Kian quickly. A small part of me sneered at the fact that he allowed her near him, but I refused to be jealous over a groupie. I turned to Seraphina and said, "Come on, girl, let's get a drink. We might as well take advantage of this open bar."

She gave me a quick look, but I'm guessing that my face said this wasn't a conversation we could have right now before she smiled and said, "You're right; this is the best thing they've ever given us after four years of high school. I laughed, which relieved my tension and allowed me to relax. I told myself I wouldn't let his presence affect me. I shook off the feeling of nostalgia and walked off arm and arm with Seraphina, and we took seats at the bar.

I felt Kian's eyes on my back, but luckily, so many of our old classmates started to flock to him, and he wasn't able to keep his attention on me. We hit the bar and ordered a Long Island Ice Tea. We stood talking for quite a while, and I was relaxed and enjoying myself. Unfortunately, my luck finally ran out as we moved onto our second long island; I heard a deep voice behind me say, "It's been a long time, Kiera." I closed my eyes for a quick second, taking a deep breath. When I opened them, I took a quick glance at Seraphina, who was darting her eyes back and forth between Kian and me.

I turned to face him and damn near bit my tongue off. From a distance, I could tell he was fine, but up close, this man made you want to drop your panties. He was taller than I had last seen him, now standing at about 6'7 and a solid 200 pounds. Under his well-tailored suit, I could tell he was still cut and muscular; caramel skin laid perfectly over them. He had a drop fade with tight curls and a goatee lined, all lined to perfection. His brown eyes stared directly into mine.

I gathered myself quickly and said, "It's good to see you, Kian." He said, "I can't tell; you kind of ran off when you saw me." I said, "It looked like you had plenty of company. I would have hated to interrupt." He smirked at me and said, "No one over there was as good company as you could be." He turned to Seraphina and said, "It's been a while; I see you're still sticking to her side like glue." She said, "Of course, always have always will be."

He turned to the bartender, ordered a cognac on the rocks, and sat beside me on the other side. His security wasn't very far but gave him enough space to have a bit of privacy. I saw Teresa hovering near them, giving me dirty looks while trying to find a way in.

I smirked and turned back towards the bartender. Kian said, "So, how have you been? I heard you're a big-shot real estate agent now." I said, "I'm doing great and doing all right. I wouldn't say big shot. I'm pretty sure being in the type of business you are in, you know a lot of better ones." He said, "Everyone is trying to sell me something, so I tend to avoid that." I said, "I mean, everyone knows that NBA players make good money, so I can see why they would. Didn't you just sign a big contract with the Lakers?"

He smiled and said, "So you've been keeping up with my career, huh?" I rolled my eyes and said, "It's not hard; when you first got picked up in Toronto, everyone here kept up with you. Then you went to the Knicks, but everyone hoped you'd get back home eventually." He said, "Including you?" I said, "I didn't pay it much mind; I had other things going on, Kian. I'm surprised you even came here today." He said, "It was a good chance to see everyone again. I have to get settled here and everything, and it's nice seeing everyone again. I really missed some people."

He stared at me as he said this, but I avoided his gaze and took a big gulp of my drink. I said, "Everyone's glad you're home, Kian; you really made something of yourself. I'm happy for you."