★★★
"Tell me what you want," he murmured, his words sending a shiver down my spine.
"I want you," I replied, my voice filled with longing.
"I want you to fuck me."
He chuckled, his eyes meeting mine with a heated gaze that made my heart race.
"Com...
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"So, you didn't quite tell me how you and Kyan even started dating," Sloane reminded me, her voice light but laced with curiosity. She was sitting across from me, her chin resting in her palm.
Her eyes held that familiar calm, but beneath it, I could feel something more–a quiet concern maybe.
I wasn't ready for the question, and I almost choked on my tea when she asked. We were talking about dance routines a second ago. Kyan wasn't even part of the conversation until now.
"Uh..." I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck as I tried to find the right words.
My fingers played with the rim of my cup. "We just... kinda clicked, I guess." I shrugged, offering her a half-hearted smile.
It was the easiest answer to give, but it wasn't true. Kyan and I hadn't just clicked. It wasn't some magical, perfect moment. Our whole thing? It was about moving on from our exes after all, trying to make them jealous, trying to feel something again.
But for me? There was no real progress. Leon still haunted me–the man I thought I'd marry–and the silence between us had stretched on for months now, more painful than I liked to admit.
"Yeah?" Sloane's brow lifted, her eyes never leaving mine as she sipped her coffee slowly. She wasn't buying it. I could see that, but she didn't push.
Instead, she let it hang there, an unsaid truth hanging between us.
"Anyway," she pressed her lips into a thin line, expertly shifting the conversation like she always did.
Her hair was growing out–ash blonde fading into natural brown, the roots just starting to peek through. It should've looked messy, but it didn't. Sloane had this way of making everything look effortless, like she woke up looking perfect. It wasn't fair, but it was just... her.
"You going to Japan?" she asked, her excitement bubbling up again, her posture suddenly more relaxed
I nodded, the corners of my mouth tugging into a grin as I tried to hold back a laugh. "Hell yeah. Wouldn't miss it."
Sloane smiled too, her face lighting up as she leaned back in her chair. She had been invited because she was tight with Lydia, of course. Knowing her, she probably knew more about the trip than I did.
"I've been wanting a trip like this for a while now," I said, exhaling softly, letting myself sink into the idea of it. "It'll be nice to get away for a bit."
"You deserve it," Sloane's voice was soft, almost too soft for her usual teasing self. There was something genuine in the way she said it, and I felt my chest warm.
I laughed, shaking my head. "So do you. You've been busting your ass, Sloane. You deserve a break too."
She waved off the compliment like it didn't matter, but I meant it. She spent most of her nights at the bar, serving drinks and dealing with way too many drunks.
