ANMELDEN**Kyra POV**"Let's talk," he says when we return to the house, and he leads me to the couch after he takes the dog's leash off. I follow him with nervous anticipation and sit next to him, turning my body to face him. He rests his hand on my leg and stares at the floor for a moment before looking back at me."Today was nice," he says. "Like, beyond nice.""I think so, too."I can see him biting the inside of his cheek, something he does when he's nervous or mad, to stop himself from speaking before he's ready to."I don't know what to say," he finally admits quietly."Oh." I meant to just think of the word, but it seeped out of my mouth with its tonal mix of part disappointment, part surprise, and part sadness."I'm usually good with words, Kyra. But you make me a fuckin' mess.""I'm sorry.""Don't be sorry."He recedes back into his quiet mode, staring at the floor."Maybe I should go," I say softly.He grabs onto my hand. "No, don't go.""We don't have to talk, Tor. You don't owe me
**Kyra POV**"What?" he finally asks, standing. My beanie is on his head, only it's faded now from the sun beating down on him when he rides. Tufts of dark hair are sticking out from the sides of the hat, and he has a small smudge of grease right above his left eyebrow that I want to reach out and rub off. He looks a bit disheveled and tired, but he wears it well, and it adds to his rugged charm."Why are you looking at me like that?" he asks."I just didn't know you'd be like this," I answered softly. "Roses..."He moves closer to me and leans down to kiss my cheek. "Because now I'm your lover. Not your friend. Not your godfather. Not your dad’s best friend. Big difference."I blink at him, swaying, my heart racing. The word lover feels so... intimate. Powerful. Adults. Sexy.He's still close to me, our bodies almost touching but not, his lips just inches away, when he brushes my hair away from my face."I love you, Angel. But I won't baby you when you're in my house, and in my bed.
**Kyra POV**Kyra loves the park. Sometimes on the weekends when Ash and Elara want to get some alone time, I grab one of the dogs from my mom’s shelter and I take them both to the park to get some air and exercise.The autumn air is crisp as we walk through the park, and Kyra and the dog are both enjoying kicking up the leaves and hearing them crunch under their feet. A pretty girl around my age with short blonde hair is walking towards us with a small dog along the path that winds around the lake. As we approach each other, her dog starts to get all excited and runs to us, dragging the girl with her on a long leash.Laughing, I kneel down to pet the tan wiggling dog."I'm sorry," she says breathlessly. "She gets excited to see people and other dogs.""That's okay, at least she's friendly.""Your dog is much calmer. I think mine might need to go back to puppy class.""He's not mine. He's a rescue from the shelter, and he's about ten years old. I volunteer there so I take one out ever
**Tor POV**I sputter into my coffee. "What? Are you fucking kidding?"Laughing, she nods. "Yup. She's been really worried about you lately and thought you were hiding in the closet. I think she'll be glad to find out you're in love with a woman, even if it is Kyra. Mom likes her. She's all into the animal stuff. She fits right in."Jesus Christ. I wonder if that rumor has been floating around town and for how long."I can't believe this shit. And yeah, she does fit into my life. That's important to me. I'm never going to give up Devils’ Wolves.""So let's talk about your biggest hurdle, because it's not anything between you and Kyra. You two seem to be fine. It's Aiden, right?""Yup.""Does he have any idea? Have either of you dropped any hints?""No.""Maybe you should start. Ease him into it slowly. He probably already has some kind of inkling, Tor. Even though I knew and I really don't pay much attention to anyone around me."That's true. Tessie has always been stuck in her own he
**Tor POV**"Why all the questions, Toren?""I'm curious. I met someone younger..."Her ice blue eyes hone in on me like two bright beacons cutting through fog."Holy shit," she breathes out slowly. "It finally happened.""What?""You and Kyra Callis. I knew it!" She smacks her palm down on the table triumphantly. "I always knew something was there between you two.""Tessie, don't be crazy." I scoff at her but fear snakes through me. I didn't think she would figure me out so quickly. I thought I could just nonchalantly pick her brain to see if I could get some insight on how a younger girl would feel about dating an older guy. Now she's got me cornered.She tilts her head at me. "Seriously, Tor? Come on. Stop the bullshit. Obviously you need to talk so let's just drop the charade, okay?"It's hard to admit, but she hit the nail right on the head. I do need someone to talk to before I lose my mind from keeping this all bottled up inside me. I know I can talk to Lukas, but the fact that
**Tor POV**Nothing can fuck your shit up faster than the girl you've got your cock buried in getting a text message from her father telling her she should come home because it's after midnight.I wanted to keep her with me in my bed all night and ask her to not go home. I wanted to tell her to tell her father that she was spending the night at Chloe's house and she'd be home tomorrow.And then I remElaraed that once I was the guy who enforced her curfew. Told her to never lie to her father about anything. I almost laughed at the insane irony of it, only it wasn't funny. It was terrifyingly confusing.Fuck me.Day one of having Kyra was nothing short of a dream and I'm not going to let these bumps in the road ruin the happiness we're feeling. We knew it would be hard. We knew it would be difficult. We knew there would be lies.Is she worth it? Yes.So I drove her home in my truck and when she went inside she told Aiden that she had been at my place playing with the dog and then we wat







