Free Ruin Me by Tabatha Kiss Page B

not going to propose, are you?”
    “Why?” he asks. “I’m already getting free milk.”
    Kai chuckles and looks at his empty plate. “Stay classy, Shawn,” he jokes.
    “Don’t sit there and act innocent, Kai,” Shawn says. He quickly points around the entire table. “In fact, not a single one of us should be casting stones.”
    “No one’s casting stones,” Kai says as he raises his glass. “I’m happy for you — and your dreams.”
    Mandy grips her own glass and lifts it between us all. “To chasing dreams,” she toasts.
    My lips curl. Contrary to Kai’s beliefs, I would much rather live a life of dreams than fit into a little box. “To chasing dreams,” I say as I raise my glass.
    Kai meets my eyes across the table. I can see his thoughts working quickly behind the steady pounding of the vein on his forehead. He sees me as a much different person now, a far cry from the girl he thought he pursued to Europe. He used to look at me with wide eyes, almost as if I were some mythical creature lost in the depths of his imagination. Now, he looks at me with knowing eyes, full of honesty and lust. I’m not sure which one I prefer more.
    “To chasing dreams,” he repeats with a whisper. The four of us clink our glasses together and take a drink.
    His words vibrate down my spine, igniting all of my desires. I take another quick sip, hoping it will cool me off, but it does very little. I lick my trembling lips and watch as his eyes linger on them again. He’s thinking about that kiss, just like I am. He wants it again and so do I. I flashback to his body, water pouring off of him by the pool back home. His tight, white shorts fusing to his skin, revealing the perfect outline of his thick—
    “I fucking love Europe!” Shawn exclaims again as he digs into another bread stick.
    I glance down at my phone to check the time. It’s half past eleven, but I am not tired. I’m far from it. Going back to the hotel and spending the night in the same room with Kai would be a huge mistake. That itch, it’s dug too far into me now. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself with him. My skin burns. My sex throbs. There’s only one thing on my mind. One thing that will rid me of my desires for him tonight…
    And I know exactly where to get it.

 
    Chapter 12
    Kai
     
    I knock on the door with my duffel bag slung over my shoulder. Mandy opens it and she raises her eyebrow. “Shawn has officially kicked me out,” I tell her. “He’s summoned you for the night.”
    She chuckles and steps away from the door. “Come on in,” she says.
    Her own suitcase is stacked near the door, prepared for this exact exchange. Piper’s suitcase sits open on her bed with most of her clothing spilled out of it. “Where’s Piper?” I ask.
    Mandy’s eyes shift. “She went out,” she shrugs.
    “Went out?” I ask. “Where?”
    “I don’t know,” she mutters. “She said she needed to take a walk or something. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
    I sigh and glance around the empty room. “She didn’t say where she was going?”
    Mandy bends over and grabs her suitcase. “Nope,” she says. “She’ll be fine, Kai. No need to play protective brother on this one.”
    “Yeah, tell that to the giant bruise on her neck…”
    “Kai…” She steps closer to me. “She’s a big girl.”
    “Yeah, yeah.” I step away and take a deep, angry breath.
    “I’m sure she’ll be back soon.” She opens the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    I toss my duffel down on the empty bed and glare around the room. It’s pretty obvious why she isn’t here. Piper’s chosen to avoid me rather than deal with what happened on the train. Honestly, I don’t blame her, but I definitely don’t want to spend yet another night waiting up for her, peeking out the windows, hoping she’ll come back to me unscathed. And Italian television dramas can’t be any easier to understand than German ones.
    I wander over to Piper’s bed and bend down