Page 32 of Rival for Rent
“Just what it sounds like. It seems like the kind of thing you would do.”
“Meaning?”
“Well,” he said, his lip curling, “it’s somewhere that physical size and brute strength come in handy. Another chauvinist, misogynist, homophobic organization where you could rise to the top. I bet you were real popular there.”
Heat flared in my chest. That wasn’t fair. Yeah, he wasn’t wrong about the culture. But that wasn’t why I’d joined. And he didn’t get to reduce it to that.
“For your information, I joined because I needed the fucking money. Not all of us were born rich like you.”
“Because that makes it better?”
Anger rolled through me. “You wouldn’t understand. I’ve seen your house. You haven’t exactly come down in the world.”
“Hey, I worked hard for my money,” he shot back. “I used my own brain to found my own company.”
“And your folks didn’t help at all, huh?” I said, voice biting. “No startup loan? No help with tuition? No pricey extracurriculars in high school that padded your résumé?”
“Jesus,” Kai said, exasperated. “For someone who claims he can barely remember high school, you sure are hung up on it.”
Ridiculous. He was the one who kept bringing it up.
“Forget it.” I shook my head. “I definitely remember now why you annoyed the hell out of me back then. Your holier-than-thou attitude hasn’t changed one damn bit.”
“My apologies,” he said acidly. “I guess that means you’re within your rights to beat me up again.”
“I’m not trying to beat you up,” I said, stepping closer. “I’m trying to keep you safe. Though, you make it fucking hard to remember why.”
“Don’t do me any favors.”
He pushed off the post he’d been leaning against, but his left foot missed the plywood edge of the floor by an inch. His balance faltered and his eyes went wide as he teetered towards the open window.
I didn’t even think. I lunged, catching him around the waist and hauling him in. His chest collided with mine, firm and warm, and I pivoted us both until our feet were planted solidly on the floor.
Up close, I could smell his aftershave—cool and minty. My heart thundered. I could see the pulse fluttering in his neck, feel the shape of his body pressed to mine. His head tipped back, lips parted, nostrils flaring like he was about to yell at me again—maybe tell me he’d rather have fallen than let me catch him.
But fuck that. If he was so determined to get himself killed, maybe I should let him. Natural selection had put up with enough of humanity’s bullshit. No need for me to get in its way.
I opened my mouth to say as much—and instead, pressed my lips to his.
8
KAI
Mason’s lips hit mine, and I froze in shock. But his arm stayed firm around my waist, grounding me, and before I could process it, my body responded on instinct. My lips parted, and his tongue slid into my mouth. I tilted my head back, hands rising—one to his shoulder, one to the back of his neck—fingers pressing tight into the muscle there. His lips were so soft, his tongue so sure, and I felt dizzy, weightless. A quiet sound escaped me, part groan, part gasp.
And then, just like that, Mason pulled away.
He stared at me, wide-eyed and wild, and sucked in a sharp breath. “What the fuck?” he said. “Why did you do that?”
“Why didIdo that?” I blinked at him, stunned. “Youkissedme.”
“No, I didn’t—I mean, I wasn’t—I can’t—fuck.” He ran a hand through his hair, looking like he wanted to bolt. “I can’t think straight around you.”
I bit back the joke that jumped to my tongue. He looked too shaken for that kind of comment. I wasn’t afraid of him, exactly—not when he’d saved me from tumbling out a second-story window—but I wasn’t about to push him either.
“Just go,” I said, heavier than I meant to. My chest ached, stupidly. All there ever was between us was friction and fighting. What had I expected? “You never should have come here today.”
I still didn’t understand why he had. Was it really because I hadn’t answered three texts? That didn’t seem like enough. It’s not like we were close.
