“Everything okay?” he asks, his voice a warning rumble.
I don’t know what he heard or how long he’s been here, but I do believe if I say no, he will knock Chase into next week. And as much as I kinda think Chase deserves it, we can’t have that.
“We’re cool,” I answer, glancing over my shoulder at my once-upon-a-fuck buddy. “Right, Chase?”
“Uh, yeah.” Chase’s pupils flare and he shifts like he’s grappling with his fight-or-flight instinct. With a man as big as Kenan, fighting really isn’t a smart move, so I’m guessing Chase is all flight right now. “We’re cool.”
He pushes past me quickly and heads back to the party without another word.
“You sure you’re okay?” Kenan asks, a frown puckering over probing eyes.
“Positive. Chase and I have an understanding.”
“You’re dating him?” he asks, his tone neutral, but not fooling me. He cares what I say next. I’ve never experienced such instant chemistry as I did with Kenan, but as vulnerable, as empty as I’ve been feeling lately, maybe as I’ve been feeling for a while, he’s not what I need. I need simple. Easy. And this man is neither of those things.
“We were never dating.”
“Oh, I thought—”
“We were fucking,” I correct. “But not anymore.”
A muscle ticks along the chiseled line of his jaw. “I see.”
He pushes off the wall, stepping closer. Everything in me wants to shrink back. Not because I fear him, but because I fear myself, my response to this man.
I stand my ground, enduring the intoxicating scent of him and the wash of warmth when he’s so close his massive body eclipses the world past his shoulders.
“So does that mean the way is clear if someone else wanted to take you out?” he asks, his voice a strong, gentle hand stroking my skin.
“No, that’s not what it means.” I look up to catch his eyes and refuse to look away even when the cartilage around my knees starts to marshmallow. “It means the opposite. Road block ahead.”
“A road block?” He looks down, so far down at me, one brow quirked, questioning.
“You can’t get through, but there are alternate roads. A detour.” I nod my head toward the party. “Amanda, for one, seems like she’d enjoy being your alternate route.”
“Nah.” He shakes his head. “She’s not my type.”
“Oh, pretty, blue-eyed blondes with big breasts not your type?”