He knew better than to admire me in Dane’s presence, but since Dane was currently preoccupied with a group of execs, I surmised Kyle felt bold enough to steal more than a quick glimpse.
Yet I knew Dane’s full concentration was never diverted when I was close by. I glanced his way and found him watching us. Scowling.
“You’ve been spotted,” I told Kyle with a hint of excitement in my voice over Dane’s territorial nature. “Keep it clean, or you’ll get us both into trouble.”
Kyle scoffed. “Serves him right for leaving you on your own.”
“He’s speaking with his employees. Socializing. It’s what one does at a function such as this. And besides, he trusts me.”
Kyle gave a half snort. “Well, he shouldn’t trust me.”
“He doesn’t.” Except when absolutely necessary, like on those rare occasions when Amano wasn’t available to shadow me.
“Good,” Kyle said.
I smirked. “Stop being so antagonizing.”
“He started it.”
With a laugh, I told him, “I don’t need the two of you fighting over me.”
“You want to warn me that I’ll lose,” he said, a dark edge tingeing his usual light-hearted tone. “But you’re forgetting that I know how bad he is for you. I’m just biding my time until he fucks up again.”
“Don’t say that.” I didn’t like how convinced Kyle was that things would go awry again with Dane—and that I’d somehow land in his arms. “You and I are friends. That’s all we’ll ever be. You need to accept that, because nothing is going to take me away from Dane. And for the record, what happened wasn’t his—”
“Don’t you dare say it wasn’t his fault,” Kyle shot back, albeit under his breath. “You were kidnapped, Ari. Beaten. I saw how fucked up your face was—how fucked up you were.”
I sipped my champagne, trying to calm my suddenly frayed nerves. “I have a lot riding on tonight, Kyle. Try not to wreak havoc on it.”
I turned to go, but he simply said, “Ari.”
I melted a little.
Facing him once more, I gave him a look I knew screamed ultimatum. “You either deal with it, or you don’t.” I didn’t have to say the latter meant we couldn’t be friends. He already knew that.
I’d never once led him on, had never done anything to encourage him or make him think we’d move beyond this stage. Ever. But Kyle didn’t give up.
He was incredibly special to me, one of the many reasons I was careful not to give him any wrong impressions. We’d gotten to know each other in a short amount of time and I had put a hell of a lot of faith in him. He was the only one I confided in about my relationship with Dane. And its perils. As a friend.
Kyle knew that, but sometimes—especially when he thought Dane was being too possessive—he came a bit close to crossing the line.
“Look,” he said. “I know you made a specific appeal to your boyfriend so that I could attend the executive dinner instead of the lunch with my level of staff. So we could hang together tonight. I appreciate that. I’m not trying to be an asshole here. I’m just … you know…” His jaw clenched briefly. “I hate what happened to you, Ari. I mean, I’m glad you didn’t shut me out, that you told me about it. Really glad. I’m always going to be here for you. You know that. It just gets a little irritating that you don’t see the big picture.”
In a low voice, though no one but Dane paid much attention to us, I said, “What I have with Dane is the big picture, Kyle. For me. I told you that I love him. That’s not going to change.”
“It’s okay to say that now.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Because I’ll still be around when you eventually get over the King of Everything and join us real people in the real world.”
I glared at him. “If you don’t like working at the Lux—”
“You know I do. I have amazing projects and we get to see each other every day. I’m grateful for the job. That doesn’t mean I have to like him.”
“He’s part of me,” I reminded Kyle, my mouth set in a hard line. I wouldn’t yield on this subject.
With a shake of his head, because he clearly didn’t like that summation, he said, “Lighten up and drink your champagne.”
I took another sip. He flagged down a waiter and grabbed his own glass.
A few more tense moments passed. Then he added, “I’m not trying to upset you. I’m trying to protect you.”