Page 90 of Kade

I pulled my gaze away from Cieran’s car, and immediately, everything in my world was covered in a nice warm blanket. The cloudy, overcast sky moved apart to let the sun shine through as Max pulled up to park in front of me in his truck.

Those guys had nothing on Max. No one was even in his stratosphere.

Max with his golden tan skin, dark blond and messily rumpled hair, dark blue eyes that turned gray when he was either mad or something else, and that deliciously square jaw. He was shorter than me until last summer. That’s when he shot past me, now standing at six four. He’d also spent the summer honing his physique in the gym. Max never cared about his looks. He always had them. But his pretty-boy face had also transformed into something more ruggedly handsome. Delicious fucking lips. His round cheeks were now chiseled, and his dad let him start getting tattoos. He told me he was keeping those to a minimum. He didn’t want to go overboard like his dad, whose body was almost covered in tattoos.

He leaned over and pushed open his passenger door. He jerked his chin to me. “Get in.”

I moved forward, reaching for the door and paused to look at him. His jeans were the real kind of faded, not like Lucia’s, and all the rips in them were from being worn. They looked good on him. He was also wearing a Fallen Crest Public shirt. It fit nicely over his chest and stomach, and I could see him draw in a breath, waiting for me.

“Are you getting in or not?”

My smile only widened. He was annoyed, but I caught the flash of affection too. He’d so totally missed me.

And he was checking me out. I moved slowly, drawing this out as I climbed up and settled in, letting him get a view of my bra and stomach.

He drew in some air. “Fuck’s sakes, Mads.”

I chuckled, handing him my bag.

He tossed it in the backseat as I closed the door.

Lucia still stood on the sidewalk, her jaw on the floor.

I flashed her a grin.

“Hey, man.”

What?I turned at the sound of a voice.

I had missed it, but as I was taking my time getting in Max’s truck, Caleb Cieran had gotten out of his and walked over to stand on the other side of Max’s door.

I frowned, not sure how I felt about this. Max was mine. He didn’t need to know people. Then again, everyone loved Max. If you knew him, you loved him. The universe deemed it a rule when Max was born. I hadn’t met someone who didn’t think Max hung the moon.

“What’s up?” Max asked.

Cieran looked over to me.

I glared at him.

He started laughing. “Your girl’s not happy.”

Max frowned at me, but he didn’t respond. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a party out on Bombshell this Friday.”

“That abandoned building?”

“Yeah. Wanted to see if you’re in.” He wagged his eyebrows up and down. “I know you’re a killer in that arena. You want in?”

Max’s eyebrows pinched together. “Are you setting it up?”

I had no idea what they were talking about. As if Max could sense my frustration, he cut me a look. We’d discuss this once we had some privacy.

“Nah. It’s sanctioned by the same people who organize the other fighting ring.”

“Why the different location?”

Cieran shrugged, propping his arm on Max’s door. “Who knows? But it works out for you, doesn’t it? Word’s out that you got banned from the last place.”