I can't believe I did that. Idiot. This is playing with fire.

Kaya is the most attractive woman I have ever laid eyes on, and maybe that's a result of not having much diversity in our dating pool of the Sky Faction, or it's because she really just is that beautiful, but even so.. She hates my guts. I made some dumb decisions when we were kids and now I'm making mistakes that only reinforce her already-poor opinion of me. I just.. I can't breathe when I'm around her, and my brain doesn't catch up with my mouth as I say the first things that come to mind.

Can't find a good nickname?

I can think of plenty, but most often what crosses my mind when I think of Kaya is 'mine'. Sai can fuck right off if he thinks he has any claim to her. Does this seem sudden? Yes. I don't even know her, I should not have these feelings for her, and yet it's like the first time I saw her when I was standing on the stage, she became my center of gravity.

She elbowed me fucking hard in the kidney and I actually got giddy because she was willing to touch me, even if it's with her damn elbow. She wears her heart on her sleeve and she doesn't even realize it - I can see each emotion playing out even if she doesn't say it out loud. Her resolve to ignore me, her worry over what Sai and Deirdre think of her, her frustration about what they think about me... The way she wants to do the right thing for herself, her family, and the faction despite all of the shit she's been through.. It's haunting me in my dreams and when I'm awake. She's stuck in my head.

There's strength in her that I haven't seen in anyone before. Not just her toned muscles and athletic build, but the strength of her core. Her heart. I saw her in the crowd and I was fucking done for, and she hadn't even said a word to me yet. I tried to charm her at the reception, and she left me gawking after her like a lost puppy.

Despite knowing that Kaya is a drug, I've offered up this ridiculous scenario to fake it. Fake touches, fake nice, fake longing.. Except it's not fake for me at all. I'm a junkie for her and I'm hoping that I can clear her from my system by giving into the impulses that have radiated through my soul since I first saw her. It's a dangerous game for me to play with the way Sai reacts but... Honestly? I could give a fuck. Kaya is going to fall for me or no one.

This all sounds great, save for the fact that Kaya is holding my hands against her juicy inner thighs and I'm supposed to control myself? I'm frozen. I don't choke like this- not usually, but if I keep this up, I won't be able to stop. I clear my throat and move my hands back to my sides.

"Let's speed this up now that the moon is rising, yes?" I manage to get out as I move our horse to a canter. We can't go too quickly with Sai and the trailer, but we can pick it up just enough to finish this last bit of road shortly.

The scraps of the new barn are laying on the ground, and I quickly get off the horse and adjust the tightness in my pants. Kaya is still sitting there as I start to grab some of the pieces.

"Come on, angel, come help me get these ready for when Sai catches up.. Or are you too good for it?" I smirk at her, though I doubt she can see it in the dark. Again, brain not working. Why did I have to make such a lame comment??

Even in the dark, Kaya's face flushes bright red and I can't help but imagine making her blush in other ways. Suppressing a groan, I stroll up to her, acting casual.

"What's the deal? Are you wanting me to call you princess now?" I trace my fingers from her foot still in the stirrup, all the way up her leg until I'm resting my hand on her hip. She swats at me.

"Sai isn't even here yet, there's no need to be touchy," she hisses. She looks around, as if checking to see who will hear her before she drops her eyes to mine. 

"I can't get off this fucking horse," she mutters.

I about fall over laughing, but worried it will spook the horse, I keep myself more composed.

"Would you like some help, princess?" I smirk, knowing she needs it. She scoffs.

"I don't want help from you. I'll just wait for Sai," she's crossing her arms now. Sai? Fuck no.

Gritting my teeth, I grab her by the waist and pull her from the saddle. As she tries to move away from me, I hold her close. I don't know why- I just can't seem to let her go. Her scent is intoxicating - like caramel and sugar.

Our faces are inches apart, and her chest is pressed up against mine.. Our legs have tangled from me picking her up, and I'm pretty sure if I let her go she would stumble out of my arms. I feel her heartbeat against my own chest, beating almost as quickly as my own, riling me up even more.

Leaning into her neck, I suppress a groan. She will be my undoing.

Then, pain.

"What the fuck, Kaya," I whimper, cupping myself between my legs. Gods damn it, Kaya.. Kicking me between the legs is low but.. I wonder if I could consider this the first time she really has touched me. 

"I was telling you to get off but you weren't fucking listening. It was like you weren't even in this damn world anymore. I had to knock you out of it somehow, and this was the most entertaining way," she shrugged.

Scowling at her, I fell to my knees and groaned. Sai had come up, gotten off his horse, and patted me on the back. I can't help but notice the little spring in his step as he bounds over to Kaya.

"What did he do this time, Kaya?" He purred.

"I don't really know he just disappeared from reality and looked at me like he was going to eat me like some deranged animal," she scowled.

"Ronan? Eat you? If anyone's going to eat you first, it had better be me if Deirdre doesn't kill me for it first," Sai chuckled.

Kaya raises an eyebrow and shakes her head before getting to work using her telekinesis to put our repair pieces into the trailer. Watching her work was mesmerizing. Her concentration, precise movements, her skill, it's awe-inspiring. She makes it look effortless, but anyone with a gift could tell you that having that much control is only achieved with a lot of practice.

Once I was all recovered and done moping about Kaya being rude to me, I helped organize the trailer and got us all situated and heading back.

Once we reached our little hideout, Kaya made quick work of unloading the trailer. Deirdre was still laying in the same spot we'd left her at, but there were little sandwiches set out for everyone. Thank the gods, I'm starving.

"It's so late... How could you guys have possibly taken that long?" Deirdre grumbled. She had waited to eat until we got back.

"It was a long journey and we rode pretty slowly to not attract any suspicion," I shrugged. It definitely had nothing to do with hoping Kaya would give into the comfort of leaning into me. Definitely not.

"Wait a damn minute," Kaya muttered quietly before turning fiery eyes to me.

"Why the fuck did I ride with you when we had the trailer?" Aw. Her being demanding is so cute.

"You've only just now thought of this?" I let out a fake little gasp. If she wasn't pissed before, she was now.

"Yeah! Why did she get to ride with you the whole time??" Sai pouted.

I looked at both of them. How are they actually just now wondering this? I was so worried that they would realize and ruin my little operation on Kaya, but they never did.

I shrugged. "I thought the whole point of today was so that me and Kaya can make nice.. And we definitely did on the back of the horse," I smirked, giving Kaya a little wink to play along.

Her face went from mad, to realization, to mad, and then to a fake little cheer that told me she was going along with our game but was upset with herself for not realizing sooner. I can see the fire behind her smile, she's very pissed that she didn't think about my intentions before now.

"I guess we did get a little closer," she said, adding a little heat to her words. She's so much better at this than me. Her husky voice went right to my dick, and I felt it starting to harden. Inconvenient.

Deirdre was already jumping towards me before Sai got in between us. If conflict can be settled with punches, Deirdre is the first to jump in. 

"LET ME AT HIM! HOW DARE HE TRY AND SEDUCE OUR ANGEL" She yelled, clutching towards me as Sai pushed her back.

A small chuckle escaped me and Sai turned back towards me, eyes flashing something menacing. He looks like he's battling the idea of letting Deirdre light me up or not. It's funny, he was never like this in training. He was always polite, nice, funny.. I could go on with good qualities, but Kaya gets him amped up. I can't blame him, she gets me amped up.

Kaya steps between Sai, Deirdre, and I, touching Sai and Deirdre's shoulders.

"Please don't beat up my new friend," she pleads. She is so faking this, and we all know it. Knowing doesn't keep all three of us from melting like a puddle into her hands. Kaya saying please? I would do anything if she asked me nicely.

Deirdre rips out of Sai's arms, straightens her clothes, and grumbles an "alright" before sitting down to eat her sandwich on the broken down floor boards of the barn we're going to rebuild. I suppress a disgusted face as the floor is pretty much rotting beneath them. 

Sai smiles sheepishly at Kaya and sits next to Deirdre, gesturing for her to join them. He shoots me a quick glare before nestling Kaya into his arm. Her face tells me that the old barn is getting to her as well, and I notice she's not eating her sandwich at all even though we've been gone all day.

"I was thinking," Deirdre says, mouth full. Of course she doesn't give a fuck about the floor falling apart beneath her and the smell of mold choking us out.

"That's a shock." I quip, earning another glare from all three of them. 

Deirdre's eyes narrowed, "I was thinking we should go to the hot springs tonight. You guys had to ride those horses pretty much all damn day. Wouldn't it be nice to go for a quick soak?"

"It's so late - " I start, but Kaya interrupts me.

"Fuck yes! Can we plan one for tomorrow, too? Melani's going to beat my ass for missing training today," She smiles, but her eyes look exhausted.

"You train with Melani?" I asked incredulously. She was our teacher forever ago, why are they still training together?

"It's none of your business," She starts to sneer at me, but quickly changes her tune. She can definitely play. "But yes she is training me, both physically and with my gifts." I give her a nod, noticing her following the rules of our pact and respond accordingly.

"I have some cool things I learned in the advanced physical classes with the academy, I could show you a thing or two from the new curriculum." I flash her a smile and feel triumphant knowing that Sai and Deirdre never took those classes. Hey, if you've got an advantage, just use it.

"We would like to come see those, too," Sai grits out, eyes narrowed. Dang. I hadn't thought that they could just come, too. I was hoping for some alone time. Again, dumb. 

"It's settled, then. Meet me after you're done training with Melani," I say cheerfully, blissfully ignoring Sai. I can't believe how easy it is to piss him off.

"Melani trains me pretty late, why not do it in the morning after I gather herbs?" Kaya asks.

"That works for me. You guys?" I gesture to Sai and Deirdre. Even though I'm screwing with their egos, that doesn't mean I need to be an outright asshole to them. That's not how I'm going to win Kaya, either. They're my friends just as much as it's clear they're my rivals. Kaya, however, is absolutely unaware of any romantic intention coming from any of us.

"Sure," Sai chirps, fixing his attitude now that he knows I'm not icing him out. I give him a nod, and he returns it with a wink.

Deirdre rolls her eye at our obvious exchange. "Anyways, do we get to go to the hot spring now?" Deirdre asks, clearly feeling left out from our day of adventuring.

Kaya, trying and failing to suppress a yawn, stands. "Yes, yes, yes!" She tries to sound excited, but truthfully she sounds like she's ran a marathon and is trying to recover. She starts to walk, but she stumbles a bit. Sai catches her in his arms and gives a knowing look to Deirdre. Kaya must push herself a lot.

"Ummm Deirdre, I think our little angel might be a bit too sleepy to do anything very fun. My place isn't too far from here.. Maybe we could all crash there?" Sai asks, mainly talking to Kaya and Deirdre. I'm a bit shocked, I wouldn't have thought that these guys would stay the night together...

Jealousy comes for me in waves of hot anger, but I cool it down. Why am I reacting like this? It's not me to be the jealous type. There's never really been girls that I'm interested in aside from a quick hook up, and here I am falling over for a girl I hardly know.

Deirdre perks up, "That actually sounds really good, I'm tired too, I just want to hang out. I know I was lame and hungover this morning, but you guys left me alone all day. I didn't even have anything pretty to look at," she pouts. 

Kaya rubs her eyes, leaning onto Sai, "I'm sorry Deirdre," she says sheepishly. "I guess I overdid it with my telekinesis.. and I fucking hate riding horses." 

Sai pats her on the head and looks to me, asking me wordlessly if I would like to join. We're not going to lose our friendship over a girl.. but we are going to fight like hell for her. 

"Let's go," I say with a smile.