Because of Kian Read Online Free PDF Page A

only made me laugh back. Being around him – hearing his deep, rich voice, his calm and his intensity – it seemed to push away some of my lingering fear and guilt.
    W hile I didn’t go to Hyper every night, I saw him there often when I did. Even there, in a casual setting, things between us were… simple . A smile and a nod when our eyes met across the room. The sound of my name on his lips when I came closer… Hey Brynn . I met some of his buddies, and he stared them down when they started getting flirty. Yet, he didn’t hit on me. This was probably okay since I didn’t wish my boatload of issues on any dude. Yet, at the same time, I was crushing big time and wasn’t too sure that I liked how platonic our friendship was either.
    Honestly, I wasn’t sure how I felt about a lot of things Kian .
    His knight in shining armor routine had apparently driven Evan away. No sign of him since that horrific night. Granted, I hadn’t worked myself up to get out much, and when I did, I stuck to places that I’d deemed ‘ safe ’ in my mind. That essentially meant work, Kian’s gym, Hyper, and, occasionally, the grocery store. Not one for cooking, I generally grabbed a sandwich or a burrito on my way home, but I was thinking fried chicken tonight for a change of pace, and Valley Market had the best in town.
    I stood waiting at the counter when a small blonde girl caught my attention. Maybe about four years old or so, and she had her face pressed up against the ice cream cooler in the aisle just beside the deli. No mom in sight. I watched her for a minute as she smu shed her face against the glass.
    “Mattie?” a voice called out. The little girl pulled her face from the cool glass as Sage came around the corner. It took me a minute to remember who she was, seeing her away from Hyper. But then she pursed her lips, and the connection clicked. I’d seen that exact same annoyed expression on her face when the guys at the bar got a little too forward with her.
    “Ice cream, mommy!” the little girl smiled gleefully.
    Obviously worried and frustrated, Sage clasped the child’s hand and walked up the aisle towards me.
    “Come on, monkey ,” she gently chastised. “No ice cream for little girls who wander off in the store.” As her gaze lifted, she saw me watching. “Oh, hey, Brynn,” she greeted me.
    “Hi , Sage. Is this your daughter?” I asked, looking down at the stunningly adorable little blue-eyed, blonde, a pout on her tiny lips as she longingly gazed back at the ice cream case. Sage had rather dark hair, but there was a fair amount of similarity upon close inspection, right down to their plump cheeks.
    “Yeah, this is Mattie. She can be a little adventurous at times,” Sage huffed out, smiling down at the girl. “Good thing she’s cute, or else she’d be kind of exasperating. We’re sort of working on the whole don’t-run-off-from-mom-at-the-grocery-store thing.”
    “I never realized you had a family. You look so young.”
    “Small family. Just me and Mattie. And I am young. Probably too young. I had her when I was seventeen. Not really how I saw things going for my life, tending bar and being an unwed teenage mom, but sometimes things just don’t really work the way you thought they would, you know?” There was such an intense sadness in that statement, even though Sage clearly did her best to deliver it with a smile.
    “ Yeah, I know what you mean,” I replied softly, thinking of my own demons.
    “We’re just a couple sorry loners, I guess,” she chuckled under her breath .
    “Is it that obvious?” I asked.
    “Well, you do sort of stick to yourself at Hyper,” she smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever even really seen you talk to anyone but Kian and the guys, really… well, aside from me.”
    “I do like to come and go unnoticed, I suppose.”
    “Oh, I think you get noticed, although I don’t think most of the guys that show up there have a clue. It’s a good thing that Kian’s