51. Kassian

Chapter fifty-one

Kassian

Sunday, December 31, 2023

I 'm shaking with excitement at the opportunity to see Aiyana, especially because she's going to lose her mind, in the best way possible, when she realizes what I have planned for us.

She loves adventurous, out-of-the-box plans, and I'm pretty sure I've come up with an outrageously perfect idea, but even if it's a total bust, at least I'll get to spend time with my favorite person.

It's a few minutes till two, so I'm a little early. I knock and wait, hearing Aiyana rushing around inside before the door finally pops open, and she's swinging it wide for me to hold as she grabs her coat. She slips the sleeves of her black coat on, holding it open as she does a twirl for me and asks, "Is this fine?"

"You look gorgeous." My heart stutters in my chest just looking at her, and my hands aren't even on her yet.

She rolls her eyes. "I wasn't looking for a compliment. I want to know if this outfit works for whatever you've got planned."

Realization dawns on me, and my cheeks heat. She's wearing long black leggings with a tight-fitting, long-sleeved burgundy shirt in an athletic spandex-type material, dark-red knit socks that come up over the ankle of her leggings, and black Reebok sneakers strapped to her tiny feet.

"Yep, you look perfect." The smile that curves her lips is too much for me to resist touching her any further. I settle my hands on her hips, dragging her small body into me and tugging her head under my chin. She fits against me so perfectly, it's like we're made for each other. Bending my head, I press a kiss to her crown, which is sporting her signature braid, and I take a deep breath, letting her scent fill my lungs.

In the summer, she smells floral like jasmine but warm like vanilla or cashmere, and there's always a hint of coconut or citrus. It's the perfect combination of intoxicating. But in the winter, she changes her scent, swapping out for something deeper, warmer, and more sensual, like amber and honey. Always sweet but not too sweet, just like her. Perfection.

She plants her hands on my chest, pushing away from me a bit to look up at my face. Her big brown eyes stare back at me as if they hold all the secrets of the world in them, and I could just stand here forever, staring into them. Her full upper lip puffs out as she decides we've been standing around too long, her smile turning playful as she pushes off of me more forcefully and turns out of my grasp to head into the hall.

"Come on, sweet ass, I'm starving." She stomps off toward the elevator and presses the down button, never one to wait on anyone, but especially not me . She's never had to wait for me though. She knows I'll always follow.

We make it down to my truck and pull off onto the main road, heading out of the city, and the moment she notices, she turns her whole body in her seat, staring me down with a quirked brow. "Where are we going? It's New Year's Eve; shouldn't we be staying in the city?"

I shake my head. "Nope, and you'll just have to wait and see."

She huffs at that but turns back to sit forward again, then leans across the center console to fidget with the radio station before opting to set up Bluetooth from my phone. I sneak glances at her, watching as she presses the buttons, figuring out my new stereo system herself, and I know better than to offer to help. She forms that little crease between her perfectly manicured, thin, dark brows, and the tip of her tongue sticks out of the side in complete concentration as she finally lands on the setting for Bluetooth. It took her a little longer because my radio is new and unnecessarily complicated.

"Phone, please," she says, holding her palm out to me. I grab it out of my pocket, slipping it into her hand, mine lingering for a beat, reveling in the warmth that radiates off of her despite the chill in the air. My hands return to the steering wheel, and she tries to open my phone, realizing she doesn't know the password.

"Does it have face ID? Can I just swipe it in front of your face?" I chuckle at her question.

"Just key in the code—the password is one-two-one-zero-nine-five." She does as I say but stops abruptly, looking up at me as we approach a red light, and her mouth hangs open slightly in shock when she realizes.

"Your password," she says, her voice almost a whisper, "is my birthday?"

I nod. "Best day of my life." I smile when her jaw drops even further, and she smacks my thigh just as the light turns green.

"You're such a kiss ass," she snarks, fully recovering, and it makes me snort out a laugh.

"Baby, I'll kiss your ass any day of the week," I retort, and I think I see her tawny skin flush from my periphery.

"Turn the radio on," I instruct her, giving her an opportunity to recover. She does, turning the station to an early two-thousands pop station. A familiar song starts playing, and without a second thought, I roll down the windows and start belting out the lyrics.

Aiyana's beautiful lips spread into a full smile before she grabs something from my floorboard and brings it up to her face. She starts bellowing into her makeshift microphone, using a shaker bottle I had rolling around from yesterday's practice.

One thing Aiyana and I have always had in common is our mutual love of karaoke and how incredibly bad we are at it.

We carry on like that the entire drive, singing at the top of our lungs as cars pass, honking and laughing at us.

But I couldn't care less because Aiyana has the most gorgeous smile, and I'm getting to see it in full force tonight.

Several minutes later, we pull up to a small diner in a nearby town. I chose the place because she and I used to spend every Sunday eating breakfast at a local diner when we were in undergrad, and this one reminded me of it. It's also pretty close to the place we're going to tonight, and I wanted to limit how much driving we did in the dark, especially on a holiday with a lot of drunk drivers out.