Kai Ashford's POV
I shouldn't have come.
The music was obnoxious. The lights too bright. The people too loud. Half of them drunk, the other half pretending not to be. I stood in the corner, untouched and unbothered, watching the chaos like a king surveying a crumbling kingdom he wanted no part of.
Then she appeared.
Sky Ren.
Glittering like a fire hazard. Smiling like the world hadn't broken her yet. Laughing like the music was made for her.
She was wearing silver. Or was it white? Honestly, I couldn't tell—there were too many sequins, too much shine. Her hair flowed down her back like a waterfall of ink, thick and glossy and so unnecessarily long I wondered how she hadn't accidentally strangled someone with it.
And of course, she saw me.
"Kai!"
Shit.
I didn't even have time to react before she grabbed my arm like we'd known each other forever.
"I was wondering if you'd show," she said, breathless, cheeks flushed, glitter all over her damn face.
I stared. "You're glittering."
"Thanks!" she chirped. "I bedazzled my dress this morning. With glue. And hope."
God help me.
"No," I said flatly when she tried to pull me into the crowd.
"Yes," she grinned like a lunatic. "Come on. Just one dance. You look like you haven't smiled since birth."
I didn't even argue. Not because I wanted to go—but because arguing with her was like yelling at the sun. Useless. Bright. Infuriatingly persistent.
So I let her drag me.
One second I was still, distant, a ghost among people. The next, I was surrounded by noise and perfume and neon, with her spinning like some chaotic little storm, dragging me in like gravity.
She twirled.
She laughed.
And then—of course—she tripped.
I don't know why I moved.
Reflex, maybe. Or instinct. Or something much dumber.
But I caught her.
And suddenly—there she was. In my arms. Soft, breathless, flushed. Her fingers curled into my shirt. Her eyes round and wide and way too close. Her laugh died on her lips.
And for the first time that night, she went quiet.
And I hated how fast my heart was beating.
I let go. Too quickly.
"You trip like it's a hobby," I muttered.
She smiled like I'd given her a diamond.
"Only into interesting people," she said.
Goddamn it.