Too Close

Chapter Thirty Three

"Kylo! I'm so glad you're here." Gianna's heels clicked against the wooden floorboards as she made her way over to him.

"How you doing Ms. Triple G? Giving us couture at this lil party." The glitter on his lids mirrored the glint of his smile as she did a 360 for him. "My favorite work friend. Sorry, Dessi."

"Kylo, I do not care." Dessi waved him off and he did the same to her.

"We miss you at the Garden but I'm so proud of you! Love to see all of your dreams coming true."

"Thank you." Gianna held his hands. "I miss you guys too and NYC."

"That city hasn't been the same without you, girl. I've never met an intern who could party like you. This tour is gonna be one for the books for sure." Kylo squeezed her hands, the two of them sharing a knowing smile.

"After work though." Gianna said cautiously before nodding her head toward her manager.

"Dessi's got you all trained up, I see." Kylo rolled his eyes. "So boring."

"No successful person is made by playing around in their prime. Fun is for people whose spots in the world are secured and solidified."

Kylo slimmed his eyes, "Everybody's temporary, honey."

"Everybody has the potential to become influential with the right guidance and mindset. Especially with a graduate of the University of Tina Wells, like myself." Dessi spoke highly of herself and her multifaceted idol.

"But you'll only be this age and in this place once, so you must live it like it's your last." Kylo happily defended his YOLO ideology.

"Why live like it's the end instead of ensuring longevity?" Dessi crossed her arms over her pink corset top. "That is the goal, correct?"

"I think the goal is a healthy mixture of the two." Gianna interrupted the mini-debate that formed. "Hey, have you guys checked out the food? I'm starving."

"No, but I do see something scrumptious." Kylo put his finger to his lip as one side of his mouth curled up. "Dessi, who's that?" Both the girls turned to where Kylo was looking, which happened to be by the bar where the founder of the company sat with the eye candy.

"That's Miles Delgado. I like him a lot." Dessi explained while Kylo listened and Gianna stood alongside them, the quietest either of them had ever seen her.

Because she couldn't hear them. Her heart rate immediately picked up in speed, and the sound of the organ pounding drowned out everything around her. Time felt like it stalled as she looked at him from a distance.

Images of the memories she had with him, good and bad, bounced around her brain and fogged her vision. A part of her felt like she was the twenty-three year old version of herself again.

Even more so when his eyes stuck on her through the crowd that seemed to be invisible since they could spot one another so easily and clearly. They thoroughly stared into the other, the air between them thick with unspoken words.

"Damn, does he have super hearing or something?" Kylo theatrically used his arms to turn back to Gianna when he noticed Miles looking back in their direction. "What's with the ghost face, Gigi? I said this old ass place was haunted." He pursed his lips while shaking his head, earning a laugh from Dessi.

It seemed impossible but Gianna managed to tear her eyes away from him. "No paranormal activity on my end." She pulled up a smile. "What's he doing here?" Gianna tucked her hair behind her ears as she folded her arms.

"Miles is a part of Beyond The Bookshelf."

"Since when?"

"Since forever, Gianna. He practically helped found it and has been here since the beginning." Dessi shared her expert knowledge and had already geared up a response to the follow up question she knew was coming. "You may have never seen him before because the last four years he's fallen off the scene, by choice, but now is rejoining the real world and getting on the road with us."