Disappear

They spent the rest of the day in the studio. Luke was busy with his music as usual, while Kim's mind jumped wildly.

The conversation with Charlie was still in her stomach, she didn't like the fact that he was aware of her connection to Luke at the time. Then she had to keep thinking about what was going to happen next, she was sure that the whole thing was not over yet. After the mission had failed so miserably the previous night, it was to be expected that the stranger would try again, and she racked her mind again who could be behind it.

Unobtrusively and carefully, she observed the three men who were playing music with Luke, but they all behaved completely normal and unsuspicious. She made up her mind to take another look at each individual as soon as Charlie had emailed her the evaluations.

Then her gaze fell on Luke again, and she remembered how worried he had been for her last night. She wondered whether she might not have misjudged him on the basis of her previous experiences, and whether a completely different person was hiding behind his arrogant manner.

The afternoon passed over all this brooding. In the evening they all ate together and then went into the living room, where Kyle got a game console out of the closet.

"Okay guys, time for my revenge from last time," he grinned as he connected the cables to the TV and plugged the four controllers into the device.

Shortly afterwards, the four men sat in a semicircle around the television and fought bitterly with their virtual characters and obviously had a lot of fun doing it. Kim watched them with interest and was amused to find that it didn't seem to take much to turn four seasoned men into a few small, competitive boys in a matter of seconds.

At some point Luke turned his head to face her. "What about you, do you want to play a few rounds too?"

"Better not, I have no idea how to do it, I'd just spoil your fun," Kim smiled, shaking her head.

“Rubbish,” Kyle said defensively, “just give it a try, it's not that difficult.”

Luke, who was sitting on the floor, waved her over. "Come here, I'll show you how to do it."

"I don't know ..." she said hesitantly, but the men wouldn't rest, so she reluctantly got up and sat down next to Luke on the floor.

He pulled her a little closer to him, sat down behind her, put his arms around her, took the controller in his hand and explained the functions of the individual buttons.

She tried to concentrate on what he was saying.

She felt the warmth of his torso on her back, his fingers constantly touching hers, triggering a thousand tiny electrical sparks that danced across her skin, and she wanted to jump up and run out.

Chris started a new game, and under Luke's commands she pushed the buttons wildly, but he had his hands on her hips, and both that touch and his proximity made her so nervous that she had no chance against the experienced boys . After a few rounds she had driven Luke's high score so badly that she laughed and shook her head.

"Forget it, but that's one of the few things men can do better than women." She turned her head slightly and looked regretfully at Luke. "I'm sorry I messed up your game."

He hugged her briefly and laughed. "Never mind, I'll catch up with that quickly, the boys have nothing on it." She

quickly slid away from him and stood up.

"Well, if you're a woman unsuitable for playing, you could at least get us some drinks," Kyle grinned at her.

Kim made a face at him. “I'd have to make you die of thirst for that, but I don't want to be like that.”

She went into the kitchen and had just taken a few cans of beer from the fridge when she heard Chris quietly ask, “Tell me Luke, is there something going on between the two of you? "

She paused, shocked, to hear Luke reply gruffly," Stop it, I don't know what this is any of your business. "

" Don't get upset now, the little one is pretty hot, and I just thought, if you're not interested, maybe I could… ”

He got no further, Kim saw Luke jump up, pull Chris up from the chair and press him against the wall.

"If you speak of her like that again, you can pack your things," he said with difficulty, and his tone left no doubt that he meant business.

"All right, all right," said Chris, holding up his hands in defense. "I didn't mean it that way."

But Luke didn't hear his last words anymore, he had gone out, and the door slammed behind him.

There was an embarrassed silence in the living room, Kim stood there as if struck by lightning, helplessly holding the beer in her hand.

After a moment she had recovered, she went over to the men, who were looking at her in embarrassment, and put the cans on the table in silence. Then she went to the door, turned again and looked at Chris.

"Maybe you should use the pool more often, the cold water would be good for you," she said dryly and left the room.

Shaking her head, she climbed the stairs, looked briefly into the study, but Luke was not there. She went over to her room and immediately heard him pacing back and forth next door.

For a moment she wondered if she should go to him, but then she decided to leave him alone. She sat on her bed and picked up her book.

A little later there was a cautious knock on the connecting door, and Luke came in on her "yes".

"Please excuse me for overhearing."

" All right , it was just a stupid saying, and now I know the boys well enough not to take it seriously," Kim waved him off. “I'm just sorry you're in trouble with Chris because of it - I don't want to be the reason you argue.”

“Don't worry about that, I don't want you to be treated like any of the women who ... anyway, if you don't stick to them, you'll be kicked out, ”he declared categorically.

"Like I said, it wasn't so bad," Kim smiled reassuringly. "You shouldn't be upset about it, after all, we both have a completely different problem to deal with."

He gave her an odd look.

"Yes, we must have," he mumbled softly and disappeared back into his room.