36

Kylian's POV

I downed the second scotch and looked around the bar. I wasn’t sure why I had gone there. What was I expecting to happen? I knew what normally happened when I came to the bar. Or used to happen. I’d show up. I’d do a little flirting and then at the end of the night, I’d take home the woman I chose. All of it sounded so boring now. I heaved a heavy sigh, hoping to feel that familiar spark of excitement of conquering someone new. It wasn’t coming.

The usual crowd was milling about, enjoying after-work drinks with coworkers and friends while doing a little flirting. I used to be one of those people. Mingling and hooking up with a new face every week, sometimes more often. It suddenly felt cloying, like I had done this exact same thing so many times. I needed to break out of the rut I was in.

“Let’s go to the club,” I said on a spur-of-the-moment decision. Desmond wrinkled his nose. “Aren’t we a little old for that?”

“No. We’re in our early thirties. That does not make us over