all strings attached || n.h au

part one

"Who?" Kyra looked around the living room, pretending not to know who exactly Bianca was referring to.

She didn't miss the way the other girl kept her eyes trained on Niall the entire night as though waiting for the right time to approach him and to, no doubt, make romantic advances. So far, Bianca hadn't had the chance to do either and not to sound like a possessive girlfriend because she's not that kind of girlfriend and hopefully would never become that kind of girlfriend, she's glad her brother had been keeping her boyfriend occupied ever since he arrived at Eliana's first birthday party. Kyra had a feeling that the moment Travis left him alone, Bianca would see it as an opportunity to get Niall alone.

It would be entertaining to see her boyfriend looking uncomfortable and squirming whilst Bianca talked to him, especially with the knowledge that his girlfriend would be watching his every move only a few feet away. Kyra usually enjoyed it, but she wasn't sure if that's what she wanted to witness this evening.

Not when she hadn't seen him in over a week because of his stupid job that required him to travel to Manhattan for a week to secure a deal with one of their clients who apparently preferred to deal with him and he'd only returned this morning. He was supposed to come over to her place as soon as he landed but something else came up and he promised to meet her at her niece's birthday party instead.

"Travis' friend." Bianca answered. "Niall. Or is it Neil?"

"Niall," Kyra corrected her.

"Yeah." Bianca nodded, not paying attention to Kyra as her eyes drifted back to Niall who's in a deep conversation with Travis. He's probably unaware of a few pairs of eyes on him at the moment. Kyra wondered what they're talking about. She should ask him later when they're alone. "What's the deal with him? He's still single right?"

"He is, but he's not looking to date anyone," Cassie, Travis' wife, interrupted as she returned from changing Eliana's clothes as she spilled her apple juice on her shirt earlier and took a seat next to Kyra.

Kyra had to fight the urge to let out a relieved sigh because she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up a conversation with Bianca without Cassie around. It's not that she didn't like Bianca, though the way her eyes lingered inappropriately long on Niall bothered her to no end, it's just that she didn't know what to talk about with her as they had nothing in common. Except for their attraction for Niall, it seemed.

"At least that's what he told Travis."

"He told Travis that?" That question left Kyra's mouth before she could stop it. Good thing Cassie didn't seem to notice anything or didn't consider that question was weird because Travis certainly would.

"Yeah," Cassie nodded as she bounced Eliana on her lap, the toddler distracted with the toy in her hands. It's the toy Kyra got for her a month ago when she found out her niece loved to chew things now. "Travis wanted to set him up with someone from work and he told him he's not interested."

Damn it, Travis, Kyra thought, him and his incessant matchmaking.

Her brother was always trying to set Niall up with someone – sometimes it's someone from his workplace or someone he met through a friend or a friend of a friend and one time, he tried to set him up with Cassie's friend. But the moment Kyra asked him to match her with any of his friends (just for fun and also because she barely had time to meet new people outside of work), he'd turn down the idea immediately. Like he couldn't wrap his head around the concept that his younger sister wasn't young and little anymore, and that she's allowed to date whomever she wanted.

Kyra couldn't help but to wonder what Travis would say or do if he found out she's dating his best friend. Nothing good, no doubt. Him getting protective over Kyra was one thing and completely natural because he's her brother, his protectiveness over Niall was a completely different thing – weird, different thing because they're best friends. That's it.