Page 23 of The Sweetheart
The silence pulled tight while Nolan waited for a proper response.
“You know, I think we could actually make this at home,” Kai said carefully, hoping Nolan would accept the change in topic. He glanced over and caught Nolan’s assessing stare.
“You think so?” he asked casually. Kai dropped his shoulders, relieved.
“I mean,” Kai hesitated awkwardly, “if you show me how.”
“Maybe on Saturday. Give you a reason to stick around.” Nolan winked at him. Kai felt a wave of possessiveness lick through him.
“I already have a reason.”
Nolan’s face did that soft thing again, but this time it was mixed with something else. Was it concern? Worry? Kai didn’t know, but Nolan’s expression cleared and he nodded to Kai’s plate. “Hustle up so I can get some dessert in you.” Nolan ordered a cortado for himself and both a New York–style cheesecake and tiramisu for dessert. He plied Kai with food like he wasn’t sure when he’d get his next meal. It was a reasonable concern. Living in a house with three guys in their teens and twenties who hadn’t had a ton of parental supervision growing up meant they didn’t really do “mealtimes.”
They boxed up their leftovers, Nolan insisting he take them with him.
They were loitering now. Neither of them were really ready to say goodbye even though they’d agreed to part ways after lunch. Nolan had wanted to drive him home, but Kai wasn’tready for his two worlds to intersect. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see the look on Nolan’s face when he saw their busted-out trailer. Would he feel pity or would it be disgust? It didn’t matter; the idea of both made shame burn his face.
Kai was also pretty sure he was in deep shit for being M.I.A. for two days, and there was no telling how that was going to play out.
When they couldn’t put it off any longer, they got to their feet. Before Kai could take a step from the table, though, Nolan flagged their server for a pen and scribbled his phone number onto a bar napkin. Kai stared down at the drying blue ink, trying to engrave the digits into his memory before carefully folding the napkin and tucking it into his pocket.
When they got outside, Nolan wrapped his arm around Kai’s waist, pulling him up against him. “It’s crazy that I’m not ready to let go yet, right?”
“I get it. I’m charming as fuck.” Kai grinned through a blush.
Nolan mirrored it back. “You are charming. And sweet. I’m going to miss the hell out of you this week.”
Kai wanted to say it back, but the words felt like it didn’t properly describe the frustration vibrating through him. It felt like they’d somehow been wrapped up tight in rubber bands these last two days, and now pulling apart stretched the bands too thin. He didn’t know how to say all of those things, so instead he went a little more pink and said, “Same,” so awkwardly it sounded disingenuous even to his own ears. When Nolan kissed him, he tried to pour all of those feelings into it. Tried to memorize the shape of his mouth and the sensation of them moving against his, his beard scraping against Kai’s face.
They broke apart and Kai turned to walk away, swearing, with every step, that he could feel that elastic tightening, trying to pull him back. Maybe he would get a new phone. He glancedover his shoulder to where Nolan was watching him, his hands shoved into his jean pockets.
Maybe. If he could find a way to pay for it.
“Whatthe fuckwere you thinking?”Kai almost landed on his ass when Liam’s hands connected with his chest. He’d come flying out of the trailer, t-shirtless and barefoot, jeans slung low and rage vibrating in the air around him. “Two fucking days and you don’t fucking call?”
“Why the fuck did you leave me at the fucking club then?” Kai shoved him back, anger replacing the guilt he’d been nurturing and taking an immediate leap from zero to ten. It had taken Kai a few hours to walk home, and it was early evening now. Kai was tired and irritable, and, even though he’d known he’d have to deal with Liam’s bullshit, he still managed to not be fully prepared.
“So you could fix your fuck-up! You fucking know better!” Liam shouted, shoving him again, getting right into Kai’s face.
“Liam! Not in front of the boys.” Jason, one of their roommates, had followed Liam out of the trailer but stood behind the railing on the tiny porch, watching the scene unfold. Liam glared at Kai, letting him know this wasn’t over. Kai shoved past him, taking care to slam into his shoulder on his way. He met Jason’s assessing stare briefly before walking by him. Justin, Casey and Callum were crowded behind the screen door, trying to see what was going on.
“You brought food?” Casey’s eyes lit up, going from concerned to excited in the span of a second.
“What did you get?” Callum asked. Kai dropped his haul onto the small ledge that was their kitchen counter and the three boys descended on it like wolves.
“Italian,” Kai answered, throwing himself onto the hard-asscouch. The trailer technically had two rooms and a kitchen table that could convert into another bed whenever they were desperate. The cushions were gone before they’d rented the shit box, but it was better than the murky grey, orange carpet that probably hadn’t been cleaned since before any of them were born. Jason and Justin shared the bigger of the rooms. Technically, the other room was Liam’s, but the twins used it more often than not. The couch was Kai’s. Even with the busted frame that caused the cushions to sink in the centre, Kai had slept in far worse places.
“What’s this?” Callum’s face twisted into a mask of disgust as he looked into the small container with leftover caprese salad.
“Vegetables. You should try them sometime. Plates?” Jason remarked, now back inside to direct the chaos. Justin was the only one who acknowledged him with a shake of his head, his mouth already full of lasagna. It wasn’t a ton of food, but they all knew to make sure they left a little of something for everyone. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t eat their share right out of the takeout containers though, their forks battling for dominance.
Liam had followed Jason inside, still glaring, but Kai knew his curiosity would get the better of him.
“So what did you get?”
“Nothing.” Kai shrugged.
“The fuck do you mean, you got nothing?”
