Page 13 of The Sweetheart
Kai eyed him dubiously. That didn’t sound right. In his experience, it was important to anticipate all of the problems well in advance, even if it was extremely exhausting to keep track of them all and their myriad possible outcomes. Even now, he was sure he was forgetting something he should probably be worried about.
“Kai!” Kai’s attention snapped to, like it did every time Nolan used his business voice. “It’s time for bed.”
This time, Kai didn’t argue. Nolan got back to his feet, pulling Kai up too. Hewastired. A few more hours of sleep would be amazing. That part of his brain that craved being cocooned in Nolan’s bed all, wrapped up in him nodded enthusiastically. And really, what was the point in leaving now anyway? He was sure it would take him hours to walk home from here and he only had the vaguest idea of where “here” was.
Nolan folded his hand in his and led him back to the bedroom. He stripped him down, gave him a pair of boxers to sleep in and urged him back into bed. This time, Nolan pulled him close, facing him, one arm under Kai’s head while his other hand drew lazy patterns on his side.
“How do you just choose not to worry about stuff?” Kai asked.
“I worry about stuff sometimes, but mostly, if I can do something about whatever I’m worried about, I do it, and if I can’t, then I just wait until there’s something I can do.” He paused. “The truth is, when I catch myself worrying, I’m usually worried about the worst possible outcome, and then I have to ask myself if the worst case is actually what I think is going to happen. Usually it isn’t.”
Kai thought about it. He could see that Nolan was probably right, but the truth was, in his world, even the most likely outcomes were still pretty shitty.
“I don’t know. I feel like if I just keep thinking about everything, then nothing can take me by surprise.”
Nolan tilted Kai’s chin so that he was forced to look him in the eye.
“If there are things that you’re worried about, you can always share them with me. If this thing between us doesn’t work out, I won’t regret you, I promise. And just so you know, my karma is great.”
Kai snorted a laugh. Hell, it must be. The guy lived like a king and was able to not worry at will. Kai had no idea what his life would look like if he could live like that. He looked away, his gaze landing on a book on Nolan’s side table, splayed on its pages to mark wherever he’d left off.
“What’re you reading?”
Nolan half-turned, stretching so that he didn’t disturb Kai. He flipped the book up to show the cover. A pretty jock with dark hair stared out, with the title,Be My Daddy, across the bottom half in a mix of cursive and block letters.
“What is that?” Kai laughed.
“What? It’s a romance novel. It’s about a brat in desperate need of a spanking. Kind of like you.”
Kai smirked. “Read it to me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, read it to me.” Kai settled in.
Nolan flipped back to the page before to start at the beginning of the chapter.
“Is Charlie the guy he falls for?” Kai interrupted after a minute.
“No. It’s Bennet. His tutor.”
“Damn, Daddy. How old are these guys?”
“Nineteen.”
“And you said I was too young.” Kai snorted.
“Are you going to let me read?”
“Yeah, I just need you to catch me up. What do they play?”
“Football. Zane has a scholarship to go to college, but he’s failing calculus.”
“I never finished high school.” Kai froze. It wasn’t something he normally shared, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Nolan looked over at him with interest, and embarrassment warmed his cheeks. “Is that a problem?”
“No. It’s just the first real thing you’ve told me about yourself. I want to know more.”
“You’re supposed to be reading to me.”
