Page 40 of The Sweetheart
Kai didn’t takethe two boxes out until lunch time. He’d been half-freaked out they’d get lost or stolen the entire morning but was eager to know if Nolan had texted him. He sat on the half-finished deck they’d been working on, afraid the phone would fall out of the box and break on impact, but it just lay flat in the box, shiny and pretty and looking hella expensive.
“Damn, Kai, did you get a boyfriend or a sugar daddy?” one of the guys, Peter, asked.
“That the new iPhone?” Gage, beside him, asked. He leaned over Kai’s shoulder, trying to see while also reaching to scoop some almonds out of one of the little containers that Kai had spread out in front of him. Nolan had packed way more food than Kai needed, but it was nice having something to share for once rather than constantly being the one shared with.
“I dunno.” He tipped it out into his palm. A small piece of paper tumbled out with it: the I.D. and password. Kai smirked. Of course, Nolan would have set it up for him. He pulled out the case that Nolan had given him, pleased to see it was one of those hardcore deals that you could probably run over without doing too much damage to the phone inside.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you with a phone once since I met you,” Matteo said as Kai manipulated the phone into the case. Of course he hadn’t. He’d met Matteo two years ago, and his own phone had long since been dead. He didn’t answer, but he could feel Matteo’s curiosity growing. His eyebrows had shot up when Kai had unpacked his lunch, but he could tell that Matteo approved, like Kai had done something right even though hehadn’t done anything at all. “You make sure I get that number. It’ll be nice not having to hunt you down every time I need you.”
Kai didn’t particularly care about work calls right now. He only cared about one thing, and when he powered on the phone and saw that little red icon with a one in it, his grin spread. Touching the app sent a thrill up his arm.
Hey sweetheart, I’m missing you already. Can’t wait to see you tonight.
It was time stamped at 1:30 a.m. He didn’t bother texting back, just hit the video call button at the top of the screen. Nolan’s face appeared on the screen after a couple of seconds, looking pleased. Kai could see his own big dopey grin mirrored back to him in the little corner of the screen.
“Hey.”
“You opened the box.” There was a note of approval in Nolan’s voice that did funny things to Kai’s insides in a way that didn’t happen when Matteo spoke to him like that.
“I just wanted to say hi and stuff,” he said awkwardly, elbowing Gage and Peter as they tried to lean into the frame.
“Have you had lunch?”
“Yeah, just having it now.” Kai turned the camera to show Nolan all of the containers laid out and mostly finished.
“Yeah, thanks for the food!” Gage yelled. Kai turned the phone back so they were looking at each other again and grinned.
“I shared.”
“That’s okay. So long as you ate.”
“Wanna see what we worked on today?” He didn’t wait for Nolan to answer, just jumped to his feet and took him around, showing him everything he’d done and what they still had left to do, pleased when Nolan seemed impressed by the work they’d done.
“Damn, baby! I might have to put you to work.”
“I could do some stuff. I’m not, like, super good. Matteo comes up with all of the designs. He’s crazy talented.”
“Is that something you want to do?” Nolan asked.
“I don’t know. I like it. But not really when I have to wake up at the asscrack of dawn to do it.”
Nolan chuckled just as Matteo let out a piercing whistle. Kai looked up, and Matteo waved him over.
“I gotta go. Matteo’s calling me.”
“Okay, text me later.”
“’Kay! Bye!” Nolan’s response was interrupted by Peter calling him back. Kai gave Nolan a quick wave and hung up, hurrying to pack up the remnants of his lunch so that they could get started again.
They worked well past five until they were all sweaty and exhausted from the long day they’d put in. Kai was pretty sure that Matteo would have stayed even longer if he didn’t have to drive them home. Kai dutifully texted Nolan when they were on their way so that when they pulled into the driveway, Nolan was already waiting for him.
He’d been chatting with Matteo about the feature they needed to install the next day, and he was hit with a bolt of alarm when he realized that Matteo intended to walk him to Nolan’s car. His eyes flicked to Nolan’s, and whatever expression was on his face had Nolan’s mouth quirked in amusement. There was no way of getting out of the introduction without being rude, and Matteo didn’t deserve that.
Nolan climbed out of his car, waiting for them at the top of the driveway. Matteo didn’t wait for Kai, reaching out with both hands to grasp Nolan’s waiting one.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Matteo. Kai showed me the work you guys were doing out there today. It was impressive.”
“Thank you. Kai’s been working his ass off for me these last few days. I’m always grateful when I have him on the crew.”Matteo squeezed Kai’s shoulder affectionately, and Kai blushed. “Hey, get your paperwork for me. I could use a little extra help this summer.”
