Page 176 of Forgotten Prejudice

Knowing he was doing it on purpose only made me more furious. I wanted to yell at him, but first, I had to clarify it to Soren.

“We’re not going to be parents. He’s talking nonsense,” I told Soren, who was so shocked that he began filling his plate with food. It was so not like him to shove calories down his throat without giving it a second thought, and pissed off, I looked at Kai.

“What’s your problem?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re not having any kids!” I hissed, the vein on my neck popping.

“You practically agreed to it.” Kai turned his head toward Soren. “He practically agreed to it.”

Grabbing Kai’s jaw, I snapped his head to face me. “Don’t you dare say another word,” I warned, my blood boiling. Soren must have thought I was making a joke out of him, and the mere thought killed me. Agreeing to this dinner was clearly a mistake. It was all just one big plan of Kai’s to get back at Soren. Sure, we deserved to be scolded for going behind his back, but not like this. There were better methods.

“Soren, listen—”

Soren raised his hand in front of him, his eyes bulging, signaling me not to speak before he reached for his wineglass, his face red as he downed the contents of the glass like a man who hadn’t drunk in a year.

“And I’m the alcoholic,” Kai muttered under his breath, his tone mean.

I glared at him right before Soren coughed and spluttered, reaching for the water. His face was glowing, and his chest was heaving. He appeared to be struggling to swallow as he attempted to pour himself a glass of water with shaking hands.

“Soren?” I asked worriedly due to the changing color of his face. Shit. Had we shocked him so much that he was choking on something—hold on. He truly was choking, his lips swelling, too.

“I-I c-can’t swallow,” he wheezed, his voice rough as he plonked the glass down and grabbed for his tie, clumsily attempting to release it.

“What did you eat?” I demanded, panic taking hold of me. I jumped to my feet and moved around the table to get to him. “Did any of this have mushrooms in it?” I asked Kai, doing my best to hold it together. He, on the other hand, was rooted to his seat, wide-eyed.

“W-What?” he stuttered, looking at me.

“Did any of this food have any mushrooms in it?” I asked through gritted teeth, pushing Soren’s useless hands away to undo his tie and top button.

Coming out of his shock, Kai got up and quickly checked the table, his eyes moving over everything. “The pasta! He ate the pasta—it was cooked in mushroom stock, and the sauce, too.” His face paled as he glanced at Soren, who was making grunting noises.

“I told you he’s allergic!” I yelled at Kai, my body tensing with fear and adrenaline while Soren kept on gasping and wheezing. My hands shook while I tried to rub his back, realizing it wouldn’t help at all. I had to get him to a hospital, but first—

I checked his jacket for an EpiPen, as I knew he always carried one with him, just in case. Luckily, he had one now. In all the time we’d been together, not once did he have to use it, but him being him, he’d taught me how to work it just in case.

“The blue side up and the orange down,” I reminded myself aloud before jabbing him with the injection that would help with his symptoms.

In the background, I heard someone say they’d called an ambulance, but we weren’t far from the hospital, and I wasn’t about to wait.

“Get me my car,” I ordered Kai, already tossing him my keys, which he caught.

By the time I’d gotten Soren to my truck, his skin was covered in a red rash, while his lips and the lower half of his face were swollen. My anger at Kai made my temples throb, and the thought of killing him with my own bare hands crossed my mind. Only right then, my worry for Soren overshadowed my anger. He was my sole priority; the rest could fucking wait.

“Let me drive you,” Kai offered after Soren was sitting in the passenger seat.

The second he reached his hand forward, I slapped it away. “You’ve done enough,” I warned through gritted teeth, the fury on my face enough to let him know he’d better not push me any further. I wasn’t the type of guy to get angry, but as of late, Kai dragged it out of me with force.

Closing Soren’s door, I ran around the hood, quickly climbed into the driver’s seat, and turned on the engine.

“I t-think I’m b-better now,” Soren grunted while trying to straighten himself out on the seat.

Taking a breath and a moment to look at him, I placed my hand on his chest and forced him to stay put. “Don’t push yourself.”

He sagged against the seat, and only then did I reverse out of the parking spot, not bothering to look at Kai, who was standing on the curbside.

“Ah…” Soren hissed, grabbing my attention. “I hate this.”