Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
W earing a white workout shirt, black shorts, and his black jacket, Kai stepped out of Conner’s BMW and waltzed up the curb of a brick convenience store with Conner following. His long ponytail swung across his back. “Palatki was pretty cool. It’s such a beautiful spot, no wonder the Sinagua settled there.”
Conner, in a thin gray hooded sweatshirt and blue shorts, opened the glass doors for Kai. “Wonder if any of them are related to you.” He snickered.
Kai rolled his eyes. Here we go with the ancestry jokes. “We’re all related at some point.” He stepped inside and walked through an isle of snacks to the back cooler, opened the door, and grabbed two large water bottles. “Damn, I’m thirsty.” He handed one to him.
Conner twisted off the cap on his bottle and gulped down some water. “Me, too. We should have gotten water before we went out there, but it wasn’t that long of a hike.”
Kai opened his water and drank it down. “Let’s get a few more, just in case.” He grabbed another bottle out, handed it to him, then took another one for himself.
“You going to pay for that? ”
Kai startled, then twisted around.
A man in a red plaid shirt and dirty jeans with a long beard and graying hair glared at him, one hand on his hip, the other holding a large can of beer. “Well?”
“Of course.” What the hell was this guy going on about? Kai attempted a grin.
“Fucking Mexicans. Always trying to get everything for free.” The man stomped through the isle to the cashier and paid for his drink.
“What the fuck was that?” Kai stared at Conner.
“I think he just called you a fucking Mexican.” Conner snarled, handed all the water bottles to him, then strode to the front of the store.
What is Conner going to do? Kai jogged up behind him, bumping his arm. “Hey, stop.”
Conner’s face reddened. “No one talks to you like that.” He tapped the man on the shoulder.
The man, a few inches shorter than Conner, sneered at him. “What do you want?”
“You need to apologize to him.” Conner pointed at Kai.
Kai widened his eyes. Holy shit . This guy would never apologize. He’d seen a million others just like him. Complete and utter assholes. It wasn’t worth the hassle. He released a tense chuckle, holding his hand out. “Hey, it’s okay. Just leave it alone.”
“Why should I apologize to him? He should go back to Mexico if he doesn’t like it.” The man scowled and went through the front door.
Behind the counter, a young female cashier said, “Hey, don’t start anything in the store. I’ll have to call the police!”
“Fine, then we’ll take this outside.” Conner glared after the man and stomped through the door.
Kai’s heart pounded. “D-don’t call the police, please. I’ll calm him down.” He set the water bottles on the counter, then raced outside.
Conner stood chest to chest with the man on the sidewalk, towering over him. In a growl, he said, “He’s not even Mexican, you fucking moron. If anyone belongs here, he does. You go the fuck back to whatever rock you crawled out from.” He flared his nostrils, fisting his hands at his sides.
God damn it, this guy isn’t worth it. “Conner. Stop. She’s going to call the police.” He pointed to the store and grabbed Conner’s arm.
Conner yanked his arm free. “Well? Apologize.”
“Fuck you.” The man spat at Kai.
Kai shifted, the spittle landing beside him. Oh... game on. “No, fuck you.” He sneered and lifted his fist.
Conner belted the man, square in the jaw. “Fucking asshole.”
The man yowled and grabbed his chin, stepping back. He stared at Conner with wide eyes, then glowered, pointing at Kai. “Why would you defend him? You’re white.”
“I’m not a God damned racist.” Conner lifted his fist and stepped close to the man. “Get the fuck out of here before I beat the shit out of you.”
The man stumbled back, his gaze darting between Kai and Conner.
“You heard him, go. Or you’ll have to take us both on.” Kai stepped forward, puffing his chest, his fist still raised, his heart pumping hard.
The man grumbled, then walked off to a gray truck and got in.
Conner grabbed Kai’s hands. “You okay?” He wrinkled his brows.
Kai drew deep breaths. “Yeah, guess so. It’s not like that was the first time.” He certainly wasn’t expecting it here.
“Are you kidding me?” Conner looked him up and down. “I had no idea shit like that happened anymore.”
“Well, it does.” Kai twisted his mouth. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He peeked at his face.
“Don’t be sorry. That asshole should be sorry.” Conner growled and stomped his foot. “Fuck, what an asshole.” He scanned around him, then wrapped Kai up in a tight embrace, kissing the side of his head. “Next time someone says something like that to you, I’ll just beat them senseless. I won’t even wait.”
Kai smiled against his shoulder. It felt good to know he would defend him like that. “Thanks.”
Conner released him. “Let’s go pay for our water and get out of here.”
“Yeah.”
Kai followed Conner up a path of reddish-colored dirt, surrounded by cliffs with reddish, orange, and cream striations rising up out of the green pinyon pines and scrubby bushes and oaks. The noonday sun made shadowed patterns in the crags on the mountains. He plodded along, taking in the immense beauty around him. Every once in a while, a group of other hikers walked by them. “Damn, this place is something else. No wonder it’s such a spiritual center.”
Conner sipped some water from a bottle. “Yeah. Are you Christian?” He glanced at him.
“Not really. My mother is, you know, after the rehab stint.” Kai chuckled. “She used to take us to church, but it never really stuck.”
Conner nodded. “We used to go to Christ’s Church in town. I don’t go anymore.”
Figures, that’s where all the wealthy, popular kids went when they were in high school. “So, I guess Paige was also in your church?” Kai looked at the trail, as they headed up a small hill, toward some cliffs.
“Yeah, we met in youth group there.” Conner freed a sharp laugh. “Along with Ben and Lucas, believe it or not.”
“What’s not to believe?” They were a pretty tight-knit group. He sipped some water.
Conner stopped. “The ruins are up there.” He pointed to a huge overhang in the cliffside, almost a full-on cave. The remnants of ancient walls littered the underside of the overhang, made of flat, clay-colored, stone masonry, piled high, with doorways between.
“That’s cool. Can we go up there?” Kai held his hand over his eyes, shielding them from the sun.
“Yeah, we go through Subway Cave.” Conner grabbed his hand. “It’s a little treacherous.” He grinned at him.
He doesn’t want me to fall. Kai hung his head and smirked, hiding it from him. It was a sweet gesture, but Conner was more likely to fall than he was with all the trail running he’d done. “Let’s go.”
They hiked up a path with a cliff ledge on one side falling down to the trees and bushes, and a sandstone wall on the other, rising higher with each step. Finally they came to a steep section where the clay-colored sandstone walls rose up on either side of them. As they reached the top, Conner stopped and turned them around. “Look.”
“Holy shit.” Kai looked out between two reddish cliffs with the sides rounded inward and the valley of green below them. Out in the distance were more sandstone mountainsides, rising sharply up out of the canyon. He squeezed Conner’s hand. “Beautiful.”
Conner turned to him. “Like you.” He leaned in to place a tender kiss on his lips. “Kai, I uh...” He furrowed his brows and peered at their hands, entwined between them.
“What?” Kai searched his face. His heart hammered in his chest. There was that look again. Was he about to confess? God, I hope so. “Go on.”
Conner licked his lips and swallowed. “Um...” He bit his lip and focused on him. “Kai, I?—”
“Excuse us. Can we get by?” An older woman in hiking gear with a pole stood next to them.
Conner exhaled. “Yeah, sure.” He moved to the side, letting her and a few others pass .
Shit, shit, shit. Kai looked up at the clear blue sky. Where the hell did they come from? His attention drew back to Conner. Romantic moment gone. Damn.
Conner cleared his throat. “So, the ruins are over here.” He pointed inside the cave.
“Yeah.” He followed Conner into the cave, then walked along the edges of the ruins, peeking inside the one-room dwellings. “Hard to believe people actually lived in here.”
Conner nodded, then drank some water.
They walked down the ruins, from dwelling to dwelling, each one in various states of decay.
“Kai?” Conner stopped and surveyed their surroundings.
“Yeah?” He faced him.
“Anyone ever give you shit for being gay? Like that guy today, I mean. You ever come across homophobic people?” Conner studied him.
Kai shrugged. “Sure, I mean people are assholes about a lot of things.” Like your friend Lucas in high school... Wait, was he having second thoughts about what they were doing all of a sudden? He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you asking me about that?” Maybe he had it all wrong. Maybe Conner wasn’t on the verge of confessing. Maybe he was questioning.
Conner took slow steps along the trail.
Kai followed, watching him. “Conner?”
He stopped and turned, smirking at Kai. He ruffled the hair on top of his head. “Just want to know how many times I’m going to have to fight for you.” He went to count on his fingers. “Let’s see, for being native, for being gay and for guys hitting on you.”
Kai sniggered. “What about if a woman hits on me?” Like that would ever happen.
Conner wrinkled his nose. “You don’t like women.” He cocked his head, lifting his brows. “Okay, when women hit on you, too. ”
Kai snatched Conner’s hand. “Guess I’m lucky. I only have to worry about people hitting on you.”
Conner laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, but they don’t.”
“We’ll see.” That was utter bullshit. Kai placed a quick kiss on Conner’s cheek. Maybe he shouldn’t worry so much about Conner questioning what they had.
Kai, wearing a black fleece and jeans, sat on a wooden bar stool next to Conner at a square wrap-around wood bar top, the underside lit up in blue, the back wall filled with rows of high-end liquor bottles on dark, wood shelving and centered by a big screen television playing a football game. “Dinner was really nice.” He perused the bottles of liquor behind a male bartender, dressed all in black.
“Yeah, I love this place. The food is good, and the views are awesome from that patio.” Conner, dressed in a thin gray V-neck sweater and black jeans, picked up a drink menu.
“Watching the sunset over the red rocks during dinner was awesome.” This place was magical, and being here with Conner was even better. Kai placed a hand on Conner’s thigh.
“What do you want to drink? Since we walked here from the cabin, we can both drink, for once.” Conner offered a sly grin.
“I’m going for a dirty martini on the rocks.” Kai looked over at the bartender.
The bartender looked up from washing glasses. “What kind of vodka?”
“Tito’s.” It was the best, as far as he was concerned. Kai smiled.
Conner set his menu down. “I’ll have the same.”
Kai surveyed the establishment, checking the groups of people sitting at high-top tables, the bar itself half-full of patrons. Not too busy, just right. No one in need of refills at the moment. Funny how he even checked on people’s drinks when he wasn’t working. He let a grin quirk his lips.
Conner leaned in. “What are you thinking about?”
He freed a quick chuckle and shook his head. “Just checking on everyone, even though I don’t work here.”
“You’re right. You don’t work here. You’re on a date with me.” A wide smile swept over Conner’s mouth.
The bartender set down their martinis. “Enjoy.”
Kai picked it up and took a sip. “Wow, just right.” He held it up to the bartender. “Thanks, man.”
He gave Kai a nod and a smile.
“I’m not looking forward to going home tomorrow. Maybe we can call in sick and stay another day.” Conner frowned at his glass, then drank his martini.
“I can’t call in sick. I don’t get paid if I don’t work.” Kai glanced at a young blonde woman, sitting behind Conner.
The blonde licked her upper lip, gazing at Conner. Her long hair was curled at the ends, and she wore dramatic make-up and a small black cocktail dress.
“But you’re going to start working more days, right? Maybe more than two a week.” Conner lifted his brows.
“No, two days a week. That’s what I agreed to.” How was he going to make someone like Conner understand something like this? He needed to work when he could get maximum pay, and Janice would give him any hours he wanted. He furrowed his brows, glancing at the blonde woman. Something was up.
The woman pointed at Conner, while smiling and chatting with another blonde woman, her hair cut blunt at her chin.
“Have you thought about going back to school, maybe getting a real job?” Conner set his glass on the bar top.
“What the fuck does that mean? I have a real job.” Kai flashed a glare at him and removed the hand from his thigh, taking another peek at the blonde woman behind him. He never gets hit on, huh?
Conner set his elbow on the bar and rested his cheek in his hand, facing Kai. “Hey, I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. You were so good in high school, I just think you’d do well in college, too. Maybe you could get one of those scholarships you told me about.”
Kai released a long breath. He didn’t need to hear this from him. He was happy where he was at. “Now you sound like my mother.”
Conner lifted his head. “What?”
Kai fingered the rim of his glass. “She was never happy with anything I did, and she hates me tending bar.” He frowned. “She always said I was pathetic.” Just like my father.
“Jesus, Kai. I’m sorry.” Conner touched his arm. “I want to meet her. I want to make her see you’re not any of those things she thinks you are.”
Kai gazed into his blue eyes. “Thanks, but I don’t think anyone or anything can change how she thinks about me. I remind her too much of my father, who she apparently hates for leaving her with two young kids.”
“So, do you look a lot like your father, then?” Conner looked him up and down.
Kai nodded, remembering the few pictures his mother had kept of him. “Guess so.”
“No wonder your mom left Flagstaff to live on the rez with him.” Conner sipped his drink, wagging his brows at him.
“Stop.” Kai slapped his arm and chuckled, eying the blonde woman behind him. What would happen if he left? How would he react to being hit on? “Hey, I need to use the restroom.”
“Sure.” Conner straightened in his chair.
Kai slid off the bar chair and walked past a gold wall with booths lining it toward a hallway with a sign reading Restrooms next to it. As he entered the hallway, he stopped and turned to watch Conner.
The blonde woman sidled up to him, giving him a seductive smile.
Conner twisted in his chair to face her .
She laughed, tossing her head back.
Thought so. He gets hit on. Probably all the time. The question is, how does Conner react to it? He stepped farther into the hallway and rested his back against the wall, gnawing his lower lip. So, what is he going to do about it? He peeked around the corner. I should let this ride for a bit and see how he responds when I go back out. He curled the corner of his mouth, used the restroom, washed up, then walked out to his seat.
The blonde woman giggled, her hand resting on Conner’s forearm on the bar.
“Hey.” Kai took his seat and sipped his drink, resting his elbows on the bar top.
“Oh, Kai, you’re here.” Conner leaned back in his seat and gestured to the blonde woman. “Uh, Kai, this is Monica. Monica, Kai.”
“Nice to meet you, Kai.” She held out her hand to him, her palm facing down.
What, did she want him to kiss her hand? Kai gave it a brief squeeze, putting on his bartending smile. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“She’s a pharmaceutical rep for my competition. She calls on the same docs in Fountain Hills that I call on. She also went to bible camp with me, but I haven’t seen her since then, so I didn’t recognize her.” Conner gave him a knowing look, then grinned at her.
“Oh, really. So, you two know each other?” This meant she was probably in Conner’s little clique and they even sort of worked together. Conner wasn’t out at work. They needed to be careful. Kai drank a gulp of martini, then pinched his lips as it burned down his throat.
“Yes, it’s been a long time. I’ve seen him around at work, but didn’t say anything. All the women in the doctors’ offices talk about Conner, though.” She licked her lips, then sipped her white wine.
“Really.” This was getting more interesting by the minute. Maybe now he knew why Conner wasn’t out at the office. He flinched. He shouldn’t be thinking this way. He should trust him more. Didn’t his father get him that job? Maybe that was why he wasn’t out at the office. They all probably knew his father. He gazed at him.
“They all think he’s very attractive,” she said.
Conner flushed and hung his head, smirking. “I don’t know about that.”
“So, what are you two doing up here? Boys’ weekend without the girlfriends?” She pouted.
“There are no girlfriends.” Kai flashed his eyes at her.
“Oh, so you and Paige broke up? Well, my friend and I are single right now, too.” She pointed at the other blonde woman, wearing a short red dress, smiling at them.
Kai thinned his lips. Enough of this. “Maybe we should?—”
“Kai.” Conner glared at him, then slowly shook his head. With his back turned to Monica, he said, “Just give me a minute.”
Kai blinked. Conner wanted to hang out with them. His chest tightened. Through his teeth, he said, “Fine.”
Conner wrinkled his brows. “Kai...” He cocked his head.
Monica grabbed Conner’s arm, turning him to face her. “So, where are you staying? Maybe we could all go back to your place and catch up on the gang, you know, Ben and Lucas” She glanced at her friend. “Right, Steph? That would be fun.”
Kai pressed his lips together, staring at his drink. Now this was getting out of hand. He didn’t want to hang out with these women.
“Sure, uh, maybe.” Conner tapped him on the shoulder. “That would be okay, right?”
Kai glared at him. Under his breath, he said, “Are you serious right now?”
Conner came close to him and whispered, “We practically work together. She’s friends with my friends. What am I supposed to do? ”
Kai whispered, “You can fucking say no . That’s what you can do.” That was apparently not something Conner was good at.
Conner offered her a wide smile. “Uh, we’re pretty tired. Maybe another time?”
“That’s too bad.” Monica frowned. “Were you out golfing today?” She fluttered her eyelashes at Conner.
“No, we were hiking.” Kai scoffed and drank some martini. She probably had a rich doctor daddy, just like Conner, and here they were, in another high-end place. So why wouldn’t she assume they were golfing?
Monica drank the rest of her wine down. “Damn, I’m empty.” A coy smile crept over her lips.
“Oh, I’ll get you another.” Conner flagged down the bartender and pointed at her glass.
The bartender lifted his chin at Conner. “On your check?”
“Yeah.” Conner turned to Steph. “You want a drink?”
Steph smiled, the red lipstick stretching over her teeth. “Sure.” She got up and took a bar chair next to Kai. “What’s your name?”
He widened his eyes. What the fuck? He had not signed up for this. “Kai.”
“Oh, that’s unusual. Are you Hispanic?”
The bartender set new white wines on the bar top.
He bit his upper lip, stifling a laugh and shook his head once. This was so classic. “No, I’m not. I’m part Navajo.”
She lifted her brows. “Oh. Do you have a spirit animal?”
“A what?” He stared at her, straightening in his seat.
Conner burst out in a belly laugh, slapping him on the shoulder. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Steph pressed her fingers to her lips. “Oh, I thought Indians had spirit animals.”
“Indians are from India. I’m not from India.” How stupid was this woman? He turned to Conner. “Drink up. Let’s go.”
“Ah, come on, Kai. I wanted to have a few drinks with you here. I like this place.” Conner downed the rest of his martini and grabbed Kai’s thigh.
Kai looked down at Conner’s hand on his thigh. He was going to out himself to his almost coworker and old friend. He moved Conner’s hand away. Better keep him in check and get him out of here.
Conner lifted his hand to the bartender. “Hey, bartender, can I get another martini? And one for my boyfri—shit.” As he rounded his eyes, his face went blank, then he glanced at Monica.
“Coming right up.” The bartender went to work on their drinks.
Kai quirked a side of his mouth. The more Conner drank, the more he was going to slip up. He could feel it in his bones. Conner was a talker when he was drunk. He placed his chin in his hands, propped up on the bar top by his elbows. “Conner.”
Conner focused on him. “What?”
Kai grinned. In a soft voice, he said, “You sure you don’t want to head back to our porch, with our bourbon and the couch you ordered?”
Conner gulped and his face flushed.
“You know, and then we could...” He raked his teeth over his lower lip, glancing at Conner’s groin, then released it.
Conner licked his lips, focusing on Kai’s mouth, squirming in his seat, then adjusted his jeans. Under his breath, he said, “Fuck...”
The bartender set their dirty martinis on the bar and took the empties.
Monica tapped Conner on the shoulder. “What are you two whispering about over there?”
“Just guy stuff.” Conner tore his gaze from Kai, then drank his martini.
Kai lifted his glass to his mouth. They seriously needed to go.
Steph placed her hand on Kai’s thigh and came in close to his ear. “You are very attractive. ”
He sputtered across his drink, widening his eyes. “Um... you think so?” He stared at her. He certainly didn’t feel the same about her.
Conner jumped up from the chair, seized Kai’s arm and hauled him toward the restroom hallway. As they turned the corner, he shoved him against the wall, then slapped a hand on it over his head, hovering over him.
Kai stared up at him. “What?”
“That woman is fucking hitting on you.” Conner looked him over.
Kai dropped his mouth open. “You were being hit on, too. You might even have enjoyed it.”
“That woman knows me.” Conner flared his nostrils.
“So? That makes it okay?” Kai glared behind him at a gold wall. Conner got hit on, too and probably at work. No matter if he admitted it or not. And he has a problem with me tending bar. He focused on him, narrowing his eyes, curling his lip. “How do you behave when you go on those work conferences? Do you buy drinks for the women there, too?”
Conner blinked and dropped his arm. “I uh...”
“Uh-huh.” Kai stepped forward and jabbed his index finger into Conner’s chest. “Don’t give me shit about tending bar if you think it’s fine to buy women drinks at your fancy conferences. And don’t give me shit about being hit on by women. I don’t like women. You , on the other hand, do .” He scowled.
Conner claimed his mouth in deep kisses, wrapping his arms around him, moaning softly.
Kai surrendered to the intense kisses, parting his lips, letting his tongue penetrate him. He broke the kiss, breathing hard. “Fuck, Conner, what are we fighting about?”
“I don’t know.” Conner dove in for another round of passionate kisses, roaming his hands up and down Kai’s back, digging his fingers into his flesh.
Kai stole a breath, eyes closed, and brushed his lips against Conner’s ear, lost in the moment, emotion swelling in his chest. “ If I didn’t love you so much...” Oh shit. He popped his eyes open. His heart thumped as if it would break free.
Conner held Kai out in front of him, staring into his eyes. “D-did you just say...” He took a hard swallow. “You love me?”
He scratched his head, staring at the floor. No words would come. What have I done?
“Kai.” Conner moved his hands to Kai’s shoulders and shook him. “For fuck’s sake, look at me.” His voice choked. “Please.”
He forced a peek at Conner.
Conner’s eyes glistened with tears. “Look... at me.”
He bit his lip and gazed deeply into Conner’s eyes. His heart ached. God, now I love him even more. “I love you, Conner.”
“Fuck.” Conner’s breath hitched. “I love you, too, so much.” He yanked him into a tight embrace and sniffled, kissing the side of his head. “Damn, I just want to take you home and cuddle on that damn porch.”
“Yeah, but we have drinks to finish with those women.” Kai sighed.
“I have an idea. Let’s go out there and down the drinks, pay up and leave as quick as we can.” Conner freed him, then wiped his eyes.
Kai released a sharp laugh. “You want to drink a dirty martini like a shot?”
Conner nodded. “Let’s see who can drink it faster.” He gave him a full-on smile.
“You’re on. Winner gets the first blowjob.” Kai snickered and strode out from behind the wall with Conner following.