Chapter Five
Rin
“This feels like a terrible idea,” Kei says, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
“Yeah, I’ve gotten an earful from Azaad already,” I say with a wince.
My head mod was not happy about what happened and I may or may not have gone a bit viral over the entire thing.
I haven’t streamed since Monday, giving myself a little breather after that disaster of a storytime.
I’ll be back to it tomorrow with my marathon stream but for now, I’m just trying to get my head back into the right place.
“Not surprising,” Rodney says, throwing another blanket onto the couch. Kei watches from his place against the wall, biting his lip to keep himself from yelling at Rodney for constructing another nest on the couch. “I’m surprised he’s not demanding to be on call during your date tonight.”
I sputter as I slip into my shoes, almost falling over. “It’s not a date,” I hiss out.
“You sure about that,” Kei asks with narrowed eyes. “Kinda seems like a date to me. Hell, you even put slacks on instead of jeans,” he adds, pointing at me.
“And your shirt has a collar!”
I run a hand over the front of my polo. Then I look up at my friends with a frown. “Should I change?”
Rodney pops his head over the back of the couch. “Absolutely not! You look hot!”
“Hot enough for a date,” Kei tells me.
“It’s not a date! I’m going to take this guy out to dinner. We’re gonna chat. I’m gonna tell him again that I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, and then we’ll go on our merry ways. Maybe we’ll even leave as friends.”
Kei makes a growling noise at the back of his throat. “Whatever,” he finally says, walking over to me. “Can I scent you? I don’t know if he’s got a pheromone-based nose but it would make me feel better.”
“Yeah, no worries,” I say right away, tilting my head back.
Kei rubs his wrists against each side of my throat before rubbing our wrists together.
Living with and being best friends with an alpha shifter comes with some interesting quirks.
One of them is this, allowing Kei to scent mark myself and Rodney whenever we leave the house.
It’s even worse when he’s around his rut, needing to mark us as his pack and keep us safe.
Rodney on the other hand, always wants to dress us, make sure we’re fed, and make us nests.
I’m surprised he didn’t offer to help me pick out this outfit but then again, he’s been busy making this big nest on the couch.
Probably so we have someplace to snuggle together when I get back from this dinner.
The only quirk I bring to the table is floating objects.
My magic is based on moving things with my mind so sometimes, when I’m overly emotional, things tend to move around our house.
Could be worse. I once lived with a magic user who was water based and when she got upset, she would flood the basement.
“Thanks,” Kei says, stepping away from me.
“It’s really no problem. You know I don’t mind.”
“I know. I still find it annoying though,” he says with a shrug. “Not as annoying as Rodney’s nests though.”
“Hey! Just yesterday I saw you napping in one of my nests.”
“I never said they weren’t comfortable.”
The two of them playfully fight back and forth. Normally, I would jump in and team up against Kei but today, I simply slip out the door, leaving them to it.
Double checking that I have my phone, wallet, and keys, I start making my way to the restaurant.
Despite telling them this definitely wasn’t a date, I find myself nervous.
My stomach is tying itself into knots and my hands are growing clammy with sweat.
Maki is just so ridiculously hot, how could I not be nervous to see him again?
I stand outside and wait. This place is a little hole in the wall restaurant I found years ago while I was going to college.
I could have asked Maki to go to some pretentious, high end place but that felt very insincere especially since the whole point of this is to just be myself and make up for being a dick face earlier.
This is the type of place Rodney, Kei, and I would go on the weekend or the type of place I would bring a relative visiting town.
Maki arrives two minutes before seven. I can see him walking down the sidewalk with how tall he is. Godsdamnit. I thought maybe my imagination was just playing tricks on me but no, he really is that hot.
He’s wearing black slacks that fit him just right and a green polo that brings out the green and gold of his hazel eyes. When he’s close enough, I can smell that he’s wearing some type of cologne, something that makes my stomach flutter and warm.
Good lord, I have it bad. He looks good. So fucking good.
“Hi,” I say with a smile, doing my best to keep my nerves at bay. “Thanks again for meeting with me, Maki.”
“Hello, Blue.” Maki looks at the restaurant. “I’ve never been here before.”
“Good. I hope you like milkshakes and fries.”
“I do,” he says, following me inside. One of the waitresses sees us walk in, waving us over to a booth by the window. We slide in across from each other. I grab the menus from where they sit in the caddy, sliding one over to Maki.
“You can call me Rin, by the way. That’s my real name, but I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t use it online.”
“I don’t frequent ‘online spaces’ much,” he says, complete with flicking his fingers in little air quotes. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
“Good,” I say, giving him a smile over my menu before looking back down. I can’t tell if his answers are short because he’s nervous or because he’s already decided to hate me. Fuck, why is this so awkward?
I look down at my menu, deciding on what type of burger I want to order and what flavor of shake.
My stomach is a mess of nerves. Fuck Kei for putting this stupid ‘date’ thing in my head.
I’m just meeting someone and getting to know them.
I’m making up for being a dick. Nothing more.
I’m not usually so stuck in my head about these things but at the same time, when I’m talking to people, I’m talking to them as Blue. Right now, I’m just Rin.
“I normally have a very strict diet that I stick to,” Maki says, setting his menu down. “But for today, I think I will cheat a little.”
I grin across the table at him. “I hope this doesn’t come across as weird, but I noticed you keep yourself in great shape.”
“Thank you,” he says with a nod. “I’m a professional athlete so it’s important I take care of my body.”
The waitress comes over before I can ask him any questions. I order myself a birthday cake shake and the bbq burger with some fries and a side of bbq for dipping. Maki orders a chocolate banana shake, a burger, some fries, and a side of garlic broccoli.
“Chocolate banana?” I ask, raising my brow. “I’ve never tried that combo before but now that you’ve ordered it, it sounds really good.”
“Sometimes I’ll make myself shakes at home but substitute protein powder instead of chocolate. It’s good.”
“What kind of athlete are you?”
“I play volleyball for the Nanio Ninjas.” Right. The Nanio Ninjas are a Division One professional team. They play all over the country and have even produced players good enough to play on the national all-star team.
I sit back in my seat, my shoulders falling away from my ears as I finally allow myself to relax.
Being a professional athlete means that Maki understands what it means to be in the public eye.
He understands the highs and lows of being semi-famous.
I don’t have to hide myself from him, he’ll get it.
I didn’t realize how much that would mean to me until right this second, having another person who shares this type of life, even if our circles are so drastically different.
“I’ll admit, I don’t really know much about sports in general. It might be hard to believe but I don’t get out that much. My entire job is based around me staying in my room and being on my computer,” I say with a little bit of a chuckle.
“That’s not hard to believe,” Maki says right away and if it was coming from anyone else, I’d think they were teasing me. “If you’re interested in learning anything about volleyball, I’m happy to help. I don’t think there’s anything I love more than volleyball.”
Maki is blunt, never mincing words. To some people, it could come off as rude, but I think I like it. There’s no trying to read between the lines with him. He just says exactly what he means. It’s kind of refreshing.
“I wouldn’t mind learning more about it, especially if it’s something you’re passionate about. I think it’s really fun to hear someone talk about the things they love, you know? That excitement is often really infectious.”
“I feel the same,” Maki says, nodding his head. “I might not always understand or even enjoy what the other person is explaining, but people’s passions are a universal language, in a way. It’s exciting because they’re excited.”
“Exactly!” The grin on my face isn’t forced. I’m not putting on a show for chat or the cameras. I’m just having a good time with an incredibly handsome man. “I think I’d really like to come see you play sometime, Maki.”
“I’d like that,” he says right away. “I can get you tickets to our next home game, if you’d be interested.”
“Oh! Very much so!”
Maki gives me a small smile, one that leaves my stomach swooping violently. He’s got a really beautiful smile, though he doesn’t hand it over freely. I suddenly have the urge to learn exactly how to keep that look on his face.
“Here you go,” our waitress says, passing plates out. Normally, our milkshakes would come out first but because it’s a bit busy tonight, they come out with our food. No biggie.
“Thank you!”
Holding out my hand, I tug on the thread of magic I have within myself, using it to tug the ketchup across the table and into my hand. Maki’s eyes widen, staring at what just happened.