25. Kai
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
KAI
Marty presses his elbow into the muscle next to my spine so hard my vision blurs. I grab the edge of the treatment table. “Jesus Christ.”
“You say that every time. Maybe stop throwing yourself around the crease like a maniac.”
The training room smells of menthol cream, damp gear, and the gross green recovery shake Jace had spilled earlier.
Practice ended half an hour ago, but the noise from the locker room echoes off the walls.
Showers are running down the hall, and the guys are raising hell.
Highlights from last night’s HFNA games are playing on the TV in here, but I can’t see them since I’m face-down.
Oskar’s still in St. Louis with the Fury, but they’ll be flying home later. We’re supposed to see each other tonight.
“Your face is weird,” Nico says from across the room.
I turn my head enough and glare at him. He’s sitting in a recovery chair with an ice wrap on his knee, scrolling through something on a tablet while one of the equipment guys talks to him about the new sticks he’s ordered. Even when he’s only half paying attention, Nico notices everything.
“My face always looks like this,” I say.
“No.” Nico points at me without looking up. “That’s your ‘I’m pretending to be cool’ face.”
Marty snorts. “Can both of you shut the fuck up? Kai, your neck will get sore if you keep it twisted like that.”
I put my face back over the face cradle.
“Why’s your phone by your hand in the middle of a massage, Kai?” Nico sounds amused. “Expecting a text from someone?”
Marty presses in again, making me grunt. I count my breaths and try to relax.
A few minutes later, when I’m on the verge of telling him to let me off the fucking table, he slaps my ass.
“All done here, Mercer. I need to go check on some supplies that came in this morning, so take your time getting up.” He walks across the room, then pauses in the doorway. “Don’t move, Nico. I’ll be back.”
As Marty walks away, I roll onto my side so I can see Nico. “Is your knee okay?”
“Yeah. Strained it. Marty said we should use ice so it doesn’t get worse.”
“Good call. We’re in for a tough game against Bethesda on Saturday.”
He raises an eyebrow. “So. The Swede.”
My body tenses so much I feel a twinge where Marty was working. “What Swede?”
“Don’t try that shit with me.” He closes the tablet and sets it on the table beside him. “Oskar’s still in St. Louis?”
“They fly back today.” I don’t offer more.
“Things going well, then?”
Not really a question. More of a statement he wants me to confirm.
I want to say something. It’s an urge I should fight, but I’m tired after practice. And happy about seeing Oskar.
I stare at the wall, remembering how rough Oskar’s voice was when he called this morning. He was barely awake, and I was heading out the door to practice.
“Yeah,” I say. The word is quiet, but I’m glad it’s out. “Things are good.”
Nico nods once. Quiet acceptance.
“I’m glad,” he says. And then, because he’s Nico, he pushes a little. “Does he know anything about you yet?”
Nico isn’t prying. He’s the keeper of all my broken parts, wanting to know if I’ve given any of them to someone new.
I leave the question unanswered until Nico grunts.
“He knows I like building things,” I say.
Technically true. Deliberately, laughably incomplete.
Instead of calling me on it, Nico says, “Okay.”
That’s my best friend. He gives me space when I need it, and he’s there when I don’t.
My buzzing phone makes me jump. 8:28 p.m.
OSKAR: Landed. I’ll catch an Uber and be there soon.
It’s a little easier to breathe. When he’d texted three hours ago, the Fury’s plane had landed in Pittsburgh because of a mechanical problem. Since then, I’ve been wondering if he’d still come over once they made it to New York.
I’m in the hobby room, deep into the central command tower of the LEGO space battle. It’s a masterpiece of gray and black plastic, a universe I control completely. When the doorbell rings, I’m slow to check my watch. Shit, it’s been an hour since he messaged.
My knees are stiff when I go answer the door. The lines around Oskar’s eyes look deeper than usual, and his hair is what Theo calls a “plane mess.”
Oskar smiles, and everything becomes okay.
“Hey,” he says, his voice soft.
“Hall?, hj?rtat.” I hope he can understand the Swedish I practiced all afternoon.
His smile explodes into a big grin as he drops his bag and reaches for me.
He says something in Swedish, using the low voice I love.
He follows that with a quick, firm press of his lips against mine, then pulls back.
“I want more, but I’d like to hang out a little first. Is that okay? If I kiss you again…”
“Totally understand.” I bounce my eyebrows. “As long as we make up for it later.”
“I promise.”
It’s fine because part of me is still focused on the LEGO. I need to get at least seventeen more pieces done before I can let it go.
I take his hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
Only Mom and Nico have ever been in the hobby room. I don’t even let the cleaning people in. It’s a safe space, neat and clean, with everything on shelves so I can see it.
Oskar turns in a circle. “Wow. This may be more organized than the Fury’s equipment room.”
I point at the chair Mom uses when she comes over. “Sit down. I only have a little more to do tonight.”
As I search for the piece I need, everything feels perfect. Soft light, nature sounds in the background, and Oskar watching me.
A few minutes pass, and as I’m snapping a piece into place, my other hand brushes against a small, transparent control panel I thought I’d misplaced. Without looking up from the model, I hold the piece out toward Oskar.
His fingers graze mine as he takes it. He says nothing as he moves closer, and I point to where it goes. After maneuvering it into position, he pushes back to where he was sitting before.
Eventually, I finish what I wanted to do and add a tiny antenna. Then I glance at Oskar, who is watching me. Without a word, he puts his hand on mine.
This is Oskar, and he belongs here. The happiness has a physical weight I don’t know what to do with.
I push my chair back from the table and stand. “Let’s go to the living room.”
After I light the gas fireplace, we sit on the couch beside it.
“Forgot to ask if you’re hungry,” I say. “There’s plenty of food in the fridge.”
He shakes his head. “They fed us on the plane, but I’ll keep you company while you eat.”
“I was starving, so I ate about two hours ago. Sorry.”
“We’re good, then.”
I lean against him when he wraps his arm around my shoulders and says, “I missed you so much, baby.”
His voice is quiet, exactly what I need. The chaos in my head fades. Today’s practice and my talk with Nico, tomorrow’s game, even dreading my dentist appointment. It all slips away.
Right now, this is all that matters. Oskar. His warmth, the smell of his clothes, the wonderful fact that he’s here holding me.
I close my eyes, and as the minutes pass, his breathing slows. His body feels heavier against mine.
I’d pictured the night ending differently, but this is even better.
We’re both safe here. The thought should scare me more than it does.
I move carefully until my head rests against his. The fireplace crackles softly, and somewhere outside, a siren wails through the city and fades away.
In here, everything is calm.
For a long time, I thought I’d keep men out of my life forever. This happiness is unexpected.
I’ve always been a reactor, a strategist. I see the play before anyone else does, anticipate the shot, make the save. But this isn’t a play I can read. It’s just happening.
And for once, I’m not trying to stop it.