Kai
AFTER A TWENTY-MINUTE drive, I am sitting in the parked car waiting for Leo to return with tacos.
“Who are you texting?” Leo questions as he arrives at the car with a bag of tacos.
He wasn’t joking when he said we were getting food.
This man lives for his tacos. I am sure if a blonde bombshell appeared with a bag of freshly made tacos in front of him at the same time, he would pick the food instead of the girl.
If it were a hot guy instead, he might think twice, but the tacos would still win.
“No one,” I respond with a smirk as I type my next text to Rachel. Leo opens the bag of tacos and hands me my portion. He unwraps one of his own and takes a big bite before he turns to me. He speaks while he chews like the Neanderthal he is.
“Please tell me you didn’t find her number already,” Leo presses as he chews another bite of his food.
“I did not find her number,” I say with a confident smile. “Ryan found it for me.”
“Let me get this straight. You called your cop friend to find the woman who kidnapped you so you could text her?” Leo takes another bite of his food, and I open mine on the car's dashboard, reaching for the beer bottle I secured between my thighs while typing.
I take a sip, and Leo looks at me, waiting for an answer.
“I didn’t call him,” I argue. “I texted him.” Leo shakes his head in disappointment.
“And how exactly did you explain the situation to him?” Leo questions again.
“I told him not to ask questions and that I was just going to thank her for something.” Leo starts coughing, choking on his food when he hears my response. I pass him his beer, and he chugs most of its contents, trying to wash the food down.
“What?” he shouts.
“Relax, Leo. I didn’t have time to play with the girl because you rescued me before the fun could begin. I had to say hello and thank her for kidnapping me and all that.” I pout at him like a child who’s had his toy ripped away before he could enjoy it.
“Dude, you posted a fucking video claiming to be kidnapped, shared it with me along with your location, and turned your damn phone off,” he shouts again, this time louder. “What did you expect me to do?”
“Well, I got bored. I was there alone for hours. You really didn’t need to come, though,” I admit. “I had it handled.”
“You had your kidnapping handled,” Leo repeats. “I think we need to find you a therapist.”
“Sure, why not? Make sure she’s hot,” I wink at him.
“I said therapist, not a girlfriend,” Leo spits back. “Apparently, the latter found you herself.”
I take a bite of my food while Leo turns up the music.
Eating in the car with music and beer might sound weird, but for us, it’s a typical night out.
None of us is big on partying and clubs, but this right here...
This is perfect. Just us, good food, good music, and booze.
I check my phone again. Rachel hasn’t seen the last few messages.
I guess it’s more of good food, good music, booze, and a bitch who ignores me.
Great. Don’t worry, little criminal, you can’t ignore me forever.
I will find a way to get your attention.
“She really caught your interest, didn’t she?” My best friend always knows what’s up.
“She did,” I admit. She has been on my mind since the moment I laid eyes on her, before she called for me to help her with the box and pushed me into the white van.
If she hadn’t done that, I would have probably tried to talk to her myself.
She is beautiful. Her long black hair caught my attention first, but when she called for me, it was those beautiful blue eyes that felt like they were stealing parts of my soul.
I have never seen such big, beautiful blue eyes that hold so much energy.
It’s like her soul is mirrored in them. I’ve heard people say the eyes are a window to someone’s soul, but this is the first time I have witnessed this to be a fact.
Her eyes are exactly that—a window to her soul, a peek into her energy.
They are what the saying was made for. It wasn’t until I saw her again in her bedroom that I noticed her body; that’s how much her eyes caught my attention.
But that doesn’t mean the rest of her isn’t as beautiful.
She is tall for a woman and curvy in a way that makes her perfect.
She is at a normal body weight, just not thin, with curves that highlight her figure.
It’s safe to say that the moment Leo rescued me, I had to find a way to see her again.
Maybe putting Ryan on the task wasn’t the smartest choice, but I didn’t exactly have time to ask for a number while my best friend was practically dragging me out of her house.
If it were up to him, he would have probably dragged me by my hair with how upset he was with my little stunt.
I will admit the video was a little dramatic, but what else was I supposed to do?
This was a great opportunity for content.
The video of my kidnapping has already received thousands of views.
Of course, most people think it was staged, but still.
Views are views. It will do wonders for my social media accounts, and that will help the bar.
Leo might be mad about it, but he will welcome the fame if it benefits our business.
“What are you planning?” Leo asks, reminding me I have been silent for way too long.
“Nothing,” I lie.
“Kai, I have known you since we were seventeen,” Leo reminds me how long we have been friends, as if it would be easy to forget.
The guy is there every hour of the day, except apparently when I’m getting kidnapped.
We work together. We live together. We hang out every other minute of the day, and we have been hanging out every free minute of our lives since we met at the age of seventeen. He is more of a brother than a friend.
“I am aware.” Leo grabs the empty bag and food wrappers and exits the car to toss them in the bin. When he returns, I smile at him, praying he has forgotten what we were talking about, but he hasn’t.
“Please tell me you are not going to do anything stupid,” he begs.
“Define stupid.” I smile innocently, as I am already planning to do something stupid.
“I don’t know...paying her back for the kidnapping somehow, for example.
” Leo tries to sound calm, but knowing my friend, his brain has conjured five different ways I will end up in prison for trying to get back at her for kidnapping me.
In his mind, he probably thinks I am a little mad about it, but in reality, I think it was kind of hot that she did.
“No, of course not,” I lie again, but this time he doesn’t argue.
He starts the car, and I turn the volume higher, letting the music fill the silence between us as we drive home.
I check my phone again, but Rachel hasn’t replied.
She hasn’t even seen my last messages. That simply won’t do.
I need her to want me, and I have the perfect idea of how to make it happen.
‘Little criminal, our story begins now,’ I think to myself, smiling as my eyes focus on the road.