Chapter 12 #2
“I’m a right asshole at times,” Qylar said.
“I know it.” He got up and crept to Kenji’s bedroom door, peeking in.
The room was ridiculously small. There was a large bookcase chocked full of books, anime, manga, and superhero memorabilia, a small bed barely big enough for Kenji to sleep alone, and a tiny desk with only a laptop sitting closed on top.
The narrow dresser was inside the closet, which only left a tiny space for clothes to be hung up.
“How much stuff outside this room is yours?”
“None of it,” Kenji said as he carried a pile of clothes from the dresser to the bag. “My whole life is inside this room.
Qylar scanned it, shaking his head. He’d thought Alex’s old apartment was small. This place was utterly claustrophobic. He lived like a king by comparison with plenty of room to spare.
Room that technically wasn’t his, but Cryss had already offered it, hadn’t he?
“Seems pretty easy to clear out and go.”
Kenji stopped at the side of the bed and glared at him.
Qylar lifted both hands in surrender. “I know, I know… stop squeezing. But it’s kind of hard knowing you’re cramped in here, in a dangerous neighborhood, when there’s an empty bedroom upstairs you could use.”
Kenji’s glare faded some.
“Yeah, you might be trading one problem for another, but I hate the idea of you living in a dangerous place with an asshole for a roommate.”
Kenji didn’t move. He stared at Qylar.
“I did tell Tacoma I was looking for something else, which I’ve struggled to find,” he murmured. “And my lease is up soon. Either I get out, or I have to sign for another year.”
“It can be temporary,” Qylar said. “Until you find something better than this.”
“I don’t have any boxes.”
“Oh… I’ll find you boxes,” Qylar said, spinning for the door. “Be right back.”
Kenji carried his clothes hamper into the bedroom behind Qylar, who was carrying two heavy boxes of books with ease.
He was an idiot for agreeing to Qylar’s offer, but the pros had outweighed the cons.
Getting away from Tacoma had been the best part.
Leaving a note, a key, and a check for the last two month’s rent—though it wiped out everything in his savings account—had been the best feeling in the world.
He wished he could be there to see the look on Tacoma’s face and contemplated sticking around for him to come home from work. But with the sun close to setting and Qylar’s truck full of his belongings—and open to theft—they’d decided to get the fuck out of there.
Qylar turned and laid the boxes against the wall.
Without his massive body in the way, Kenji got his first look out of the balcony window.
Almost the entire back wall of the bedroom was windows and outside it, the sunset over the Pacific.
He could see the Golden Gate bridge, the ocean, and a bit of beach. “You never mentioned the view.”
Kenji dropped the clothes basket on the king-sized bed already in the room and crossed to the balcony. After opening up the sliding doors—which turned out to be the retractable wall kind—he walked outside and stared at the sunset.
“Pretty nice, hmm?” Qylar asked, sidling up behind him.
Kenji rested his head back on Qylar’s chest. “It’s stunning.”
They stood there in silence, watching the view. Peace spread through Kenji, a calm he rarely felt.
“Why don’t you live up here?”
“This was Cryss’s room before they bought the townhouse next door,” Qylar replied.
“You could’ve moved up here.”
“I was already pretty set downstairs.”
“In the basement,” Kenji said.
“It’s not a basement.”
“Just because you can get out of the back doesn’t mean it’s not,” Kenji said. “When did Cryss and Alex move next door?”
“About four years ago.”
Kenji turned to face Qylar. “So, you’ve had four years to come up here, but instead you live in the basement. Why?”
Qylar’s jaw tensed. “I’m Cryss’s servant. I belong down there.”
“He told you that you can’t live up here?”
“No,” Qylar muttered. “He’s asked me to move up.”
“Yet you didn’t.”
“I was settled down there. Why move?”
“Don’t you think you deserve this view?” Kenji asked.
“I don’t,” Qylar snapped.
“Am I less than, like your basement bedroom… and all you deserve?”
“No!” Qylar moved closer, taking Kenji’s head in his hands. “Not even close.”
“I don’t want to be with a man who denies and belittles himself. I don’t want to feel like I don’t measure up, but he’s settling because he doesn’t think he deserves any better.”
“That is not the case. I’m not settling.
” Qylar scoffed. “I don’t want to be with a man who doesn’t see his worth, either.
Who doesn’t see that he’s gorgeous.” Qylar shook his head.
“You are… the most stunning man I’ve ever laid eyes on.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again and again. Until you believe me.”
“Then I’ll say this again and again. You deserve better than you allow yourself.”
Qylar tugged him closer. “Well, when the top floor becomes open again, I’ll consider moving up. Until then, it’s yours.”
“Or we could share it,” Kenji said.
Qylar searched his face. “I offered you your own bedroom for a reason.”
“I’m well aware that I say one thing and do another. I’ve done it all my life, so why stop now?”
Qylar chuckled but grew serious again. “I’m trying not to squeeze.”
“Oh, stop. Like you didn’t squeeze until you got me under your roof. Are you really going to tell me this isn’t what you wanted from the start?”
Qylar fought a smile.
“What’s the point of pretending we’re roommates when we’ve already admitted we’re going to end up in one bed?” Kenji asked. “I can still storm and slam the door when you piss me off. I’ll just have to send you back to the basement when you’re a bad boy.”
“Okay,” Qylar said. “If you’re sure that’s what you want, I’ll move my stuff upstairs.”
“After we get back from Nefyria,” Kenji said.
“After,” Qylar repeated, his smile ebbing some.
“Well, we’ve now pushed the trip back a day moving me out,” Kenji said.
“We can still leave in the morning,” Qylar said wrapping his arms around Kenji.
“I thought you had things to prepare?”
“It’s all done already.”
Kenji glared up at him. “Why’d you say you needed a day or two?”
“I assumed you weren’t pregnant when I didn’t hear from you for weeks. Then, shocker, you were.” Qylar scoffed. “I was also intoxicated and not exactly thinking straight.”
Kenji crossed his arms over his chest and lifted an eyebrow.
“It was only two days,” Qylar said. “It’s not like I made you wait weeks. I simply tapped the brakes so I could process the news and get my head right with this decision. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
“I suppose not,” Kenji replied. “We could really leave tonight?”
Qylar nodded. “We could be gone in about an hour or so, if that’s what you want.”
Kenji nodded. “It’s what I want.”