Chapter 3 #2
If Kieran wasn’t already sitting, he’d fall on his ass. “Are you for real?!”
“I’m just saying we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Zeke placates, holding his hands up like he’s afraid Kieran will leap across the table to strangle him. Which he actually might. “Sometimes things are not what they seem.”
“Things are exactly what they seem,” Kieran growls.
“Dawson is being manipulated like a fucking puppet, and everyone’s acting like it’s all nice and dandy.
Just because Cal got brain damage doesn’t change what a bastard he is.
He might act nice for a while, but he’ll always show his true colors.
He’ll hurt him again and one day it will be too much, and Dawson will never come back from it.
” The last few words make his voice crack. He covers it up by taking another sip.
“I don’t think that will happen,” Zeke says in an unusually gentle voice. “But even if it did, he’d be alright because he has you.”
“Great,” Kieran says, not without sarcasm.
“I might not be boyfriend material, but I’m fucking stellar best friend material.
” He rolls his eyes to hide how much Zeke’s statement touched him.
He’s always felt like he wasn’t a good enough friend to Dawson.
In all those years he never managed to really help him, to save him.
Zeke cocks his head. “Why do you think you’re not boyfriend material? I mean, you’re a bit bratty and overbearing. And prickly. But you’re pretty funny. And kinda cute.” He nods firmly, as if confirming something to himself. “I’d do you.”
“As flattered as I am,” Kieran says in his most deadpan voice.
“You’re probably the only one who thinks that.
” An image of a punchable face wearing a predatory grin flashes in his mind, scaring the utter fuck out of him.
He shivers, willing the image to dissipate.
“But you know what? It’s for the best. This whole Dawson situation just proved to me that I’m better off just fucking my way through life.
I’m done looking for a relationship, they just suck out your soul. And make you basically braindead.”
Zeke shakes his head in disappointment. “You’re turning into a bitter old coot.”
Kieran shrugs. “Just trying to play the best hand I can with the shitty cards I have.”
“Cards!” Zeke springs to his feet, rocking the whole table. “I have a tarot deck here. For emergencies. Let me do a reading for you.”
“I don’t believe—”
Zeke disappears into the staff room before he can finish the sentence.
Ugh, all this time he’s known Zeke he’s put particular effort into making sure they’re never alone, so Zeke can’t feed him this spiritual bullshit. He should’ve known it’d come to an end one day.
“Ha!” Zeke barges through the door with a victorious cry. “I knew these would come in handy.” Shaking the deck at Kieran, he drops back into his chair, reaching out with his hands. “But first, show me your palms.”
Kieran does so with a sigh of defeat. While Zeke reads—no, looks at his palms—Kieran watches his expression. Eventually, Zeke clicks his tongue.
“Aren’t you a tech nerd? Why are your palms so callused?”
“From jerking off too much.” It’s actually from his multiple failed attempts at sticking with the gym regimen. One of the many reasons why he decided to fuck it.
Zeke gives him a flat look. “Ah yes, right here. See this line?” He traces what’s no doubt a random line on Kieran’s palm. “It means you’ll be single forever, married to your right hand.”
“I’m left-handed, and you’re full of shit.”
“Got me.” Zeke says with a grin. “You might wanna cut down on all the sugar, by the way.” He taps another line on Kieran’s palm. “Your life line is pretty short.”
“That’s because of stress, not sugar.” The past six years have aged him by at least two decades. “What?” he demands when Zeke makes a curious sound. No, don’t indulge him! He’s messing with you on purpose.
“You might wanna reconsider that fuckboy status you’re aiming for.
I see you entering a relationship very soon.
And marriage. Oh, it seems this person’s gonna be your soulmate.
” He frowns. “Don’t see any kids, though.
Wait, maybe this one…” He squints at Kieran’s left palm.
“Huh. That one’s kinda ambiguous. I guess you’ll get a dog or something. ”
“I don’t like dogs.”
“Maybe it’s a cat.”
“I don’t like cats either.” He shakes his head firmly when Zeke lets go of his hands only to grab the tarot deck. “I’m not shuffling that.”
“Just touch the deck, dipshit. I’ll do it.”
Sighing again, Kieran pokes the deck with the tip of his finger. Zeke snorts, but starts shuffling.
“Let’s see about your love life, and this soulmate of yours—” On cue, two cards fall out. “Ah. Look at that. These two just flew out. Let’s see…” He flips them over. “O-ho-ho, this is interesting.”
Too tired to roll his eyes again, Kieran lets his skeptical face express his feelings.
“This—” Zeke taps the card on his left. “Is you. And this—” He taps the other. “Is your boo.”
Throwing up a little in his mouth at the word ‘boo’, Kieran looks at the cards in spite of his better judgement. “Hey, why am I the Queen?”
“It’s obvious. The Queen of Wands is fiery, all instinct and determination. The wands are wood. It takes very little to catch fire and burn down everything.”
“Are you implying I have anger issues?”
“The King of Swords, on the other hand—” Zeke carries on jovially. “Is level-headed. Exudes power, confidence, and control. Ha.” He claps his hands together. “It’s like fire and ice clashing together. This is gonna be interesting. Let’s see what else is there.”
Jesus Christ, the weirdo is actually enjoying this.
“Yeah, look…” Kieran discreetly pushes his chair back. “This is all very fascinating, but I gotta run.”
“You don’t want to know more about your soulmate?” Zeke asks, pouting.
“Not really.”
“But—”
“Soulmates don’t exist,” Kieran says with finality.
“It’s all about finding a person who doesn’t completely suck or make you miserable 24/7, so you can live in a two-income household and reproduce.
I’m not interested.” Throwing back whatever is left of his coffee, he stands up, leaving the cup for Zeke to get rid of.
“Soulmates do exist!”
“Sure, sure. Well, I don’t need one.”
“Oh.” Zeke blinks, his expression going from defensive to sympathetic. “I see what the problem is.”
“That this is all just a bunch of woohoo crap?”
“Nope.” He pops the ‘p’. “It’s not that you don’t believe in soulmates, it’s that you don’t think you deserve love.”
“Oh my god,” Kieran cries, marching towards the exit. It’s one thing to sit and listen to Zeke’s psychic bullshit, but now he’s gonna turn it into a therapy session? Fuck no. “You and Gabe really are birds of a feather.” But at least Gabe isn’t so persistent.
“But Gabe can’t see the future, unlike me.”
“Yeah? Do you see me walking out of this door and never coming back?”
“Oh, you’ll be back. And you’ll owe me an apology when I prove to you that you do have a soulmate.”
“You’re gonna prove it, huh?”
“Yeah.” Folding his arms over his chest, Zeke leans back with a self-satisfied smirk. “I know a spell.”
“A spell.”
“A love spell.”
“A love spell. Right.” Kieran pushes the door open. “Well, why don’t you do that, and in the meantime I’ll try to get myself laid?”
“You don’t have a romantic bone in your body!” Zeke complains.
“There’s only one bone I care about right now.” Kieran grins slyly, saluting him. “Laters.”
Before he even makes it to his car, Zeke throws the door open and yells after him, “Just wait and see! One day you’ll wake up and the love of your life will be right there next to you! And I’ll be there to tell you ‘I told you so’!”
Kieran speeds up, not wanting anyone to see him associate with a lunatic.
A soulmate. Right. He already has one. It’s called tequila. The one girl in the whole world who’s stuck by him through his highs and lows. In fact, he has a date with her tonight. At least then he’ll be able to forget about Zeke’s stupid shrink comment.