Chapter 9
“Ithought you were messing with me when you said there was an actual Lego store.” Kai scanned the cavernous yellow space, admiring the giant Lego sculptures that dominated the area: an Eiffel Tower, Super Mario, a massive velociraptor.
Kai felt a little thrill of excitement. Could he make stuff like this?
He craned his head to see more, but the store was rammed full of parents and kids of all sizes.
He felt a little out of place given what he was there to buy, but he supposed he and Katie weren’t necessarily using Lego for its intended purpose.
He tried to put his discomfort out of his head and just enjoy the experience. Between this and sitting in Nolan’s Ferrari this morning, today kind of felt like an out-of-body experience. His gaze landed on a Ferrari set, and he huffed out a laugh.
“Daddy, look.” He pointed at the Ferrari, and then his gaze landed on the price. What the fuck?!
“That’s gorgeous,” Nolan said admiringly.
“People pay that amount of money for Lego?” He tried to whisper, but his incredulity was louder than he intended. He glanced around, embarrassed when he caught a woman snickering in his direction.
“Probably fewer people than you think.”
Kai couldn’t help staring. One of those boxes would pay his share of the rent.
He moved on, but now all he saw were price tags, his brain converting the amounts on them into rent, groceries, lunches for the twins who always had to eat that processed shit because none of them knew anything about balanced meals or whatever.
Not that it mattered. The processed shit was always cheaper anyway.
Kai marvelled at it all, but his enthusiasm waned.
Everything was so beautiful, but this was outrageous.
It was a little embarrassing, almost more than sitting in Nolan’s Ferrari.
A Ferrari was out of this world luxury that he could never even aspire to, but Lego was different.
This felt like he should be able to have it, or at least some part of it, but the Lego Ferrari was as aspirational as the real fucking deal.
He glanced around at the parents and wondered if they were like him or if they were like Nolan.
Were they stressed that their kid was about to ask them for something they couldn’t afford, or was this just a drop in the bucket?
Nolan led him over to where green, blue and grey baseplates were stacked.
“What are you thinking? How much do you need?”
How much. How much, Kai? He could ask for more.
He could ask for something else. Something they could sell for cash, something they could use.
He could almost see Liam over his shoulder, excitedly chanting, Do it!
Do it! Do it!! That gleam in his eye, the pride, the way he’d laugh at Nolan for being a sucker.
Kai’s whole body stiffened, rejecting that image.
“Never mind. I’m good. Can we go?” His voice sounded off, a little hysterical, a little panicked as he reached for Nolan’s hand and tugged him towards the exit.
“Woah! What’s going on?” Nolan let go of his hand, his arm snaking around Kai’s waist to anchor him in place, before leaning close so they couldn’t be overheard.
Concern was etched in the lines of his face and in the hush of his voice.
Kai needed to get it together. “Hey, it’s my treat.
Why don’t we grab five of the baseplates and that big box of blocks over there?
” Nolan pointed to the biggest box of Lego classic pieces on the shelf.
There it was. His in.
No! Kai jerked away from Nolan.
“I’m good. I just need to get out of here.
” He was already speed-walking towards the door, not even checking to see if Nolan followed him.
He dipped out of the store, not slowing down, and then made a hard right onto a narrow side street, away from the crowd.
Kai leaned heavily against the brick wall, grinding the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to catch his breath and trying to get his brain to shut up.
“Kai, what was that?” Nolan’s hands came down on the sides of his arms by his shoulders. But Kai didn’t want to be touched, and he was suddenly, violently and irrationally angry at Nolan. Without thinking, Kai shoved him in the chest, pushing Nolan out of his personal space.
Nolan was a sucker. Kai was a stranger, but Nolan was perfectly willing to let him spend the weekend, feed him and buy him shit he didn’t deserve.
He deserved to be taken advantage of, and Kai should have done it.
He was a fucking fool. They both were. Maybe it didn’t matter to Nolan, but Kai was just making his own life harder for no reason.
“I told you that I didn’t want anything. Did you think you could just buy me fucking toys and I’d be amazed by your money? That it would make me love you or some shit? Are you that fucking desperate?”
Nolan’s head snapped back like he’d taken an uppercut to the jaw. They stared each other down silently, Kai breathing heavily, like it was the only way for his body to expend all of his anger. Nolan was completely still, his expression stony.
“Well, that’s about enough of that,” Nolan said after a minute. Then he was gripping Kai’s arm, marching him back to the main street and directly to the car. Nolan held his door open, and Kai glared at him even as he folded himself into the passenger seat.
He adamantly refused to ask where they were going, but it became quickly apparent that they were heading back to Nolan’s.
Kai’s heartbeat ratcheted up, new emotions edging in.
He watched Nolan out of the corner of his eye warily, but Nolan’s face gave nothing away.
Was Kai in danger? Nolan had threatened to punish him if he was bad.
Was he about to find out about punishments, or was this something different?
Was he about to find out what Nolan was like when he was angry?
Kai knew a lot about how men behaved when they’d been made a fool of.
For the first time that weekend, Kai regretted not touching base with Liam.
He knew better, but he hadn’t wanted Liam poisoning whatever this was.
Now, he might be in danger and absolutely no one knew where he was.
At least, no one who wouldn’t help hide his body.
Nolan pulled up in front of the house, and this time when he held the door, Kai got out of the car with a little more caution. Nolan clearly sensed his hesitation, because he put his hand out, keeping Kai sandwiched between the car and the door.
“You said that you trusted me this morning. Is that still the case?” Kai nodded once hesitantly. “I’m going to punish you for your outburst and then we are going to talk about it. Is that understood?”
Kai should have been more alarmed knowing he was about to be punished, but, instead, the fear that had bubbled up in him settled. He was wary, but some part of him did trust Nolan.
Then there was something else that he’d realized. He’d picked a fight with Nolan, and when the word vomit had finally stopped, he’d fully expected him to walk away, to give up on Kai, but he hadn’t. Why?
“Yes,” Kai answered.
“Would you like to use your safe word now?” Nolan asked. Heat flared in Kai’s cheeks, but he shook his head.
“I need you to say it out loud. Would you like to use your safe word now?” Nolan reiterated.
“No,” Kai muttered.
“Tell me your safe word so I know you remember it.”
“Onions.”
Nolan nodded and led him to the door. Nolan could punish him if he wanted to, but he hadn’t been entirely wrong and knowing that made it easier to hold onto his anger.
Nolan led him to the far corner of the living room, behind the couch, before turning to face him.
“Pants off. Underwear as well.”
So it was a spanking. He’d hoped that, if they got around to that, it would be fun. This was definitely not going to be fun, but a contrary corner of his brain made him stay put. It wanted Nolan to take charge of him and to punish him when he acted out, when no one else would. “Fold them.”
Kai shot him an undercover glare, but Nolan said nothing.
It was awkward as fuck standing there with his half-hard dick hanging out when he was getting the opposite of action.
He shouldn’t have been hard at all, but there was something arousing about being this vulnerable, this exposed, just for Nolan.
“Face the corner, on your knees. Nose to the wall. Hands behind your back.”
Huh? He was confused, but he did what he was told.
Kai saw Nolan squat beside him but continued to stare straight ahead.
“This is called starting the way we’re going to continue.
You want to act out, you’re going to be punished.
You’re going to kneel here for ten minutes, and while you’re kneeling here, you’re going to meditate on whether my good boy really believes that being rude and raising his hands to his Daddy is the way to get what he wants.
” Kai flushed with the beginning of shame.
Nolan was silent for a second. When he spoke again, his voice was harsh.
“Do you really believe that if I was trying to impress you with my wealth, I’d start with Lego?
” He got to his feet, and Kai saw him turn away.
“Don’t leave me.” The words came out in a rush, his eyes snapping to Nolan’s without meaning to.
There was a flicker in his stony expression before he nodded. “Nose to the wall. Ten minutes.”
How long was ten minutes? Kai’s knees were sore, and his abs and glutes were half-cramped from holding him up.
The hard edge of Kai’s anger had softened, but there was something else simmering in his chest that he couldn’t put words to just yet.
He was also starting to feel a lot ashamed about the way he’d spoken to Nolan.
Guilt gave his heart an uncomfortable squeeze, remembering how Nolan had looked like he hit him.