Chapter 11
By Tuesday, Kai was panicking. He’d reached out to almost everyone he knew and still hadn’t found any leads.
The last two nights had been torture. The couch was a thousand times more uncomfortable now that he knew what it was like falling asleep with Nolan wrapped around him, feeling the weight of him, his warmth and his protection.
Without him, Kai just felt… exposed. He’d been restless all night, struggling to get comfortable, to shut his mind off, thinking about how much it was going to suck to ask Liam for help if he couldn’t come up with his share of rent.
He’d tied himself up in knots worrying about it. He tried to remember what Nolan said about worrying about worst-case scenarios, but all that did was make Kai desperate to feel Nolan’s arms around him, grounding him. Nolan, who could just turn the worry off.
He’d give it until the end of today. If he didn’t find anything, he would have to grow a pair and just ask Liam. He would be insufferable, but at this point, it was better than being the reason they all got evicted.
“Hey.”
Kai glanced up to find Liam standing in the doorway, hanging off the doorjamb. Jason had definitely said something to him, because he’d dialled down his dickishness by at least fifty percent over the last two days. Kai looked at him expectantly. “Geordie needs a date on Friday. He wants you.”
Fuck. He’d promised Nolan exclusivity. Was he going to threaten that at the very first opportunity? Acid rose in his throat. Kai shook his head, and Liam let out an exasperated sound.
“Come on, man. It’s a hundred bucks, and you know Geordie is good people.”
He did know that. Geordie was a good guy.
A college professor who was so socially awkward that he could never figure out the dating thing.
With Geordie, it was almost never about sex and usually about needing an emotional support human at something he couldn’t get out of.
Still. He’d have to bail on his plans with Nolan, and unless he wanted to explain that he was going on a date with another guy, he’d have to lie. He definitely didn’t want to do that.
It was also that the idea of someone else touching him, fake or otherwise, made his skin crawl worse than it ever had before.
He was still short on rent though. Fuck.
“Why are you pushing this? You never push dates if I say no.” He eyed Liam suspiciously.
Liam had the grace to look embarrassed.
“You never say no to Geordie. It’s just weird.”
“I don’t want to do that anymore. I promised.”
“You what?”
Shit. Kai should have quit while he was ahead. Liam stared at him incredulously. Heat flooded Kai’s face. “You know this guy for two days and he’s got you making promises?”
Kai didn’t answer, but Liam kept going. “What the fuck are you thinking? You think you’re Cinder-fucking-ella and the brother of one of the richest men in the country is gonna be your Prince Charming? You think he’s gonna stay with you? That’s what you think?”
When he said it like that, Kai felt ridiculous. He had nothing to defend himself with but he also didn’t want to sit there while Liam sowed doubt into his head. Kai got to his feet and beelined for the door.
“Don’t fucking walk away from me!” Liam grabbed his arm, spinning him back, and Kai shoved him off of him.
“I don’t need you putting shit in my head!”
“You need to be for real right now. You want to have some fun? Go have some fun, but don’t be out here making promises to people who will never make them for you.”
“He did promise.”
Liam scowled. “Don’t be fucking stupid, Kai. Men like him didn’t get where they are by keeping promises. He’s using you. You’re just something to play with until he’s bored. Meanwhile, you’re making your life harder, for what? How’re we paying for rent, and all the rest of this shit?”
“I don’t know? I’ll get a job. People do that all the time.” They both knew he was bluffing. A minimum wage paycheque never went far enough, and it was hard to commit to being in one place reliably when they had to take whatever odd jobs they could get to make ends meet.
Liam glared, then huffed out impatiently, “Look, I didn’t want to tell you, but Riley asked Jay for money again.”
Fuck. Kai’s stomach sank. Riley was just like them. Could never make a job stick longer than a few months but that was usually because of Dom and their never-ending string of benders. Every few months, she’d hit up Jason for cash, and he always came up with it.
“How much?”
“Seven hundred.”
The screen door opened, and Jason came through, coming to an abrupt halt as Liam and Kai turned towards him as one.
“Seven hundred dollars?”
Jason scowled at Liam. “This is why I don’t like telling you shit.”
“That’s not the answer, Jay!” Kai returned his scowl with interest.
“Then what is the answer?”
They stood in a silent face-off, because they’d been here many times before.
They could let Riley fend for herself, but it meant sacrificing the boys and none of them were willing to do that.
Jason sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat and suddenly looking ten years older.
“Listen, I’ll take care of it. I picked up a couple shifts at the bar and I had a little extra this month.
” He looked at Kai, “I saw Matteo at the resource centre. He said he could use your help this weekend, starting Thursday. It’s at least five hundred. ”
Sweet, sweet relief coursed through Kai. He’d done work for Matteo’s landscaping company a few times over the last couple of summers and really liked the man. His family ran the youth resource centre that Jason volunteered at and sometimes took the boys to.
“Thank fuck. Let him know I’m there. How can I help with Riley?” Kai asked.
“You can’t. I’m the one who said I’d help.
I’ll take care of it.” Jason gave him a steely look, but Kai wanted to argue.
They didn’t solve their problems by themselves.
They did it together. But the look Jason gave him told him he was done talking about it.
At least the job with Matteo meant they’d be covered here and the extra could go back to Jason. Kai turned to Liam.
“Will you tell Geordie I can’t make it?”
Liam shrugged. “I’ll go with him. At least he won’t be bored.” He smirked.
“Whatever, asshole.” Kai rolled his eyes as he reached for his backpack.
“Where you going?” Liam asked.
The truth was now that he had his money sorted, there was only one place he wanted to be and if he left now he could, maybe, be there before dinner. He just didn't feel like starting with Liam again, by bringing Nolan up.
“Out,” he answered as Jay stepped aside.
“Kai!” Liam called.
Kai looked back at him.
“Just fucking be careful.”
“Love you, too.” Kai grinned.
“Fuck off.” Liam flipped him his middle finger.
Kai nodded a goodbye at Jason, letting the screen door close behind him.
He glanced up and caught Riley’s green eyes from where she was sitting right outside her own trailer, watching him nervously and chewing the corner of her bottom lip, a joint between her fingers.
Kai looked away, knowing if he talked to her now, he wouldn’t be able to control his frustration.
“Kai, wait,” she called as he strode by. He saw her get to her feet out of the corner of his eye.
“I gotta go, Riles. I’ll talk to you later.
” Her hand curled around his arm pulling him to a stop.
He turned, taking her in, from her dishevelled messy bun to the permanent blue bruises under her eyes; her pale skin and gaunt cheeks, from too much drugs and alcohol and not enough sleep and food.
It made him sad, but more so because he’d seen what she looked like when her asshole boyfriend and her useless older sister left her alone long enough for her to get her shit together.
When she was sober and goofing off with them and the kids.
He knew what she looked like when she laughed.
It had been a long time since he’d seen her do that.
“I heard you guys.”
Kai shook his head. “That’s between you and Jay, Riley.”
“You’re mad at me.”
He couldn’t deny it. He was, and maybe that wasn’t fair. “He’s never going to say no to you, you know.” Jason would put himself in his own grave first.
“I know, and I wouldn’t ask—”
“I know, Riles.” He didn’t need her to finish the sentence. Just like them, she was barely keeping her head above water, and the people closest to her were constantly dragging her under. He wrapped an arm around her neck, kissing her temple. “I gotta go. I’ll see you later.”