Chapter 18 #2
lol. You’re so funny. You’re not going to fall. Just hold onto Uncle Nolan. You’re gonna be great! I can’t wait to see you!!
Kai groaned. She’d been no help at all.
“You okay?” Nolan asked, immediately concerned.
“Just nervous,” Kai admitted, rubbing his suddenly damp palms on his knees. Nolan took his hand again, bringing it to his lips.
“It can be a lot, but we’ll get inside quickly if you want.”
“Let them take one picture. That look deserves to be photographed.” Myles narrowed his eyes dangerously.
“You okay with that?” Nolan asked. Something about the way he checked in with Kai gave him a little bit of courage.
“Yeah. Yeah. Let’s take pictures. Just don’t let me fall.”
Myles exited the car first and took a step back to let them out.
Nolan never let go of his hand as Kai stepped out of the car last. It felt like stepping into a whole new world.
All around them, cameras flashed, some taking pictures of the newcomers, others focused on the people further up the carpet who were standing and posing for pictures.
For a wild moment, Kai debated the merits of throwing himself back in the car, but Nolan wrapped an arm around his back and the car pulled away, stranding them there.
Kai pressed a little closer to Nolan as a few of the photographers called his name.
“Noah’s on your left,” Kai heard Myles mutter to Nolan.
Kai glanced over to see one of the photographers flagging him.
He was probably a couple of years older than Kai, tall and lean and looked like he should have been a nerd but rocked a badass tattoo that crawled out of the white button down he wore all the way up to his jawline on the right side.
“Come on,” Nolan whispered, leading them over.
Noah immediately put his camera to his eye, snapping away.
Kai felt awkward as hell. He didn’t know how to stand or what he should do with his hands, so he just kind of leaned into Nolan’s side.
He saw Myles give him a tiny shake of his head.
He’d moved to face them, a little out of the way, and was staring at Kai intently, like he was trying to convey a message without words.
He pushed his jacket to the side, putting one hand in his pocket, while the other held the other side of his open jacket, leaning slightly towards Nolan and kicking out his leg.
Kai immediately clued in, mimicking him.
Myles nodded, then shifted position, standing up straight, shaking out his arms lightly to bring down the sleeves of his jacket and then folding his hands together in front of him.
Kai mimicked him again, feeling a little more confident and staring straight at the camera.
Nolan’s arm never left Kai’s waist, and when he turned to face the cameras on Noah’s left, Kai followed.
“Thanks, man,” Noah said, and Kai was a little surprised to see Nolan go in for a bro hug.
“No worries. I should have known you were going to be here. What’s happening, man?”
“You know how it is. Gotta pay these bills,” Noah said with a grin. “Who’s this?”
“This is my boyfriend, Kai.”
Kai shook his hand trying not to let anyone see what the word boyfriend was doing to his insides. Would an outsider say that it was too soon for a boyfriend label? Probably, but outsiders could suck it, because Nolan was his boyfriend and he needed all these rich people to know.
“Is this your coming-out party? How long have you guys been dating?”
Nolan laughed, wagging a finger at Noah. “You need to know when to turn it off, man.”
“Come on!”
But Nolan was already leading Kai away.
“You did good,” Myles said quietly as he rejoined them.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He gave Kai a reassuring smile. “Those pictures are going to be all over social media by tomorrow.”
A lead weight fell into Kai’s stomach. He was definitely going to get shit on by Liam for this. He gave a mental sigh. Well, that was tomorrow Kai’s problem. Tonight was full of its own challenges.
By the time that Katie, Chris, Lucas and Marcus arrived, Kai, Nolan and Myles had already taken their seats, and Kai was already bored.
He’d briefly been in awe of the splendour of the venue with its towering glass windows and fancy stone design.
There were more people than he had anticipated in the massive ballroom, and they were all dripping in glitter and gold.
This was Liam’s candy store, and Kai had a moment of regret that he wasn’t here to enjoy it with him, even if that would have been disastrous.
With every fake laugh and effusive hello from the people who came to talk to them, the crowd lost its shine a little. Not for the first time, Kai wondered what kind of hustles Nolan had going on on the side, because it seemed like everyone wanted to talk to him.
“You don’t just run the shop, do you? All these guys look like they want to eat you alive,” Kai whispered, as soon as yet another middle-aged couple had departed again.
“I’ve got my fingers in a few different pies. All of them want something. Either money or access to Chris,” he answered.
“That’s very cynical,” Myles said into his drink, clearly amused.
“The real joke being that Myles is the one they should be sucking up to. He handles almost everything so I can focus on my first love.”
“The shop?” Kai asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, sir.”
Kai looked up to see Katie enter on Chris’ arm with Lucas and Marcus right behind.
Katie scoured the room, and, when her gaze landed on them, a radiant smile lit up her face.
She wore a mermaid dress in a soft lilac that hugged her all the way to her knees, the bodice dipping low and hugging her perfect tits before going over her shoulders in barely there straps.
She bounced on her toes and waved at him, completely unaware of the filthy smirks from a few of the pervs around her.
Kai couldn’t help the grin that broke his face.
Thank. God. He’d thought he was going to lose his mind if he had to sit here for very much longer.
Maybe Nolan and Chris would do their socializing thing and leave them to their own entertainment.
His face fell when he caught sight of Dion right behind them.
Goddamn. Nolan hadn’t mentioned Dion would be here tonight.
He wore a light grey mermaid gown of his own, heavily beaded, that crossed his chest and over one shoulder.
His hair was slicked back in a style that was severe but suited his uptight ass.
Kai groaned internally but tried to hide his annoyance as they got to their feet to greet the newcomers.
“Hi,” Katie said brightly, still beaming at him like a maniac.
“Hey Katie.” He grinned, pulling her into a hug that she returned with interest. Chris clapped him on the back in greeting.
“Damn, Kai! You’re looking sharp, my guy,” Marcus crowed, pulling him into a bro hug.
“Seriously, GQ, calm down,” Lucas teased. Kai blushed, embarrassed but pleased.
“You’re looking very handsome Kai,” Dion said formally, leaning in to air-kiss his cheek. Kai did his best not to roll his eyes.
“Thanks, Dion, you look great.” It was a weak compliment but, hey, he was trying and it didn’t seem to make a difference, because Dion had already been distracted by a middle-aged woman with a flawless grey bob who’d come by to greet him.
Kai watched them air-kiss on both cheeks, several others converging on him warmly.
It was clear that this was Dion’s turf, and Kai was very much the outsider.
Before he could get maudlin about it, they turned to Katie.
“Katie, lovely to see you,” they said, but it was pretty clear from their cold once-overs that it was definitely not lovely to see her. Katie’s smile dimmed, her shoulders dropping just a fraction.
“Nice to see you too, Marilise,” she said, her voice different than usual, sad but oddly wistful. A surge of protectiveness had him stepping closer to her.
“And who is this? Another boyfriend of yours? How many is that now, dear?” Marilise turned to Kai, pinning him with an assessing stare. Half an hour ago, it would have had more of an effect. Now he kind of wanted to fuck with her for being an asshole to Katie.
“This is Kai, my boyfriend,” Nolan said, coming up behind them and wrapping an arm around Kai’s waist. His voice was cool with a warning in it. “How are you, Marilise?”
The old bat’s face warmed by several degrees.
“Wonderful, Nolan, dear. How are you? How is your mother? I haven’t seen her in so long. Not since the winter ball last year.” She pouted playfully.
“Yeah, and if she has her way, you won’t see her until she has to do it again this year,” he said drolly.
“Nolan!” Dion gasped, pressing a hand to his breast.
“Well, you send her my kind regards,” Marilise answered, her voice brittle. The women behind her looked affronted, but it seemed to have the desired effect when they swept away, taking Dion with them.
“Bitch,” Nolan muttered under his breath. Kai laughed and Katie smiled again, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You’re looking beautiful, Katie.” Nolan pressed a kiss to Katie’s cheek. “Don’t let those hags get you down.”
“Thanks, Nolan.”
“It’s so weird hearing you call him that.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t need to give those guys any more reason to hate me. I should have probably warned you. If you hang around me, they’ll hate you on principle.” Her expression fell again as they took their seats, and she turned to look at him worriedly. “You know, if you don’t want them to know—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence. We’re friends. They can go fuck themselves.”
Katie’s shoulders relaxed again.
“What’s their problem anyway?”
“They’re just judgey meanies. I’m too young and I have too many boyfriends to warrant politeness.”
“Sounds like jealousy. Tell me that’s not living the dream.”
“Oh yeah? You need a couple more boyfriends?” Nolan interjected from where he’d taken his seat again on Kai’s left. Kai grinned at him.
“Nah, I’m good.”
Nolan gave him an affectionate smile pecking him lightly on his lips.