Chapter 22
“That was so much fun,” Kai said for the half-dozenth time, still thrumming with energy as they buckled their seatbelts.
It was early evening now. Kai had a blast handing out ice cream to the kids.
By the time they’d finished, the group kids had been let out, and Nolan had a chance to meet Matteo’s mother, Anna.
She was tall and softly curved, with heavy streaks of grey shot through her black curls, feisty as hell and incredibly passionate about the kids she was trying to help.
She’d insisted that Kai and Nolan stay for family dinner, which took place at her house next door.
Since it was summer, they ate in the backyard.
Four picnic tables ran down one side of the yard under strings of lights, and Matteo, his four siblings and their family crowded the table as well as Jason, the twins and a few staff members from the centre.
“I’m glad you had fun. You know, if you’d told me what you were up to, we could’ve gone to Costco.” He took Kai’s hand in his as they pulled out of the driveway.
“Don’t you have to pay to get in there?” Kai scoffed.
“You need a membership, which, incidentally, I have.”
“Can we do that next time? I mean, if you want to do it again?” Kai fidgeted with his seatbelt, hope and hesitation playing across his handsome features.
“Yeah, of course. We can do it whenever you want.”
“Kind of sucks we never found the kid from last night though.”
“Matteo said he would put feelers out to some of his contacts in the city, so maybe he’ll turn up. Don’t give up. You did something really good today. I’m glad I got to be a part of that.”
“Yeah. Yeah, we did.” Nolan felt a wave of affection flood his system at the pride on his face.
“Hey,” he said softly. Kai turned to look at him, curiosity in his eyes. “Stay with me this week. Matteo said you’re only working Wednesday and Thursday. I can take you. What do you say?”
“Seriously?” Kai asked, surprised but almost hopeful.
“Yeah, of course I’m serious. Stay with me.”
“Yeah, okay,” Kai said shyly. “Do you have to work?”
“Yeah, but you can come by the shop and maybe Katie will come keep you company.” Nolan didn’t bother to say he was still annoyed with her for stalling him yesterday, but he guessed he could give her credit for being a good friend to Kai even though they’d only met two weeks ago. Nolan huffed a small laugh.
“What?” Kai asked.
“Nothing. I just can’t believe it’s only been two weeks since we met. I feel like I’ve known you much longer.”
“Same. You’re officially the longest relationship I’ve ever had, Daddy.”
“And hopefully the last?” Nolan waggled his eyebrows, earning him a grin.
Kai stared at him for a moment without saying anything.
Nolan desperately wanted to know what he was thinking about, but then he lunged across the console and kissed him hard.
Nolan stopped thinking altogether until his phone chimed with an incoming text message.
Kai broke away, curling close and resting his head on Nolan’s shoulder.
Nolan dropped a kiss on it and glanced at the dashboard screen.
Chris:
Call me.
Nolan ignored the message. He’d call him tomorrow. Tonight, he just wanted to spend time with Kai while he rode the high from the day.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Can I ask for something else?” Nolan smiled down at him, pleased that he was becoming more comfortable asking for anything.
“Anything, baby.”
“Can we ask Myles where he got that underwear from?”
Nolan shifted as all the blood in his body rushed south. Yeah, he was definitely not calling Chris tonight.
“Of course. We’ll get right on that.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Nolan’s gut squeezed at Chris’ tone.
He knew without him saying anything else what this was going to be about, but he leaned back in his office chair, taking in Chris in all of his fury.
He’d intended to call Chris that morning after his first meeting but had gotten distracted.
The fact that Chris had taken time out of his day to chase him down could only mean one thing.
“What’s jumped up your ass, brother?” Nolan asked, resigned.
“I told you to fucking call me.” Chris glared.
“I was busy. Are you coming in, or are you going to yell from the door.”
‘“Did you know he was a—”
“Close the door, Chris!” Nolan barked. Kai hadn’t come by his office yet, and he hardly needed his employees, people he respected, having their opinions of him tainted beforehand.
Chris slammed the door and stormed across the room, planting his hands on Nolan’s desk and leaning into his personal space.
“So you do know. He’s a fucking con artist, Nolan. So I ask again, have you lost your fucking mind?”
“You couldn’t let me have this, eh? How long did you wait before you ran the background check?”
“What do you want from me? He’s spending time with Katie. You have him practically living in your house!” Chris yelled.
The dig about Kai living in his house struck a little too close to home. “Don’t pretend you did this for me. You did this for you.” Nolan’s voice rose to match Chris’.
“Of course, I did it for you! You’re so fucking lovesick, you can’t see clearly. What other reason could you possibly have for letting a con artist live in your house?”
“Stop calling him that. He isn’t a con artist,” Nolan spat. “He’s a kid who made the best of the choices he had in front of him.”
“Stop infantilizing him. He’s not a kid.
He’s twenty-four. Let’s not take your Daddy kink too far.
” Chris snapped but threw himself into the chair across from Nolan, glowering at him with disgust. They were silent for a moment while they glared at each other across the desk.
Nolan knew it was just a matter of time before Chris got started again.
“Look. Kai told me about his past himself. He didn’t have to. I’m choosing to believe that I can trust him.” He ignored Chris’s scoff of disgust. “He’s given me no reason to doubt him. He’s good, Chris.”
“It’s been a little more than two weeks, Nolan, and he’s spending more nights with you than you guys spend apart.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Nolan shoved his hand impatiently through his hair.
“You’re moving too fast.” Chris’ eyes had that stubborn glint in them, one that matched his. They rarely went up against each other but when they did, the odds were even on who would come out on top.
“Do you really not trust my judgement?”
“How can I when these are the decisions that you make?” Chris demanded incredulously.
Nolan glared. “Listen, I trust you when it comes to your business. I trust you about a million other things, but when it comes to your heart? I don’t know, man, the decisions you’ve made have been questionable.
I get wanting someone of your own to care for, but this is a new low, even for you. ”
“Don’t talk about him like that! No!” Nolan cut across, jumping to his feet, palms splayed on his desk, glowering across at his brother. “You don’t get to tell me what to do with my personal life. I’m with Kai. Make peace with it.”
Chris got to his feet. “No. And unless you can prove to me that Kai isn’t a threat to Katie, keep him away from her.”
Chris swept out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Nolan grabbed the pen lying on his desk and whipped it across the room, hoping to vent some of the anger and frustration from his body. The door opened again, and Myles leaned against the doorframe.
“So, that went well.”
“Don’t start,” Nolan growled. Myles came in, closing the door behind him and taking the seat that Chris had occupied.
“What did he find?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” Myles stared at him, assessing.
“What?” Nolan barked, his temper ready to flare again.
“Maybe you should.”
“To what end, Myles? To be perpetually suspicious? To always have my guard up? That’s not the relationship I want. Besides, if I had to listen to him recite Kai’s past in that holier-than-thou voice of his, I might have hit him.” Nolan threw himself back into his chair.
Myles continued to watch him thoughtfully.
“Okay.”
“Okay? That’s it?”
“Yeah, okay. You’re right. Was I worried before? Yeah, but I’ve spent time with Kai. I know he cares about you. I don’t think that he would jeopardize that lightly.”
Nolan’s shoulders slumped, some of the tension leaving him.
“Thanks, man. Do me a favour. Can you make an appointment with Landon? The sooner, the better. Let him know that Kai’s agreed to talk to him.”
“What’s this about?” Myles looked at him curiously. “If it’s all right to ask.”
“Kai needs some information on his rights as the beneficiary of his grandmother’s estate, but she passed eight years ago. Truthfully, I’ll probably ask Kai if he wants you to run interference with Landon after tomorrow. Dealing with this is tough for him.”
“Is that what had him stressed on Saturday?”
“Yeah, I fucked up and sprung it on him. He’s doing better now or I wouldn’t try again.”
“Okay. Tell him anything he needs, just let me know.”
“On that note, he said he wants more of those sexy little panties you got for him.” Nolan waggled his tongue lasciviously, and Myles groaned in disgust.
“Okay, almost TMI, but tell him I got him.”
Nolan immediately picked up the phone and video-called Kai, smiling when he answered immediately.
“Hi.”
“What are you doing?”
Kai held his arm out wide so that Nolan could see him on one of their inflatable loungers, dead centre of the pool.
The water was crystal clear, reflecting blue skies and the occasional cloud.
Kai was wearing the trunks he’d borrowed from Nolan two weeks ago.
They were still ridiculously large. Even if Kai would let him buy him his own gear, Nolan really liked him in his.
“That’s good, baby. Did you put sunscreen on? ”
“Yes. Cherry made me, and she made me drink water.” Kai pulled the phone in close to whisper, “She kind of scares me.”
“Don’t cross her. She runs a tight ship.”
“Are you coming home soon? I miss you.”
“I think you saw me three hours ago.”
Kai shrugged. “I’m just saying. I could be lying on you right now.”
“I’d like that.”
“How’s your day going?”
“Shit.”
Kai grinned. “Even more reason to come home.”
“Soon, baby. I just need to see your face for a few minutes.”
Myles:
Landon tomorrow @ 9:30. He’ll stop by.
The message popped up at the top of his screen.
“Hey. I had Myles make an appointment with Landon for tomorrow morning.”
Kai visibly shrank. “You’ll be there right?”
“I told you: you and me together. It probably won’t take long, and then, maybe, you’ll deserve a treat. Why don’t you spend today thinking about what treat you’d like?” he said, hoping to distract Kai from worrying too much. “You know what? Why don’t I come home for lunch?”
“Yeah.” Kai’s face brightened, drawing a soft laugh from Nolan.
He admired the face staring back at him, taking in every feature.
It broke his heart, thinking about all the ways that people had been cruel to him, and now he had to add Chris to that list. How the hell was he going to explain why Katie had stopped coming around if Chris made good on his promise to keep them separated?
How could he make his brother understand that Kai needed people he could rely on, not people who would let him down and fail him the way that others had?
He’d gone through hell and somehow had still come out the other side sweet and kind and caring.
Just thinking about him hurting made Nolan want to wrap him up in his arms and never let him go.
The desire was so visceral that once it was lodged in his chest he needed to make it happen.
“Alright. I’ll grab sandwiches from the place near here and I’ll be on my way.”