31. Kai
Kai
In between giving Akio sips of his hot chocolate and making small talk with Kendall, I watch Julian out of the corner of my eye.
He’s cool, calm, collected. Not a hair out of place.
I can’t believe I almost lost her to him.
This self-absorbed prick who clearly didn’t appreciate Kendall and the rare fucking gift that she is.
Suddenly, jealousy and white-hot anger have hijacked my body.
He makes a move to go to the bathroom and I realize that’s my opening.
“I’ll be right back.” I say to Kendall and Akio standing quickly, my body vibrating with tension.
When I open the door, Julian’s already at a sink marveling at himself in the mirror.
I stand at the sink next to his and pretend to wash my hands.
He moves to turn around, but I grip his arm before he does, forcing him to face me.
“Listen man, I don’t know what happened with you two. But I know she deserved better.” He rips his arm from my grasp and stares at me for a beat, assessing. He takes a step forward so that we’re eye to eye.
“What are you talking about?” he asks, looking alarmed.
“She said you were condescending and egotistical and didn’t treat her well,” I explain. He grunts, taking a step backwards and leaning against the counter. He crosses his arms like this is amusing to him, like he knows something I don’t.
“I may very well be all those things from time to time. But I assure you that’s not why we broke up,” he responds casually.
“What do you mean?” I demand.
“I mean, Kendall hasn’t told you everything. She’s good at that—omitting important details to people she cares about. We broke up because there were three of us in that relationship. Me, Kendall, and you.”
“Me?” I ask, even more confused than I was a minute ago.
“Our relationship couldn’t survive you, the baggage you two had. The absolute chokehold you had on her. But seeing you two together today…it makes sense. I see it. It’s like the universe intervened to finally give me closure.”
“See what?”
“What you two have. No one else ever stood a chance with her. Not even me. A charming, handsome, pediatric surgeon,” he smirks.
This is where a smarter, more evolved guy would have walked away and ended the conversation.
But he just had to have the last fucking word.
Regardless of what it cost him—his ego, his pride, his date that was no doubt wondering where he was by now.
“Oh, and Kai, she may have faked her feelings for me at the end, but there are some things she definitely didn’t fake, like how much she loves my tongue,” he says glaring at me.
The thought of this asshole’s mouth anywhere near her body has me seeing red.
My rage starts to boil over and it takes less than a millisecond for my flying, curled fist to connect with his face.
I hit him with precision and strength—hard enough to cause serious pain but not hard enough to break anything.
He stumbles backwards bringing his hand to his mouth and when he pulls it away, there’s bright red blood dripping from his thumb.
“Fuck. A little sensitive about our mutual love interest, huh bro?” he asks, baiting me.
Did this guy have a fucking death wish? I advance towards him, quickly grabbing his arm and pinning it behind his back. With his face shoved against the paper towel dispenser, I twist his arm a little more for good measure.
“Okay, okay,” he pleads desperately, spittle flying from his lips.
“If you say another fucking word about her or ever come near her again, I will break every one of your fucking fingers slowly and make it look like an accident. And I’m pretty sure you need those to eat bro,” I warn.
“You made your point. I deserved that,” he concedes.
I back away from him, easing up the slightest bit and he walks out the door as quickly as possible, tail between his legs.