Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
COLTON
Coming to Kairi’s date has to be one of the worst things I’ve ever agreed to.
I somehow managed to snag a seat at the booth diagonal from them without Zale noticing me, and I’ve spent the last twenty minutes drinking a whole bottle of wine on my own while listening to Zale go on and on about everything that was wrong about Alessia.
“She was so needy,” he complains, flapping his arms around as he speaks. “Always wanting to be glued to my side and doing things together.”
Kairi doesn’t look impressed, not in the slightest. In fact she almost looks annoyed.
“Didn’t she fly all the way here from Italy to spend time with you, though?” She asks, fiddling with the rings on her fingers while staring at him. “It makes sense that she’d want to spend all her time with you. She doesn’t know anyone here.”
Zale waves her off. “Now’s not the time to be a girls-girl, Kairi. She was horrifically clingy. I couldn’t even go to the toilet without her searching for me or checking up on me.”
Kairi glances over at me while he continues to complain and her cheeks begin to redden. It’s been happening every time she’s looked at me today, ever since we fucked, and I know that look better than anyone—she wants more.
But after she left, I started to realize that it’s impossible for me to separate my feelings from sex the way I told her I could.
The whole time I was thinking about how much I wanted her all to myself.
I didn’t want it to end, I wanted to keep her in my room and make her come over and over until we both became too tired to do anything other than sleep.
Stepping back and letting her leave my room, knowing that in a matter of hours we would be here on her date with Zale, was torture. That’s why after she left I went to the meeting room to speak with Gabriel and I asked for a week off.
I need to put some real distance between Kairi and I to sort out my feelings. And she needs to be able to pursue things with Zale, or any other guy, without me and my dick getting in the way and confusing her.
“She also hated you,” Zale says, pulling her attention back to him. “She was convinced you were going to steal me away from her. Freaking psychotic.”
Kairi gives him a forced smile before taking a sip from her strawberry daiquiri. This whole date is doomed, and nothing I can suggest will get it back on track, and I think they’re both realizing it.
“Anyway,” Zale says awkwardly. “Tell me about you and Colton.”
She perks up at this, quickly glancing in my direction. I don’t look up from my glass, pretending not to listen, even though we both know I am.
“W-what about him?” She asks nervously.
“Well you two were dating,” he says. “What was that like?”
She shrugs. “It was good. He was nice.”
I bite my lip to hold my laugh in and pick up my phone.
Colton: Tell him we were nothing more than a fun fling.
”Just good?” Zale asks as she glances down at her phone on her lap. “And just nice? That sounds boring as hell.”
Kairi doesn’t answer him as she stares down at her phone, and I frown as I watch her. She isn’t typing back or scrolling, she’s just staring down at the message.
“Earth to Kairi,” Zale says, nudging her leg with his foot.
She looks up, glancing at me quickly, before clearing her throat. “Colton and I weren’t really anything…serious,” she says. “We were just having fun.”
Zale snorts. “Figures. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy to settle down anywhere.”
I frown as my attention moves to him.
“What do you mean by that?” Kairi asks, just as confused as I feel.
“It’s only a matter of time before he packs up and leaves the team, Kairi,” he says, as if this should be obvious to her. “We both know he’s still a flight risk at the end of the day.”
Kairi frowns, lowering her fork to the table. “I think it’s time you move on, Zale,” she says, trying to sound calm but failing horribly. “He’s been back for over a year and he’s not going to run off anywhere.”
I pull out my phone, hoping she sees it in time.
Colton: It’s alright, darlin’, you don’t need to fight my battles. Try to get back on track with the date.
She glances at her phone, but chooses to ignore it. “You’ve been giving him a hard time ever since he returned to the team and honestly? You sound obsessed at this point.”
Zale’s mouth opens as he sits up straight, clearly taken aback by her outburst.
”You’re going to be in the shock of a lifetime when he proves you wrong,” he says, dropping his fork to the table and folding his arms across his chest.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, shaking her head in denial.
The hairs on my arms rise, and I know this is about to end very badly.
Zale laughs condescendingly. “I knew you were naive, Kairi,” he says. “But I didn’t think you were stupid too.”
In a split second I’m out of my seat and taking a step toward him, ready to make him eat his own words, but I freeze when Kairi jumps to her feet and slams her hands on the table.
“He wouldn’t just leave like that,” she shouts, gathering the attention of people sitting nearby. “He wouldn’t leave me.”
Zale is silent for a moment as they both take in what she just said, her eyes widening slightly.
“You love him,” he says, sounding breathless. “Kairi, what the hell are we doing on a date together if you’re in love with another guy?”
She looks shocked, her eyes leaving Zale’s and finding mine. I probably look just as shocked as her because for once in my life, I think Zale might actually be right.
He follows her gaze to mine and hurries to his feet when he notices me standing only a few feet away. “What the hell are you doing here?” He bellows, sizing me up.
I don’t answer him as I hold Kairi’s gaze, her eyes beginning to turn glassy.
“I’m starting to feel like the fucking dumbass here.” Zale scoffs as he looks between us. “So let me make one thing clear, Kairi. When he leaves and breaks your heart, don’t come looking for me.”
”He isn’t leaving,” she shouts, angry tears spilling out of her eyes and down her cheeks.
Zale sneers as he looks back at me. “So then why did he ask Gabriel for a leave of absence earlier today without a confirmed return date?”
Kairi gasps, and looks over at me, hurt reflected on her face. “Y-your leaving?”
“Yes, but—“
”See?” Zale shouts, turning to face her again. “I told you he was a flight risk.”
Her lip begins to tremble as she stares at me, betrayal written all over her face. I open my mouth to explain myself but she squeezes her eyes shut and pushes past both Zale and me, running off toward the restroom.
I turn to chase after her but Zale grabs me by my shirt with both hands and jerks me back to face him.
“I told you that you’d hurt her,” he says through gritted teeth. “You just couldn’t help yourself.”
I shove him off of me, nearby diners gasping as he stumbles back into the booth.
“Touch me again and I’ll break your arms,” I growl. “The only one that hurt her here is you, Zale, because you like to talk about things you don’t even fully understand.”
I don’t wait for him to reply as I turn and run in the direction that Kairi ran off to. I need her to know that my leave of absence is only temporary, and I need to know the truth about her feelings for me, because what I saw tonight isn’t someone that only cares for me as a friend.