Chapter Three Kai
I return to work in the second week of January and Levi is true to his word, helping our team prepare for the meeting with Jones. Marie, Connor, Yasmina, Deji and I sit in a conference room, going over the proposal with Levi. He listens intently, asking all the hard questions that we fumble through.
I try my best not to look at him too long, but he seems to have invaded my mind. Silver light from the windows hits back, a sort of halo forming around him. I have to remind myself that he has a boyfriend. A very hot boyfriend might I add, who could buy my life a million times over.
When the clock strikes five, Levi stands, stretching. “I think you guys are ready. I won’t be involved with this now since Jones will take over but I’m always happy to help if you need me.”
Marie stands, grinning widely. “Thank you so much, Levi. You have no idea what a help you have been. I mean clearing your afternoon for us is huge.”
Levi waves an easy hand. “It’s my pleasure. Seriously, you guys did good work.”
I nod. “Marie is right. Thank you, Levi. Honestly.”
Levi’s eyes meet mine and he smiles. “You’re welcome,” he says with a smile, before turning to the rest of the team. “And as a manager, I think I’m obliged to buy you drinks. So, is anyone up for it?”
Connor rubs his hands together grinning. “How many drinks are we talking about here?”
Levi laughs as Marie rolls her eyes. “As many as you can handle.”
Connor shakes his head. “Oh, you shouldn’t have said that.”
“Seriously, you’ve just let a five-year-old loose in a sweet shop,” I tell Levi.
His eyes fall on me again and his lips quirk up in a smirk. Around me, everyone stands, excited at the prospect of alcohol paid for by our boss as Marie announces we all meet downstairs in ten minutes.
When I slide past Levi, I get a whiff of his scent. He smells exactly like Cole–tobacco and vanilla. I don’t let my eyes drift to him just in case I trip and fall on my ass, embarrassing myself a little more.
We sit in the classic interior of Mulligans. It’s pouring rain outside, and the post-holiday city can only be described as depressing. The Christmas decorations have been carted away, leaving a grey, miserable city outside. Only the drabs of tourists linger in the city, taking advantage of the discounted prices.
Highlights of a rugby game play in the background on the television screen, drowned out by the post-work buzz of young professionals. Both Yaz and Connor have pints of Guinness, Deji drinks whisky on the rocks and Marie and I opt for cider. Levi on the other hand drinks Cognac and I almost want to laugh at that—it’s like he knows.
The conversation veers from personal to professional, everyone taking the opportunity to ask Levi all sorts of questions. Turns out he skipped first and sixth grade because he was too smart before he begged his school to stop bumping him up because he kept getting bullied for being too small. After his Master’s, he hopped from a few jobs before landing at A-EYE.
“Is that how you met your partner?” Yaz asks, tucking her dark hair behind her ear and looking at him through her long eyelashes.
Levi shakes his head. “I met him just before my interview. Kinda like fate.”
“Aww that’s so romantic,” Marie swoons next to Connor.
“Ugh I’m ready to meet the love of my life,” Yaz mutters.
Deji slaps the table, announcing it’s time to head back home. Yaz nods, “Same,” she mutters, probably feeling the Guinness now. They say their goodbyes, leaving together into the unforgiving wind and rain.
“I’ll buy the next round,” Connor announces.
“I’ll help,” Marie says, sliding off her stool.
I open my mouth to protest but they are gone before I can get anything out. I’m slightly buzzed, and Levi is sitting across me, eyes with that constant hint of humour. Dark hair brushes over his eyebrows and suddenly my mouth starts working without my permission.
“You know you smile like you’re in on some kind of joke no one else is in on.”
His eyes widen for a second and I almost panic but then he huffs out a laugh and I feel my shoulders relax. It’s soft. Heat pools at the pit of my stomach and I do my best to douse it by counting the glasses a waiter is holding in his hands.
Six.
“Do I?” he asks. He lifts his glass and takes a sip, eyes still focused on me.
“Yeah,” I say. “It’s a little disconcerting. Makes you feel like you have something on your face.”
“Disconcerting, huh?” He looks completely unaffected by the alcohol despite this being his third glass.
I open my mouth to speak, but before I can say anything, a familiar figure appears behind Levi. Cole Armas is walking towards our table, and I feel my heart stutter and begin to race in my chest.
He’s wearing a leather jacket; his black hair slightly damp from the rain. He’s made of solid muscle and cut glass. He must be at least 6”4 and where Levi is attractive in a rebellious way, Cole looks like he was sculpted, perfect in every aspect.
As if Levi senses him, he turns to watch his boyfriend who appears beside him and without a word, slides a hand to the nape of his neck, just where his hair stops and grips it slightly, forcing Levi to look up at him.
Levi smiles softly. “Hello,” he whispers.
My cheeks heat as I avert my gaze, looking past them to Connor and Marie who are now collecting the drinks. Thank God.
“Cole,” I hear Levi say. “Kai here thinks I smile like I’m in on a joke no one else knows about. You think so?”
My heart shoots up to my throat. It wants to leap out and run. I dare myself to look at Cole who is watching me with eyes I cannot read. I can’t tell if he likes me or despises me for speaking to his boyfriend. Maybe it’s written all over my face that I think Levi is hot.
But then he does something I am not expecting—he smiles, it’s friendly, twisting into an almost smirk. “I think you’re onto something there, Kai.” His voice is deep, and smoky, like a hug when he says my name.
Jesus, Kai. Maybe Jenna is right. I need to get laid because what am I even thinking right now?
Just then, Marie and Connor appear, drinks in hand and I deflate in relief. I see Marie’s eyes widen slightly when she notices Cole, immediately sobering.
Levi looks slightly apologetic. “I hope you don’t mind; Cole was in the area, and I asked him to join.”
Connor waves a hand. “Not a problem at all, boss. What’s your poison?” he asks Cole easily like he can’t have us fired with the wave of a hand, but Connor is like that, and I wish I was a little more like him at this moment.
“I don’t really drink,” Cole says.
Marie’s eyebrows shoot up, losing her initial nervousness. “How? That’s all anyone does in this city?”
Cole laughs. “Never got it into it,” is all he offers. “I don’t mind the occasional glass of red wine though.”
“Oh my God,” she squeals. “I went to this wine tasting near Bicester the other day. It was divine. You might enjoy it.”
Meet Marie, she can make friends with lamp posts.
Cole’s smile is friendly and warm, “Really? You’ll have to tell me more about it.”
Just like that, Marie is enchanted, and they fall into conversation about wine and good restaurants in the city. He pays close attention to what she is saying, his eyes matching her excitement which only encourages Marie more.
Conner and Levi start on Formula One and this year’s drivers, and I try to join but I’m only half paying attention. My eyes keep drifting to Levi and Cole. I eye their matching bracelets made of sparkling diamonds set in white gold wrapped around Cole’s right wrist and Levi’s left.
Through the conversation, Cole keeps his arm around Levi’s barstool and Levi leans into him. They move together, in perfect harmony. It just fits. I wonder what that must be like, to have someone who moves with you. After my date with James, I feel a little hopeless. It’s probably for the best anyway. I don’t know how good a boyfriend I could be right now.
A little later, Marie yawns and goes home around nine, leaving Connor, Levi, Cole, and me. Connor launches into more sports talk with Levi but I’m not following, my eyes drift to Cole across me again. I study the lines of his face, long dark eyelashes brushing against his skin when he blinks, perfectly plump lips and hands that have veins running up his arm.
Like he feels me staring, his eyes meet mine and he holds my gaze for a second. His eyes flash with something I can’t read. I know I should look away, but I can’t. It’s like he’s holding me in place and won’t let me go. He breaks the staring competition first and leans into Levi whispering something I can’t hear over the music. Levi nods with a smile, then sighs.
“We should get home,” he says.
My stomach falls. Did Cole catch me staring and decide he’s had enough of me ogling him and his boyfriend?
“Do you need a lift?” Levi asks, “We could drive you wherever you need to go.”
Before I can speak, Connor says, “Nah, thanks. I have a date.”
I give him a conspiratorial smile. It’s Thursday and it’s late, but I’ll ask him about it tomorrow. He’s probably meeting Katie, the girl who has a flat in Green Park and allows him to come over at all hours of the night. Maybe I need someone like that but then I think of guys like James and the idea of it has me cringing.
Cole turns back to me and tilts his head slightly. “Kai?”
I should say no but it’s cold and it’s still pouring rain outside. I can hear the wind over the music, and I don’t want to brave the elements whilst tipsy and having a crisis about finding my boss and his partner hot.
I should say no.
“That’s okay,” I say. “I can call an Uber.”
Levi looks confused. “Why would you do that when we’re offering?”
The Uber would be expensive, and I’d be drenched by the time I got to the nearest station. I should refuse their offer, but I don’t. I tell myself it’s because I don’t want to spend more money than necessary or catch a cold, so I nod. Once. Then again.
“Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.”
I thank God my flat with Jenna is only about a fifteen-minute drive from here.
Cole’s lips turn up in a smile and he slides off the stool, before holding out his hand to Levi who follows. It’s interesting to see. Levi does not strike me in any way as the kind of guy who needs help to get off a bar stool. He’s over six feet tall, and he looks like he works out plus he’s covered in tattoos.
There’s nothing dainty about him but from the two times I’ve seen him around Cole, he doesn’t seem to mind that Cole grabs his hair or neck or holds out his hand to make sure he doesn’t fall off a bar stool.
It’s sweet.
A swirl of jealousy runs through me but I’m not sure who I’m jealous of exactly. Cole or Levi? I shake my head as we head out of the bar and into the rain. Connor waves at us as he rushes to his Uber.
“I parked just down here,” Cole says, taking Levi’s hand and walking down the street. Levi shoots me a look and like a puppy I follow behind, letting the rain pelt me. Maybe it can clear my mind.
Cole’s car is a black Mercedes G-Wagon. I can’t see it in the rain, but it still looks customised, the lights casting a glow over the street when he unlocks the doors.
Kenny loved cars. He always talked about buying himself an expensive one like this. I pause, I rarely think of Kenny. I buried him somewhere in the back of my mind but sometimes he rears his head, always there to remind me of the scars he left.
“Kai?” Levi’s voice is gentle.
My eyes snap to him and he’s looking at me. Cole is holding open the door for me. I shake my head.
“Uh, thanks,” I say quickly, sliding into the plush leather of the car.
A wave of a similar scent to Levi’s hits my nose. I fight the urge to breathe it in. They smell the same.
I tell Cole my address, trying my best not to sound nervous. I don’t even know why I’m nervous, but I am and it’s annoying as hell. I’m not the nervous type at all and I know I need to get it together, but I don’t understand what’s been going on in my head since I met Levi. It’s like I can’t string a single normal thought when he’s around. Add Cole to the mix and I’m basically useless.
When they drop me off, I rush upstairs, desperate for a shower. Jenna is sitting on the couch, watching a Netflix show. She glances up at me as I slip off my shoes.
“Why do you look like that?”
I frown. “Like what?”
“All flustered like.”
I swallow thickly. Is it that noticeable? But I relax, telling myself Jenna knows me better than anyone. Of course, she’d notice this.
“I think I’m just cold. I need a shower.”
“I made dinner!” she shouts as I head to the bathroom.
“Thank you!” I call back but I don’t think I can eat anything tonight. My stomach is twisting and turning.
When I finally stand under the shower, I let the scalding hot water run down my body for a good five minutes. I close my eyes and like the rebel it is, my brain takes me back to Mulligans, to Cole and Levi.
Images of Cole gripping the hair at the back of Levi’s head and kissing him softly flash before my eyes. Images of Cole looking at me with those jade-coloured eyes, like he could read everything I was thinking have my head spinning, and I barely notice as my hand moves from my stomach and down to my dick.
I let out a quiet hiss as I grip it. I haven’t jerked off in a while, but everyone needs a release, I reason. Yet when I picture them kissing each other, I know I’m positively fucked. I explode in my hand, letting out a choked moan.
This is bad.
This is so, so bad.