25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
K ai had been putting off something too long.
After dinner, he and Ezra had driven over to Sloan’s, which was where they were crashing. Both Ezra and Sloan were zapped from the night’s outpouring, and they stripped down and climbed into bed to rest. Except Kai couldn’t, even if he wanted to. His body hummed with adrenaline from their conversation.
Boyfriends.
He had not just one but two boyfriends.
As much as his folks were accepting, he would take his time breaking the news to them—about his bisexuality and polyamory. They were still processing his divorce and move, mostly because both had come as such a shock to them.
He stepped onto Sloan’s back porch, the wind whipping around him like a force unto itself. The view over the city from here was gorgeous, just twinkling lights from all the skyscrapers, like an earthly mirror to the sky. Kai settled into the wooden seat and slipped his hand into the pocket with his phone.
He needed to call one person, though.
Before he lost the nerve, he dialed the number and pressed Call. The ringing made his nerves escalate even more.
“Holy fuck, you’re still alive? I thought Kai Bennett was just a myth.” Cooper’s voice offered a dose of home Kai had sorely missed. His best friend had been sad about him moving, but Coop was logical at heart. He understood Kai couldn’t stay in town any longer, even if part of him would always love it.
“Clearly just legend.” He settled into the cool seat. The bracing winds fit tonight, keeping him more aware and awake.
“Good to hear from you,” Coop said, the words a little hoarse. Kai’s throat squeezed with his swallow. Right, he should’ve called earlier. The one person he’d been keeping in contact with since the move was Shelby but only because she continued to call him. He and his parents chatted once in a while, and while he’d texted Coop back, he’d owed him a full talk.
His next conversation with Shelby would be an interesting one.
He chewed on his lower lip, trying to figure out how to broach the topic with Coop. But once he opened his mouth, the words spewed from him. “So, do you have any nice spanking paddles in stock I could use with my boyfriends?”
Well.
That had been a way to break the news, he supposed .
Silence emanated from the other end of the line.
“Coop, you still there?” Kai asked, his heart beating hard.
“Yes, just give me a second to parse everything you just threw at me. When have you been into kink? You and Shelby were as vanilla as they came.”
Kai ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, yes, that was something that changed after the divorce.”
“And bisexual? How long did you know?”
“Uh.” He didn’t want to admit the thoughts had brewed on the back burner for a while and that walking in on Coop plowing his boyfriend over a table had brought things to clarity.
“Maybe I don’t want to know,” Coop said. “My guess is more recently?”
“Yeah. And I met the guys I’m seeing from the local kink scene.” It sounded so effortless and simple but didn’t come close to touching the depths of what he’d been experiencing ever since meeting Sloan and Ezra. A bond had been forged between them through what they’d lived and mutual understanding that he’d never gone through with Shelby when they were just teens in a cozy small town.
“I’d say I was surprised, but you’ve always been a go big or go home type. So, two guys?” Coop said. The acknowledgment settled something inside Kai. Part of him had felt like he’d changed completely from the guy he’d been back in Collier’s Creek ever since he got diagnosed with lupus. Ever since he had to evaluate his state every single day and couldn’t rely on his body the way he used to.
Coop saying parts of his old self remained, fuck, that meant everything. His best friend hadn’t chafed at his bisexuality, kinkiness, or polyamory. Relief trickled through him .
“We met at a sensory play class,” he said quietly. He’d forever be grateful to Whipped, to the serendipity that had led to him getting paired up with Sloan and Ezra.
“You realize you’d better bring your boys home to meet everyone, right?” Coop said.
Kai’s eyes heated. Truth be told, he hadn’t been sure anyone would want to see him. Some days he still struggled with his choice to leave home, even if it had ultimately been for the best. “You think my folks and Shelby would be okay with me visiting?”
“If they’re not, they’ll have the whole Ellis clan breathing down their necks.” Considering Cooper’s family comprised half the town, the threat held weight. “You know you’re always welcome back.”
Kai swallowed hard. That had been the hardest part about the move. “I know everyone cared. I know some even acknowledged me as I am now. You were always one of those people. But the weight of seeing everyone day in and day out and remembering who I was to them, who I used to be—it got too damn hard.”
“It was Geraldine, wasn’t it?” Coop teased.
Goddamn, he was so grateful for his best friend. “Clearly. She scares half the people from the town on a daily basis. I won’t let so long go without calling and visiting, though. I do miss you.”
“Logan misses his partner in crime.”
“He would.” Kai clutched his phone tight. “Ganging up on you is too much fun.”
So much more percolated inside him, worries about what was to come if Meg didn’t handle Rick, concerns over what the fuck his future held. Would he be able to navigate a polyam relationship when he hadn’t even been able to keep a marriage?
Yet all those dripped away as he stared out at the San Francisco skyline. The stars weren’t as bright out here as where he’d come from, but with the sea glittering in the distance, he couldn’t find it in him to care. Back in Collier’s Creek, he’d been living simply, even though part of him had yearned to reach for the stars.
Here, he’d reached for those stars and had found a new enjoyment of the simple things.
In a warm bed with partners who cared.
In having a safe home to return to.
In knowing when he flared that people would help him through.
“Coop, I’ll call again soon, okay?” he said. “Send your family my love.”
“I will, though it’ll only make Jordan more obnoxious,” Coop said. “And, Kai? Thanks for telling me.”
His heart squeezed tight. “Thank you. We’ll talk soon.”
He ended the call and tipped his head back.
“Talking to someone back home?” Ezra’s voice snapped him to awareness. He looked over his shoulder. Ezra leaned against the doorframe. He’d popped on a pair of boxer briefs, but that was all he wore, and the way the moonlight highlighted his built frame had Kai salivating.
“Yeah, my best friend,” Kai said. Giddiness bubbled inside him again, and he didn’t try to hide his grin. “I might have told him about us.”
“How did that go?” Ezra shuffled forward and carded his fingers through Kai’s hair in gentle, rhythmic sweeps.
Kai’s lashes fluttered as the endorphins burst through him, and a shiver rolled down his spine. “I needed to talk to him for a while now.”
“Do you want to go back?” Ezra’s hand stopped moving.
Kai glanced up at him. “No, I don’t.”
Ezra’s shoulders relaxed, and his dark eyes simmered. “I hate to say good, but I’m growing a bit partial to you, Kai Bennett. ”
“I don’t want to leave what I’ve found with you and Sloan.” He narrowed his eyes. “Where is Sloan?”
Ezra grinned. “Passed out in the bed. He wanted to suck on my packer in bed, and he went out like a light.”
“Fuck, that’s so hot.” He slipped his phone into his pocket and pushed up from his seat. “What are you doing out here, then?”
“Came to get water and see what you were up to. I’m still a little restless.”
Kai chewed on his lip. Would broaching this be a good idea? However, if they couldn’t communicate, they’d be in for a much tougher time in the months ahead. “Do you really think Meg’s friend James is going to be able to unearth something to put your brother away?”
Ezra let out a low whistle. “I want to.” His voice was soft, almost stolen away by the wind. He stood inches from Kai, so close that their proximity buzzed with tension. “And sure, Rick’s done stupid shit in the past, but most of it is difficult to pin on him. A guy like me can’t just walk up to the cops and say ‘hey, this asshole used to beat me up.’ I’d get laughed out of the precinct, and that’s if I didn’t run into problems in the first place if anyone clocked that I was trans.”
Kai kept his hands in his pockets, his shoulders slumping. As much as he’d wanted to believe Meg, he’d been picking his brain as to how they could get rid of Rick ever since the man trashed Ezra’s apartment. Ever since he realized the depth of his violence. “Whether we can get rid of him or not, you know you’re stuck with us, right?”
Ezra grew quiet, the stillness spelling out the truth. Kai’s chest ached. Had this man ever been shown true care, true love? He wanted to cling on and never let go.
“I might need the reminder sometimes,” Ezra admitted, casting him a quick glance. The vulnerability in those dark eyes burrowed right into Kai’s chest and twisted. As much as he’d struggled with his new reality, he’d always had a firm foundation growing up—friends and family in abundance. And calling Coop reminded him those things still existed.
However, Ezra? He had absent parents and an abusive brother. He never mentioned friends, and his dating history was filled with brief relationships. Kai leaned in and pressed his lips to Ezra’s, not knowing another way to communicate that he was here now. If he could help it, he’d never leave the man lonely again.
Ezra relaxed into the kiss and licked at his lips, opening them. He drove his tongue into Kai’s mouth with a hunger that sent shivers traveling through him. Every thought melted away but the stars, the heat of his lips, and the comfort he experienced with him.
When they broke away for breath, Kai squeezed his hand. “I’ll remind you as much as you need it.”
“Thanks.” Ezra squeezed back. “Can I convince you to come back to bed with us? Sloan’s is ridiculously comfortable.”
Kai’s lips quirked with his grin. “If only we could just stay here.”
“If only.”
He had hopes they’d all veer in that direction, but in the interim, he’d start looking for a place with Ezra. Whether he stayed in his current field was a dice roll, but those dreams he held close, of going back to school to become a history professor, were still out of reach. However, what was right in front of him tonight were two sexy-as-fuck men, and he wouldn’t pass up on the opportunity to crash out beside them.
He tugged at Ezra’s hand. “Let’s go to bed.”