36. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Giggling like a fucking child, I bump my shoulder against Kai as we enter the kitchen.
One day off was all his accrued sick leave would allow, but it’s fine. A day of solid icing meant he was more bruised than swollen, and to me, that just made him sexier.
With my hand clasping his, my feet stumble slightly over each other as he tugs me through the door. Peripherally, I can see the room is mostly empty, like it always is this early in the morning, and I allow Kai to lead me until his body stops dead in its tracks. Looking back at me, he rips his hand from mine, and his brow pinches like he’s trying to tell me he’s sorry. Narrowing my eyes, I look him up and down, then forward over his shoulder.
Romeo…
Without a thought as to why I’m doing it, my body straightens, and my expression falls from my face to the floor.
Deathly silent, and less sure about what to do than me, Kai just stands there.
Like he’s scared of Romeo’s reaction.
And mine.
As though I’ll be ashamed of him.
Lifting my chin, I nod to my best friend and take Kai’s hand. Weaving our fingers together, I take charge and lead him towards the coffee station.
“You alright?” Kai whispers, grabbing two large disposable cups.
“Fine.” I bow my head. “I told you I was ready for them to know. Maybe not so abruptly, but it’s cool.” Looking at him, I force a smile—from nerves, not shame.
With my cup slowly filling, Kai opts for the sub-par filter, which leaves the pot empty. Squatting down to the supply cupboard beneath the bench, he grabs a new filter and fresh grounds. “You finish our coffee, I’ll refill the machine and get us something to eat. That’ll give you a few minutes alone.”
Right. I nod again.
Moving silently, I take six packets of raw sugar and tear off the tops.
Two in Kai’s and four in mine.
Milk for me, none for Kai.
Stir.
Lids on.
Time to go.
Just breathe…
Turning, my eyes meet Romeo’s with a gulp.
“Mate, you look like you shit yourself,” he chuckles as I sit both coffees on the table and take the seat beside him.
“Just let me tell Sax, okay?”
“Fuck, Jess. Just take a deep breath and chill.” His strong and familiar hand strikes me in the back and my shoulders jolt forward from the impact. “It’s not like I didn’t have any idea.” He returns to shoveling cereal into his mouth. “You pair aren’t exactly subtle.”
My eyes widen in denial.
With another laugh, Romeo returns his spoon to the bowl. “Jess. The last two weeks at the pub, the pair of you weren’t even trying to hide it. It’s kinda cute.”
With my fingers wrapped around the edge of the table, I force out the words, “I’m not gay.”
“Ah—yeah. I know,” Romeo confirms with an I’ve known you for fourteen years, mate. I know you like girls , look.
“So…” I begin, unable to finish. Not even sure if I have the words in my vocabulary.
“I don’t care. If that’s what you wanna know.”
I exhale deeply. I knew he wouldn’t, but hearing it still makes me feel better.
“And, yeah. I approve. Kai’s a great guy. Took some time for me to warm up to him, but we got there in the end.”
“Is it safe for me yet?” Kai asks, his raspy voice penetrating my soul. Always so masculine in the morning, all gravelly and shit.
“Sure, Mate. Our princess has settled…Congrats, I guess,” Romeo says, his brow and shoulders rising in unison. “At least I don’t have to pretend it isn’t happening anymore.”
Leaning his elbow on the table, Kai looks first to me, then Romeo, before turning his lips up in an I was never trying to hide anything, smile. “It’s hard for me to keep my hands to myself,” he agrees, tapping the toe of his boot against the side of mine beneath the table.
“So I know for certain that this one has always liked pussy.” Romeo gestures to me with his spoon. “And you insist the same. But is Jess really the first guy you’ve messed around with?”
I know Romeo is prying, and honestly, I don’t care. It’s even giving me the warm fuzzies. Like he’s put on his big brother jacket and has assumed the role of my protector.
“One hundred percent,” Kai confirms, tearing apart the croissant in front of him. “Jesse is the first guy I’ve ever chosen to be with.”
My gaze darts to Romeo. His eyes are squinted, and his eyebrows are almost touching in the middle.
Please don’t ask. Please don’t ask.
“Doesn’t sound overly convincing to me.”
“No. It’s true.” I interject, quashing anything that may start rising in Kai.
“Don’t worry, Jess.” Mid chew, Kai scoots back, rests the ankle of one leg on the thigh of the other, and stretches his arm along the back of my chair. “Back in high school, I was attacked…assaulted… I think you know what I’m trying to say. By a group of guys who look a lot like you.”
Once more, my eyes hone in on Romeo.
What the hell is Kai doing?
I practically had to dig my way into his body and drag it out by force. Now he’s giving it away freely, like he isn’t ashamed anymore.
“Fuck,” Romeo breathes out, his shoulders slouching forward. “That fucking sucks, mate. Sorry, I brought it up.”
Kai shrugs. Shrugs. FUCKING SHRUGS!—like it’s nothing. “That was my past life. It’s surprising how much this one’s helped me the past few weeks.”
“Still, though, the things I’ve been told lately make me think my shit ain’t really shit at all.” Talking to his bowl of cereal, Romeo scoops up the final soggy remnants.
Strictly speaking, he isn’t wrong—if he were talking about me. My Grandad dying in his nineties, and the distance between my parents and I is nothing more than an insignificant drop in the pond. But Romeo shouldn’t dismiss his own autobiography so easily. His dad is truly a cunt, in every sense of the word.
“Anyway, what are you doing here so early?” Kai asks Romeo, his fingers now playing with the loose strands of hair that didn’t make it into my hair tie.
“This one here—” he motions to me “—booked me in for a lesson first thing. Honestly. Who the fuck even wants to ski at seven am?”
“Hey, hey, hey.” I hold up my palms in defense. “That was all Esther. She whipped out your profile card and the old bird’s eyes lit up like Guy Fawkes on Bonfire night.”
“Is that the fucked up holiday where you burn that dude who tried to overthrow the king?” Kai perks up.
“The very one.”
“You Brits really are fucked,” he smirks. “What, with your foreskins and your torture.”
Choking on his water, Romeo splutters it halfway across the table.
I want to react.
I want to react so goddamn badly.
I want to punch Kai in the arm or slap him in the face—whichever will hurt more. But responding, even in the slightest way, will only give him what he wants.
“Good to know you’re getting some action, at least.” Romeo pushes his empty bowl into the center of the table.
“OOO, good morning, my squishy little muffin.”
Thank you, Kendall. You beautiful orange-haired angel fluttering in here to save me from myself.
With her arms looped around Romeo’s neck, she nuzzles into him, much like Cleo did to me. And even though Kendall’s tits are much smaller, their effect seems to be no less momentous. It’s mesmerizing, actually. Not her affectionate display, but Romeo’s reaction to it. The second he heard her voice, his eyes shut, and… he’s just sitting there. Accepting her hug like he’s trying to absorb it through osmosis.
Releasing Romeo from her clutches, Kendall skips away to the fridge and I try to meet his gaze, but he won’t look at me.
Kendall is so far removed from Romeo’s type, I can’t figure out his intentions. She’s effervescent, na?ve, and young. Scarcely can I even remember a time since leaving Lancaster that he’s slept with a woman younger than himself, let alone the girl next door.
Bounding to the table beside ours, Kendall leans forward onto it with her hands. Instead of her usual baggy ski pants, she’s wearing light-gray thermal leggings, and the outline of her—no doubt innocent-looking—underwear is showing as she unashamedly, and likely obliviously, presents her best asset to me and Kai.
My bottom lip slips from between my teeth, alerting me to it even being there in the first place. Then the stars align, and she laughs, her shoulders shaking and her toned ass and hips swaying hypnotically.
“Have you two had enough yet?” Romeo snaps at us, our nostrils flaring as we try to conceal our smiles.
“I know a good ass isn’t something you generally prefer. But that is a fine specimen.” I nod towards Kendall, baiting Romeo. But he bites his tongue and takes a deep breath in through his nose.
“Kenny,” he beckons, picking up his phone. “We’ve gotta leave soon.”
Kai snorts beside me, finding it equally hilarious how nonchalant Romeo is trying to be.
“Sorry, Romi,” she says—jumping to spin back in our direction. “I was just getting this.” Holding up a small make-up bag, she shakes it and makes her way to Kai and myself. “Scoot,” she commands, directing us with her hands until we’re sitting facing each other with our knees touching. Lifting her leg, Kendall straddles mine, and plants her plump ass on my thighs.
I wrap my lips around my teeth because this is too fucking good.
Kendall is such an innocent soul she’ll have no idea what she’s doing. But I can still feel Romeo’s eyes shooting daggers into the back of my head.
Showing him some respect, I link my hands behind the chair, but I can’t fight the urge to look back at him over my shoulder with a shit-eating grin that spreads over my entire face at the seething expression on his.
“Did Jesse go all barbarian on you?” Kendall jokes as she unzips the makeup case and pulls out two tiny tubes.
“Nah, Ken. He only did this one,” he states matter-of-factly, pointing to the faint yellow bruise still dusting the top of his cheekbone.
“You two aren’t still trying to hide things, are you? It’s so damned obvious it’s almost funny.”
My eyes close and I shake my head because I really have been a daft prick. Everyone knows, but no one cares except… Things are still shit between me and Saxon. He’s yet to apologize for pushing me, and he’s not even so much as texted me about the fight at the pub even though Kai and I both put our backs on the line for him.
Maybe he’s pulling away because he doesn’t approve.
Maybe ignoring me is easier for him than saying flirting is one thing, but hooking up is unacceptable and I can’t be around you ...
“Not anymore,” Kai answers, his eyes narrowing in to focus on the tubes Kendall’s holding up to his face.
Deciding on the lighter one, she nods her head firmly in approval, but I really wish she hadn’t, because it rocks her ass on my legs. And I can’t help but study it and how her thighs widen because of how they’re pressed against me.
“I’m glad.” Kendall sounds happy as she squeezes some of the skin-colored substance onto her finger. “Cleo will have a field day, though.” She starts tapping her finger lightly across Kai’s bruises. “She keeps going on about how hot it is, and how she wants to be the meat in your sandwich,” she snickers—her ass jiggling against me. “You know she’d be up for it too. If you guys ever wanted to have a three-way, I mean… with Cleo…”
“Are you available as well?” Kai’s low voice shakes through Kendall’s chest to mine. But I know he’s just trying to provoke Romeo too.
“Oh—n—no,” Kendall stutters, shaking her head rapidly. “I’d never do something like that.” She’s flustered and it’s adorable. She’s a total sex kitten with purity radiating off of her like a homing beacon. And with a reaction like that, it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s never been properly touched… Or at all…
Continuing to work in silence until Kai’s bruises are covered, Kendall retrieves a compact from the case and dabs the powder over her handiwork. Blowing away the excess, she leans back. This time her ass cheeks rub against my dick and I whip my head back as I bite the inside of my cheek.
“There. Perfect,” she praises herself.
“Ok, off you get then.” I insist, hooking under her arms and helping her to stand.
Kai and I hurriedly shuffle our seats back under the table as Romeo stands—all alpha energy, claiming her like a fucking caveman. But this is not a side of him that’s new to me. He is a sweetheart, yes, but Romeo can also be really fucking possessive. He’s in primal mode. The neanderthal side of his brain has kicked into action. And even though it’ll be like pulling teeth to get him to admit it, Kendall is in his sights, and god help anyone else who even thinks about laying a hand on her. Honestly, I’m impressed he didn’t whip his dick out and piss all over her.
“Okay. Well, you have a great morning session. Make sure you take good care of him, Kenny.” I grin snidely at Romeo, then give Kendall a proper smile. “He might be a little jumpy for a while, but he’ll pep up. I promise… Oh, and thanks for fixing up Kai. You might have to teach me your tricks—”
“There are plenty of YouTube videos for that,” Romeo interrupts, and Kai wheezes, doing all he can to subdue his laughter.
“Got it, mate.” I wink, and give him a sarcastic thumbs up.