Page 25 of Something So Strong

Kai leans closer to me. “I’m not screwing with you. I stand by everything I said. You are pretty, and I like feisty.” His eyes circle my face. “For a straight boy, you seem to like hearing that.”

“Yeah? And for a straight guy, you seem to spend a lot of time flirting with men.”

Kai nods as if saying, you got me. “Shoot me, I know an attractive person when I see one. Though, can I really be blamed? Especially when you respond so perfectly?”

Refusing to give weight to his line of questioning, I pick up the toastie and bite into it. “Shit!” I curse, spitting it out and grabbing my drink.

“Smooth,” Kai laughs. “You saw me get the tomato.”

“Yeah, well… Shut up.” Fuck me, that was pathetic.

“See.” He gestures towards me. “You’re flustered. And really fucking cute… Besides, if you thought I was fucking with you simply by flirting, then surely you were doing the same to me just before.”

I open my mouth but quickly shut it again, because… I don’t have an answer.

“Could it be, perhaps, that you liked the attention?”

And? So what if I do?

“Or, maybe you—like myself—can appreciate a person simply for being attractive, regardless of gender?”

Fuck, maybe. I don’t know. “I already told you. I’m not gay.”

“And I’ve already told you, neither am I.”

“Is this all just because I’m a new face? Because I kind of got the impression from Cleo that you’ve fucked as many people as she admitted to last night.”

With a dry chuckle, Kai slings an arm over the back of his chair to better face me. “Yeah, that could be it. Maybe your freshness is appealing to me. But then again, your friends don’t interest me in the way you do.”

“How can I interest you? You don’t know me.”

“Call it a sixth sense. In the same way I knew Cleo would have a great set of tits, I just know I won’t get sick of seeing your pretty face at work every day… Is that going to be an issue for you?”

Looking down at my discarded sandwich, I shake my head. I don’t want it to be an issue because it’s everything I want to hear, but can’t allow myself to admit out loud.

“Good, ‘cause we’re gonna be spending a lot of time together, you and I. And we wouldn’t want there to be any problems.”

“I don’t think we’ll have any problems.” With my head still lowered, I look at Kai and allow my gaze to linger longer than I would have been comfortable with a couple of days ago. As he smiles back at me, I watch the tip of his tongue push against the join of his lips.

“Got any plans for the afternoon?”

Yes! And they aren’t ones I had half an hour ago. “Kinda.”

“Something you need to do alone, or would some company make it better?”

Both! One hundred percent, both! “It’s an alone kind of thing.”

Laptop on the nightstand.

Curtains drawn.

Light off.

Air-conditioner on high.

Already down to my underwear, I’ve been pacing by my bedside for the past five minutes, psyching myself up.

I’m not proud of how abruptly I left Kai alone in the kitchen, completely disregarding the food he’d made for me as though it—along with his company—were some toxic waste I needed to flee from. That’s not me. I’m usually the life of the party. The instigator of mischief. Everyone’s best friend. I’m that happy-go-lucky guy skirting at the sidelines of characters like Saxon, cleaning up messes, and apologizing for shit I didn’t do. Not fighting for hidden meaning in dialogue and vying for the spotlight. If this is the kind of crap you need to put up with to play a leading role, maybe being a supporting cast member isn’t so bad after all.

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