Page 75 of Faithful

I’m still shaken up after what happened in the dressing room. My paranoia is back and ever since I woke up, I’ve been secretly scanning social media to ensure Kai and I haven’t made it into some gossip rag. He swore Finn is reliable, and so far the only news making headlines is the riot inside MGM Grand’s newest venue caused by fans of the band that is allegedly a satanic cult in disguise.

“Yeah!” Kai shouts from his spot on the couch, picking up another slice of pizza.

I’m sitting in a chair across from him, silent and petrified. We’ve hardly talked about anything that happened last night at the club or after.

He’s been a little weird today, too relaxed, as if things are the same as they were before the incident. But they aren’t. The bruises on his body and a nasty scratch on his neck serve as proof.

“You gotta let me in, kid!” Bodhi shouts from behind the door.

“You want me to get that?” I ask Kai as I lift myself up.

He motions for me to sit back down and continues to destroy his pizza. He’s halfway through his slice when the knock comes again. Honestly, if I were Kai’s manager, at this point I’d be pissed and cursing so loudly the entire hotel could hear my displeasure with my brat of a client. Bodhi must have the patience of a saint or he’s already familiar with Kai’s bizarre behavior patterns.

Finally, Kai sets what’s left of his slice aside, gets to his feet, puts a hoodie on, and then walks over to the door to unlock it. He’s extremely protective of his scars.

When Bodhi enters the room with an unfazed expression on his face, it only confirms my earlier suspicions that he’s not a stranger to Kai’s oddities.

There’s a long moment of silence at first as if we are being carefully studied.

Frankly, I feel like I’m under a fucking microscope.

“So…” Bodhi walks over to the window overlooking the Strip, glances at the view, then turns around and asks, “You two. Is it something I need to worry about?”

Well, at least the dude doesn’t beat around the bush.

“No,” Kai says.

I’m quiet and glued to my chair, my pulse a little uneven.

“Do you understand the consequences if this comes out?” Bodhi’s gaze bounces between Kai and me.

Kai nods, folding both arms across his chest. “Perfectly.” He leans against a table.

“Dylan?” Bodhi looks at me and it’s like high school all over again. I’m at some oral exam I didn’t know about and didn’t prepare for, and therefore each one of my answers is doomed to be wrong.

“I understand,” I squeak out eventually. “We’re being careful.”

“Alright. Good.”

“Is there a problem?” Kai asks.

“Not necessarily,” his manager replies with less conviction than I would expect from him right now. “I’m simply trying to see if we need to work on plans C and D to ensure the best course of action for damage control or if it’s time I shoot myself when someone gets wind of you two”–he pauses to search for the words that would best work here to describe what’s going on between us–“no longer hating each other.”

“Did Finn tell you he saw us last night?” Kai finally brings up the subject I’m most interested in.

Bodhi shoves both hands into his pants pockets. “He did. But I’m sure you remember we discussed this when you got signed. Your private life is your private life. No one is going to out you unless you want to come out yourself.”

“I’m not in the closet,” Kai says, his voice a little louder than usual.

“I apologize for my choice of words. What I meant is that I know you’re not in the closet and everyone else who works with you knows it too, and if you decide you want the general public to be aware, then it’s fine with me. And the fact that we currently keep this information to ourselves has nothing to do with who you are but mostly it’s about your right to privacy. Which you stressed more than once. Finn’s not going to talk. He’s simply concerned someone else, someone unreliable, will catch you two in the act.”

“They won’t. We’ll be extra careful,” I tell Bodhi firmly. Because I feel like it’s time to step up.

“So you’re saying I have the option to make an announcement to the public about my sexual orientation before I tell them I’m seeing someone,” Kai says through gritted teeth, staring at his manager with angry eyes.

Bodhi releases a sigh. He looks like he’s thinking of an appropriate answer but seconds tick by and nothing is given to us. Nothing but more tense silence.

Kai pushes away from the table and walks toward the center of the room. “Why is it that straight people don’t announce they are straight?”

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