From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(69)

“It’s nice enough. It’s good to be home for a while. Back in the States, I mean. Whoa, is that what I think it is?” He peered into the fridge. “This is real, actual soda with real sugar.”

She hadn’t thought about that. Jared’s crew didn’t seem big on carbs. “I can find you a diet somewhere. I stock this place. Kai only drinks tea and the occasional glass of wine.”

Squirrel grabbed the red can and popped the top as fast as he could. He took a long drink. “God, that tastes good. No one allows sugar around Jared. His trainer banned it. I don’t think Jared minds, but I miss it.”

Kori grabbed her coffee mug and fit the pod in the machine. Kai didn’t believe in caffeine but a few days after she’d hired on there had been a shiny new coffee maker and a box of almost every blend the store carried. She preferred a medium roast but she’d found it nice that the boss wanted her to have her favorite morning drink.

Had he been taking care of her even then?

“So you grew up with Jared?” She had to admit she was deeply curious about Jared and Kai’s relationship. Kai never talked about his family. She knew he’d grown up in Seattle and his mother had passed away young. He’d gone into the Army to support his brother. Then he’d made his way through college and grad school very quickly once he’d gotten out. That was all she knew. If Squirrel could shed some light, she’d take it.

Squirrel leaned against the counter. “Oh, yeah. We’ve been best friends since we met in junior high. Jared’s a great guy.”

“Did you live in the same neighborhood?”

“Pretty close. I was a couple blocks away, but it was easy to get there on my bike. I liked Jared’s house better than mine. His brother was kind of a tool though. Luckily Kai was always working or studying and their mom was never there.”

“A tool?” She was well aware of the chill in her tone.

Squirrel’s hands came up as though in apology. “Sorry. He was kind of the father figure in our lives back then and he wasn’t exactly easy on us. He was always pushing Jared. I don’t think he liked me much.”

“Kai likes everyone. Well, he tolerates everyone.”

“All right, let’s say Kai didn’t think I was a good influence on his brother. Not that I was into drugs or anything. We didn’t do stuff like that. We played football and worked out. Kai thought those were stupid things to do.”

She had to smile because he hadn’t changed that much. “Kai works out plenty and he plays basketball with the guys, but I understand. He likely told Jared that football wasn’t a profession. I can imagine he pushed academics.”

Squirrel’s eyes rolled. “You have no idea. He was always on Jared to take all these froufrou classes. Like the kind that get college credit.”

So even as a kid Kai had been a good parent. “He was trying to watch out for his brother. I tried to do the same for my sister, though my mom was around more. I didn’t have the same responsibilities Kai obviously had.”

Her mom had worked, but she only worked one job, and every other moment was spent with her girls. After her dad died, her mom made sure to be around for all the important stuff.

She tried to picture Kai as a kid. He would have taken the responsibility seriously. He would have tried to be the man of the house.

“Yeah, well, Jared wanted to be left alone. He didn’t need any of that shit. I think that’s why he liked me so much. I didn’t try to make him be something he wasn’t. He could chill around me. Jared and I been tight ever since. We used to have a big crew, but a lot of them moved on after high school.”

She remembered what it felt like to watch her friends all go off to college while she’d been left behind. She’d gotten into a prestigious writing program, gotten a decent scholarship, but it hadn’t covered enough. She’d been the one left behind. “Yeah, I know how that feels. It’s good that you had a friend.”

“We’re a good team. You know in the beginning I was his manager. I was the one who set up all his auditions and stuff.”

“That’s nice. Did you ever think about becoming an agent? I’m sure you’ve got a lot of contacts by now.” She wasn’t sure how efficient he would be, but stranger things had happened.

“Oh, no,” Squirrel said. “I couldn’t leave Jared. He wouldn’t know what to do without me. He’d be left with people like Lena and that *, Tad. Brad’s pretty cool, but then he doesn’t try to change everything. You have no idea how much pressure he’s got on him.”

She remembered. “Are they already pushing him to leave TV?”

Squirrel smiled as he nodded. “Oh, yeah, I forgot you used to be in the biz. Jared reminded me that you worked for the producer of Dart.”

She’d been the one who brought the original treatment to Morgan’s attention. “One of them, but I left before production actually started.”

“You wrote some movie scripts though, right?”

There it was, that nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach that she got when she thought about her former career. “A couple.”

“Yeah, I think I saw some of your horror flicks. Good stuff.”

She didn’t want to talk about this. “Well, I like the job I have now better.”