It's All Relative(114)

Kai removed her hand and started walking toward the building. He didn’t care how he looked, so long as he was warm. “Good morning to you too, Missy.” Kai didn’t mention to her that he wouldn’t be here when the weather warmed up. He intended to tell his coworkers, but his boss should come first. Besides, he wasn’t sure what Missy would do once she found out he was leaving.

She huffed as she squeezed through the door with him. Once they popped through the other side, she poked a finger into his shoulder. “By the way, I’m very happy you’re not seeing that August person anymore.”

Kai cracked a smile as he waved at a group of people starting their morning routines. Continuing on to the storage room, where he could change out of his riding gear, he told her, “You mean April?”

She blew out a quick puff of air. “Whatever the month was, I’m just glad it’s over. She was never right for you.” Looking up at him, Missy batted her lashes beneath her black-rimmed glasses. Kai was all too aware just who she thought was perfect for him.

Shaking his head, Kai opened the door to the storage room. As he could have predicted, Missy darted in behind him. Once they were alone in the room, she backed against the door and seductively began to unzip her jacket. Kai really hoped that was all she took off in here. Twisting away from her, he set down his helmet and started unzipping his heavy coat.

From behind him, he heard the sounds of her undressing; her low voice floating over the top of it. “She has to be mental, if she let someone like you go.”

Kai ignored her comment, like he always did, and slid his riding pants down his hips. He had them mid-thigh when she let out an approving whistle. Twisting around, he smirked at her. Luckily, she had only removed her winter coat, and was fully dressed. Now that she had his attention again, she gave him a seductive smile. “If I had you, you’d never get my claws out of you.” Growling, she mimed a cat clawing the air.

Kai unzipped the ends of his pants and slid them over his shoes. Laying them on a shelf near his jacket, he straightened to look at her. “Well, Missy, it’s a good thing you never had me then.” He raised a corner of his lip. “And I’m pretty sure I’ve already mentioned this, but it was a mutual decision to stop seeing each other. We’re even still friends.”

Missy rolled her eyes as she grabbed her gadget belt off a shelf. “Too bad for her, yay for me,” she muttered. Kai sighed. Grabbing his own belt, he moved around her to leave the room. She surprisingly let him, an innocent smile on her freckled face as she adjusted her outfit. Then just as he stepped through the door, she cupped his ass; he heard her laughter as the door closed between them.

Frowning at the door, Kai put on his belt. One thing he wouldn’t miss around here was his too frisky coworker. Turning, Kai started heading toward Mason’s office. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to say to the man, but he supposed it really didn’t matter what he said. Whether he was telling him he was leaving, or telling him he was staying forever, Mason would probably react in the same odd, awkward way.

Deep in that thought as he walked down the hall to his boss’s office, Kai didn’t notice Louis approaching him. He didn’t notice until Louis bumped his shoulder. Startled, Kai looked up at the scruffy man; his beard was even thicker than when Kai had first met him.

“Hey, so…Kai.” Louis looked up and down the hall, like he was about to tell him something so vastly important, no one else could be around to hear it. Seeing that they were alone, he leaned into Kai’s side. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you…” He let a dramatic pause fill the air that was almost uncomfortably long. Just when Kai was about to ask him what he wanted, he got on with his request. “I’m going to ask out your ex, but I don’t want to break the guy-code, so I’m checking with you first. That okay with you?”

For a second, Kai had no idea what he was talking about. Then it struck him, and he smiled. “April? Really?” Kai glanced down at the adventurer-hero-wannabe. He tried to picture him on a date with April. He couldn’t.

Louis’s face was dead serious as they walked down the quiet hall. “Yeah, and I know that dating a friend’s ex is an off-limits kind of thing, especially since the two of us are tight and all, so I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t infringing on another Alpha male’s territory.”

Kai smiled at the reference and looked away. He hadn’t realized Louis thought so much of their relationship. It warmed him, then it saddened him. He’d be leaving Indiana Junior behind soon. Louis took his silence for uncertainty. “Look, I don’t want to mess us up or anything. Guys have to stick together. Say the word and I’ll keep away from April, because your friendship means more to me than a nice ass.” Leaning in, he asked Kai, “Does she have a nice ass?”

Kai laughed and clapped him on the back. Remembering some of the outfits he’d seen April wear, Kai nodded. “Oh yeah, it’s pretty nice.” Kai patted him again before dropping his hand. “I don’t care if you date her, Louis. Truly, it doesn’t bother me.”

The pair slowed as they approached Mason’s office. Excited, Louis grabbed Kai’s shoulders and hopped up and down, like Kai had just told him that they were going to Disneyland or something. Kai hoped he could pull his enthusiasm back a notch or two for April. Although, she probably wouldn’t mind the attention. Putting his hands on the man’s shoulders to calm him down, he looked him squarely in the eye. “If she says yes…” Louis scoffed at that, like April saying no wasn’t even a possibility. Kai bit back a smile at the man’s confidence. “If she says yes, take her to that nice place you mentioned, and order that snail thing. And Louis…”