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I’d lived my whole life not needing anyone except The Vers crew and knowing they were the only ones who needed me, but Kai had changed everything. I didn’t know what I would do without him either, and I hoped like hell I would never find out. I’d always prided myself on keeping it real, but this? Love? It was the realest thing of all, and I hadn’t known it until Kai.
“You’re the one who’s going to have to do the work.” I patted his ass.
“Don’t do that. Don’t pretend you didn’t have a hand in it. You help everyone, Marcus. You make all our lives better. I’m gonna spend my days making sure you know that.”
I nodded because I wasn’t in the mood to argue, and I knew he wouldn’t let it go. “Let’s make some food, and then I’m gonna take you to bed and breed your hole again.”
Kai smiled. “Best. Night. Ever.”
Damned if I didn’t agree.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kai
I went to talk to Declan before speaking to my family. I’d called him earlier, when I knew he would be at Driftwood doing his monthly accounting, and asked if I could come in and have a conversation with him. Declan agreed, which I knew he would.
I waved at Andy, who was bartending when I got there.
“You’re leaving soon, right, Kai? It’s gonna suck to see you go.”
Little did he know, I wouldn’t be leaving and would hopefully still have a job at Driftwood. “We’ll see what happens,” I replied because it was the only response I could think of. Andy frowned, clearly confused, but I just continued toward Declan’s office.
I knocked even though the door wasn’t completely closed. It slid open a bit more, and Declan looked up, his hair messy like he’d run his hand through it too many times to count.
“Hey, Kai. Come in.”
“Hey, handsome.” I sat in the chair across from him.
“Still a flirt, I see,” he joked.
“You expected it to change since my last shift?” I tossed back, then sobered. “Listen…I’m just going to spit it out because this is embarrassing enough. The Atlanta job is not happening. Archer didn’t really care about me working for him, and so I was wondering if—”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t ask anything yet.”
“If you’re asking if you can stay, then yes. I haven’t hired anyone. I don’t like change…or most people…and for whatever reason I haven’t figured out yet, I like you, so yes.”
I frowned. “Did Marcus call and tell you?”
Declan’s forehead wrinkled. “Why would Marcus do that? Okay, well, he would, but not if you didn’t want him to, which it sounds like you didn’t.”
He was right. Marcus wouldn’t go back on his word to me. “I know. Sorry. I just…” My head tilted down. I tried to stop the words from coming out because all they did was add even more shame, but I couldn’t seem to keep them at bay. “I want to be good enough for him. I want him to know I’m with him because it’s where I want to be, not because I need him or don’t have another option.”
“Marcus is crazy about you. None of us have ever seen him like this.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m a lot…and that he has so much more to offer than I do. If I can’t stand on my own, what if there comes a point where Marcus thinks I only care about what he can give me? What if he gets tired of putting up with me?”
“Umm…I’m not the best with stuff like this, but Marcus wouldn’t think that. He cares about you, and Marcus likes to be there for people he cares about.”
“I want to be there for him just as much.”
“You are. It doesn’t have to be monetarily. There are lots of ways to be there for someone, Kai, and whatever you do for Marcus, it’s good for him and he appreciates it. Maybe there are some things you give Marcus that no one else can, and it has nothing to do with what you decide to do with your life.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to make a joke about sex, but this didn’t feel like a joking matter.
Declan saved me from having to respond by adding, “I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Atlanta, but I can’t act like I’m not happy you’ll still be here. It would have been strange if Marcus had moved away.”
My gaze snapped to him. “Marcus was thinking about going?” My pulse thudded a rapid beat against my skin. He would have done that for me? Left everything behind?
“Oh fuck. Let’s pretend I didn’t say that. Can’t wait to see you back at work!”
But I couldn’t forget. I also knew that Declan wouldn’t give me any more information. Still, it was all I thought about while we talked about my schedule and how I was going to look into going to culinary school. That I wasn’t sure where I would end up, and if I could make it work in LA county, that I might need to change my hours. And if it all got too expensive, that I’d have to move back to Riverside.
