from his chair so suddenly that the chair clatters to the floor. “I just remembered I forgot to lock the workshop’s front door. We should go there immediately and check if everything is okay.”
Finally. Kai’s sanity has returned. Bye-bye, Maximus.
I push myself to my feet. “That’s too bad. But definitely an emergency. Well, we should go and lock it.” As far as excuses go, this one is pretty good. Believable. It’s much smoother than when you let your friend call you in the middle of the date with some lame story about a car accident to get out of there.
“No!” Kai says. “You will stay here. Max and I will go.”
I gape at him. “But—”
“Stay!” Kai snaps.
That tone is definitely uncalled for. What next? Heel?
Max’s smile is apologetic. “Excuse us. It sounds like we’re going to have to try this again some other time. It’s been very nice to get to know Kai’s friends.”
What a suck-up.
“Bye!” Kai says without looking at me as he grabs Max’s hand and drags him out of the restaurant as if the place is going to go up in flames any moment now.
“Well, that was weird,” I say as I sit back down. I turn toward Cee and find her staring at me with her mouth open.
“That was weird, right?” I prompt.
“Oh my God,” Cee says slowly, still gaping at me.
Seems like an appropriate reaction, so I nod. “Right? That guy? What kind of a name is Maximus? And the whole I have a fancy apartment. Make me a shelf, Kai shtick? It’s a firm contender for the dumbest pickup line in the history of the world.”
I admit, my imitation isn’t the best, but I think it gets my point across.
Cee looks like she’s just had a lightbulb moment.
“What?” I ask after she still doesn’t say anything.
She lets out an incredulous laugh.
“Oh my God,” she repeats. “You’re jealous.”
I rear back. “Wh— Tha— Ho— That’s ridiculous,” I finally manage to sputter.
“Is it?” Cee leans back in her chair. She looks like she’s just solved the crime of the century. “This all makes sense now. You have feelings for Kai.”
“I’m—” I start to argue, but Cee speaks over me.
She slaps her palm on the table, making the glasses clatter. “I can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots before.”
“There are no dots.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “Fine, signs, whatever. They’re all there.”
“Will you stop it,” I grit out. “You’re making this all up. Kai’s my best friend. That’s it.”
“Oh please.” She laughs loudly. “I’ve been in your spot, Gray. Believe me, I recognize the signs.”
“There. Are. No. Signs.”
“What did you think of Max?” The sudden change of topic makes my head spin.
“What?”
“It’s a simple question. Did you like Kai’s date?” Cee asks.
The word date makes the tentacles in my gut wrap around my lungs and squeeze.
“He was… adequate,” I say, measuring every word.
“You didn’t think he was cool? Sophisticated? Well traveled? Don’t even get me started on a PhD in sports medicine. The man must be a genius.”
“Sounds like somebody else might be having a little crush,” I say dryly.
“I think he and Kai will really hit it off. They seem to have a lot in common. Plus, Max seems fun,” Cee muses. “Kai deserves some fun, right? Max seems like a real catch. I’m happy for him.”
Unbelievable.
“I’ll give you well traveled, even though I’d like to point out that we have no proof of that aside from the fact that he bragged about living abroad. He can just as well be lying about that, but whatever. But you can’t seem fun. You either are or you aren’t, and Maximus definitely wasn’t.”
“Hot, too,” Cee continues like she isn’t even listening to me. “Really nice hair. Supposedly blonds do it better, so Kai is in for a great night, I think.”
“Do what better?” I grit out. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”
“And that body…” Cee fans herself with her hand. “I bet Kai will get a kick out of those abs.”
I’m immediately bombarded with images of Kai and Max together. Rolling on a bed together and moaning like in some sort of a sleazy porn scene. The tentacles in my stomach feel like they’re creeping up to my throat, choking me.
I grab the first glass I can reach and almost drown myself with the large gulp of water I try to force down.
One coughing fit later, I lean back in my chair, trying to get a control of myself, only to find Cee studying me with a raised brow.
“You