Chapter Seventeen
“Sweet and sour popcorn, as promised,” Wyatt said, handing the bowl over to Kai as he settled down on the couch beside him. Normally, he wouldn’t have bothered to make his own popcorn from scratch—microwave packs tasted fine to him—but it didn’t hurt to impress Kai.
Kai liked to be impressed. Probably because it meant someone was going to a little effort for him, which Wyatt couldn’t exactly fault. He liked it when people went to a little effort, too, and he liked that Kai wasn’t letting him get away with being lazy about this.
That was probably why he liked hanging out with him so much, honestly. Kai kept him on his toes. He wasn’t instantly charmed, he hadn’t fallen for Wyatt’s perfect smile right away and never bothered to look past it.
It was nice to have someone see him for who he was beyond the cheerful outer layer. To have someone understand him.
“You picked out a movie yet?” Wyatt asked, nodding to the black screen.
“I was thinking a nature documentary,” Kai said. “Saves me scaring you off with my terrible taste in movies.”
“Sure, but you haven’t scared me off yet,” he responded.
Kai picked out something about the ocean and hit play anyway, sitting back on the couch and balancing the popcorn between them. “Except for the two times you literally ran away from me.”
“Am I still working on being forgiven for that?” Wyatt asked, taking a handful of popcorn.
“Maybe.” Kai shrugged. “Depends on how you’re gonna work on it.”
Wyatt snorted, but smiled to himself. He liked that Kai didn’t give him an inch.
“We’ll see,” he said, sitting back to learn about the hunting techniques of killer whales. Well, mostly to enjoy the way Kai felt sitting next to him, warm and solid and a little like a wild animal who’d just approached him and was, maybe, about to eat out of Wyatt’s hand.
He doubted many people got to see Kai with his guard down. This was, as far as he was concerned, a magical moment.
They both ate handfuls of popcorn at a time, and sipped a sweet dessert wine that Kai had brought with him, even though he really didn’t need to. He’d raised a judgmental eyebrow at Wyatt and told him that he was brought up to be a good house guest.
It was weird to think of Kai as a house guest, considering Wyatt was mostly thinking about how beautiful he was naked, and all the things he wanted to do to him tonight.
But they weren’t quite… boyfriends or anything either, were they? They were just… colleagues who fucked.
Wyatt didn’t plan on thinking too hard about that. All relationships had this weird phase where no one was sure exactly what they were.
What he was sure of was that he was happy right now.
He was even happier when Kai turned and kissed him, red wine and the sweet-and-sour taste of the popcorn on his tongue. Wyatt hummed into Kai’s mouth, heat flaring in his gut, his hand reaching out to hold Kai in place.
The kiss broke for a moment, and Kai looked at Wyatt with wide eyes, licked his lips, and then surged forward again. A soft grunt escaped him as he shuffled closer, demanding more, and Wyatt’s heartbeat was starting to speed up, his lungs burning for breath as Kai occupied his mouth.
Kai made a soft, happy sound when he backed off the next time, and then looked at Wyatt for a few more seconds before letting a contented sigh escape him.
He settled against Wyatt’s side, sipping his wine again and resting his head against Wyatt’s shoulder.
Wyatt was surprised—he thought they’d been about to skip straight to the sex—but this was nice. He moved his arm to wrap it around Kai’s shoulders, pulling him just a little closer to his body and smiling to himself.
“We’ll get to the sex later,” Kai said after a few moments of silence.
“We really don’t have to, if you’re not in the mood,” Wyatt said, and honestly… he was okay with it if they just snuggled on the couch for a couple of hours and then went their separate ways.
Not that he was opposed to some good mutual orgasms, but it was okay if Kai wasn’t interested. It was okay if this was just… a date, or something.
Wyatt liked Kai’s company enough that he didn’t need to know he was going to get laid to enjoy himself.
“Oh, no, I’m definitely in the mood,” Kai said. “The sex is great. I’m just… happy sitting here for a while. If that’s okay.”
“Works for me,” Wyatt said, taking another handful of popcorn. Kai hummed again, and settled just a little more of his weight against Wyatt’s side.
They fell back into a comfortable silence, Wyatt stroking Kai’s shoulder with his thumb, enjoying the contact while he could get it. Kai didn’t really strike him as much of a cuddler, although Wyatt was just beginning to revise that assessment.
It was starting to seem more like Kai rarely got the opportunity to cuddle, which wasn’t the same thing as not wanting to.
After another few minutes, the urge to pull Kai’s hair out of his ponytail got the better of Wyatt. He worked his fingers in gently, removing the black hair tie Kai always used with his heart pounding in his chest, worried that Kai might object this time.
When Kai did nothing except lean into Wyatt’s touch, Wyatt grinned and let himself indulge in stroking his hair, digging his fingers deep into the long strands and scratching lightly at Kai’s scalp from time to time.
Kai made soft, happy sounds as he did so, which Wyatt filed away in his mind as potentially useful information for later.
“I’m starting to think you have a hair thing,” Kai said, tilting his head forward just a little to give Wyatt space to get at his neck.
Wyatt ran his fingers down Kai’s scalp and brushed them over the nape of Kai’s neck, smiling at the tiny shiver he got in response. He could feel Kai’s breathing speeding up, and that was his first clue that Kai was really into this.
Which was just as well. “I do,” Wyatt responded. “And yours is really soft.”
Kai hummed again.
“And I’m not gonna apologize, but if you behave, I might braid it before bed,” he said.
Kai chuckled softly. “If you can still manage to braid hair when I’m done with you, I might let you.”
Another spike of lust jolted Wyatt’s belly. Kai had a way of saying things in his completely flat, dry tone, and making them the sexiest thing Wyatt had ever heard.
“Got something special in mind?” Wyatt asked.
“I was imagining grabbing hold of your headboard and locking my ankles behind your neck. To start.”
Wyatt bit his lip in an attempt to stop a whimper escaping, but he wasn’t sure it was entirely successful based on the way Kai laughed in response.
There was no way in hell he was about to be able to concentrate on the mating habits of sea turtles now, but at least the documentary seemed to be almost over.