When the doorbell rang, Thorne jumped up to check his appearance in the mirror. He nodded confidently at his reflection and put on a specific smile that Kai had come to recognize for these types of occasions. He strode over to open the door while Kai stayed in the kitchen with Kesley, Scarlet, and Emilie, Scarlet's friend. They all craned their necks to listen as Thorne welcomed the girls in like a gentleman and took their coats, then ushered them into the kitchen to meet everyone.
"Everyone, this is Cinder," he gestured to the girl on his right. A wave of surprise washed over Kai as he took her in. Definitely not what he had been expecting. She was pretty, of course—that he had expected—but she was pretty in a way that was different from the type of girl Thorne would usually go for. She seemed wholesome, sweet, and a little rough around the edges. It suited her.
"And this is her friend, Iko." The other girl was also cute, but looked like she was trying just a little too hard to look, well, cute. Cinder, on the other hand, didn't look like she was even wearing any makeup. Maybe she had just gotten off work.
"Sorry we're late," said Cinder, "but Iko was having trouble walking in her heels."
Iko looked at Cinder like she was crazy. "Cinder, humans were not meant to walk several miles in open-toed shoes in subzero temperatures."
Thorne balked. "You mean you walked here in this weather?"
"We couldn't get a cab."
"I like walking," added Cinder, shrugging. She, on the other hand, was not wearing heels.
"Next time," said Scarlet, shaking her head, "you just call Thorne. He'll gladly pick you up. I'm Scarlet, by the way." She got up to shake their hands, and everyone followed suit.
When Kai had shaken Cinder's hand, he turned to Iko, who practically gasped when she saw him. He worried for a brief moment that he really did look so grungy in his faded hoodie and jeans that he had scared her. But she just began whispering excitedly—and not very quietly—to Cinder.
"Oh my stars! Oh my stars, Cinder do you know who this is?"
"Um...no."
She looked apologetically at Kai. "Sorry," she said through gritted teeth as she nudged Iko, "clearly my friend doesn't know it's rude to talk about someone when they're standing right in front of you."
Kai shook his head. "No problem. It's not the first time it's happened."
Iko squealed. "So it's really you?"
Kai was trying not to look amused. "Well, yes, I really am me, last time I checked."
She ignored him. "Cinder, this is the son of that guy."
Cinder was beginning to look embarrassed. "Iko, which guy?"
"That guy who was on the list of the Top Ten Most Influential Men in the business world! You know…" she snapped her fingers as if to help her remember, "…Rikan Corp! That's it!
At the word Rikan, Cinder's eyes widened. She instantly looked almost star-struck, just like Iko, and Kai couldn't help feeling disappointed. He didn't know why, but for some reason he hadn't expected Cinder to be impressed like everyone else always was. It was stupid of him, really. He didn't even know the girl.
"I…wow…" she stammered, looking down at her feet. She suddenly looked very shy. "I didn't realize…"
Thorne put his arms around the two girls and steered them away from Kai. "Yeah, Kai's our resident celebrity. He's a real heartbreaker."
Scarlet laughed. "You should have seen these two in college. Unstoppable duo, the two of them. But watch out for this one," she said, gesturing at Thorne, "he's trouble with a capital T."
Thorne responded by winking at the girls. He helped Iko sit down; when he had seated Cinder as well, he leaned himself against the table by her, and looked at her with bright eyes. "So, how's my baby?"
Cinder blushed a deep crimson. "Uh—"
"He means his car," said Scarlet. "Right, Z?" Scarlet was the only one allowed to call Kesley by his first name.
Kesley rolled his eyes but nodded. "That's the only baby he'll ever have."
Thorne ignored them, though, and continued to gaze at Cinder. "Please tell me she's fine."
Cinder jumped into a detailed description of everything that was being done to Thorne's car to fix it. Listening to her speak about the inner-workings of cars made Kai feel like he'd never even seen a car in his life. Thorne was the only one who was enthusiastically listening, and he nodded with joy every once in a while.
Emilie turned to him. "Can we eat? I'm sure Cinder's eager to leave work at work."
Dinner went longer than expected, and Emilie decided to leave early because she lived on the opposite side of the city. Kai soon learned that both Cinder and Iko could hold their own in a conversation with Thorne. This was saying a lot, because Thorne was a master at telling funny stories. Iko had similar enthusiasm for some of Thorne's quirks, and Cinder, well…she was just kind of brilliant. The two girls made a very endearing pair, and he wondered how they had become friends, since they seemed so radically different from each other.
By the time they started cleaning the dishes, Kai was convinced that Iko had a massive crush on him. This, of course, inflated his ego just a bit, but he knew it was just because of his status. He normally despised girls that only went for him for his money—okay, and his looks too—but Iko was kind of funny. That being said, she was way too enthusiastic about complimenting Kai that it got old rather quickly. He was surprised that Iko wasn't flirting with Thorne, though.
Thorne pulled Kai aside. "How do you think it's going?"
Kai laughed. Thorne was not one to get nervous. "You're asking me? Don't you have your usual game plan that you stick to?"
"This one's trickier," he said. "I don't think she seems like she's that into me."
"I'm not really sure. She came, right? That's a good start."
"Yeah, but normally by this time they're, you know, doing a little of this—" Thorne batted his eyelashes flirtatiously, "—and a little of this," he said, running his finger along Kai's arm. Kai knocked his arm away, though he couldn't help laughing, because he was used to his best friend's antics.
"Are you sure don't mean this?" Kai put on his best swooning-girl voice. "Oh, Thorne, you're so funny and so good-looking, wherever have you been hiding my whole life?"
Thorne nodded solemnly. "Truth, Kai, truth."
"I'm sure it's going fine," said Kai. "And if in the end there's no spark, who cares? They both seem cool. You can just be friends."
"But she fixes cars."
"I know."
"Torin says he can't come get me because of the icy roads. Apparently it's snowed quite a bit in the last few hours," said Kai, peering out the window with Thorne.
"Hmm…that's not good," said Thorne. "Hey Kesley? Think you could give everyone a ride home? My car's still in the shop and Kai's stuck here too."
Kesley shook his head. "We just checked the weather app and it seems like we've got a winter weather warning now, not just an advisory."
"I don't think it's a good idea," said Scarlet, looking worried. "Maybe it's better if we just stay here. You wouldn't mind, would you Thorne?"
Thorne actually looked delighted. "Of course not. It would be my pleasure."
Cinder looked slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, we don't want to be an inconvenience."
This time it was Kai who protested. "No way are you walking home in this weather."
"I—"
"Cinder, it's fine, let's just stay!" interrupted Iko.
"We call the spare bedroom!" said Scarlet, pulling Kesley towards her.
Kai and Thorne exchanged glances.
"What?" asked Scarlet.
They avoided her eyes. "What?" said Kesley gruffly, taking Scarlet into his arms.
Kai cleared his throat. "While we appreciate that you two are…madly in love…let's just say that if we hear you call Kesley 'Wolf' one more time in the bedroom, we're all going to puke."
Thorne starting laughing as Scarlet turned the color of her name. Then he tilted his head back and howled.
"Shut—up—" Kesley glowered at Thorne.
"Have fun," he replied, winking at them but then turned to make a face at Kai behind Kesley's back.
"So, ladies, you want my bedroom?" he asked.
Cinder shook her head furiously. "No thank you, we don't want to impose. We can just take the couch."
Iko whined. "Cinder, how am I going to get my beauty rest?"
"Seriously, it's fine," said Thorne.
But Cinder kept insisting that they were already grateful enough to be hosted, that she didn't want to inconvenience Thorne nor Kai, so they would remain downstairs. Kai groaned inwardly as he realized that this meant he'd be sharing a bed with Thorne. Some night this was turning out to be.
After tossing and turning for awhile, Kai got out of the bed and tiptoed downstairs. Once in the living room, he saw both girls were already sleeping. He didn't really know why he felt the need to check on them, but something about Cinder made him feel…something. He couldn't quite place the emotion, but it didn't matter. He hadn't felt anything at all in months.
He slipped back to the linen closet and grabbed a few extra blankets to set out in case the girls got cold. Then, in another act he couldn't quite understand, he took off his hoodie and folded it neatly on the coffee table. Maybe she would want something else to wear when she woke up.
Back in bed, Kai replayed his actions only a few minutes earlier. He really hoped that his gesture was chivalrous rather than creepy.