Chapter 2 - no one teaches you what to do when a good man hurts you
Kai's hand hovered over the minced steak for the briefest moment before he shook his head and walked away.
As much as he was craving sticky beef, he didn't think he could make it without thinking about…
No, he wasn't going to go down that path again. The wound from that was still too fresh. It may have been months ago, but no one gets over a three year relationship that quickly.
He let out a shaky sigh and grabbed the ground beef instead. Spicy beef it was.
He quickly gathered the rest of the ingredients for dinner and headed towards the checkout. He was grateful to see the friendly face of the cashier — an elderly gentleman with kind eyes beneath a pair of ungroomed eyebrows.
"Kai," the cashier said when it was his turn, "you're picking up something? Cole was in her about 20 minutes ago. Are you two planning on surprising each other?"
A lump formed in his throat and his eyes began to heat up from bushes tears. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words escaped. He dragged in another shaky breath before meeting the cashier's eyes.
"We broke up," Kai managed to choke out. "A while ago."
"Oh," was all the cashier could say.
Kai stood in silence as the cashier checked out the handful of items. He couldn't meet the man's gaze, but he knew the man would look at him every couple of seconds.
Great. He was going to have to find another grocery store.
The cashier gave Kai his total, and he quickly cashed out. As he was grabbing his bags, the cashier stopped him.
"Kai," he said.
Kai stopped and met his eyes once again.
"I'm sorry."
Kai nodded and looked away, another lump forming in his throat.
He darted away after that, not hearing what the cashier had to say.
"Game night," Nya said into the phone after he answered her call.
"What?"
"Game night. You, me, Jay, and a couple of friends."
"I'm not really —"
"If you say that you aren't in the mood, I'm coming over to short sheet your bed and mess with all the labels on the canned food."
"No you won't."
"Are you really going to try me? I'm the baby of the family. I know how to mess with you and not get in trouble."
Kai hummed.
"So you admit to getting me into trouble when we were kids."
She snorted on the other end.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be a good sibling."
He smiled, allowing a brief lull in their conversation. His heart warmed at the idea that she even thought about inviting him to join in on the game nights with her friends.
"I really want you here," she said, her voice in that quiet, pleading way that she knew would always work on him.
"Fine. Need me to bring anything?"
"A warm hug and something you like to drink?"
He huffed out a short laugh.
"Sure. See you Saturday?"
"See you Saturday."
Kai didn't do too much drinking after the first two years of college, so he couldn't even remember what he liked. But he knew what Nya liked, so he thought that was the safer thing to pick up.
So, with a case of hard seltzer and a few snack he knew Jay liked, he took the bus over to their shared apartment.
Nya and Jay's roommate answered the door.
"Hey, Kai," Skylor said, holding the door open for him to slip past.
"Thanks," he said as he kicked off his shoes, and she took the drinks and snacks to the kitchen. He hung his light coat in the small closet. It was crammed with shoes and coats and scarves and hats.
Maybe he should pick up some containers for them to store everything in.
"Nya's running a little late, but Jay's here. Somewhere."
"You're joining us for game night?"
"First night I've had off since my first month of college."
Kai winced.
"Your dad still making you cover people's shifts?"
"Not as often, but…"
"I gotcha."
"Hey, Skylor have you," Jay said, coming in from down the hall. He stopped when he saw Kai. His face broke out into a big grin. "Hey, Kai."
Jay barely gave Kai a moment to register before Kai was pulled into a big hug. Kai returned it. Jay was always good at hugs. Just like…
No, he was not going to go there.
"Didn't hear you come in," Jay said.
"Just got here."
"He brought some snacks," Skylor said, holding up the bags of stuff.
"You really spoil us," Jay said, his eyes going wide.
"Want me to still let Nya know to pick up some stuff or do you think we're good?"
"I think we'll be okay now." Jay turned back to Kai. "Help me finish setting up some chairs?"
Kai shrugged.
The cheap chairs were already out of storage, thankfully, so it was only setting them up around the folding tables. It really would be an easy task for one person, but Jay was most likely tasked with checking in with him.
"How are you doing?" Jay asked.
"I found out Cole still shops at the grocery store earlier this week," Kai said, shrugging. "So, I was doing okay until that."
"Did you bump into him?"
Kai shook his head.
"No," he said. "The cashier told me that he'd seen Cole come in and pick up some things for his dinner. He thought we were going to surprise one another or something."
Jay nodded as Kai grabbed the last chair.
"You going to keep shopping there or…?"
"There's a grocery store close to my work. Cole… He didn't like it because they didn't sell cherry tomatoes. But their coffee was good, so I'm thinking about going there instead. At least until I find another place."
"You know you're always welcome to join us for dinner. Anytime you want. You just have to let us know, okay?"
Kai opened his mouth to respond when there was a knock at the door.
"I've got it," Skylor called, running past them.
Jay clapped Kai on the shoulder, giving him a smile.
"Come on," he said. "It's game night. Just… just enjoy the company for a couple of hours. Have a drink. If you don't feel like going home, our guest room is open to you, okay?"
Kai listened to Skylor greeting the guests down the short hallway and nodded.
"I might just take you up on that."
"— and I had to hear that this dumbass was gay," Skylor said, gesturing to Kai, "though the school gossip! Do you know how humiliating that was."
Kai laughed into the can of hard seltzer Nya had given him.
"I was stupid," Kai said, "and sixteen."
"If you'd done that to me," one of Nya's ex-classmates said, pointing to him, "you'd have some slashed tires and more to worry about."
The card game still spread out in front of them long since forgotten about. Kai was sure none of them remembered who's turn it was, let alone who was winning.
"What makes you think I didn't slash his tires," Skylor said, smirking.
"She only slashed three tires," Kai said, "so my insurance wouldn't cover it. And she got her friend who did school announcements to tell everyone about my Axe body spray addiction."
"Oh not the Axe body spray addiction," Nya groaned, slumping in to her chair. "That was the worst phase I ever had to live through. Going in to the bathroom after him was like inhaling the whole bottle."
"Ugh," Skylor said, rolling her eyes. "Making out with him was terrible."
"I have no idea how you survived that."
"I think I passed out a couple of time from the fumes."
"I feel like I should be offended," Kai said.
"I blame you for my allergy," Nya said, pointing to him.
"You're probably right."
Nya barked out a laugh, and Kai was brought back to when they were little kids. He would always do whatever it took to make her laugh like that back then. Hell, he'd do it now, too.
"What time is it?" one of Nya's friends asked, stretching.
"Almost two in the morning."
"Shit. I've got to be up for work in a few hours."
"Alright," Jay said, "we're calling it a night?"
There was a chorus of agreements as everyone shuffled out of their chairs and exchanged hugs and goodbyes.
Kai looked at his coat and shoes, and moved to retrieve them when Jay stopped him.
"You should stay in the guest room," he said. "I'm making my cinnamon toast for breakfast."
Kai raised his eyebrows.
"Is that a promise or a threat?" he said.
Jay lightly punched his shoulder and laughed.
"Come on. I have some pajamas that should fit you."
Kai was glad he joined them. It felt good to laugh again.
Inspired by: "happiness" by Taylor Swift
