Page 58 of Rival for Rent

13

MASON

Kai looked down at his feet. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s obviously not nothing. Someone’s left you a note about this twice now.”

At least there was no property damage this time. But Kai couldn’t keep pushing this under the rug.

“I don’t know,” he protested. “It’s not like I killed anybody.”

He looked up then, scrutinizing me, like he was wondering if I had. I didn’t react. I didn’t want to see his face if he ever found out the answer was yes.

“Well,” I said, “someone clearly thinks you did something. And you didn’t want the cops to know about it, since you hid the first note. But if you want me to help, I need to know what’s really going on.”

He flinched, and I felt a pang of guilt. He was stressed, scared—more than he wanted to admit—and I understood what it was like to carry around something you never wanted to talk about. Still, what I said was true.

I softened my tone. “Please, Kai. Let me help.”

I half expected him to bite my head off and insist he didn’t need me. But maybe we were past that now, because he sighed and said, “Okay. But at least let me put some clothes on first.”

Only then did it hit me that he was still naked. I’d been so focused on his face that I hadn’t registered the rest of him. Which was saying something, because the rest of him was…yeah. Flawless. Those sleek lines, those soft and hard places all at once. I felt myself start to get hard again and cleared my throat, redirecting my eyes.

“Yeah. Of course.” I turned quickly and walked into the kitchen to give him privacy—and myself a second to calm down.

Add ‘getting a hard-on during a blackmail debrief’ to the ever-growing list of things I never thought I’d do in this life. Kai deserved so much better than me. I started making coffee, giving him space. My cheeks burned just thinking about last night. The way he’d pushed me, teased me—and the way I’d wanted it. I still did. More than I should.

Was I bi? Gay? Or was it just…Kai?

Because yes, he could be insufferable, but he was also sharp, fearless, and loyal. Funny, when he wasn’t roasting me alive. I admired him. Honestly, if things were different, he was the kind of guy I’d want as a friend. Maybe that was what we were now—friends with badly defined and deeply questionable benefits.

I shook my head. No time for a sexuality crisis. My job was to keep him safe. The rest I could figure out later.

He finally sat across from me at the kitchen island, coffee cup in his hands, breathing in the scent like it might help steel him.

“I think,” he said slowly, “that the notes are about something I did in college.”

I blinked. “College? That’s a while ago.”

“I know.” He took a sip. “But it’s the only thing I can think of. I’ve been wracking my brain, and I really can’t think of anything else.”

“Alright,” I said. “So what happened? Did you join a hate group? Kill a puppy to get into a frat? Assassinate all the members of your group project team when they couldn’t meet your standards?”

“Cute,” he deadpanned, shooting me a look. “No. Nothing like that.”

“So then…?”

He winced and took another sip. “It’s embarrassing. And I’m not proud of it now. I thought better of it pretty quickly. I’m just shocked anyone found it.”

Now I really was intrigued. Kai always seemed so straight-laced. What the hell could he have done that he was this nervous to admit?

“Okay,” I said gently. Bella nudged my hand under the counter, and I rubbed her ears, waiting.

“Promise you won’t judge me?” he said, voice quieter now. Shaky.

“I promise. Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ve done worse.”

That much had to be true.

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