Page 55 of Kane's Awakening
Jesus, I didn’t even know if he was gay, but if I didn’t take that chance, I’d never know. So why not? If he rejected me, the world wouldn’t end. I’d thought he was too young for me, but he was at least twenty-one.
Guess I’m breaking all of my rules now. Ryker the rebel.
“Um,” he said as a blush crept into his cheeks. “I work at five in the afternoon, but I don’t have anything planned before that.” He mixed something and poured it into the machine before grabbing the cup and holding it under. It was loud as the machine worked, but the smell made my mouth water. “Why?”
“Would you want to grab lunch somewhere?” I asked, sounding way more confident than normal. Maybe some of Kane’s confidence was wearing off on me. Or perhaps I was just tired of standing still when the world moved around me. “I was going to offer dinner, but since you have to work, we can do lunch instead. My treat.”
Max put a lid on the coffee before placing it in front of me. “Is this a date?”
I took the coffee, but didn’t take a drink yet. Funny how he threw thedateword around easily, but with Kane, it was like a forbidden language.
“It’s food and friendly conversation,” I answered, feeling excited at the prospect of an actual date—one that involved more than getting naked as fast as possible and fucking until I couldn’t stay upright. “If it turns into something more than that later, so be it.”
That was my subtle way of telling him I was into him more than just a friend.
Max looked around before leaning closer, an amused expression on his face. “I had no idea you were gay. I’ve been hitting on you since you first started getting coffee here, and you never seemed interested, so I figured you weren’t into me. Then, you mentioned you had children, and I guess I just wrote you off as another straight guy I couldn’t have.”
He’d flirted with me? I tried to think back to the times I’d talked to him. He’d always been friendly, but had he really been flirting? Was Ithatself-conscious that I’d been oblivious to it?
I gave him my number, and he said he’d text later to give me his, and I left to go to work. In the car, I finally tried the cinnamon dolce, and wow, it was actually pretty incredible.
Perhaps thenew mewould be beneficial after all—trying new things and being spontaneous.
Making it to work, I walked through the door and was greeted by an anxious looking Eric.
“What happened?” I asked, taking in his nervous demeanor. “Did we miss a court date? File something late?”
“No, sorry, boss,” he said, lightening up a bit. “I just… I was worried about you. With how you took off and everything.” He sheepishly looked away. “I may or may not have been standing here for a while, waiting on you to get here, so I could pounce with questions.”
I relaxed and offered him the closest thing to a smile I could manage. “Everything is fine. My…friendis fine, too.” The word tasted bitter on my tongue. I didn’t think I could call Kane that anymore. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever even been friends in the first place. “As for any other questions, they’ll have to wait until I get some work done.”
Leaving the office early to check on Kane had put me even more behind on the big injury case, so I needed to focus that day and get everything sorted before the trial next Tuesday. I was mostly prepared, apart from a few small things.
The car that hit my client was at fault, and it had resulted in my client being paralyzed from the waist down, so I was going after them for compensatoryandpunitive damages.
The compensatory damages included the loss of income from having to be off work during the recovery process, plus the medical bills and future medical costs from his injury. Punitive damages were harder to be awarded, but my philosophy with those kinds of cases was always to aim a bit higher, because the judge normally awarded lower than what you asked for.
As I sat down at my desk, my phone buzzed as a text came through. My heart jerked as I thought for a moment it might be Kane.
Max:Hey, it’s Max. Texting so you have my #. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
I smiled, because I was looking forward to it, too. But… the side of me that still wanted Kane had hoped it had beenhimreaching out to me.
Max seemed like a great guy, and I wanted to get to know him better, however, it wasn’t the same. There was no spark. No butterflies in my stomach or a quickening of my pulse. Not like when I was around Kane.
Maybe I’d feel that way for Max over time, after a few dates if we even made it that far. It was worth a try at least. Because nothing would ever happen with Kane. He wouldn’t let me close enough to eventryfor more.
Me:Same. Enjoy your day. Talk later.
***
The lunch with Max the next day was nice. I took him to a restaurant called Marie’s that served a little bit of everything, but was well known for its sandwiches and pies.
We chatted as we ate. I learned he was going to college for computer science with a minor in mathematics, and he had a year and a half left before graduating with his degree. He was twenty-three. So, notasyoung as I’d feared; younger than Kane but definitely more mature.
“I was never good at math,” I admitted after swallowing a bite of my sliced turkey sandwich. “English and History were my favorite subjects.”
“IhateEnglish,” Max said, shaking his head and giving a playful groan. “Mrs. Brown, my high school English teacher, hated me. We were supposed to read five books in the school year as part of our grade, and I never did. She’d give me detention, and my punishment while there was to read. And I’d fall asleep.”
