The look on his face tells me he doesn’t appreciate my question. Oops.
“Fondled?” He asks, seriousness filling in his deep voice.
“I was kidding.” Kind of. I saw the way all the women looked at him there in his “Man Buns” uniform.
“No one is touching this,” he says, pointing to his body. “It’s only for show.”
The sensation of pins and needles fills my cheeks, and I know my face is getting red. I’m a little embarrassed, but—I know I can’t be thinking this way. I shouldn’t have said that.
“Really, I was kidding.”
“Good, because the only thing I’ve been thinking about all day is how cool it will be to come home to you at the end of the night.”
Without intention, my hands cup over my chest because his words keep taking my breath away, and I can’t stop the feelings flitting through me like a whirlwind of explosive emotions.
Denver wraps his arms around my waist and tugs me in closer. A look of seriousness mixed with desire coats his face, and I wish I could read his thoughts. “This house felt really empty earlier, and suddenly, it’s not feeling that way at this moment. It’s nice.”
I place my hands on his chest, remembering what it felt like to touch him in the same place with just a wet t-shirt between us. He’s making me want things I’ve avoided even considering in the past. It’s both exciting and frightening. “I’m scared to get hurt,” I tell him honestly. “I’m not good at pain.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he says with a look of sincerity washing through his entrancing eyes. “I want everything but that, honestly.”
“Why me?” I ask him. All of this happening so suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
“I thought I would be the one to have to ask that.”
“I can’t find anything I don’t like about you, not yet anyway. I mean, your job is kind of meh,” I say, wrinkling my nose, “but, I can deal.”
“You mean, I’m not just all buns?”
“You’re not?” I ask, feeling my cheeks pucker a bit. Wrong thought at the wrong time.
He leans in slowly, coating the air around us with a breeze of mint from his breath. The cool sensation brushes against my lips, causing me to silently plead for his touch. I can feel his heart beating against my chest, and if he can feel mine, he’d know we’re feeling the same thing at this moment.
“Kiss me,” I tell him.
The words are like a trigger as he steals my breath by the force of his lips pressing against mine. His hands slide up my sides to gently cup my cheeks. My knees feel week. It’s hard to stand while feeling as though I’m melting from the inside out. I can’t breathe, and I’m not sure I care. A soft moan rasps in his throat, and my knees literally give out. I didn’t think that really happens, but yup, he caught me because evidently, he’s perfect. “Whoa,” he chuckles. “You okay?”
“No,” I tell him, reaching up to touch my fingertips to my lips. “I’m not.”
“Kai!” Aya screams again. I’m nearly blindsided by her shout because it reminds me I’m here for her, not Denver. I’ve been keeping her waiting, and she could have just walked out and seen us kissing. She doesn’t need to know about us in this way until he kisses me like that at least one more time. After that, I’m not sure I’ll be able to willingly leave again.
“You smell like coconut and flowers. It’s probably the most incredible scent I’ve ever inhaled,” he whispers in my ear. “I’ll be back for another kiss at eleven. Is that okay?”
“Yes,” I breathe the word, unable to form sound. “I’ll be waiting.” He reaches for the flower in my hair, straightening it a bit before taking a step away.
“Aya, come give me a hug and a kiss. I have to get going, sweetpea.”
She nearly gallops down the hallway toward us, looking back and forth between my face and Denver’s, and I’m not sure I want to know what she’s thinking.
“Why are you two so red? You look weird.”
I swallow hard while trying to come up with an answer. “Oh, Kai was helping me move the couch a little more. I still can’t seem to find a good spot for it,” Denver says. He’s quick on his feet with words.
Aya leans back to look toward what I think is the living room area. “That’s where it was, though?”
“I know. It looks better there than where I was trying it out.”
“It’s just a couch,” she tells him.
“I know, Aya.”
“You’re so weird,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Can you make sure she brushes her teeth and washes her face before she goes to bed?”
“Of course,” I tell him. “I hope you like pizza, Aya?”
“You brought pizza?” She asks with excitement.
“Yup.”
“Thank goodness. Now I don’t have to eat the healthy stuff dad bought at the store. It was just to make us look like good eaters. We’re not though. Don’t let him fool you.”
Denver shakes his head and closes his eyes. “I’m going to be home late,” he says. “Maybe just talk about yourself tonight, Aya. Okay? Don’t give away any more of my secrets.” I’d probably be a bit nervous if I were Denver right now too. Aya has no filter.
“Love you, Daddy,” she says in an angelic, yet devilish, tone. The sound of it would scare me if I were Denver. As if echoing my thoughts, he takes a deep breath and kisses her on the forehead.
“Bed, no later than eight-thirty. No games. No bribes. No nothing. Got it?” he tells her.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Aya, be nice to your dad. He doesn’t want to have to work tonight. It stinks being a grownup sometimes,” I butt in. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I did.
“Yeah, I know he doesn’t want to go to work. He’d rather be here with us, but that’s what he gets for being an adult.”
Oh, boy. He’s got his hands full with her. Maybe I should be a little scared about how tonight will go, but I raised Lea from a teenager on, so I’d like to think I can handle an adorable seven-year-old too.
Chapter Seventeen
Denver
I’ve been trying to put all these pieces together for the past week or so now. I meet a chick who apparently hasn’t dated anyone before, and I don’t get it. I have an idea why Kai has remained solo, but she’s gorgeous, funny, sweet, and no one has pursued her before me? It’s not entirely adding up. I’m definitely not one to judge another’s actions after life takes a dump on a person, but why am I the lucky guy she’s found interesting enough to take a step in a direction she hasn’t considered before? Maybe it is just Aya that makes her interested in me? Women don’t do that kind shit, right? Nah. That’s ridiculous. They want to have their own kids most of the time. I think so, anyway.
As I pull into the parking lot of Man Buns, I do my best to put on my game face. Despite feeling like I’m losing just an ounce of respect for myself each time I put those damn tiny shorts on, it’s for a paycheck … a nice girthy paycheck. Girthy … ha ha.
I’ve been just sort of just going through the motions here. Noa isn’t here most nights, and I’m not a huge fan of the other waiters. I get the feeling they’re here for an ego boost. I mean, hey, if that’s the only way to get a boost, all the power to them. The funniest part is that they all stuff socks into their shorts, and I’m not sure any one of them realize dicks shouldn’t be clumpy, but I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.
Thankfully, Lani is cool, and I can have a normal conversation with her here and there. “Hey, buddy,” she says as I walk through the doors. “I didn’t realize you were on the schedule tonight.”
“Last I checked the schedule, I was on it,” I tell her.
“Oh, I might be wrong. I scanned it pretty quickly when I came in.”
“I’ll check it out. Thanks for the heads up.”
I head on back into the locker room and over to the back wall where the schedule is pinned to a corkboard.
Weird. I’m on here but only until nine. I’ve had
full shifts since I started, but maybe it’s been slow on Tuesdays. I shrug it off because I know if it were for any other reason, Noa would have said something to me when we spoke earlier.
I drop my shorts, already tucked in snuggly to my “Man Buns” shorts, and remove my shirt, before throwing my shit into one of the lockers.
Once I make my way back out onto the floor, Lani’s waiting to see if she was right or not. I’m not sure why she didn’t think I was on the schedule at all. “Yeah, I’m working tonight, but he only has me on until nine, though. Are Tuesdays usually slow or something?”
“Yeah, that’s what I was wondering,” she says while wiping down the counter. “Noa usually only has one waiter on the floor on Tuesday nights. Danko is here too.”
“No clue,” I tell her. Noa has had me on the schedule five nights a week, and I’m wondering if he’s doing it just to give me shifts. I don’t want to go pissing off the other waiters because I’m getting special treatment. I’ll have to bring it up to him.
“Whatevs. Just so you know, tonight’s special is Bum Bum Burger, Cheeky Cheese Sticks, and the drink of the night is Hiney-Kin.”
“Got it. So, is the Bum Bum burger a double or is it fully loaded? Oh, and is the Hiney-Kin hoppy, dark, pale, or just flat?”
“Wow,” Lani says with a snarky laugh. “You are just full of bun puns, huh?”
“Well, I don’t like to bust balls, and with all due respect, you don’t have those, so—I figured bun puns might be more relatable.”
“All right, get out of here,” she says, shooing me off.
“Hey, hot cakes!” an older woman with a toothy grin shouts from a nearby booth, waving a dollar bill in the air. It looks like I need to remind the customers once again, that “Man Buns” is not, in fact, a strip club, though I can understand how it can be easily confused for one.
How did I get here?
Tuesday night is cougar night, and I think it’s a known fact around here. There is not one woman younger than sixty-five here tonight. As it turns out, though, middle-aged women like to throw around money, especially when they are given a passing wink, a personalized smile, or an extra cherry in their drink. I don’t understand what’s so exciting about a cherry, but it’s not a hard job to handle, and in just a few-hour shift, I make more than I usually do during the weeknights. Plus, I can get home early and spend a little time with Kai. As I leave Man Buns, I entertain the niggling thought that has been teasing me all evening. Was it just a coincidence that my shift ended early, or was it a set-up? Does Aya have accomplices in her matchmaking?
Kai’s definitely surprised, and I sort of scare the shit out of her when I walk in the door at nine-thirty. “Holy crap, what are you doing back so early?” she squeals. Yup. Definitely scared her.
“My buns weren’t so fun tonight, I guess.”
“What?” She laughs.
“I’m kidding. My buns are always fun, hun because, baby, I got back.” I wait for the laughter, but she’s just giving me a look that tells me my joke ended a whole thirty seconds go. “I was cut at nine. I didn’t mean to scare you,” I say with laughter.
“Oh my God. Okay, so this is none of my business since this is your place. I promise I won’t be one of those people, but you might want to consider getting blinds at some point in the near future,” she says.
“Why, did something happen?” I walk up to the massively large windows and look out into the small backyard.”
“I might just be spooked, but I thought I was seeing things out there. I’m not used to windows that big. Of course, it didn’t help that Aya thought she was seeing things too.”
“Oh man, is she okay?”
“Yeah, I told her it was just the wind blowing stuff around. She was fine after that and went right to bed.”
“Good. I’ll definitely be getting blinds, though. I’m sorry you were freaked out.” I make my way across the room toward the couch where she’s sitting. “Thanks again for spending time with Aya tonight. She really likes you.”
“No problem. I charge fifteen an hour, and I don’t take checks.”
Without hesitation, I reach into my back pocket, feeling flustered as all hell because I didn’t even consider offering to pay her. I’m such a jackass. I pull out a hundred-dollar bill and hand it over to her.
She has her hand cupped over her mouth, though, and her cheeks are flaming red. “Oh my God, you’re such a dork. I was kidding.”
I throw my head back. “You just made me feel like the biggest ass ever.”
“Good,” she says with an added sharp inflection.
“Really? You’re trying to torture me? Is that fun for you?”
She shrugs then stands up, ever so slowly, from the couch, before stretching her arms over her head. “Kinda.”
“Interesting,” I respond, taking another step toward her. “You enjoy torturing me but have no intention to undo what you’re doing.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” She swoops her long hair off her shoulder and places her hands firmly on her hips.
“I mean, you can dish it out but can’t take it in return.”
“I’m still not following,” she says. Her voice is so soft it’s merely coming out in a rasp.
With my heart pounding in my chest, I give in to my desires, scoop my arm around her back, and pull her into me. This time, without warning, I kiss her like I’ve wanted to since the first time. I’ve let my thoughts fall to the wayside as I lift her up and walk down to my bedroom with her. I don’t even have sheets on my damn bed yet. Shit.
While I expect her to stop me before we reach my room, I’m more surprised when she doesn’t. I’m shocked when she blindly closes the door behind us. I pull away for a moment to assess the situation in the bedroom but find sheets and bedding in place. “Ahh, I didn’t put my bed together yet … ”
“There was a big box that said, ‘Bedding.’ I thought you might be tired when you got home, so I figured I’d try to make it easier for you to get into bed.”
“I don’t know, Kai. I get the feeling you had additional intentions,” I tell her. “Are you sure that’s the only reason?”
She’s gazing at me with an unsettled look. I’m not sure I understand what thoughts are going through her head, but I need to know what she’s thinking. “I’ve never—”
Now, I’m pretty sure I know what she’s thinking, and since she said she hadn’t been kissed, I assumed the rest. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I had no intentions of pushing you. I like you, Kai, and that’s what I care about. I want to get to know everything that makes up who you are. The other parts are bonuses, but I’ve learned to have patience in life.”
“I have no more patience,” she tells me.
“Why me?” I ask her. It’s the one damn question I can’t seem to get out of my head.
“I feel something for you that I haven’t felt with anyone before. I haven’t let anyone in or close enough because nothing has ever seemed right, but this—for some reason I may never understand—feels really, really right, Denver.”
“I feel the same,” I tell her before eliminating the space between our lips again. I just want to kiss this girl and feel her body wrapped up with mine like it is right now. I carefully lay her down on top of my perfectly made bed and climb over her, keeping my balance on all fours while analyzing the new look in her eyes. “We don’t have to do this now. There’s no rush,” I tell her.
“I need you,” she mutters. “And I’m not even sure I know what that means.”
“You’re telling me no one has ever touched your beautiful body before?”
She nods her head. “No one.”
“What about you? Surely, you’ve—”
She tosses her arm over her face with embarrassment. “I can’t believe we’re having this discussion right now.”
“I just want to make sure I handle you with care,” I tell her. My arms are beginning to shake from holding myself up, but not from the weight
. I’m not sure how much longer I can maintain control with her.
“I have Thumper,” she says.
“Thumper?” I repeat.
“The Rabbit.”
“I—”
“It’s a vibrator. I just haven’t used it …”
“I have to see this thing. Thumper, really? Do you think about the rabbit—I mean. Bambi? It’s such a sad movie.”
“Leave Thumper alone,” she argues.
“My sister has a friend who named her vibrator Shermanator. Like from the movie, American Pie. I don’t even know how that got brought up, but it was pretty much the funniest story I’ve ever heard about a vibrator before. Yours can now be the saddest,” I tease.
“It’s not sad!”
“Well, does it look like a rabbit? Like, is it hairy?”
“No,” she says with embarrassment-filled laughter.
“Okay, well I need to see this thing next time you have it on you.”
“On me?” She questions loudly.
“You know what … let’s stop talking about thump-thump-Thumper,” I tell her.
“Make me feel good, Denver,” she says, almost pleadingly.
“Maybe we should take things slow,” I tell her. The thought pains me, but I need to show her everything the right way.
“No, I don’t want to go slow. I’ve waited so damn long, Denver. I don’t want to wait anymore. I just want it the right way.”
I love that she’s wearing a dress, like this was part of her plan all along. I love that it’s short, and I love that I have a wild imagination and think she has a sexy thong waiting for me to pull off. I lower my mouth to her neck and kiss her gently as I slip my hands up her silky, bare thighs. The moment I make contact with her panties, I confirm my assumptions. A lacy thong. She wanted me tonight. God, that feels good.
I slide her panties down her legs slowly until I reach her ankles, then toss them to the side. “First things first,” I tell her. She covers her face for a moment and I see a red blush erupt on her cheeks. “You’re beautiful, Kai.” I lift one leg and slowly kiss my way from her knee up to her thigh, letting her get used to the sensation slowly rather than all at once. Her body begins to move in small waves, urging me to continue as I place her leg down gently on my shoulder. Just as I position myself below her, Kai’s fingers make contact with my hair as she runs her hands down the back of my head. She’s perfect. I let my tongue slide down between her lips, circling and sucking gently. Her moans grow in volume, and it feels good to know I’m giving her something she’s never experienced before.
Man Buns Page 14
