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“Cole—don’t you dare—”
“Oh, come on,” Cole said gleefully, piling more scarves onto Kai on top of the ones Kai had already put on. He was going to choke or suffocate to death at this point.
“No,” Kai said mullishly. “Stay away,” he warned again, inching back. But the pout on Cole’s face all but made up for it. “Fine,” he said, looking away in hopes that Cole wouldn’t see the red dusting his cheeks.
“It’s gonna be so worth it,” Cole said, arranging Kai’s scarves and getting too close to Kai; so close that he could smell the musky scent of Cole, the warmth, the indescribable feeling of him. So close that if Kai just leaned forward a little bit, their noses would bump. Another inch, and he would finally be kissing Cole Brookstone. But then Cole pulled away, satisfied with his work, and the warmth disappeared, the earthiness disappeared.
Which was hilariously pathetic, considering that Kai was the Elemental Master of Fire. Fire, yes, but clearly not warmth.
“You won’t regret it,” Cole tried to reassure Kai. “The new bakery has the best cakes. It’ll warm you right up.”
Kai already knew that the bakery had the best cakes. Of course he did, because he’d gone to the bakery and picked out cakes for Cole before the attendant winked at him with a knowing smile and he chickened out. And as for warmth? Cole was enough for Kai. Kai would make do with any kind of contact—even a brush of fingers, even their palms pressed together.
Finally, Kai deemed himself fit and followed Cole outside the Monastery Gates, grunting with effort. The small act had him heating up, glad for the straining muscles. You would think that because he ran warmer than others, he wouldn’t feel cold. But ever since he’d gotten a bad cold that had turned into a fever a week ago, he had been much more vulnerable to the cold.
As Kai stared down the thousand steps down the Mountain, he knew he would overheat by the time he reached the bottom.
“Why didn’t we bring the car?” Kai asked. “The X1? Or any kind of transport?”
Cole grinned at him, his cheeks pink from either from the exertion or the cold. Nevertheless, Kai liked the way it looked on him. “Because you would freeze up sitting in one place. And your muscles would get stiff and you would complain and twitch your knee.”
Kai really hoped that his multilude of scarves was covering his cheeks because his face was surely a vibrant, flaming shade (haha, pun. No. Stop, he chided himself) red. He cleared his throat. “How did you notice the knee?”
Cole turned a bit pinker. “Just . . . noticed,” he mumbled unconvincingly, pulling his own scarf higher and disappearing into the sea of bodies.
Kai stood there, not believing Cole for a second, before he realised he had lost Cole and scowled, pushing through the crowd. They recognised him, letting him cut through them like a very determined knife. A few scattered, awestruck faces here and there, although Kai really didn’t know what was so impressive. He just needed to get to Cole. Still, he winked and shot them the same knowing smiles the attendant had given him. A few finger guns here, a tiny flame through his gloves there, and he finally reached a quiet section of the city.
The very tips of his gloves, on his fingers, were open, allowing for small flames should the situation require it. If he hadn’t caught Jay’s stupid bug, he wouldn’t need the gloves anyways. Heating his hands up enough for some warmth to sleep back into them, but not enough to cause a flame, even though the gloves wouldn’t burn, he rubbed his palms together. And then he pulled his phone out of his pocket, fumbling slightly. Unfortunately, his fingers were still a bit stiff from the cold.
He dialed Cole’s number, tapping his feet impatiently on the pavement, moving a bit out of the way so that other people could actually pass.
Cole answered on the first ring. “Hello,” his voice came, laced with barely contained amusement. The sound of his voice did something to Kai that Kai didn’t want to examine at all right now.
“Where are you?” Kai demanded. “You oaf! We were supposed to go to the bakery together. What did I get all dressed up for?”
Cole mumbled something unintelligible. All Kai managed to catch was something like ‘don’t need to’ and ‘good’. Whatever. Kai couldn’t hear it properly, so clearly it wasn’t important. Not in the face of Kai’s current problem.
“Where are you?” Kai practically yelled down the line. He was cold and lonely and had no patience for anything right now.
“I’ll come get you,” Cole said. “You’re trending on Ninstagram right now, by the way.”
“What?” Kai screeched, his voice cracking.
“Yep. You’re the best out of all of us,” Cole said fondly.
The best? No, no, that was Zane. Maybe even Jay if he was pushing it. Why would Kai be the subject of public adoration? Sure, he was hot, but he wasn’t nice. Not like Zane. He wasn’t all that funny either. Not like Jay. He wasn’t strong or steady like Cole.
“The best?” Kai asked.
“Yeah,” Cole responded readily. “You’re the most camera-ready, the best when bombarded. You’re good under pressure! Our face.” He laughed. “The public loves you.”
But do you? Kai almost asked.
Instead, he just said, “Fine. Use those lovely clip hints to figure out where I am.”
“You’re not gonna tell me?” Cole asked, miffed.
“No,” Kai said. “Nuh uh. That’s what you get for leaving me.”
Kai could practically hear Cole roll his eyes. “Fine,” Cole conceded. “I’ll use ‘context clues’ to find out where you are.”
“Good,” Kai said. He was unsure of what to say next, moving from one leg to another in an attempt to warm his legs as well. Cole was right; his muscles were already getting stiff from being still for so long.
“So . . .” Cole said in an attempt at nonchalance that made Kai raise an eyebrow.
“So, what?”
“So, what’s my reward gonna be?”
Kai blinked, looking at his phone before taking it back to his ear. Reward . . . Reward for what?
“What?”
“My reward for finding you,” Cole elaborated.
Holding my hand, Kai instantly thought. Hold my hand, please. Even though it would feel like more of a reward to him. He would do anything to feel Cole’s big, warm hand wrapped around his, cocooning it.
“Okay,” Cole said, sounding a bit strained. He cleared his throat. “Yeah—um, sure, yep,” he stammered out. Kai frowned. He hadn’t said anything . . .
Oh. Oh, FSM, he’d said it out loud. He had asked Cole to hold his hand out loud. Cole wasn’t supposed to hear that! Kai was supposed to keep that particular secret buried deep within the closet.
Kai cut the call abruptly, holding his phone to his chest. He was sure he was being filmed right now. Hell, he could see a phone camera blinking right now. So he decided to go to the park across the street, so that he could sit down and be cold, lonely, miserable and impatient in peace.
He sat on the bench near the rocks and dirt. Of course he did. Of course he didn’t choose the lush, artificially green spaces dusted with snow, of course he didn’t go to the place with the trees, now dry and black. Of course he didn’t sit near the flowers or the frozen over pond.
He sat near the rocks and the dirt. Patiently waiting for Cole and his hands.
He closed his eyes for only a second, he swore it was just a second. But then he was awoken by a warm, calloused hand pulling his beanie over his eyes and he grabbed the wrist on instinct. Until he smelled the earth and warmth and Cole and relaxed his grip, pulling his cap back up again.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” Cole said. “Almost thought I needed to kiss you awake.”
Cole’s face was red. Kai’s face was even redder. He looked away, crossing his arms. “Well,” he said, faking an air of confidence. “I’ll settle with your hand.”
“My hand?” Cole asked.
Kai stood up, dusted the snow off of his coat, and grabbed Cole’s hand. Fine. He had asked for it. Might as well pretend it was on purpose. But then Cole beamed at him. So Kai smiled back, his cheeks turning redder as Cole’s hand warmed his. Master, it felt just as good as Kai had always imagined. The callouses were comforting. The warmth was comforting. Cole was comforting.
And then Cole’s smile turned shy when he saw Kai’s. And then Cole covered his mouth with the back of his free hand and looked away. And then he said, in a small, delighted tone, “Oh.”
And then Kai led them out of the park and to the bakery.