He shrugged. He’d kept what’d happened between them at the bar to himself, and from the sounds of things, so had Nate. Not that Kaz was surprised by that fact. He’d anticipated as much.
There’d been two Nareks in attendance when Kazimir and Flix had started school as Freshmen. Nate was the oldest and was already a junior. His younger sister had been a sophomore. She’d graduated last year, and Nate had attended the ceremony, a fact Kaz knew only because he’d also been there to support a couple of Brumal members who were walking as well.
Kazimir had found him attractive then, but hadn’t made any sort of move. If he had, the two of them might have undergone a very different kind of sexual experience with one another. Eventually, Nate would have ended things or Kaz would have gotten bored, but their time at the bar would never have come to pass.
Despite Flix’s suggestion, Kazimir was known to only take things by force when it was absolutely necessary. He got off on twisting people around his fingers, on knowing he was above them like that and could play them for a fool and turn them to putty in his hands. It was in his nature to manipulate, to coax and convince. Playing people kept the boredom at bay, so if things had been different and he’d been able to get Nate to sleep with him willingly…
“I don’t like that look,” Flix stated, but he wasn’t referring to Kaz. “At least we know nothing is happening between the two of them.”
Across the street, Nate finally managed to get a very drunk Mit into the car with the help of the driver. He rested his hands on his hips and watched the limo pull away from the curb, not taking his eyes off of it until it’d turned the corner down thestreet and vanished from sight. Then he sighed, long and hard, and ran a hand through his dark hair.
“You know,” Flix said. “Mit notoriously only goes for virgins. Gets a sick kick out of busting their cherries. Nate’s no virgin.”
Something ugly unfurled in Kaz’s gut and he carefully settled his expression so his friend didn’t notice. “How do you know that?”
“Saw him wander off with some guy once last year,” he explained. “Later Nate told me they’d gone drinking and when I asked if they’d fucked he laughed in that telling way and changed the subject. Guy like him doesn’t kiss and tell.”
Had Pretty Boy been lying to him when he’d claimed to have never slept with a man before? Kazimir found he didn’t like that prospect. At all.
“Actually,” Flix frowned. “Now that I’m thinking about it, that guy I saw him with was in a pricy three-piece suit. Maybe Nate has a type. Could be he isn’t as good as he wants us all to believe.” When Kaz stared at him, Flix snorted. “I’m joking, man. What’s it matter anyway? You can’t seriously still be that pissed about a handful of lost coin. You make that type of money in your sleep thanks to your shares in Daddy’s company.”
“So this is what he’s been doing with his life since graduation?” Kazimir wasn’t willing to drop the subject like his friend seemed to want. “Selling himself to the highest bidder?”
“Shut up,” Flix said. “I was really just kidding. What’s wrong with you tonight? Your sarcasm sensor is busted. Look, Nate has a job. He’s a mechanic and he races on the side. He doesn’t need to sell himself for money, so whatever you’re thinking—”
“Who says I’m thinking anything?” Kazimir was tempted to tell him he’d already taken Nate’s payment, but smartly closed his mouth. Something told him that Flix liked the pretty racermore than he was letting on, and that bothered Kaz, but not enough to irritate Flix on purpose.
“Oh, that’s right. You’d need a brain for that and you don’t have one.”
“Ouch.” Kaz pressed a palm to his chest. “You wound me.”
“Whatever, man. Let’s get out of here.” Flix bumped his shoulder into his arm and then turned to head down the street away from the club and the restaurant.
Kazimir’s mind inadvertently wandered back to the conversation he’d been broaching with Flix before they’d gotten distracted. Since Baikal was so busy these days with his musician, maybe it was far past time for Kaz to find something else to occupy his time as well.
Nate may have paid off his debts, but now there might be a new score to settle between the two of them. If he’d lied about being a virgin and tricked Kaz, he owed him.
And if he hadn’t lied, and this was all just some big misunderstanding, well…He still owed him. Why? Because Kazimir said so.
Madden had called Nate a good guy the other night…Wasn’t Flix’s suggestion that Kaz find someone who fit that bill?
If Baikal Void could corrupt someone like Rabbit Trace, surely Kazimir could do the same. He’d prove to his cousin and to Flix that there was nothing inherently wrong with him, that he was capable of being a part of a relationship. He’d make Nate Narek turn to putty in his hands.
And then, once his point had been made, he’d toss the older guy aside and return to the life he preferred.
One on his own.
Chapter 5:
“Hey, have you seen Port?” Annya leaned over the body of the hoverbike Nate was working on, nibbling nervously on her bottom lip. She was around the same age as him and had joined Quartet Air the same week, so they’d gotten to know one another fairly well during working hours.
“He called out sick,” Nate reminded, getting up off the floor so she wouldn’t have to bend in order to talk to him. Grabbing at a rag, he started wiping the grease off his hands as she continued to chew on her lip like it was a New Year’s feast instead of her own flesh and blood. “Stop doing that.”
She let go of her lip with a popping sound and huffed. “He called out last week. Shouldn’t he be back by now? You two are close. You haven’t spoken to him?”
“Not recently.” He’d actually sent Port a couple of messages that had gone unanswered over the weekend and had been planning on stopping by his apartment after work, but he didn’t want to worry her further so kept that to himself. Instead, he shrugged like it was no big deal—because really, it most likely was. “Maybe he just got tired of this place and finally found something better.”
“He was looking…” she agreed, though she didn’t sound convinced.
