“Ransom for my scrunchie,” I replied.
“Ransom accepted.” Kai took the scrunchie off their wrist and put it over my hand onto my wrist. “Scrunchie returned. Also, I hope you weren’t mad. It was Steven’s idea. Ooh, front seat!” Kai picked up the flowers, buckled themselves in, and put a bag on the floor by their feet.
“That sounds very Steven. I’m not mad. Did I get the right flowers?” I continued to be a little anxious without Steven here as a buffer.
“I love them, they’re beautiful,” Kai told me.
“You look great. How are you feeling today? What do you need?” I asked. Kai looked cute. I was just wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
“I’m feeling good, especially because I have some tea to spill.” Kai grinned and cheerfully told me about everything that had happened since Steven had dropped them off.
“Sidepiece’s dad called?” My eyebrows rose. But this was a freshman omega. Running to daddy made sense.
“The plot twist I didn’t expect. She probably gave my number to him thinking he’d yell at me. It might have even been Logan’s idea.” Kai held the flowers tight, like they were precious.
“Do you think they’ll get back, or do you think they’ll be stranded in Bali forever?” I joked.
“I’m sure Logan’s mom bought him a plane ticket. Drea, I don’t know.” Kai shrugged.
“Why would she yell at you if she could simply cover it? Why did he not pay you if he could cover it himself?” I got the idea that Logan’s family might be pretending to be well-off, but wasn’t actually, and he needed to find a wealthy omega or packmates to keep up appearances.
“I think his mom just wanted to shame me. It’s more of the idea that I dare do anything to her baby boy than the actual funds. It's all about control manipulation. Something I can now see Logan was very good at.” Kai’s scent went bitter.
Reaching over I squeezed their knee. “Well, now she won’t be your mother-in-law. And it’s all over.”
I worried a little about Kai being ganged up on and their mental health spiraling back on campus, between her ex, ex friends, and campus gossip in general.
“Oh, his advisor had some questions for me, too. I don’t want to get Logan in any trouble. But there might be some ethics violations or something.” Kai sighed. “His doctoral program contacted me, too, with questions. Ihaven’t replied to them.”
“You’re staying on the island because you wanted to and not him, right?” I added.
“I’m staying because I like the program and my professors. I also got a really great aid package that covers just about everything and pays me to help with research. Auntie will help me with my education, but I like to try to pay for as much as I can myself.” Kai looked pleased with themselves.
“A good aid package is very important. Good job.” I’m not sure how much PhD’s cost, but I knew how much law school cost. It was easy to see how Kai would be a great part of a team. I’m sure a research team was a lot like a sports team.
Kai beamed even more. “Thank you.”
“Your family is really important to you. Isn’t it?”
Kai nodded. “I like having people around me that care about me. I’m not adverse to going elsewhere. I just like having a support system.”
“I understand that. When I ended up in Nashville, it was a lot for me. I knew no one here. I’d really been hoping to end up on the Seattle Strike, which was my home team–or the Puck Panthers which is geographically closer,” I replied.
Kai chuckled. “The one you had to beat to make it to the finals and the one you have to beat to win the playoffs?”
“Yes.”
We parked and entered the shop. It was bright and airy with lots of murals on the wall, paper rings hanging, with wooden, white tables, and booths.
Kai looked around. “This place is reallycute.”
“I thought you’d like it. I come here sometimes to read. The comic book shop Steven likes is two doors down,” I said as we went to the counter.
Kai looked at the menu. “Ramen and cereal with my coffee? This is my kind of place.”
I knew it. There was also a pastry case.
“An iced mocha latte sounds great. So does some ramen,” Kai replied.
