“I love you, too, Kai.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Izzy
Kaiand I slowly strolled up to the bar, our hands tangled together. It was a chilly night at the end of October, and the sidewalks were painted with the imprints of red leaves.
“How do I look?” Kai asked, adjusting his costume. He was dressed as a ketchup bottle, with red tights under the costume and a pointy red cap.
“Ready for action,” I answered, straightening my mustard costume, then hitching up my yellow tights. “How about me?”
“Spicy,” he joked and kissed me on the cheek.
It was still a shock to me that Kai agreed to dress up for the Silver Lining party. He attended the office tradition every year, but back when he was still carrying around so much shame, he never did more than put on a funny hat or write a bad pun on a T-shirt.
Now, walking up to the party together, it felt like we’d fully recovered from the shame spiral he went through the past couple of months.
It was part of Kai’s nature that he avoided the spotlight, and I certainly wasn’t looking for any extra attention that night. But it still felt good to be able to joke around with the costumes and to let the whole office see that we were happy together. He was my boyfriend, and we were in love, and a little attention the night of his firm’s annual party wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
Dating the boss was like dating the best man, except now I knew how to enjoy it.
“I still can’t believe you convinced me to do this,” Leo announced from down the street.
He waddled toward us, River at his side. Only Leo’s face was visible in the floppy hotdog costume, frowning at us. River skipped along, dressed for a barbecue with a big apron that declaredKiss the Grill Master. He had tongs in one hand, and with the other, he held Leo’s, which was covered in a cartoonish white glove.
“You said we could pick,” I chimed out, delighted to finally see him in the getup.
River and I exchanged a look, then burst out laughing. Our boyfriends stood beside us, tugging down their costumes and grumbling to each other.
“I told you,” River said, stroking Leo’s arm, “it’s good for morale at the office. Your employees need to see that you have a sense of humor and that you don’t take yourself too seriously.”
“The tights keep giving me a wedgie,” Leo complained.
“Same!” Kai added. “I don’t know how people deal with these things all day.”
“At least you’re not hot sauce,” I joked and kissed Kai’s cheek. "That would really burn.”
“Yeah,” River added. “You’ve got to count your blessings, Kai.”
We headed into the bar, which was quickly filling with employees from the firm and their guests. Kai and Leo provided an open bar and paid day off following the holiday, and over the years, the event had grown, with many employees planning elaborate costumes.
River pinched at Leo’s butt with the tongs while they walked in, causing Leo to laugh and jump. I slipped my hand into Kai’s and lingered in the back with him.
“Thanks again for doing this,” I said. “It means a lot.”
Kai nodded, the top of the ketchup bottle wobbling. “For you,” he said, “of course. And I know it’s good for me, too. I’m so over carrying around all that shame.” He stepped up and kissed me. “And I promise, I won’t let it get in the way of our relationship ever again.”
We’d talked about this plenty over the past weeks, but it was still good to hear the affirmation. Kai was pushing himself and reminding himself that dressing up in a silly costume for the office party was very different than exploring something intimate and private on our own.
And I’d done everything I could to support him through that. We’d picked costumes that we each found decidedly unsexy, even if he was cute in the tights. And we’d worked out a careful plan in case he did have a freak-out, just so we weren’t caught off guard.
With Leo bobbing around at the bar in his hotdog costume, though, the attention of the employees was clearly focused on the other boss.
“Come on,” he said, nodding into the crowd. “I need my hot boyfriend by my side while I do the rounds.”
Pop jams pumped through the speakers, and under the tall ceiling and glittering lights of the bar, workers and clients from Silver Linings mingled together. The bar hit a perfect combination of classy and casual, with long wood tables and generous seating in the back and sleek art and massive mirrors along the walls.
Walking through it with Kai, my mind went back to the wedding weekend. I’d been so shy and awkward by his side then, practically unable to talk unless spoken to. My instincts had told me to act like a supportive date, but my own insecurities put a wall up, preventing me from doing much more than to stand silently and hope that Kai liked me.
