Monday morning came with an unpleasant amount of sunlight.
Kai opened one eye, stared at the ceiling, and immediately regretted having responsibilities.
His phone vibrated beside his pillow.
He reached for it without thinking.
One message.
Adrian: Good morning.
Kai stared at the screen.
Then smiled.
He hated that his face betrayed him so easily these days.
Kai: Good morning.
The reply came almost instantly.
Adrian: Did you sleep well?
Kai sat up.
That was dangerously close to flirting.
He typed, deleted, typed again.
Kai: Why? Are you worried about me?
Three dots appeared.
Adrian: Yes.
Kai stopped breathing for a second.
He stared at the word.
No teasing.
No excuse.
Just—
Yes.
Before he could decide how to respond, Noah pushed open the door.
“Are you smiling at your phone?”
Kai immediately locked the screen.
“No.”
“You are.”
“Get out.”
Noah laughed.
“Definitely a boyfriend.”
“He is not my boyfriend.”
The words left Kai’s mouth too quickly.
Noah paused.
“So you admit there’s a he?”
Kai threw a pillow at him.
⸻
At university, Kai tried to behave normally.
It wasn’t working.
Every time his phone vibrated, his eyes dropped toward it.
Ethan noticed by the second lecture.
“You’re hopeless.”
Kai didn’t look up from his notes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve smiled at your phone three times.”
“I like my phone.”
“You’ve had that phone for two years. You didn’t smile at it last semester.”
Kai finally looked at him.
“Are you studying medicine or me?”
“Both.”
Before Kai could answer, Daniel approached.
“Kai.”
Kai turned.
Daniel smiled.
“Professor Carter moved our study session to Thursday.”
“Okay.”
“And I was wondering if you’d like to get dinner afterward.”
Kai hesitated.
“Thursday?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure.”
Daniel’s smile widened.
“Great.”
He walked away.
Ethan watched him.
Then looked at Kai.
“You know what?”
“What?”
“This is going to get complicated.”
Kai frowned.
“What is?”
Ethan simply returned to his notes.
“Nothing.”
Kai stared at him suspiciously.
⸻
Across the city, Adrian’s Monday was brutal.
Three meetings.
Two negotiations.
One board presentation.
And an executive who somehow believed Adrian would tolerate a twelve-million-dollar mistake because correcting it would be inconvenient.
He wouldn’t.
By lunch, Marcus had already watched Adrian reject four phone calls, sign twenty documents, and rearrange an entire project timeline.
Then Adrian’s phone lit up.
A message from Kai.
Kai: Professor Carter says the research proposal was approved.
Adrian’s expression changed immediately.
Marcus noticed.
Of course he did.
Adrian replied:
Adrian: Congratulations.
Kai responded:
Kai: I didn’t do it alone.
Adrian: You still did well.
A pause.
Then:
Kai: You sound proud.
Adrian stared at the message.
He was.
More than he should have been.
Adrian: I am.
Kai didn’t respond immediately.
When the message finally came, it was only:
Kai: Thanks.
Adrian placed the phone down.
Marcus cleared his throat.
“Should I pretend I didn’t see that?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Excellent.”
Marcus turned toward the door.
Then Adrian’s phone vibrated again.
Kai: Also, Daniel asked me to dinner Thursday.
Adrian’s fingers stopped moving.
His expression remained calm.
Too calm.
Marcus noticed that too.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
Adrian looked at the message again.
Daniel.
The name was familiar.
He remembered the young man from the hotel event.
The one who smiled at Kai too easily.
Adrian typed a response.
Deleted it.
Typed another.
Deleted that too.
Finally:
Adrian: That’s good.
Kai replied almost immediately.
Kai: That’s all?
Adrian stared at the screen.
He could almost hear Kai’s voice.
That’s all?
A strange irritation settled in his chest.
He didn’t like it.
He especially didn’t like that he understood exactly what it was.
Jealousy.
Adrian had never considered himself a jealous person.
Apparently, Kai Anderson was determined to introduce him to new experiences.
Adrian: What do you want me to say?
Kai’s reply appeared.
Kai: I don’t know. Maybe you’re supposed to be jealous.
Adrian leaned back in his chair.
For the first time that afternoon, he smiled.
Adrian: Are you trying to make me jealous?
The reply took longer.
Kai: Maybe.
Adrian’s smile disappeared.
Not because he was angry.
Because suddenly, he wanted to see Kai.
Badly.
But he wouldn’t go to the university.
He had no reason to.
Instead, he typed:
Adrian: Be careful what you wish for.
Kai’s response came seconds later.
Kai: Is that a threat?
Adrian: No.
A pause.
Adrian: A warning.
Kai stared at the screen for several seconds before laughing.
⸻
Thursday evening arrived.
Kai stood outside the restaurant with Daniel, listening as Daniel talked about their upcoming examinations.
He was enjoying himself.
He really was.
Daniel was kind.
He made him laugh.
He remembered small things.
And yet, something was missing.
Kai finally understood what.
The anticipation.
The tension.
The feeling of wondering what Adrian would say next.
With Daniel, everything was easy.
With Adrian, nothing ever was.
Kai hated that he missed the difficult man.
“Are you okay?”
Daniel’s voice pulled him back.
“Yeah.”
Daniel smiled.
“I was just asking.”
Kai nodded.
“I’m fine.”
They continued walking.
Then Kai’s phone vibrated.
He looked down.
Adrian: How’s dinner?
Kai stopped.
He stared at the message.
A smile slowly appeared.
Daniel noticed.
“Good news?”
Kai locked the phone.
“Something like that.”
Daniel studied him quietly.
He didn’t ask again.
But he had seen the smile.
And he knew it hadn’t been for him.
⸻
Later that night, Adrian stood by his apartment window, phone in hand.
He had no idea why he had asked about dinner.
Actually, he knew exactly why.
He wanted to know whether Kai was thinking about him.
He wanted to know if Kai missed him.
And, despite all his usual self-control, he wanted Kai to know that someone was waiting for his attention.
The realization should have bothered him.
Instead, it made him smile.
His phone vibrated.
Kai: Dinner was nice.
Adrian looked at the message.
Then another arrived.
Kai: But I think I prefer dinner with you.
Adrian went completely still.
For several seconds, he didn’t move.
Then he typed:
Adrian: Do you?
Kai replied:
Kai: Maybe.
Adrian laughed quietly.
That one word was enough to ruin his entire evening.
In the best possible way.
He looked out at the city lights.
Something had changed between them.
Neither had confessed.
Neither had defined what they were.
But they were no longer pretending there was nothing between them.
And perhaps that was more dangerous than either of them realized.