The Distance (19 page)

Kai chuckled at that. “Why?”

“Because raccoons look adorable in little red vests,” I said, and gave him a playful smile.

He beamed at me as he handed lattes to Skye and Dare. Both drinks had a perfect crab drawn in foam on their milky surface. “I was going to make you a crab, too,” Kai told me, “but hang on, let me see if I can pull off a raccoon.”

As he turned back to the machine, Skye exclaimed, “Holy shit, you’re seriously good at latte art!”

“I worked at a coffee house when I was in high school,” Kai explained. “The assistant manager was the best barista I’ve ever seen in my life. He was an artist too, and showed me how to do this. Whenever it was slow, which was often after a Starbucks opened up right across the street, we’d practice. He actually went on to win a few regional barista competitions.”

Kai turned to me and put a white ceramic cup in my hand. A three-dimensional face of a raccoon peered out at me, and little foam hands gripped the edge of the cup. “Oh my God,” I murmured. “It’s way too cute to drink.” I put it on the counter and felt my pockets for my phone, then spotted it on the kitchen island.

As I grabbed the phone and snapped a few photos of Kai’s creation, I asked, “Whatever happened to that assistant manager? I hope he went on to open his own coffee house.”

“That was his dream. He wanted it so bad, but he knew he could never afford it. When he graduated from college, he followed in his dad’s footsteps instead and enlisted in the Army.”

I asked, “You don’t mean your friend Sawyer, do you?”

“Yup. It’s funny, you’d never guess he could do something like these delicate little foam drawings. He’s this huge guy, almost six and a half feet tall, and he looks like he can bench-press a Buick. But this was his art. It’s a shame he doesn’t do it anymore, but I still try to practice what he taught me whenever I can,” Kai said. “I guess it’s my way of keeping his dream alive, even if he didn’t.”

Skye took a sip from his cup and said, “This is a damn fine cup of coffee. He taught you well.”

“Thanks,” Kai said. He’d left his latte plain, and blew on its surface before taking a sip.

“Which coffee house do you work at now?” Dare asked him. “We’ll be sure to come by.”

“I don’t anymore. I own a garage in Bernal Heights.”

“I know Jessie’s a total gearhead, so is that how you guys met? Through the garage?” Skye asked.

“We’re in the same street racing club, actually,” I said as I sat on the counter and snapped a picture of Kai.

“How’d you two meet?” Kai asked my friends.

Skye smiled at his husband and said, “We both briefly moonlighted as pole dancers. I was a rank amateur, but Dare was something to behold.”

“I noticed the poles upstairs. This’ll sound stupid, and feel free to say no, but could you show me a couple moves sometime? I know that’s totally random, but I’ve always wanted to try it,” Kai said, coloring slightly.

I tilted my head and asked, “You have?”

He nodded. “It seems incredibly athletic. I always wondered if I could do it.”

Skye was already heading for the stairs, coffee in hand. “No time like the present! I haven’t done it in ages. I wonder if I remember how.”

“I teach classes in pole dancing,” Dare told Kai as we followed his husband, “so I get asked this all the time. Don’t be embarrassed. It’s fun, and a lot of people do it as a way to change up their exercise routine.”

When we got to the ballroom, Skye gestured at the tent and exclaimed, “Oh shit, we
are
totally interrupting your date! This is adorable!”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m looking forward to this. Who knew Kai had this secret desire?” He chuckled and colored slightly as I flashed him a smile.

There were four poles, conveniently, and they were on round, heavy bases. We tilted them at an angle and rolled them out to an open part of the room while the dog climbed inside the tent and made himself a nest amid the pillows. As Dare tossed his jacket aside and did some stretches, Skye came up to us and said, “Wait ‘til you see this.” His blue eyes were sparkling. “I started to fall in love with Dare when I first saw him perform.”

“No you didn’t,” Dare said, bending over at the waist and pressing his palms to the floor. “You totally hated me when we first started working together.”

“You hated me too,” Skye said. “I got over it quicker.”

“I hated everybody, not just you,” Dare said with a smile as he stretched out his arms. “Okay, let me see if I’ve still got this.”

“He does,” his husband said. Dare ran at the pole and grabbed it high up, then lifted his body gracefully into the air. As he spun around, Skye murmured, “Damn. Why don’t we have one of these in our apartment? That’s so hot.”

Dare did a few stunningly graceful moves that seemed to defy the rules of gravity and human capability, and when he jumped down, he picked up Skye’s hand, slapped his palm, and said, “Tag, your turn. You didn’t warm up though, so take it slow.”

“I’ll be fine. I’d been dismantling metal for the past hour, I think that counts as warming up my muscles.” Skye walked up to the pole and pulled himself up effortlessly. He wrapped a leg around the pole and extended his arms over his head, then did a couple athletic spins before jumping down and exclaiming, “Damn, I’m out of shape. I can’t believe I used to do that for hours at a time.” He pushed his blue hair out of his eyes and tried again.

Kai took off his cowboy boots, and while Dare showed him a couple basics, I took a run at one of the poles and tried to swing myself around it. “Oh hell no,” I said as I landed on my feet. “These pants are way too tight. I’ll be right back.” Kai shot me a smile as I hurried from the room.

When I returned a few minutes later, I was barefoot and dressed in red athletic shorts and a pink t-shirt with a cartoon of a guy dressed like a unicorn straddling a rainbow. The caption read: ‘I am that gay.’ Kai burst out laughing and almost fell off the pole. “Nice shirt. I’ve never seen a cartoon of someone having sex with a rainbow before,” he said.

“He’s not having sex with it, he’s just straddling it,” I said as I did a few stretches.

“Oh no, he’s having sex with it,” Skye chimed in cheerfully. “If you want, I can go get a marker and draw in a couple motion lines for you. Then you’ll see the humpage.”

I laughed at ‘humpage’ and said, “You just have dirty minds. The shirt’s perfectly innocent.”

“Except for the rainbow humping,” Dare said. He was hanging upside down from one of the poles and flashed me a big smile.

“Perverts, the whole lot of you,” I said as I went over to the unused pole and pulled myself up.

“Hey, you’re the one wearing a shirt with a guy fornicating with a rainbow,” Dare told me as he swung around the pole, then held on with just one leg.

For the next hour or so, the four of us laughed and joked and kind of learned some pole dancing. Kai made a real effort, even though he almost immediately pronounced it much harder than it looked. I gave up after about twenty minutes, got comfortable on the floor, and cheered him on. “Come back,” he said. “If I can do this, you can.”

“Oh no. I have the upper body strength of a baby bunny. I’m just going to leave the feats of strength to y’all,” I said as I adjusted my pillow and tucked my hands under my head. Benny the dog swung his head around and rested it on my thigh.

“Come on,” Dare cajoled. “If Nana and her girlfriends can pole dance, so can you.”

“They really only do it so they can ogle your muscles,” I told him.

“I know. But they end up learning stuff, too.”

“I’m fine right here. The view is awesome.” Kai looked at me over his shoulder and grinned when he saw me checking out his ass. I added, “I’m surprised you can get your pole dance on in those jeans, Captain Tight Pants.”

“Oh my God, you just made a Firefly reference,” he exclaimed with a huge smile.

I beamed at him and said, “And you just
got
a Firefly reference! I think I love you!”

He chuckled at that and said, “Be sure to tell me when you know for sure.”

“Awww, they’re having a nerd moment,” Skye joked. He jumped off the pole and shook out his arms. “I think we should let you two get back to your date and the upcoming Joss Whedon love fest that’s probably about to ensue.”

We thanked our friends for the pole dancing lesson, and they invited us to dinner at their apartment the following week. After Skye, Dare and their dog left, Kai said, “Let me see if I can impress you with my totally graceless flailing about before my arms snap off at the shoulder.” He pulled himself up, did several spins, then turned upside down and flipped himself over, landing on his feet. “That’s all I got,” he said with a shy smile, and I whistled and applauded. “I’m going to go die in the blanket fort now. I figured that’d be strenuous, but holy shit.”

We went back to the tent and curled up together on the pillows. Kai said, “I hurt all over. I thought I was in shape, but I discovered some brand new muscles this evening, ones that apparently have never, ever been used before.”

I told him, “I’m both surprised and impressed that you wanted to try that.”

“Life is short. I know that all too well. Whenever the universe presents you with the opportunity to try something new, you have to go for it. Who knows when you’ll ever have the chance again? I felt like an idiot asking your friends to show me how to pole dance, and I really didn’t intend for that to happen
tonight
, but Skye and Dare are really good guys. I liked them a lot when I met them last week, and I figured they wouldn’t laugh in my face when I asked them to show me some stuff.”

“You’re right, they’re terrific. They obviously like you, too.”

I leaned in for a kiss, and he told me, “I’m all gross and sweat-drenched.”

“It’s sexy.” I kissed him gently, and he reached up and brushed my hair back as I told him, “You know, if you keep being social like this, you’re going to have to revise your previous statement about only having one friend.”

“I already had to revise it. My friend count doubled when you and I spent time together last weekend.”

I smiled at that. “And now it’s doubled again with the addition of Skye and Dare. It’s multiplying exponentially! Pretty impressive for the guy who never says a word to anyone in our racing club.”

“I’m an outsider there, and I always will be. The guys we race with made up their minds about me a long time ago, and I really have no interest in trying to invest my time or energy into convincing them they’re wrong,” he said. “They’re not what’s important anyway. You are. You bring me out of my shell. I wouldn’t risk total humiliation by learning to pole dance for anyone else.”

“I’m glad you decided to push yourself out of your comfort zone.”

“I have to. The last thing I want is for you to get bored with me, so I need to show you I’m willing to make an effort.”

“You don’t really think I would, do you?”

He shrugged and changed the subject by getting to his feet and saying, “Wasn’t there talk of dessert at some point?”

I got up too and followed him to the table by the window. “I made cannoli. Not the most imaginative dessert, given my Italian theme, but I’ve seen Nana make it so many times that I was pretty sure I’d get it right.”

“Sounds good.”

I fished a plastic bag out of a bowl of ice water and removed the pastry bag inside it, then retrieved a couple cylindrical shells from a storage container. As I got ready to fill the cannoli, I said, “I hope you don’t actually think I could get bored with you. There’s just no way.”

He didn’t look at me as he said, “I know how I am. I’m just this quiet guy, living a simple life. But you, you’re like a garden in full bloom, beautiful and colorful and so full of life and energy. If I’m going to have a shot in hell at holding your attention, I need to be more. Otherwise, you’re going to get tired of me so damn fast.”

“That’s an amazing compliment, but you have nothing to worry about. Seriously.” I stretched up and kissed him, and said gently, “You have my full attention.”

“Glad to hear it.” He kissed me again, then asked, “What can I do to help with dessert?”

“Why don’t you fill the cannoli while I get the plates ready?”

I handed him the pastry bag and one of the shells, and he said, “Is there a trick to this?”

“Just keep the end of the bag twisted so the filling doesn’t fall out. Then just insert the tip into the cookie shell and squeeze gently. Do one end, then the other.”

I found the dessert plates and piled a few fresh raspberries on them while Kai tried to follow my instructions, but after a moment he said, “I think it’s jammed up or something. Nothing’s coming out.”

He held the bag tip-side up and squeezed it a bit, and I leaned over to take a look. Just then, whatever had been blocking it was forced through, and I was sprayed with ricotta filling. “Shit, I’m really sorry,” he exclaimed. He looked horrified, but then I burst out laughing and he did, too. “I swear that wasn’t on purpose.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it, I can just go wash up.” I pinched a strand of hair and slid it between my fingers to remove a clump of filling.

Kai startled me by leaning in and giving my cheek a big lick, and I started laughing all over again. “You taste great,” he said. “Even sweeter than usual.”