Note: This is continuation of my Damien X MC pre-book series, now caught up to present time and mainly following the canon story line. Some events and dialogue come directly from the book, and some are my own vision to fit the story I wanted to tell. Perfect Match Book Timeline – Chapters 1-3
The last few weeks had been a whirlwind for Kai. She had gone from being hopelessly single, to dating Hayden, an animal loving, massage giving, astronautical engineer who was perfect for her in every imaginable way. Kai never would have thought she would use a matchmaking service, but she had agreed to give Eros a try mostly to get Nadia to stop bugging her about it and telling her over and over how great they did matching her up with Steve. But after her first date with Hayden, Kai was starting to believe in the magic. It was as if they packaged up everything she wanted in a partner and handed it to her in the form of Hayden. It was almost too good to be true, but she didn’t want to question her luck.
So here on this evening, Kai sat with her two best friends playing Truth or Drink at Nadia and Steve’s housewarming party while Hayden and Steve were hitting it off in the other room. Things were changing so fast, Kai could hardly believe it was real. But hanging out with Nadia and Damien like this was familiar and comfortable. That was until…
“Okay cuz, I’ve got one for you. Just between us…have you ever felt anything for Damien?”
Kai couldn’t believe that Nadia was asking her this. Well then again, it was Nadia, so she shouldn’t have been surprised. Nadia had known from the start Kai had feelings for Damien and was always trying to get Kai to do something about it, but why was she doing this now? Now that she was dating a great guy through the service Nadia pushed her to try?
“Woah, what?” Damien’s jaw dropped.
Kai’s heart was pounding and her palms were sweating. She tried to coach herself on what to say and she had just enough alcohol to not hold back: Okay Kai, think. You could say no but Nadia knows better, and knowing Damien, he would see right through it. You could avoid it altogether and drink, but isn’t that basically an admission of guilt? I guess the only thing you can do is admit the truth.
“I can’t deny it…he’s an attractive guy.” Kai tried to play it as casual as possible, but she felt like her face was on fire. When she glanced over at Damien, he looked just as flustered as she was.
“I…wow…” Damien seemed to not know how to respond, and Kai tried to guess what he could be thinking. Was he embarrassed for her because he didn’t feel the same way?
“Careful D., you’re blushing,” Nadia teased. She was enjoying this too much. Kai would pay her back for this.
“I don’t blush Nadia. And…you’re not so bad yourself Kai.” Damien admitted with a shy smile.
Did Damien know what he was doing to her? Kai had worked hard to bury her feelings for Damien and was happy to be moving on with Hayden. Now six little words had her all confused again. ‘You’re not so bad yourself Kai.’ What did that even mean? He just thought she was attractive too, or was it more than that? Her thoughts flashed back to the night of Stacy’s wedding and the kiss they shared. And then Damien rejecting her advances, saying he wanted her too, but knowing the moment wasn’t right. It felt like more than just a physical attraction from both sides, but that was the last time either of them hinted they could be more than friends…until tonight. Between this and Damien not denying his jealousy after meeting Hayden, her feelings were creeping back towards the surface. Kai couldn’t go down this road again, not right now. All she knew was that she was starting to fall for Hayden, and he was here as her date tonight. Kai was going to go enjoy the rest of her evening with him.
=====
‘You’re not so bad yourself Kai.’ Damien replayed the words over again in his head. He supposed it could have been worse. He could have said what he was really thinking. Something along the lines of ‘I’ve been in love with you practically since the day I met you, but I’m too scared to ever do anything about it.’ Damien thought at one time Kai might feel the same, but she wasn’t the type to hold back her feelings. He tried not to let her confession give him any hope. So what if he and Kai were best friends and Kai admitted out loud that she found him attractive? If she really wanted him, she would have done something about it by now. She could have any man that she wanted. Even though Damien didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve, Kai had to know on some level that all she had to do was say the word and Damien would be hers. Damien just couldn’t measure up to what Kai deserved. Not that Damien thought he had nothing to offer, but Kai deserved perfection and Damien was far from perfect. She deserved someone….like Hayden.
If Hayden wasn’t such a nice guy, Damien would despise him. Damien didn’t blame Kai for choosing Hayden over him. This man had no flaws as far as Damien could tell. He tried to tell himself that all he cared about was Kai’s happiness, but that wasn’t true. It was really hard to watch her and Hayden laughing and dancing across the rooftop, their bodies close together. Of course Hayden liked to dance and do all things Kai liked to do. Damien tried to distract himself, talking and telling stories to the other party guests, but he definitely noticed when Kai snuck off around the corner to the fire escape with Hayden. Damien was in no mood to sit there wondering about what they were doing or when they would come back, so he took that as his cue to head home.