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 4-6
Damien walked into Archer and Hopps and sat at his us usual spot at the bar. The bartender Flynn turned to greet him, but before he could say anything, Damien spoke up first. “Start me off with a double and just keep them coming.”
“Well hello to you too Damien. Must have been a particularly tough week for you. Working on a difficult case?” Flynn asked sincerely.
“No, nothing work related.”
You going to make me pry it out of you today? “Hmm,” Flynn thought for a moment. “Girl trouble?”
“I guess you could say that.” Damien took a long drink.
“I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
“I’m not,” Damien sighed.
“Oh, then this must be about Kai.”
“What?…no…why would you think that?”
“Come on Damien.” Flynn smirked. “You aren’t the only one whose profession teaches you how to read people. You may think you keep your secrets locked up tight, but I hear the way you talk about her. Nadia is a good friend, but Kai is something more, or at least you wish she was.”
“Damn Flynn, I have to be more careful around you…but it doesn’t matter. That ship has sailed. She’s off with her new boyfriend this weekend probably having an amazing time because he’s perfect in every way.” Damien scowled as he tried not to imagine what Kai and Damien would be doing while sharing a room together all weekend in Steve’s hometown.
“All right Damien, my intuition says you want less talking, more drinking.” Flynn slid him another glass. “But as always, I’m here when you want to talk.”
A short time later Damien felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a woman sitting next to him. She was conventionally pretty he supposed, with blond hair, blue eyes, and bright smile. Maybe a bit too much makeup for his taste, but he could look past that.
“Oh, hi, I didn’t notice you sitting there.”
The woman put her hand on Damien’s thigh. “I’ve been here the whole time but you seemed too busy drowning your sorrows to notice me. Maybe I can help you take your mind off of her.”
She was coming on a bit strong and Damien wasn’t sure he was into it. “I don’t mean to sound presumptuous, but I’m not looking to get involved in anything right now. Just letting you know up front.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not looking for a husband. I just got rid of mine.” She pointed to a group of women behind her. “My friends dragged me out here to ‘celebrate’ my divorce being finalized.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be. I’m better off. It’s a big change, but it was a long time coming.”
Damien chatted with the woman, Amber he learned, for quite some time because he was not motivated to move, and she didn’t leave. She was actually pretty funny and interesting to talk too, so he didn’t mind all that much. She was a needed distraction.
Amber turned and looked around the bar. Her friends had all gone home. “This place will be closing soon. Why don’t you come back to my place? We can have some fun. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
Part of him said this was a bad idea, but another part said ‘why not?’ Kai was probably having a great time having sex all weekend with Hayden, not sitting home alone moping over Damien. “You caught me in a weak moment. I’m ready when you are.”
Amber hopped of her stool and grabbed Damien’s hand to pull him to his feet and out the door with her.
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It had been almost a week since getting back from the trip to Steve’s dad’s house and Kai was still trying to process everything. First, the car crash which they were all lucky to walk away from alive. Then, the strange visit to Steve’s dad’s house where Steve’s dad went off on Steve for sharing too much personal information. And last but not least, Steve disappearing and leaving no trace behind but a note to Nadia saying it was over. Nothing made any sense. Steve had seemed a bit off, not having many memories of growing up, but did that tie into anything? He was so into Nadia it didn’t seem plausible he would just freak out and leave unless something else was going on.
And then there was Hayden. Things were moving really fast and Kai wasn’t sure how she felt about that. The moments spent alone with him during the weekend were great, and he was as good in bed as he was with everything else. But when Hayden started talking about their future, she wasn’t sure she could picture herself with him. And when Kai woke up in the hospital after the accident, the first person she thought of and wanted to see was Damien, not Hayden.
Did Damien have anything to do with her indecision? It didn’t help that Damien had kind of, maybe, admitted some sort of feelings for Kai, but maybe she was just finding an excuse to keep Hayden at a distance. She had a really good thing going with Hayden and she owed it to him and to herself to figure out if there was a future there. She had to try and put aside whatever was going on, and was probably never going to happen, with Damien and just be his friend.
Kai had texted some with Damien but hadn’t actually seen him since Nadia and Steve’s housewarming party. She decided one of their Friday fun nights was long overdue. They had become fewer and further between since Nadia and then Kai had gotten into relationships. Nadia declined the invitation, which didn’t surprise Kai. She had been closed off since Steve left which worried Kai, but she also knew Nadia needed some space to work through things. Damien said yes, and Kai was secretly glad for the one on one time.
Kai and Damien ended up arriving at El Centro at exactly the same time.
“Hey stranger,” Damien said with his signature smirk.
Kai wrapped him in a big embrace. She probably hugged him a little too close and lingered a little too long, taking in his familair yet slightly intoxicating scent. She couldn’t help herself. She really had missed him and it felt just right. “Okay, I know I’ve been a little busy lately, but it hasn’t been that long.”
“I’m just giving you a hard time…but also, you and Nadia have been through a lot and we haven’t really gotten a chance to talk about it.”
“Well why don’t we go sit down so we can catch up and eat because I’m starving. I hope you don’t mind that I chose Mexican. I was in the mood for margaritas.”
“You know me Kai, I’m always up for anything with tequila.” Damien held then door open and guided Kai inside.
They ate and drank and Kai filled Damien in on everything.
“That’s a lot to process. I know I wasn’t there, but something seems fishy to me too. Maybe I should check into it.”
“I dont know Damien, maybe you should talk to Nadia first.”
“I just don’t want to get her hopes if I don’t get any leads.”
“Well we can talk about that later. I need to think about something else for a while. How was last weekend for you?
Damien took a sip of his drink and averted his eyes. “It was fine. Nothing too eventful.”
“Damien Nazario, I know your tells. You are hiding something! You got laid, didn’t you?”
Damien said nothing but avoided Kai’s gaze again and his cheeks turned crimson.
“Okay, okay I won’t pry. I know you won’t tell me details anyway.” Kai was more than willing to change the subject. She was teasing on the outside, but on the inside her heart hurt a little. It wasn’t fair for Kai to be jealous, but she was. “How about we go back to my place and watch some Netflix? Netflix and chill…but not the chill part…I mean…you know what I mean…we will relax and hang out but not ‘chill’.” She just needed to stop talking.
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Kai and Damien decided to binge watch some episodes of Black Mirror, as they had both heard about it but neither had seen it. They got through the Episode titled “Hang the DJ” and Damien couldn’t hold back his commentary.“
“You know, that dating service in the episode seems a lot like Eros. Maybe the reason Hayden is so perfect is because he’s not real.”
“Oh shut up Damien, that’s not even funny.” Kai scooted closer to Damien in the couch and hit him playfully on the shoulder. But instead of pulling back, her hand delicately trailed down Damien’s arm giving him goosebumps. He didn’t know if it was incidental or intentional, but even the slightest touch from Kai felt sexually charged, at least on his end. Damien needed to get a hold of himself.
They watched another episode and Damien could see Kai was struggling to stay awake. Her eyes finally closed and her head lowered slowly into Damien’s lap. Kai was gorgeous all the time, but she looked so peaceful and angelic when she slept. He didn’t want to wake her, so he carefully slid out from under her. He grabbed a pillow and blanket from her room and tucked her in on the couch. He kissed get softly on the forehead and whispered ‘goodnight’ before heading home.