Without a Compass Page 6

  Kai was hit with a strong wish that he hadn’t been. That he hadn’t felt the need to break away and do his own thing. Sure, it looked like he went out clubbing a lot with friends, but it would have been nice to catch up with him in between. Kai realised that he’d missed him, which was strange, because he’d been a cripplingly shy teenager and struggled to say anything most of the time. But he’d always just been there, in the background while Kai and Brendon had been noisily doing their thing.

  Now he was back, Kai hoped maybe he’d be brave and come to the forefront more. He had no reason to be wary of him and his brother; just because they were into different things didn’t mean they couldn’t discover some common ground, surely?

  Kai found himself absently scrolling back through Riley’s profile pictures to see how he’d changed while he’d been away in London. There was a remarkable shift in the last couple of years where he’d notably become an adult.

  His eye was drawn in particular to one of him wearing a pink shirt, unbuttoned at the top, sitting in a pub garden in the sunshine. He was pre-beard, mid-laugh and there was something awkwardly endearing and carefree about the snapped moment.

  Kai wasn’t sure how long he’d stared down at the image, captivated by something he couldn’t quite place, when somebody honked their horn twice and made him jump. His thumb slipped and he moved off the page. He lost his sliver of signal and couldn’t reload, so he took that as a sign to get off his phone.

  He went inside the Winnebago to place his empty lemonade bottle in the bin. The floor was a mixture of carpet in the living room and linoleum in the kitchen, where he not only found the rubbish but also the recycling bin. The driver’s cabin was the opposite end of the kitchen, and the lounge in between contained a plush leather sofa on one side and a fifty-two-inch smart TV on the other. It was like a fancy hotel room.

  Kai thought he might have got travel-sick if he’d tried to sit sideways and watch telly. But maybe you just got used to it. It was certainly no Sally-the-Sheep, he thought to himself with a chuckle.

  “Oh, hey Kai!” Charlotte exclaimed as he remerged outside. She had large sunglasses on now, amber-coloured like whiskey, and Kai could see himself almost fully in the reflection. “Could you help us pack the bags away into the back again?”

  “Sure,” he said glad to be of use.

  Something heavy tumbled out of one of the bags when Kai picked it up. It was about eight inches wide, black, and looked like it might be a games console controller, although it wasn’t one Kai had ever seen before. Amongst the many buttons, there were two mini joysticks that from their positioning were probably for your thumbs, and a screen took up the top half of the central bulk of the device.

  “What’s this?” Kai asked out of curiosity as he plucked it from the grass. Luckily it hadn’t fallen far and appeared unscathed.

  “Oh, nothing,” said Daryl. He took it from Kai’s hands and threw it into his tent. “Let me give you a hand with those.”

  Kai frowned as Daryl hastily began helping him tidy up. Had he thought he was going to break the controller, whatever it was for? Kai may have been big, but he wasn’t ham-fisted. He worked with his hands for a living for heavens’ sake.

  He was distracted from his irritation as he made a move to pick up the next discarded bag, only to find himself pressed against Charlotte’s side.

  “Oops,” she giggled. She gave him a squeeze before letting him go. “Ahh, it’s so nice you’re here, it feels like old times, getting the gang back together.”

  Kai gave her a patient smile, pretending he didn’t realise she’d snuck a grope in on purpose. He didn’t think the twins had ever really been in his and Brendon’s gaggle of friends; they’d always been a bit above all that.

  Pamela tsked. “I think you’ve all grown up a bit since then, haven’t you, darling?” She winked at Kai and bit her raspberry-glossed lip before sweeping back into the motor home. “Who wants Bellinis?” she called from inside.

  Kai gulped and decided to perhaps keep his distance from the Grinter women for the time being.

  As he rounded the back of the Winnebago, he glanced over towards Riley’s patch several dozen feet away. He realised with a cry that he was no longer alone; Phil and Bev had arrived and so must have Jake.

  “Hey,” he said once he’d deposited the bags. “Riley’s family’s arrived. I’m going to say hello. Catch you in a bit!”

  Charlotte opened her mouth with a frown, two champagne flutes held in her hands. But Cameron gave him a nod. “See you shortly Kai.”

  “Bye hun,” cooed Pamela over the top of her glass of bubbles, wiggling her fingers in an approximation of a wave.

  Kai waited until he was out of sight behind the motor home before shaking his head and breaking into a light jog. It was a good job he’d vowed to hang around with Riley, as well as wanting to catch up with the rest of the Andersons anyway. He wasn’t sure how much he could take of Pamela Grinter looking at him like he was an hors d'oeuvre.

  As he approached, it didn’t look like Brendon had arrived yet. He was still eager to see the others, though, so hurried the last few steps.

  They were all standing around admiring Riley’s finished work. Kai couldn’t say he blamed them. It looked like something out of a Doctor Seuss book, or the Teletubbies perhaps. Everything was colourful and shiny and whirling. “Wow,” he said as he came to a halt between Phil and Riley.

  They turned along with Bev, who had one of Riley’s tea-light jam jars in her hands.

  “Kai!” both the elder Andersons cried.

  He threw his arms around Phil for a full bear hug. “Hey mate,” Kai said, then turned to Riley’s mum. “Looking good Bev,” he said as he embraced her too. She laughed and batted his arm, clearly pleased at the compliment. Then he turned to Riley, who looked flushed with happiness at having his family around him. It suited him. “Amazing job,” he told him sincerely as he waved his hand towards all his stuff. “Looks like there should be photos of it in an article of how to do Glastonbury in style.”

  Riley’s smile got even broader. “Um, thanks,” he said, rubbing his short beard.

  Kai glanced about. “Where’s the big guy?”

  “In here.” Jake was lying on Riley’s bed with the family’s small white, fluffy dog at his feet, engrossed in something on his phone. He gave Kai a salute, but he didn’t look like he was keen to move from where he was and neither did the dog. What was her name…Bia? She was a real cutie.

  Kai saluted back, even though Jake didn’t look up. His mum wasn’t having any of that, however. “Come on, lazy bones,” she chastised. She gave Riley’s mattress a firm kick, despite Riley’s squawk of protest. “These tents aren’t going to put themselves up.”

  Jake sighed dramatically, but he still rolled off the bed and onto his feet once more. “Hello Kai,” he said. He offered out the hand not holding his phone for a shake, which Kai reciprocated without pause. “I got a job, did Brendon say I got a job?”

  Kai’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Mate, that’s wicked! Doing what?”

  Jake nodded to himself. “At the water sports centre. Now I have my GCSEs they said I can have a proper job, not just an internship. I’m going to be on the reception and teach kayak with George and I’m also going to be a Scout leader with dad, but that’s not a job, that’s just for fun.”

  As he spoke his words sped up and he rolled his tongue between his front teeth, but Kai watched him carefully and nodded along. “Wow, that’s seriously cool. Great job, I bet you’ll love it.”

  Jake nodded in agreement. “I’m going to be good at it too,” he said confidently.

  Kai had known Jake for most of his life through Brendon. He was a great kid, so passionate about water sports. It was awesome to hear he was getting on so well.

  Bev and Phil looked on proudly. It may have taken Jake an extra year to make it through his exams, but he’d worked extremely hard. The results weren’t out for another few weeks, but from what Kai had heard, he was g
oing to do well. And if he already had a job so aptly suited to him, the actual grades were almost incidental.

  Riley gave him half a hug. “Well done,” he muttered. Jake squeezed him back.

  Kai pointed to the roof rack on top of Phil’s car where two kayaks were securely fastened. “You going to let me race you?” he asked Jake.

  His eyes lit up. “Would you?”

  “Definitely,” Kai assured him.

  “Come on then,” Phil interrupted. He placed a hand on Jake’s shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “Shall we get the rest of the supplies from the car, then we can all chat while we pitch the tents?”

  Jake nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yes Dad, that’s a good plan, let’s do that.”

  Kai smiled as they and Bev headed back to the car. He touched Riley’s arm to make him pause a second. “This really is cool,” he told him. He didn’t like that the Grinters had been scathing earlier, he was now sure of that. They had the luxury of their motor home. Riley had worked hard and created his luxury from scratch. Kai respected that.

  Riley dropped his gaze and bit his lip in pleasure at the praise. That did strange things to Kai’s chest. He liked it when Riley was happy, he realised.

  “Cheers,” said Riley, slipping his hands into his pockets. “You can, um, come and hang out any time.”

  “I’d like that,” said Kai. And he meant it.

  10

  Riley

  Riley couldn’t believe he’d just invited Kai to come hang out when he’d specifically promised himself that he was going to ensure they had a decent amount of space between them. But, the way Kai had said, “I’d like that!” – like he was genuinely up for spending time with him – had set his heart thumping like a drum and it hadn’t stopped yet.

  “Great,” said Riley awkwardly. He pointed towards his family. “I should probably go help grab some bags,” he said.

  Kai nodded. “Oh, yeah, I’ll help.”

  “Oh no,” said Riley, shaking his head. “You’ve already helped so much!” He indicated all the unpacking Kai had done for him.

  “That’s what I’m here for,” he insisted. “Big strong man, remember?” He laughed and flexed his arms over his head.

  All the blood rushed from Riley’s head straight to his dick. He laughed nervously and shifted his stance so hopefully his shorts would keep his cock down. As he previously suspected, Kai had no idea of the effect he had on him and a wayward erection was not going to give him away now.

  “Yeah, sure,” said Riley in a slightly strangled tone that he hoped Kai wouldn’t notice.

  “Riley!”

  If there was a more effective boner killer than Daryl Grinter calling his name, Riley had yet to experience it. He turned to see Darlottie approaching his corner of the campsite again, feeling like he’d tipped a bucket of cold water over his head.

  Why had he called his name and not Kai’s? He had, though, so Kai slapped his shoulder and started side-skipping away towards the car. “I’ll go pick up heavy stuff,” he said. “Back in a sec!”

  Riley didn’t have any way to stop himself being left alone with the twins as they invited themselves into his camping space. He gave Kai one last furtive glance as he went to go assist his family, then turned back to Charlotte and Daryl.

  “Hey guys,” he said with a cheeriness he didn’t feel. “How you doing?” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I should probably go help unpack.”

  “You’ve got Kai for that,” said Daryl.

  “You stole our Cabana boy,” added Charlotte with an arch of her pale blonde eyebrow.

  Riley wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Oh, um. Do you still need help?”

  Daryl shrugged. “We only had two tents to put up. The Winny has most of what we need set up inside.” He flicked his gaze up and down Riley, making him feel small, then took in his finished area. “It’s even gayer than before. I’m impressed.”

  Riley felt his cheeks burn. “Can I help you with something?” he managed to mumble.

  Charlotte smirked at his discomfort. “The Incredible Hulk there,” she said, jutting her chin towards Kai. He was helping Riley’s parents carefully remove the kayaks from the top of the car. “Does he have a girlfriend?” She bit the end of her thumbnail and let her eyes travel leisurely over his form.

  Riley clicked his tongue in irritation and fanned his t-shirt away from his chest. His name is Kai, he felt like snarling.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Probably.”

  The truth was he’d not seen any photos on Facebook or Instagram recently that would suggest Kai had a lady in his life, but that didn’t mean anything if they wanted to keep the early stages of a relationship quiet.

  Kai had had several girlfriends over the years. He didn’t have a type that Riley could tell – tall, petite, slim, busty, many races, even one girl who looked more like a boy. They’d all been nice, or at least looked it if Riley hadn’t met them in person. That had made them hard to dislike, as much as Riley had found himself jealous.

  Riley didn’t stand a chance though; it was obvious Kai didn’t swing his way, and if he did, he’d probably be one of those masc for masc types. Not that there was anything wrong with that, it was just Riley wouldn’t call himself masc. Maybe a twunk, or an otter? He was slim but he did have at least a little bit of muscle on him too.

  “I’ll have to investigate,” Charlotte concluded as Kai approached and gave them a wave with his free hand. Darlottie gave a joint simpering smile back and Riley tried not to scowl.

  Kai was too nice for his own good, Riley was sure.

  “Hey guys,” Kai said to the twins as he came to a halt. He rolled the boat down his arm and rested it on the grass next to Riley’s parents’ tent. “You all done?”

  “Mum’s fussing,” said Daryl with a conspiratorial smile. “We thought it best to let her sort the feng shui by herself.

  Kai laughed and nodded as if he understood completely. “Yeah, she’ll appreciate you giving her some space, I’m sure.”

  Charlotte laughed, even though that hadn’t been particularly funny, and skimmed her fingertips against Kai’s bronzed arm. “Does your mum drive you crazy too?”

  With a shrug, Kai bent down to start untying Riley’s parents’ tent bag. “Ah no, not really.” He flashed her a smile. “But I’m sure she’ll appreciate me getting out from under her feet for a week.” He wasn’t wearing sunglasses, unlike the rest of them, so he squinted as he turned his head up to her. It was endearing, but that was why Riley chose that moment to extract himself.

  If Charlotte was going to flirt so obviously, he wasn’t all that interested in watching.

  He moved away to start helping his mum unravel the bigger of their two tents. Daryl had launched into a story about their mother’s obsessive housekeeping tendencies and had Kai chuckling along with him.

  “Oh hello, Jake!” Charlotte simpered. As Riley’s younger brother approached she leant her hands on her knees so they were eye to eye. “Haven’t you grown.”

  Riley bristled and clenched his jaw. Why did some people think that because Jake had Down syndrome, they needed to talk to him like he was a child? Did they think he wouldn’t notice? Of course, not everyone was intentionally trying to be an arsehole. Nonetheless, that was generally the effect they achieved.

  “Hello Charlotte,” Jake grumbled. He turned his back on her and began to pull out some of the chilled food they had evidently bought on the drive up north. “Riley are we going to have the barbeque? Mum said your job was to bring the barbeques.”

  Riley was secretly a little pleased to draw the attention away from the twins and he pointed at the stack of barbeques he’d managed to squeeze in his car boot back in London. “I bought several. Mum, when are we planning on eating?”

  Being an active teenager, Jake was always hungry, so it was best to defer to their mum if they wanted a sensible answer. She checked her watch. “Has anyone heard from Brendon?”

  Jake waved his phone at
them. “Slady says they’re only five minutes away. And we have to wait for the barbeque to heat up, so we might as well start now.”

  Riley’s mum laughed and hugged Jake to her. “Let’s wait until they arrive, yeah?” She kissed the top of his head.

  “You can have some of my chip ‘n’ dip” Riley offered. He pointed at his snack on the little table and Jake’s face lit up.

  “Thank you.” He yanked over one of the chairs and tucked into the tortilla chips.

  Ordinarily, Riley and his family wouldn’t let him get away with shirking chores. They never tried to treat him as if he was any different to Riley or Brendon. But in this instance, he had suffered through a very long car journey, and everyone knew his hanger was ferocious if left unchecked. So best to give him a few minutes to munch rather than lead into a tantrum or sulk.

  Besides, this potentially gave Riley a chance to work with Kai again, because he’d obviously got stuck in with the next set of tents to put up. “Oh thank you,” his dad said with genuine affection. “You don’t have to.”

  Kai shook his head. “It’s no problem,” he insisted.

  “Okay, well, we’ll catch you later,” said Daryl a little louder than was necessary. He bumped his sister’s shoulder and they shared a look.

  “Yeah, see you,” Charlotte added with a wave. They fell into step, heading back to their motorhome and the surrounding tents without a backwards glance.

  There was nothing to say they should have any obligation to help the Andersons unpack, but Riley felt like it didn’t do his opinions of them any favours.

  Kai, however, just mucked in without a second thought. And although his speech was slightly affected when he addressed Jake, he wasn’t patronising. He just knew that Jake took a little longer to process ideas sometimes. Riley appreciated that.

  He almost went over to Kai and his dad, but his mum was wrestling with Jake’s tent by herself, so Riley made the decision to enforce that distance between him and Kai that he was being so bad with.

  “Oh, thank you, love,” said his mum with a tired smile.