The Scars of Us (33 page)

I had made reservations at a fondue restaurant. Neither of us had ever been to one, but I had heard that the experience and the food were one of a kind.

When we entered, the room was dimly lit, each table had a trio of candles, and soft, romantic music played in the background. Kaiya smiled widely as she took in the environment, squeezing my hand in excitement.

Once we were seated, a waiter came to take our drink order. We decided to get a bottle of wine for the special occasion, and after our server left, Kaiya was beaming with happiness. I loved seeing her like that, especially when I was the cause.

“You excited, baby?” I asked as I rubbed her thigh softly.

“Yes! I’ve heard amazing things about this place. I can’t wait!” Her voice came out as a squeal as she smiled giddily.

When the waiter came back with our wine, he poured both of us a glass before asking, “Have you ever dined with us before?”

“No, this is our first time,” I answered.

“Okay, well thank you for choosing us to spend your evening with. Let me explain your options. If you want the full experience, I suggest all four courses, which is cheese, salad, entree, and dessert.” His tone was formal and polite as he continued to discuss our choices. Once he finished, he questioned, “Which option would you like go with?

I glanced at Kaiya, who still had a huge smile on her face. “I think we’ll go for the four courses so we can get the full experience.”

“Excellent choice, sir.”

After we made our selections for cheese and salad, the server left to put our order in. When he returned, he had the ingredients to make our first course and prepared it tableside. Kaiya watch with enthusiasm, her eyes wide and the same huge smile still overtaking her whole face, as the waiter crafted our cheese fondue. Just the sight of her so happy made everything right in the world.

Once dessert came, we were both already getting full, even though the portions in each course were small. We had chosen a white chocolate Crème Brulee, and it came with sliced strawberries, bananas, cheesecake squares, marshmallows and other small cake and dessert bites. The spread looked too good to pass up.

When Kaiya dipped a strawberry in the melted chocolate, I suddenly wished we were at home. Grabbing the elongated fondue fork from her, I guided it to her mouth before feeding her.

Our eyes met as it slipped into her mouth. Some of the chocolate dribbled on her lip, and I used my thumb to wipe it before bringing it to my mouth. She licked her lips when I pulled the utensil away, keeping our gazes locked.

“I wish we had this at home. I know so many places I would love to lick chocolate off of, all of them on your body,” I said huskily.

Kaiya flushed, pinker than the Moscato in her glass. “Then, we’ll have to buy one. Like tomorrow.”

She giggled as she mimicked my action, feeding me a piece of banana dipped in chocolate.

The rest of the course continued that way, with us taking turns feeding each other, giving seductive glances, and basically fucking with our eyes.

After the waiter cleared the table of everything but the wine that we had left, I reached in my pocket and grabbed the small box I had brought with me. “I have something for you.”

Kaiya’s lips curved and her face lit up. “Baby, you didn’t have to do that. This amazing dinner was enough.”

Taking out the box, I handed it to her. “I wanted to. Go ahead, open it,” I urged. Sweat began to line my forehead as I waited for her to open it.
I hope she likes it.

Her gaze left mine to look at the box. Slowly, she took off the top before taking out the small, velvet pouch inside. She carefully removed the bracelet from the bag before examining the piece of jewelry with both hands.

“I hope you like it. It took me so long to decide what charms to get for it.”

Her eyes watered as she darted them back and forth between me and the bracelet. “It’s perfect,” she whispered. Even though her voice was soft, it was still full of emotion. “I love it.”

She looked at it a few seconds longer before asking me to put it on her. After I clasped it around her slender wrist, I admired how it looked on her. The charms I had chosen all signified something, showcasing our relationship since it began.

The one closest to the clasp was a martini glass. I ran my finger over it as explained, “I got this one to symbolize our first kiss and first date since alcohol was involved in both.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Almost all of our dates involve alcohol.” She pointed to the charm a few links away, a seal. “And this one?”

“This one is for our trip to the aquarium. My favorite of all our dates.”

She sniffled and smiled up at me. “Mine too.”

The third was an open book. “I know you love to read, that it helps you escape sometimes.” She had told me that when thoughts of Kaleb overwhelmed her, sometimes she read to help get her mind off him.

Her voice was choked by emotion as tears began to rim her eyes. “This one.”

She was pointing to the charm on the opposite end, a pair of boxing gloves. “Ah, this one… this one is my favorite. I picked it because we got closer once you started taking self-defense.” I tucked a loose curl behind her ear as I looked into her eyes. “I don’t know where I’d be if you hadn’t walked into my class.”

“I’m glad I did,” she whispered.

My fingers moved to the script letter K for her name. “This one explains itself.”

The last charm was in the center, a heart that I had engraved with the word “Warrior.” I gripped it as I spoke, “This one signifies that you’ll always have my heart. I’ll never be the same without you, Warrior.”

My eyes traveled up to hers, and I wiped the tears off her cheeks. “I’m not going to buy you presents if you’re going to cry. I hate to see you cry.”

Kaiya laughed softly as she leaned into me. “They’re happy tears. I really do love it. Thank you.”

Pressing her lips to mine, she softly kissed me. My hand glided around to cup the back of her head as my tongue parted her lips. Chocolate and wine still lingered in her mouth as I massaged her tongue with mine.

“The check whenever you’re ready, sir,” our server interrupted.

Neither one of us pulled away, too wrapped up in one another to care. I almost waved him off, but I was too focused on Kaiya, enjoying the feel and taste of her. When we finally parted, her lips were swollen and her cheeks were even more flushed.

“Ready to go?” I asked, pulling out my wallet.

Kaiya nodded as she scooted out of our booth. I left cash on the table, not wanting to wait to get my card back. I was already ready to take Kaiya home, and we hadn’t even gone to the club yet.

After we left, we drove to a parking garage near the club. As we got out of the truck, Kaiya commented, “Dinner was amazing. Everything was perfect—the music, the wine, the food, your gift.” She looked down at her bracelet before looking back up at me. “Thank you so much.”

“You don’t have to thank me, baby. I enjoy spoiling you.” I threaded our fingers together and guided Kaiya to the elevator. The club was about four blocks up from the garage, and by the time we got there, the line was around the side of the building.

Kaiya sighed in disappointment. “We’re never going to get in if we have to wait in that line.”

Smiling reassuringly, I stroked the back of her hand with my thumb. Passing the line, I gave the bulky bouncer my name, and after looking at his list, he ushered us in. I heard several people cursing and shouting angrily as we walked through the doors.

Hip hop music greeted us as we entered the main room of the club. Leading Kaiya to the bar, pushing through masses of people, I ordered our usual drinks.

As we waited, Kaiya began moving her hips to the beat of the music. The only good part about taking her to a club was that I got to have that fine body rubbing against me.

“Hey, sexy. Wanna finish what we started the last time we were together?” The annoying voice was sort of familiar, but I didn’t place who it was until I turned to look at her.
Shit.

The chick that I’d hooked up with when Kaiya had stopped talking to me sidled up next to me, ignoring the fact that my arm was draped around Kaiya on my other side.

Trailing her fingers down my chest, she spoke again, “I know I do. I still remember how good your dick tasted in my mouth.”

“Ryker, who the fuck is this,” Kaiya asked accusingly, her eyes narrowed and lips curved in a snarl. I could feel the anger wafting off her in waves.

Before I could diffuse the situation, the stupid blonde retorted, “Who the fuck are you?”

Fuck, this is about to get bad.
“Baby, let’s—”

Kaiya moved in between us, getting in Blondie’s face as she interrupted me, seething. “I’m his girlfriend, bitch. Fuck off.”

My warrior was so fucking hot when she was pissed and jealous, but I couldn’t focus on that, not when shit was about to hit the fan.

The other woman smugly replied, “Oh, you must be new. I don’t remember him having a girlfriend when we hooked up.”

Kaiya was fuming as she pushed the blonde bimbo, snapping, “Well, he does now, so go find someone else to open your legs for.”

Blondie’s eyes narrowed as she lunged at Kaiya. Big mistake. With her training, Kaiya could seriously hurt the unsuspecting girl. And by the look in her eyes, she planned to beat the crap out of her.

Stepping in between them, I moved Kaiya backward before leading her outside. She snatched her arm out of my grasp and stormed away from me, drawing the attention of people still waiting to get inside the club.

“Babe, stop. Let me explain,” I said as I followed after her. In the past, I would’ve never chased after a woman who walked away from me; I would’ve just moved on to the next one.

“Who the fuck was that?” she spat as she whirled around to face me.

“Nobody. Some chick that I almost hooked up with.”

“What do you mean almost? She seems to think that you two hooked up. And when did this happen? Before or after we started having sex?”

I really didn’t want to discuss all that, but I wasn’t going to lie to her. She meant more to me than that. She deserved honesty.

“When you stopped talking to me, I went out with Drew and got drunk. That chick was there, and I was trying to forget about you, so we went back to her place. But we didn’t have sex. I couldn’t go through with it.”

Tears blurred her eyes, making them shine in the light of the streetlamp overhead. “What did you do?” she gritted through clenched teeth.

Sighing, I ran my hand roughly through my hair.
Here goes nothing.
“She started sucking my dick, but I made her stop. Then, I left.”

The look of betrayal on her face tore up my insides. “But, she still sucked it. You still hooked up with her.”

“We weren’t even together, Ky. It doesn’t matter,” I defended. I knew that I’d said the wrong thing as soon as the words left my mouth.
Fuck.

Her eyebrows rose incredulously. “It doesn’t matter?”

“You wouldn’t even talk to me. I thought we were through,” I replied, trying to justify my actions.

“So, I don’t talk to you for a week or two after we get involved, and you try to find the next pair of legs to get between?” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me.

“Ky, you’re overreacting. I—”

“Overreacting? I’m overreacting? Do you know how hard it is to trust someone after everything I’ve been through?” She thrust her arms toward me. “How can I trust you not to do something like that again?” she screamed as tears ran down her face.

“Baby, I’m sorry. Don’t cry,” I pleaded, opening my arms to embrace her.

Moving away from me, she threw out her hand to stop me. The gesture felt like a punch to my gut.

“Don’t. I can’t do this right now. I need time to think.” Her words were pained, her expression torn between anger and sadness.

“What are you saying, Ky?”
Shit. No, no, no.

Ignoring me, she walked to the edge of the street, sticking her hand out as she waved at an oncoming taxi.

“Warrior, talk to me. Don’t do this.” My heart beat frantically as my pulse pounded.
I can’t lose her.

The taxi slowed as it pulled over to the curb and came to a stop. Kaiya looked at me as she opened the door, that sadness that I was so close to erasing back in full force all over her beautiful face. “I just need some space right now. I need to figure out what this means for us.”

“It means nothing. She meant nothing. Don’t do this, baby. I lo—”

She shut the door before I could finish. Tears burned my eyes as I thought about losing her, of not being with her ever again. Inhaling deeply, I pushed them back as I watched her drive away.
What the fuck just happened? The night was perfect until a few minutes ago.

Stalking angrily back to my truck, my mind was all over the place.
Do I go after her? Give her space? I didn’t even do anything wrong. What the fuck do I do?

Once I sat inside my Chevy, I furiously pounded the steering wheel with my fists and roared my frustration.
She’s so fucking stubborn. Well, two can play that game.

Making my decision, I started the engine and peeled out of the parking garage.