The Year of Second Chances (A Sunnyvale Novel Book 3) (16 page)

Even with the fat lip and the puffy cheek, he looks absolutely adorable. How did I not notice this before? How could I ever have been so obsessed with Kyler while Kai was right there?

“So what?” I wink at him. “And now I just stole your move.”

He laughs, grazing his finger below my eye. “Okay, now that’s cute.”

And there goes my gooey, gooey warm cheeks again, even now, after everything. I think my embarrassment meter is broken or something.

“You’re so cute when you get embarrassed,” Kai says, shifting forward and going in for another kiss.

Part of me wants to refuse him and demand for him to tell me who’s been texting me, who kidnapped me, who left all those flyers. But part of me fears the answer, fearing I’ll know who they are, and it will shatter me. The other part of me really just wants a kiss.

After tonight, after the fight, the kidnapping or whatever that was, I want to forget and move on. With Kai. Kai who protects me. Kai who loves me.

My heart misses a beat at the memory of him uttering those words. Did he really mean them?

Kai ends the kiss, but his lips remain a sliver of an inch away. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” I move back, picking at my chipped purple fingernail polish. “I was just thinking about the fight and some of the stuff that was said.”

“I know you’re scared,” he says. “But it’s all over. I promise.”

“That’s not what I was thinking about.” I stare down at my hands, too afraid to look him in the eye, or else I might chicken out. “I was thinking about what you said right after you told me to run.”

“Oh,” is all he says.

Insert crickets chirping.

My cheeks warm.
Hello, awkward girl, it’s nice to see you again.

“I meant it.” His voice shakes with his nerves. “What I said … back there. I do love you. I have for a while. I just didn’t know how to tell you, especially with all this shit going on.”

I fix my gaze on the floor as a wave of emotions roll over me and sweep me right off my feet. Tears well in my eyes. I can barely breathe. I don’t even know why or where the emotions are coming from.

No one has ever said that to me before except for my grandma and my grandpa when he was alive. And never in a million years did I ever dream someone outside of my family would ever love me. How could they when my own father never loved me?

The important question is, do I love him? I don’t know, mostly because I don’t know what love is. Do I feel like I’m falling whenever I’m around him? Yes, all the freakin’ time. But I’m terrified out of my mind to take that leap.

“I’m sorry if I’m freaking you out.” He sounds like he’s freaking out himself. “But I can’t take it back, not when I mean it.”

Unsure of what else to do, I angle my head up and place a kiss on his lips, letting him know I’m okay, that I care about him. A lot, a lot.

He murmurs something incoherent before he wraps his arm around me, pulling me close and deepening the kiss.

“Get a room, you two, would you?” Grandma Stephy says as she strolls into the apartment.

Kai’s breath dusts my lips as he chuckles. “How the heck does she manage to do that? It’s like she has some sort of freakish radar built into her that lets her know when we’re about to kiss.”

“About to kiss?” Grandma Stephy chucks her purse onto the counter, puts her hands on her hips, and stares us down. “I’m pretty sure you two were about a step away from getting frisky with each other.”

“Oh, my God, will you stop saying that?” My cheeks are glowing as brightly as Christmas lights. “We weren’t getting frisky. We were just kissing.”

She waves her finger at me. “Yeah, but if I hadn’t walked in, you would’ve ended up doing a lot more.”

I glare at her, and she smirks, totally enjoying my discomfort. Then her smile fades as she catches sight of Kai’s face.

“Jesus Christ, boy, what happened to your face?”

“That’s what happens when you don’t use the paintball gun right,” Kai lies without missing a beat.

My grandma meticulously eyes me over. “You look unscathed except for that scratch on your cheek.”

I bury down the fear connected to that scratch and flash Kai my best evil villain grin.

“What can I say? That’s the difference between an amateur and a pro.”

Kai gives me a dirty look, and I bite back a smirk.

“Are you okay?” Grandma Stephy asks Kai. “If you want, I can go get the doctor. I’m sure he won’t mind coming over and taking a look.”

Kai holds the ice pack to his cheek. “That’s okay. It’s really not as bad as it looks.”

It could’ve been, though.

Reality slaps me hard across the face, knocking the breath right out of me, and my legs threaten to buckle. I must have been in shock or something up until now because everything that happened suddenly pierces through me at once.

“I have to go get something from my room,” I choke out then hightail it out of the kitchen before I fall apart in front of them.

When I make it to my room, I move to shut the door, but Kai squeezes in behind me, pushing his way inside.

“Are you okay?” he asks, shutting the door and locking us in the room.

Tears sting my eyes. “It’s all just catching up with me.”

He wraps his arms around me before I can catch my next breath and rocks me back and forth. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to take care of this.”

I want to protest. I don’t want him getting hurt. But part of me wants to let him make whoever did this to me pay, whether it be Hannah, my dad, Lynn, or someone else entirely.

“Just be careful,” I whisper against his chest as tears slip from my eyes. “Promise me you won’t do anything that will get you hurt.”

“I promise.” He traces a path up and down my spine. “Isa … If you want, we can tell the police or even your grandma’s detective friend. We could get them put in jail. That’d be a pretty bad punishment.”

More tears fall from my eyes. “Yeah, but then you could go to jail, too.”

“I can handle it. And honestly, with some of the stuff I’ve done, I might deserve it.”

“No, you don’t.” I squeeze him tightly, never wanting to let him go. “Besides, I couldn’t handle losing you.”

His chest rises and falls as his breathing quickens. He rests his chin on the top of my head, holding me close. “Okay, then. Revenge, it is.”

Nodding, I hold on to him for dear life, hoping upon hope that this doesn’t backfire.

Chapter 18

Isa

I dream I’m running in a forest. I’m running for my life, and I’m going to die. Zombies are grabbing at me and Kyler is smiling in the distance. Zombies eat my flesh and he laughs as I slowly die…

My eyes pop open, and I gasp for breath, my skin covered in sweat. Okay, that was a strange dream. But after what happened, I’m not surprised. I just don’t know why Kyler made an appearance in it? Maybe because I’m supposed to break up with him today?

After lying awake for over an hour and over analyzing every noise, I give up on going back to sleep and wander out to the living room. The lamp is on, and Kai is asleep on the sofa, shirtless, with his arm tucked underneath his head. Smiling, I pad across the living room and lie down beside him. Yeah, I might get in huge ass trouble if my grandma wakes up and sees us, but I’ll deal with that come morning. Right now, I just want to get to sleep and being by Kai makes me feel safe.

Kai rotates on his side, his eyes gradually opening as I scoot closer to him.

“Hey.” He gives me the cutest sleepy grin. “I was just dreaming about you.”

I slip my hands underneath my cheek. “Really? What was the dream about?”

“I’m not sure I should tell you all the details, but here’s a bit of a spoiler alert. It involved me and you and this sofa. Only we weren’t wearing as much clothing.” He caresses my cheek with his knuckles. “And there’s that blush I love so much.”

I’m too tired to feel silly, so instead I nuzzle closer and brush my lips across his, my stomach bubbling with nervous excitement.

“That’s exactly how my dream started.” He drags me on top of him as he kisses me deliberately, as if branding this moment into his mind. When he pulls away, he stares up at me with concern. “As much as I love that you came to lay down with me, I’m a little worried something might be wrong.”

“I had a nightmare and couldn’t sleep,” I admit, lowering my head onto his bare, lean chest. “So I came out here … Because you always make me feel safe.”

He’s silent for a beat before fixing his finger underneath my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Nothing is ever going to happen to you. I promise. And soon, you won’t need to worry about any of this.”

I nod, but uncertainty coils in the pit of my stomach. Still, when he lifts his head and presses his lips to mine, I kiss him back, savoring the connection. His fingers drift over my body, and my heart beats so wildly I swear I’m going to die. I haven’t kissed a ton of guys, but there have been a few. Nothing like this, though. Nothing has ever been like this.

Never wanting it to end, I kiss him with eagerness. Groaning against my mouth, his hands start to make a path up my body. When he reaches the hem of my shirt, he hesitates, his fingers trembling.

I don’t know what overcomes me, but instead of feeling self-conscious, I find myself whispering, “It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?” he whispers with a hint of nervousness.

Kai, nervous? Who would have ever thought?

I swallow my nerves and guide his hands upward underneath my shirt.

He releases another groan and kisses me again, touching me, and making me feel things I never thought were possible. His kisses, his touches, make me feel less lost and alone. I want to stay like this forever. But eventually my eyelids drift shut, and I fall asleep into nightmare-free dreams.

***

“Holy shit,” Indigo’s voice yanks me out of my dreamland, which is filled with kisses and sunshine and fields of candy.

I blink up at her, groggy and disoriented. “Where am I?”

“Um, on the sofa.” She narrows a pressing glance at Kai, who’s breathing softly beside me. “What’d you two do? Make out all night and fall asleep.” When I bite down on my lip, my cheeks flushing, she claps her hands together and bounces up and down on her toes. “Thank God. It took you two forever.”

I put my finger to my lips. “Keep it down. He had a rough night.”

“I bet he did.” She presses me with a knowing look. “You’re just lucky I found you. Grandma Stephy probably would’ve dumped a box of condoms on you.”

“We didn’t have sex,” I feel the need to clarify. “We just…”
Kissed. Touch. Let him feel me up.

“You just what?” she presses, snapping her fingers impatiently. “Come on give me all the details, good and bad. Tell me why you’re blushing so much.”

“
All
the details?” God, I don’t even know where to start.

Sighing, I drag my tired behind off the sofa and usher her into the kitchen, so that we won’t wake up Kai. After I get a pot of coffee going, I sit down at the table with her and start to explain what happened from when she left to go home. By the time I’m finished, her eyes look like two ping pong balls, practically bulging out of her head.

“You didn’t go to the police?” She gapes at me like I’ve gone completely bonkers. “Isa, you have to go to the police and report this.”

“I can’t.” I add like ten spoonfuls of sugar to my coffee and a splash of milk. “They have a video of Kai doing some illegal stuff, and they said they’d give it to the cops if we reported the incident.”

“Okay, I get that, but....” She pauses to take a sip of her coffee, and I sense a
but
coming. “But do you really want these people to get away with what they did to you? And who knows if they’ll stop. Maybe they’ll come after you again.”

“I know that.” I stir my coffee, take a small drink, and then set the cup down on the table. “But, like I told you, Kai says he knows who it is, and he’s going to get them to stop.”

“But how?” she questions.

I grip the handle of the mug. “I’m not sure. He won’t tell me. He just promised me he wouldn’t get hurt.”

“I hope so. For his sake and yours.” She brings the brim of the mug to her lips, gazing off, lost in thought. “Although, it’s kind of sexy—him going after these people who hurt you. It’s like straight up out of a movie.”

I internally sigh. I love Indigo to death, but sometimes I don’t agree with her. And I definitely don’t think Kai going after these people is romantic. Dangerous, hell yes. Sweet, a little bit.

“How’s your mom doing?” I change the subject, reaching for the creamer.

“Not too bad.” She gathers her hair into a messy bun and secures it with an elastic. “I finally sat down and had a talk with her and told her I thought she needed help. At first, she was a little defensive, but then I reminded her of the many,
many
times she’s done this, and she started to see the light or whatever. Well, at least enough of the light to agree to go to rehab.”

“That’s good,” I say. “Maybe this time she’ll stay sober.”

“Maybe.” She stares at the steam rising off the mug. “She’s filing for divorce, and I’m hoping it’ll help her get better.”

“I didn’t know they were getting a divorce. Are you okay?”

“I didn’t know either. Not until yesterday when I dropped her off at the rehab clinic. But I’m honestly kind of relieved. Sure it sucks and everything, but my mom’s been miserable for years, and I just want to see her happy.”

“You’re such a good person. You’re always there for everyone.”

She elevates her gaze to me, and a splash of amusement dances in her eyes. “Aw, are we having a moment?”

“I don’t know,” I shrug, collecting my mug to take another sip. “Maybe.”

She slants forward in her chair and hugs me. “You’re getting girly on me.”

I hug her back, feeling awkward, but not as much as I used to. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Nah. Just as long as you don’t get catty,” she says. “Then we have a problem.”

“I’ll do my best.” I pause, choosing my next words carefully. “And thank you for everything. For being there for me when I needed you and for making me have fun when I didn’t always want to.”