I blinked, caught off guard. “That’s random.”
“Just curious.” He shrugged one broad shoulder and his gaze flickered from me to the road. “I mean, you’re really good at it. Scary good, in fact.”
A laugh slipped out. “Is this your way of telling me I could probably take you?”
“My way of telling you youhavetaken me. Multiple times.” His grin hit me dead center in the stomach as it crept slowly across his face. “Not that I mind when youtake me.”
Heat crawled up my neck. “That’s not — Kai, focus.”
He hummed, but when his expression shifted from amusement to pure mischief, I leaned over and jabbed my finger in his side, making him yelp.
“So, what made you do it? Why MMA?”
I rested my head back against the seat. “I guess … I got into MMA because I didn’t know what else to do with myself.”
His brows furrowed as he glanced at me briefly before returning his gaze to the road.
“I was angry a lot,” I admitted. “After my dad left, I was just … angry. At him. At my mom. At me. At everyone.” My fingers twisted in the hem of my shirt. “I used to pick fights with kids twice my size, mainly boys, just to feel like I could control something.”
Kai nodded slowly, but I doubted he would ever truly grasp what I had been feeling or what I had been like back then.
“My mom finally shoved me into a gym because she thought it’d keep me out of real trouble. And it did.” I let out a breath, watching it cloud the window. “On those mats a lot of things suddenly made sense. Angerwasn’t a flaw, but fuel. Well, as long as I controlled it and harnessed it the right way.”
Kai hummed softly. He just listened but I got the feeling he was actually listening to and taking in what I was saying.
“Does it bother you?” I tried to keep my voice even. “This part of me?”
His brows pinched like the question physically pained him.
“Nothing about you bothers me.” His words were warm and certain, anchoring me in this moment. “You learned how to turn something painful into power. That’s strength, Love. Not something to hide.”
Something low in my stomach tightened.
Oh.
Oh, that did things to me.
Kai continued, completely unaware he was unraveling me with every word. “Everyone’s got something, yeah? A storm. A bruise they grew around. Yours just made you fierce.” His finger tips brushed mine on the console. “And if you ever feel this anger coming back, you can hand some of it to me. I can hold it with you.”
My breath stuttered and I blinked rapidly.
It’s fine, I was planning to cry today anyway.
Kai wasn’t flirting or sweet-talking me … he meant every. Damn. Word.
The fluttering in my stomach intensified, leaving me feeling almost jittery.
By the time he pulled into his driveway, my pulse was buzzing under my skin like a live wire. His porch light clicked on automatically, bathing the front steps in a warm glow. He turned off the engine, but before he could say anything, I had already unbuckled my seatbelt.
“You alright?” He sounded amused.
“No,” I muttered, breathless and very much not alright. “Get out.”
His eyebrows shot up and he slung one arm over the steering wheel as he turned to face me. “Bossy tonight.”
“Out,” I repeated. I rounded the car and before I knew it, my fingers seized the fabric of his hoodie and yanked him toward me the second he opened his door.
Kai hardly had time to shut his door before I dragged him toward the house.
