“You’re numb below the waist? I’m afraid I have to disagree with that statement.”
“Until last night I was. Or, until you put your hands on my hips, teaching me how to dance, you cruel woman.”
Kai laughs, and I feel like I’ve at least accomplished something. “I totally did that on purpose,” she says.
“Yeah, no shit. All you wanted to do was get in my pants, you dirty girl.”
Her cheeks blush, and she flops her head into the back of the couch. “Shut it.”
“Seriously, Kai, I know there are risks in life. There is the possibility of Aya getting hurt at some point because of decisions I make along the way while raising her, but I’m good at going with my gut, or at least I’d like to think so. I’m alive, and so is Aya, and she’s pretty happy overall. That’s something, you know?”
Kai leans forward with a look of pain filling her eyes. “I wasn’t judging you,” she says. “I was scared of being the one to hurt Aya. I care about her a lot and after such a short time.”
“Let’s make this easy, okay?”
“What do you mean, like yourself?” she quips.
“Shh,” I tell her, giving her a quick smirk. “I like you, as much I could like any woman after just a week or so. How do you feel about me? What bothers you about me?” I didn’t offer her similar feedback because the only thing that bothers me about her is whatever pain she’s still suffering with after losing her parents. Life’s too short to have our decisions motivated by painful memories, and I’d happily prove that to her.
“I feel the same way about you, not that I prefer to put all my cards out on the table or anything, but at twenty-eight, I think honesty is best. With that said,” she continues. “I guess there’s only one thing that really bothers me …” I can easily assume she’s referring to my job.
“What’s that?” I play into her tease.
“You are really bad at following pool rules.”
Well, I wasn’t expecting that, but it’s something I can probably work on. “Pool rules suck. So—”
“What about me?” she asks.
“You’re bad at giving yourself credit for being a truly amazing person who has given up her life to care for someone else.”
She blinks slowly, peers down at her lap and then back up at me. “I am bad at that, but I’d rather be humble because it keeps my anger at life in check.”
“Fair enough,” I tell her.
“Agreed.”
“So, when I like a woman, I don’t play games. I see if it works. I see if there’s a possibility of a future. I go all in until I have a reason to—”
“Pull out?” She smirks and chuckles with her breath.
“Wow. That’s a lot of hot talk.”
“Well, can you take the heat?”
“Try me out, Kai. Give me a chance. We won’t tell Aya more than we have to until enough time has passed, and we’re both confident in the direction our relationship is moving.”
“That means we’ll have to get good at sneaking around,” she says.
“We’ll have to be quick at times too,” I reply.
“How long do you have?”
“Thirty minutes,” I tell her, feeling a jump in my pants and pounding in my chest. She clambers over to me, pinning me down on the couch, taking me as if she owns me.
“Is this what you want?” I ask.
“I want all of you before I decide that.”
