I don’t open my phone until she’s gone.
KAI: Hey. If we’re doing this friends thing, you can’t avoid me forever. Wanna come over and watch a movie? We’ve got the night off.
KAI: And no this isn’t me asking you to cook. But if you want to, I wouldn’t say no.
I stare at his invitation for several minutes. The truth is, I’ve been annoying myself with how I keep flip-flopping around on what to do with these pesky feelings. It’s time to put my big girl panties on. Like he said, we’re friends. Friends spend time together. Friends don’t avoid each other.
Suck it up, buttercup. Go hang out with the man. Just don’t kiss him. Or, you know, do…
ISABELLE: Yes to hanging out, no to cooking.
KAI: Damn it. I mean, great. See you soon.
ISABELLE: Oh I see. You don’t want me, you just want my cooking skills.
KAI: No no no! I want you.
KAI: I want to see you.
KAI: Fucking hell, Iz. Just come and hang out. I’ll order sushi.
That at least makes me snort with laughter. I can just picture him rolling his eyes at himself.
ISABELLE: Yeah yeah. See you soon. Don’t forget my toro sashimi
It takes me less than an hour to have a quick shower and definitely not agonize over what to wear. To say nothing of the verbal debate I had with myself on the drive over about whether I should bring up the kiss or wait to see if he does. He might have done it the first time, but that was in a text message the next morning, and I wasnotopening that can of worms over text when he needed to focus on his games. In the end, I decide not to say anything, but follow his lead on whether we talk about it or not.
Then the elevator opens on Kai’s floor, and he’s leaning against his door frame with a smirk, waiting for me. A smirk I really want to wipe off his face with my lips.
Nope. Stay strong, Isabelle. Wait for him to say something.
“Took you long enough,” he comments.
I ignore the bulge of his biceps, courtesy of his arms folded across his chest. Just like I ignore the grey sweatpants he’s wearing. And the delicious way he smells as I brush past him.
“I didn’t realize there was a set time I needed to arrive for a casual dinner between friends,” I reply, setting my keys andphone down and turning to face him. His smirk grows as he swaggers across the space toward me.
“There wasn’t.”
“Then why are you giving me a hard time?”
He leans in. Close. So close. “Because it’s fun.” I can feel the warmth of his breath as he speaks and my eyes close against my own volition. I hate that my reaction to him is so obvious. Like always, he sees right through me, because when I open my eyes, he’s leaned back, and his eyes are full of amusement and something suspiciously like desire.
He steps back and says casually, “Dinner will be here soon.”
“Mm-hmm,” I mumble, mentally shaking my head clear of the Kai-induced fuzz. The look he tosses over his shoulder from where he’s now standing by the fridge makes it clear he knows exactly what he’s doing. That jerk. Getting me hot and bothered, while still not mentioning the kiss.
Thank God, there’s a knock on the door before I do anything stupid like go against my intentions of following his lead and beg him to kiss me again.
“Sushi’s here,” I blurt out, hoping — and assuming — I’m right.
“Mm-hmm,” he says, echoing my earlier sound of acknowledgment as he moves to the door.
I stand back as Kai accepts the bags of food from the delivery man and brings it into the apartment, setting everything down on the large table. “You wanna grab plates?” he asks over his shoulder as he starts to unpack containers of food.
Grateful for something to do instead of standing around stewing in embarrassment, I start opening cupboards in his kitchen. I locate the plates quickly and grab two. Setting those on the table, I go back and fill two glasses with water. By the time I’m done, Kai’s got two dishes of soy sauce prepared, one with ginger and one with wasabi.
“There better not be green devil paste in mine,” I say, taking a seat and surveying the assortment of rolls in front of me.
