Chapter 37 Kai
Kai
I took a big contract with work a couple weeks ago.
With that and trying to hire more people to join my growing business, I’ve been too busy to look at the house.
A house that I thought Blakely and I would build together.
What I had hoped for us didn’t go as planned.
Instead of stopping the building process, I continued with it while I tried to win her back.
I still remember the way her eyes lit up when she saw the kitchen in the beach house I rented.
I had the contractors do the kitchen exactly like that.
It was the only sign I got of what she might like, so I went for it.
I don’t know when or how I’m going to show her this house without her thinking I did it for her to get back with me.
I always told her from the start, back when we were living in the tiny apartment, that I’d give her everything she deserved.
This is an example of that promise. A house to plant roots in.
To grow our family in. A house to come home to.
But without my family, it’s not much of a home.
I won’t be able to live here myself. If anything, I can sell it, and no one will know that I was building it for my family. Everything I’ve done is for them.
I started from the ground up, building a business that I never even imagined would be as successful as it is.
No one knows how well it’s going. I’m not one to flaunt my money around.
But I’m doing pretty good for only starting out four years ago.
So good that I’ve always wanted Blakely to live out her dream of being a stay-at-home mom, raising our kids.
Shit, I don’t know if she wants more kids.
She always wanted them close in age, but given we had Amari so young, who knows if she wants to start over again?
I’m willing to do anything she wants. I’m fine with the three of us.
As I drive down the winding road to check on the house, the crisp October breeze fills the car with my windows down. The red, orange, and yellow leaves swirl around the road from the wind.
I notice movement up ahead as I get closer. It’s a person walking briskly. It’s almost nightfall and someone is out here walking? This area is so secluded, with trees everywhere and houses hidden behind them. No one would see if anything were to happen to this person.
The closer I get, I realize it’s Blakely. I can tell by the way she sways her hips when she walks. I pull to the side of her and roll my window down. She looks over at me with her eyes wide.
“What are you doing?” I ask. Ever since Amari started school, I’ve been wanting to talk to B. I just haven’t gotten the chance.
“Walking,” she says between her breaths.
“Do you realize it’s getting dark?” She nods with her brows raised.
“I got lost.” She puts her hands on her hips.
“How’d you get lost?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know.” She raises her shoulders. “What are you doing?”
“Driving.” I don’t know what to say. I can’t tell her, Oh I’m going to see the house I built for us. I didn’t expect to run into her. She stares at me with questions in her eyes, like she knows I’m hiding something. “Do you want to get in? I can take you home.”
She looks between me and the road and then climbs into my truck. “Where are you really headed?”
I look her up and down, noticing she has skintight leggings on that accentuate her waist and a sports bra that makes her chest look extra plump. “Why are you dressed like that?” I ask, trying to ignore the blood flow increasing in my pants.
She raises an eyebrow. “What?” She shakes her head. “I’m trying to lose weight for the wedding.”
My stomach drops at the sound of weight and wedding.
I hope Liam didn’t put it in her head that she needs to lose weight.
She’s beautiful the way she is. Ever since the first time I laid eyes on her, she’s always been the most beautiful person I have ever seen.
She’s grown into her body after having Amari.
Her curves accentuate her body in all the right places.
Now, I’m lost in thoughts about the wedding. So, she’s still going through with it. I grip the steering wheel hard, trying to ignore the sudden sadness. Is this why she hasn’t said anything, because she is going through with it, after all? “Do you guys have a date?”
“Yes,” she says, swallowing hard.
“And?”
“And what?” she asks, crossing her arms, avoid telling me.
“When is it?”
She lets out a sigh. “Is it really something you want to know?”
My car rolls onto the dirt path leading to the house.
“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t.” I need to know how much time I have.
But then again, do I want to fight for someone who doesn’t want me?
It’s been a couple of months since I told her how I feel, and she hasn’t said anything to me about it since.
“June fifteenth.” She looks at her surroundings, eyeing the house. “Where are we?”
I put little thought into where I was going after she got into the car. Now, here we are in front of the house, which she knows nothing about.
I guess it’s better to show her sooner rather than later.
Who knows how she’ll react. This house has been a work in progress for a while now and I’ve bitten my tongue every time I’ve wanted to tell her.
But I didn’t want this to be the reason she potentially takes me back.
In reality, I know it wouldn’t have been, because she’s not like that.
She was so happy in our small little apartment when we first started out.
Even when I felt bad about how much we struggled to live in such a small place.
She always told me that being together with her family was all that mattered.
“I want to show you something.” I feel her gaze on me as I stare straight ahead at the house.
Our house.
Hopefully.
“Are you going to kill me and then bury me in the dirt and pour cement over me so no one can find me?” she asks with a giggle.
I narrow my eyes at her. “You watch too much TV.” I shake my head, opening my door. “Come on.”
We take a few steps toward the house and she halts her steps as she stares at the wraparound porch. She mentioned she loves these porches back when we were teenagers. She said it made the house feel like a home. That was one thing I remembered. Hopefully, she still feels the same way.
“This is beautiful,” she says, turning to face the front of the house.
This land went up for sale two years ago.
I wasn’t in the market to buy yet, since I wanted to do this with Blakely, but I couldn’t pass it up.
There were so many trees that surrounded the land, and I felt so bad cutting them down.
I tried to cut the least amount possible to get the house built right in the middle of it.
It’s beautiful this time of year, with all the leaves turning red, orange, and yellow.
I’ve pictured us sitting out here on a porch swing watching the leaves change with each season.
“Let’s go inside,” I say. She has a slight smile on her face, giving me a hint that she likes it so far.
She walks in and turns to the left. I’ve put a little nook here, so she can use it for her own personal library.
I remember when I took her to see that one movie.
I forgot what it was called. It had the twinkly vampire and the werewolf fighting over a human.
It was so corny. What vampire twinkles? But seeing how excited she was that she was finally going to see the movie made my entire night.
I only hope she reacts to my plan for this nook as she did when she saw that movie.
I still need to add the built-in bookshelves.
She continues down the hall, passes the stairs, and enters the living room and kitchen.
She gasps as she gazes at the kitchen on the left.
“What the hell? This looks exactly like the kitchen in the beach house.” She walks farther in, until her steps come to a stop as she looks over at the wide sliding doors I had put in.
The sliding doors that resemble the beach house.
But instead of an ocean view, we have room for a backyard that will be filled with grass and then the same trees that envelop the whole house.
“Are you doing work on this house?” she asks while staring out into the back.
“Yeah. I am.”
She turns around, facing me. “Are you the one that gave them the kitchen idea, since it’s the same as the beach house?”
I nod. I’m not sure how to tell her this is our house yet. The way her face lit up when she saw the porch and kitchen makes my nerves calm down, knowing that she likes it so far.
“Am I stopping you from working?” she asks.
“No. You’re not.” I clear my throat. “But we need to talk, Blakely.”
She looks at me like she knew this was coming. Not even a hesitant look on her face. “I know. We do. I feel so bad about how I’ve been lately.”
My brows knit together. I didn’t think she would take the lead on this conversation. But what is she feeling bad for?
“It’s been eating at me ever since…” She breathes like she’s finally releasing what she’s been holding in. “Liam is having a problem with the way we co-parent.”
“What!” I exclaim. “Why should he have any say in the way we co-parent, Blakely?” I had no idea this was the reason he started having problems. The last few times I saw him, his face was an open book. I thought it was because of the comment Kevin made.
“He thinks we are too close.”
Shaking my head at the nerve this fucker has. “What do you mean?” Who is he to say we are too close? He doesn’t have any kids. He doesn’t know how it is or how it should be. He should be happy Amari has both her parents in her life that get along.
“Because we do everything together.”
“What the fuck does he think we should be doing?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I guess…He thinks we should split our time with Amari instead of doing it together.”
My jaw clenches along with my fists. “Fuck that and fuck him,” I say in a stern voice.
She jumps from my reaction, shocked at how upset I’m getting.
How else did she think I was going to take this?
If me and B end up together or not, there is no way in hell I’m splitting holidays.
“That’s a load of bullshit, especially coming from someone who has no kids.
I can’t believe this, B. Is this why you didn’t want to go together to drop Amari off on her first day of school? ”
She nods as tears stream down her face. “It’s been killing me ever since.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to please everyone.
” Her face is turning bright red from tears.
I walk over to her and wrap her in my arms. “I feel like such a bitch. Then, I didn’t invite you to Bryn’s birthday, and you guys showed up anyway.
That hurt me so much, knowing that you knew I didn’t invite you,” she says, sobbing into my chest.
“Is this someone you really want to spend the rest of your life with? Someone who is willing to tear us apart?” She always made sure we co-parent the best we could for our daughter.
We did one hell of a job with it, considering the past. No fucker is going to come in here and take that from us.
I won’t let them, and I sure as hope B doesn’t either.
Silence fills the air after asking her that question. She always goes silent when bringing up Liam. Is she having doubts?
I can’t stand to see Blakely cry. After all the times I had made her cry when we were younger, I never wanted to be the reason she cried again.
Does she remember all the times I’ve comforted her when she was sad?
I’ve been there for her throughout the years, even when we weren’t together.
Even when it wasn’t about our daughter. Every time another douchebag let her down, I was always there to help her see she deserved better.
Even when she cried while watching Amari grow up, and at all her school graduations, I was always there, comforting her.
Sometimes it seems as if she doesn’t remember. Or maybe it doesn’t matter to her?
She silently sobs against my chest. I reach down, grab her by the waist, and set her on the counter.
She doesn’t resist. Her eyes lock with mine as she bites her bottom lip.
God, why does she do that? She makes it so hard for me not to tear her clothes off and have my way with her.
Her eyes travel down my body with so much lust. Does she feel the same way I do?
The longing in her eyes tells me she does, but her actions don’t.
I lean my forehead against hers. So close that our lips almost touch.
Her breath grows heavier, her chest rising and falling with each breath.
The warmth of our breaths lingers around us, causing tension between us.
The lust radiates through the air, intensifying the longing between us and making every second feel so raw.
“B.” I hesitate for a moment. “Give us another chance. I was your first with everything. Let me be your last.”
“Kai,” she says my name in a soft, intimate voice. “I can’t do this.”
I lift my head off hers. “Do what?”
“This,” she says, waving her hands around us. “I’m not this kind of person. I can’t be like this with you.”
I slide my hands down to her knees, spreading her legs as I step in between them.
“You don’t stop me.” It’s been far too long since we’ve been this close, and the heat of my desire for her only grows stronger.
Every inch of me aches to be inside of her.
I know she feels it, too. The lust in her eyes when she looks at me is undeniable.
Her gaze lingers on me, as hungry for me as I am for her.
The way she bites her tongue, teasing me. Makes it harder to resist her.
She leans her body back as tears stream down her face and she avoids my gaze.
Fuck, I didn’t want to make her cry even more.
I step back, giving her space. She isn’t this type of person.
I can’t allow myself to go any further with her, knowing it will only break her heart that she betrayed someone else.
“I’m sorry, B. I didn’t want to make you cry. ”
She nods her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. “It’s not you. It’s me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing. Can we go?” She looks out toward the night sky that has fallen. “Can you drive me home?”
I gently grab her hand as she jumps off the counter. “Of course. Let’s go.” I place my hand on her lower back, leading her out of our house.