Chapter 11
Triana~
It was Sunday morning, and I wasn’t sure what I was doing back here, but I just knew that I didn’t want to be home.
I was going to have to face my parents soon enough, and even though the office provided us with our own working space, tomorrow was going to be uncomfortable as hell.
We were a privately owned business, so there was nothing stopping either of my parents from taking our personal problems to work with us.
I could also admit that I’d woken up with Kairo Booker on my mind, and the foolish part of hope had been onboard with me coming back here this morning, and if that wasn’t a sign of incredible stupidity, then I didn’t know what was.
Even if I didn’t have all that nonsense happening with my parents, Kairo wasn’t an option for me, and I was honestly just torturing myself by coming here this morning.
Nevertheless, it was like I couldn’t help myself.
Not only was the area a beautiful scene of nature at its best, but I’d come here looking for peace, and I’d found Kairo.
If nothing else, maybe there was some advice or wisdom in speaking with someone that wasn’t Hispanic and could see the situation from a different perspective.
Now, did I believe that Kairo Booker would be waiting for me at the cherry blossom tree?
No. I wasn’t that delusional, but still.
Before making my way to the tree, I checked my phone to make sure that it was fully charged, so that there was no chance of me getting lost again.
I was very aware of how lucky I was not to have been mauled by a bear or something equally violent.
I was also lucky that Kairo Booker hadn’t called the police on me like he should have.
Following the creek’s stream, I was surprised when I came up on the tree to see a lone male figure leaning up against a tall oak on the other side of the water, and I could actually feel my lungs tighten when he turned around at my approach, Kairo Booker in the flesh.
“Hey,” he greeted, his voice sounding a bit unsure, and I could barely hear him over the blood rushing through my ears.
What was he doing here?
“Fishing again?” I asked, my voice a raspy sound of uncertainty.
Kairo shook his head. “No. It’s just me this time.”
“What...what are you doing here?” I finally asked.
“I was hoping to see you again,” he admitted, and that had my head rearing back a bit.
“Why?”
“I was worried about you,” he answered. “I...I wanted to make sure that you got home safe.”
“How...how did you know that I was going to come back here?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t. I was just hoping that you would.”
“Yeah, I made it home safe,” I said, stating the obvious like an idiot.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, sliding his hands in his pockets.
“Same thing I was doing here yesterday,” I semi-lied. “Trying to find the answers to all my problems.”
He smirked, and it looked devastating on him. “Is it working?”
“Well, both times that I’ve come here, I’ve found you,” I pointed out. “So, unless you’re the answer to all my problems, then the answer is no.”
He gave me a solemn nod before saying, “Well, while I can assure you that I’m not the answer to anyone’s problems, I’ve been known to dish out some good advice every now and again.”
Getting comfortable, I sat down on the grass, then leaned back against the cherry blossom tree, and Kairo mimicked the move, leaning up against the large oak tree on his side.
Now, while the creek separated us and prevented us from breaking the law, us being here still felt forbidden and like a whole lot of trouble to come.
Still, it wasn’t enough to make me get up and leave.
“There are some situations that are beyond advice,” I told him. “You know, people like to say that everyone has a choice, and while that’s true, some of those choices can do enough irrevocable harm that it feels like no choice at all.”
“Choices aren’t that hard to make if someone is honest about the person that they are,” he replied.
“See, it’s not the choices that are tough to make, Triana.
The real question is whether or not you’re strong enough to suffer the repercussions of those choices.
If you’re honest about what you can and cannot live with, then it simplifies matters rather quickly.
Honestly, dilemmas are very rarely as hard as we make them out to be. ”
Now, while he wasn’t necessarily wrong, that still didn’t help me. Nonetheless, I wasn’t finished with this conversation. “Name something that you’d let come between you and your family.”
“Nothing,” he immediately replied. “Nothing is more important than family.”
“But whose family?”
His brows furrowed over those bright eyes of his. “What do you mean?”
“Okay, so...say you’re married-”
“I’m not,” he clarified quickly.
“Okay...but let’s just say that you were,” I went on.
“So, let’s say that you’re married, and all is well, but then, one day, your wife and mother get into a disagreement.
And let’s say that it’s a disagreement so huge that they can no longer be cordial with each other. Who would you spend Christmas with?”
“There’s nothing big enough to cause that kind of rift in my family,” he stated confidently. “If my wife and mother had a falling out, we’d work it out together as a family.”
“You’re being purposely obtuse,” I chided. “You know what I’m trying to get at.”
He grinned, and my heart leapt into my throat. “It depends on what they argued over, but I’d ultimately stand with my wife. While I love my mother and have the utmost respect for her, she’s not the one that I’ll be pledging to spend the rest of my life with.”
Changing the subject, I asked, “How old are you, Kairo?”
“Twenty-five,” he answered. “And you?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Why?”
“In all your twenty-five years, have you ever traveled outside the RNA?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around my knees.
“A few times,” he answered. “My father travels a lot, and there’ve been a few times when we’d gone with him.”
“Where?”
“We’ve been to Japan, Africa, Spain, and Ireland.” He shrugged again like it was no big deal, but it was.
“One of the many perks of being an Administrator’s son,” I remarked absently. “I’ve never been outside Rancher Hills because the paperwork feels too daunting.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, we weren’t very welcomed in any of those places,” he grimaced. “Though we’d been treated respectfully, it was no secret that we hadn’t been welcomed.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “It’s crazy how most of the rest of the world wants nothing to do with us.”
“That’s the thing about burning bridges,” he replied. “But it’s not all bad. There are still a few countries that don’t mind us visiting, though residency is still a bit tricky.”
“So, Kairo Booker,” I said. “Tell me all about fishing with your brothers and best friend.”
He smiled, and his teeth were a brilliant white against his dark skin. “It was a drunken mess, to be honest. Because my brother, Leyden, is in medical school to become a surgeon, we don’t get the chance to get together like that a lot, so when we do, well...it can get pretty ridiculous.”
“But it’s still a good time, right?”
He nodded. “It’s a great time.”
“Is it weird being a twin?” I asked, not caring if I was sounding intrusive. I needed a distraction, and Kairo Booker was a gorgeous one.
“Well, since I’ve never known anything else, no,” he answered honestly. “I don’t know how not to be a twin.”
That made me smile. “Who’s older?”
“I am,” he grinned. “But not by much.”
“Do you have a girlfriend, Kairo Booker?” I asked, needing to know, regardless of how nothing more could come of knowing him.
“No,” he answered. “Do you have a boyfriend, Triana Medina?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“What do you have?”
That made me laugh. “I have a wild best friend that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.”
“I know just what you mean,” he laughed back.
Yeah, this was such a bad idea.