Chapter Nineteen
“Just five more minutes.” Kai nuzzles his face into the side of my neck, kissing the sensitive flesh beneath my ear.
“If I give you five more minutes, we won’t ever make it out of this bed.”
“And that’s a problem?”
I feel him smile against my skin.
“Normally, no. But today are the quarterfinals and we promised Maisie we’d be there. She’s starting in their biggest game of the year as a freshman .” I try to make my point clear, just how big of a deal this really is.
“I know.” He draws back to look down at me. “It’s a big deal, I get it. But do you want to know what else is a big deal?” He grinds his erection into my stomach.
“You’re insatiable.” I smile up at him.
“With you, always.” He shifts lower and while I know time is quickly getting away from us, I spread wide for him anyway, allowing him to settle between my thighs.
“You know, eventually, you’re going to have to let me out of this bed,” I tell him, biting back a groan when I feel him tease my entrance.
“Eventually, but not yet.”
He presses forward, his eyes darkening as he enters me painfully slowly.
All thoughts of anything that isn’t Kai filter away, replaced by the overwhelming pleasure of his body as it fully enters mine.
I let the groan that builds in my throat fall freely from my lips, my fingers digging into his hips as I urge him to move faster.
“Tell me you love me?” he whispers breathlessly against my mouth before his tongue slips past my lips, colliding with mine.
“I love you,” I moan into the kiss.
“Fuck. Say it again.” He pulls back just enough that he can look me in the eyes but still close enough that our noses touch.
“I love you,” I repeat a second time, the intensity of his gaze making my already too-hot flesh feel like it’s aflame.
It’s only been six days since the party, and I’ve already lost count of how many times he’s asked me to say those words, almost like he’s trying to convince himself that it’s real. And trust me, I know the feeling.
Hitching my leg around one of his arms, he enters me so deeply I swear I can feel him in my stomach. Dropping my head back, I let out a gargled groan of pleasure as my orgasm starts to build. It’s slow at first, an ache just out of reach, but it quickly blooms into a blinding pleasure that snakes up my spine and coils around it so tightly, I feel like it might snap my body in half.
“Look at me.”
My eyes pop open at Kai’s command, our gazes locking.
“Kai...” A breathless whisper as my release tips.
“Don’t look away.” His expression contorts as he chases his own endless bands of pleasure.
I do as he says, keeping my eyes locked on his even though every part of me wants to close them. To hide from the body-bending pleasure that has me bucking against him like a wild horse that doesn’t want to be broken, and yet, that’s exactly what I want. For him to break me in the way only he can. For him to shatter me into a million tiny pieces, only to put me right back together so we can do it all over again.
And shatter me he does.
My entire body goes rigid as my orgasm tears through me with so much force that tears prick the backs of my eyes.
Kai pulls everything from me.
Every ounce of pleasure.
Every emotion.
It all boils to the surface, blurring together in a lethal concoction that has me whimpering beneath him, overwhelmed by the sheer power of him.
And still, I keep my eyes locked on his, watch him succumb to his own storm, watch the power of my body take him under in the same way his does mine, and I revel in the sight.
It’s hard to wrap my head around that just a couple of weeks ago, I was mourning the loss of him, so sure that I’d never feel this way again. And now here I am, so happy I can barely breathe when I give myself time to slow down and think about it.
The first time I met Kai, I knew he’d destroy me, and he did. But he also pieced me back together in a way I didn’t think was possible. He upended my entire life and rearranged it in the most remarkable way.
I now see what happened with Leo and Summer as a blessing. Because if it weren’t for them, I never would have come here. I wouldn’t have been at that party the night I met Kai. We would have gone on to live completely separate lives, never knowing that the other existed.
I never used to be a big believer in fate. In fact, I was pretty convinced that if there were such a thing, it actively hated me. Now I can see it was just showing me the wrong so that when the right came along, I’d hold onto it for dear life.
And that’s exactly what I plan to do.
For the rest of my life, if he’ll let me.
“Do you have any idea what’s even happening right now?” Kai smiles at me like I’m the sun that lights his entire world, and it does things to my heart that my brain can’t even begin to understand.
“Nope,” I admit with a laugh, clapping and cheering along with the crowd just the same.
“If they score this goal, they win.” He squeezes my hand.
“So, this is it? The end of the game?”
“Because they’re tied, they each get one last kick to try to seal the win. Since the other team missed, it comes down to this,” Jackson pipes in next to Kai, looking so much like his sister it’s uncanny.
I mean, obviously he’s a dude, so he doesn’t look exactly like Maisie, but he is most certainly the male version. He’s taller than she is, but they share the same lean build. The same light brown skin. The same stark blue eyes, which I now see they got from their mother, who sits next to Jackson, her blonde hair tied up in a messy bun, nervously watching her daughter on the field. Her husband is seated next to her, an older version of her son. Other than his darker skin tone and dark eyes, they are like twins. I think it’s safe to say they both favor their father.
I didn’t even know Jackson was coming, let alone Maisie’s parents, until they sat down next to Kai a few minutes before the game started. It was definitely a surprise but a pleasant one. I suppose Maisie didn’t think to mention it, given how hyper-focused she’s been on today’s game. And Kai... Well, we were busy doing other things . The thought widens the smile already firmly planted on my lips.
“Here we go.” Char slides her arm through mine, sitting on the opposite side of me as Kai. “Gosh, why am I so nervous?” she asks, snuggling close, no doubt to try to avoid the cool wind that whips around us, stinging my cheeks.
I swear the weather went from hot to cold overnight. But then again, I guess that’s how it usually happens.
“Who’s kicking?” I ask, trying to make sense of what’s happening on the field. “Is that...”
“Maisie.” Char finishes and we both straighten.
“Is Maisie kicking?”
“It would appear so.” Kai chuckles at me and Charlotte, his hold on my hand tightening.
“I feel like my stomach is about to fall out of my butt,” Char announces, drawing laughter from a few co-eds around us.
“She’s got this,” Jackson tells us, clearly having been through this before, given that he doesn’t seem even the least bit nervous. “Maisie never misses. That’s why she’s out there.”
Trying to breathe in some of his confidence in his sister, I pull in a shaky breath, trying to focus on the feel of Kai’s fingers wrapped around mine instead of the way my heart is thundering against my ribs with nerves.
I watch as Maisie lines up. Hold my breath as she moves for the ball. And damn near topple backward out of my seat when the ball soars through the air, slipping past the fingertips of the goalie before hitting the net behind her.
We all erupt. The entire stadium. Not a single person is still in their seat once she makes the shot. Char pulls me into a hug, jumping at the same time, which jars my entire body, before releasing me to celebrate with the stranger on her left.
I’ve barely begun to turn toward Kai before I’m swept up in his arms, his warm lips finding mine. I smile into the kiss, forgetting all about the game the second his tongue slides into my mouth. I bite back the groan working its way up my throat, all too aware of the thousands of people surrounding us.
“Get a room,” Jackson bellows, smacking Kai on the back, which I feel rather than see.
“If you don’t want to see, don’t look,” he grumbles, kissing me again, slow and deep, as if to make a point.
“Is it always like this?” I hear Jackson ask someone.
“Oh, this is nothing.” It’s Char who answers.
“Standing right here,” I mutter as I reluctantly break the kiss and pull away. Though Kai never lets me get too far, his arm slipping around my back, tugging me into his side.
“And?” Char barks out a laugh.
“I gotta say,” Jackson interjects, “I never thought I’d see the day.” He clasps Kai on the shoulder. “I’m happy for you, man. Just do us all a favor and don’t fuck it up.” He grins, revealing a mouthful of perfectly straight, white teeth.
“Nah.” Kai shakes his head, his grip on me growing tighter. “I’ve lived without her once. Got no plans to do it ever again.”
I look up just in time to see him look down at me in that way of his that makes me feel lightheaded and noodle-legged.
“I love you,” he mouths and it’s everything I can do to keep myself standing upright.
“I love you,” I mouth back, feeling so happy I think I might be at risk of bursting right open.
I didn’t know it was possible to feel this way.
I didn’t know that men like Kai existed.
That moments like this actually happened.
And as we watch one of my best friends celebrate on the field with her team, I’m struck by just how incredible life can be when you surround yourself with the right people.
Six months ago, I thought my life was over.
Now I see, it’s really only just begun.
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The end... for now .