Chapter 17
KAI
God is testing me.
He’s tempting my patience and all of my common sense by making Diana look too damn good in my clothes.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Her hair slinks over her neck as she glances down at my oversized junior hockey Surrey Goldfins t-shirt. “I feel bad about taking something from your closet.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it.” I gulp. “It’s better than wearing jeans to bed.”
I try to avoid Diana by walking into the kitchen to make dinner. But I can still see her standing in the corner of my eye with her hands on her hips as I sift through the cabinet.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“Fine!”
“Is that why you’ve been going through the cabinet for the last five minutes?”
“I’m looking for something.”
“Was it that box of pasta you’ve flipped over twice?”
“I—” My hand pauses over the familiar, yellow box with a grain mill sketched onto it. I snatch it out. I’m about to pour the entire thing into the pot before realizing I haven’t even turned the stove on.
“Merde,” I mutter.
I reach over to switch on the stove while Diana leans against the counter to watch me curiously. I can’t believe I thought inviting her to stay at Kitsilano was a good idea. It’ll be a goddamn miracle if I don’t end up burning our dinner and the entire kitchen tonight.
Diana cocks her head. “Why do I have the feeling that me wearing your shirt is throwing you off a little?”
I laugh as I chop up some green and red bell peppers. “Hey, you’re the one making a big deal out of it since I’m fine.”
“You can hardly look me in the eye when you say that,” Diana points out.
“I need both eyes to make dinner, princess.”
“And those eyes can’t possibly spare a second to look at mine?”
I scrape the sliced bell peppers into a bowl before I take the knife and cutting board towards the sink. Diana stubbornly stands in my way. One step forward only makes her take one step back. I shake my head, fighting to hold back a grin.
“My eyes are too busy worrying about dinner to care about you wearing my clothes.”
“Are you sure?” she presses, “Because I can—”
“Hey.” I drop the cutting board into the sink behind her before my hands brace the counter, caging Diana between them. “I said it’s fine, princess.”
Her eyes widen. The playfulness drains out of her face.
My mind goes blank under the feeling of Diana standing so close. When I breathe in, all I can comprehend is her. Her floral, vanilla-scented perfume. Her soft voice skirting across my skin. Her eyes dropping to my lips.
I swore I wouldn’t give in to any distractions this year. But having Diana so close like this challenges my self-control that all I want to do is close my eyes and let her distract me for a while.
I just want to know how good it’d feel to have her lips on me.
The front door suddenly whips open.
“Somebody better call the firefighters because Daddy Luke is coming in hot!”
Rowan groans. “Why can’t you just walk through the door like a normal person?”
Diana and I break apart, cold air spearing in between us.
The boys grind to a halt outside the kitchen. Their brows pop up at the sight of Diana wearing my shirt. I rub my face, hoping they can’t see the heat burning beneath my skin.
“I-I offered up one of my old shirts,” I stammer. “To, you know, make sleeping more comfortable for her.”
“I couldn’t get an extra change of clothes,” Diana chimes in.
Luke arches his brow with a smile. “How chivalrous of you.”
“Very chivalrous,” Wallace muses.
Diana clears her throat. “Thank you again for letting me stay for the weekend. I’m sorry if I’m putting you out.”
“Don’t be,” Rowan assures. He shrugs off his jacket with a faint smirk. “We’ve been trying to find plenty of reasons to kick out Luke.”
“Please.” Luke scoffs. “We know you’d bawl your eyes out if I ever left.”
Wallace beams at Diana with a kind, dimpled smile. “Well, I hope you enjoy your stay! Feel free to have some of the snacks on the shelf.”
Diana eases up enough to smile back at him. “Thank you.”
When the boys head into their rooms, she keeps her distance. “Can I use the bathroom?”
I nod, wiping my hands with the towel. “Bathroom’s on the left.”
Diana avoids eye contact with me as she turns away. I go back to making dinner, but my body aches for her to come back and put her hands on me again.
I chop vegetables with more force than necessary, fighting with everything I have to keep it together for the rest of the night.
DIANA
I slam the door behind me, my fingers trembling against the wood.
Oh my god. I bury my face in my hands. Heat scorches my cheeks, warm as Kai’s skin when I had touched him. If I had drawn in any closer—
My stomach flutters as hazy visions of Kai’s lips feverishly moving against mine rise like smoke in my mind. I can feel them press and imprint all over me, from my jaw down to my neck, from my neck down to my chest, fueling an impulse that’s becoming harder to tame every second.
I squeeze my eyes shut. I fumble for the faucet before I hurriedly crank it on. Every cold splatter douses the flush on my cheeks and breaks through the hazy desire clouding my senses. Only the dull ache between my legs lingers behind.
I shut off the faucet.
I can’t give in to these impulses, no matter how much I want to.
Tempting anything with Kai is wrong for my future.
It’d end in nothing but disaster and heartbreak because I will never be his, and he will never be mine.
Not with bàba’s expectations on my shoulders.
Not with Kai’s ambition to play in the NHL.
But no matter how many times I repeat this to myself, I can’t stop myself from wanting him.