Page 73 of Between the Boards
“Great,” he replies, rubbing his hands together excitedly before walking off.
Koa glances between Kairi and me, noticing the tension that pulls between us, and begins to walk toward the house with the other members.
“I’ll see you later.” he calls out to me, and I nod, waving him off.
Once everyone is inside, leaving Kairi and I alone on the beach, I take a few short steps toward her, closing the space between us.
“I thought I put an end to you being my love coach,” Kairi says, eyes never leaving mine.
“That wasn’t me being your love coach,” I say. “That was me being your friend.”
She studies me for a long while but doesn’t argue. Instead she looks away with a heavy sigh. “Well, thank you then.”
“I thought you’d be happier to be going on a date with Zale.”
“It’s hard to be happy when I don’t believe he’s actually interested in me.” She shrugs, looking out at the waves rolling in. “I think he’s just trying to prove that he’s better than you.”
Knowing Zale, there’s a high chance that she’s right. But that only supports my opinion about Zale not being the right person for her, because the right guy wouldn’t be going on a date just to prove he’s better than someone else. He’d be taking her out with genuine excitement because he can't think of anything better than spending time with her, one on one, and getting to know more about her.
The sooner she realizes Zale isn’t that type of guy, the sooner he stops being an obstacle in my mission to find her a soulmate.
“Anyway,” she says, disrupting my thought. “I have to go and get started on washing and detangling these curls before they tangle beyond repair.”
She begins walking away, but I instinctively reach for her wrist without thinking it through. Kairi stops and turns to look down at where my hand is wrapped around her skin, goosebumps rising up her arm.
I quickly let go and clear my throat just as she looks up at me. “Can I help?” I ask, desperate for more time with her.
She furrows her brow. “You want to help me…with my hair?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “Why not?”
She puts her hands on her hips, lifting a questioning brow. “Don’t you have a date to get to with a girl from your dating app?”
She looks annoyed—jealous even—and I can’t hold back my crooked smirk.
“That wasn’t real,” I say. “I just said that so Zale would know you and I are over.”
Relief flashes across her features for a moment before the furrow between her brows grows deeper.
“Wait, so you…played wingman for Zale?”
I shake my head. “I did it for you, Kai.”
”Why?” She asks, unable to hide the surprise in her voice. “Why would you do that if you really do love me as much as you claimed to two weeks ago?”
I take a deep, grounding breath as I hold her eye contact. “It’s not without its challenges,” I admit with a toothy grin, rubbing the back of my neck. “But I just want you to be happy, Kai. Even if it’s with some other guy out there.”
Her eyes widen in surprise, but I can’t take the silence anymore. I want to get off this beach, and go somewhere more private to talk to her.
“You never answered,” I say, holding her gaze. “Can I help?”
She studies me, eyes narrowing slightly, but whatever she sees must be good enough for her because she nods, one side of her lip lifting into a smile.
“Sure,” she says. “Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two.”
“Maybe,” I murmur, locked in on that smile.
I’ve missed seeing it, almost as much as I’ve missed her.
