The Scars of Us (30 page)

The blaring of Kaiya’s alarm clock woke us. She withdrew from my arms and slid to the edge of the bed to turn the stupid thing off.

“Come back to bed. It’s still dark out,” I grumbled as I reached for her.

“I have to go to work,” she replied as she rubbed her face, her voice heavy with sleep.

“Call in sick or something. We can play doctor,” I said as I raised my eyebrows suggestively with my eyes barely open. She laughed, but still rose up off the bed.

“I’d like that, but Mondays are busy for me at the office. There’s no way I could miss.”

Throwing the sheets off me, I sat up before stretching and yawning. “I’ll drive you.”

“It’s okay, you can sleep. I’ll take the T,” she called from her closet.

I scoffed. Like I’d really let her take the transit. “You’re not taking the T. I’ll drop you off.”

We went back and forth a few times before she finally conceded. I got dressed before Kaiya made Kamden and me breakfast. Then, she went back to her room to finish getting ready, leaving us alone.

“So, about that talk,” Kamden started as he stirred his coffee.

It’s too early for this shit.

“Yeah?” My voice was gruff and irritated. I was so not in the mood to talk to him.

He turned in his seat to face me, crossing his arms over his chest. “What are your intentions with my sister?”

I laughed dryly, “None of your business.”

“Kaiya is my business!” he roared as he slammed a fist on the counter. He craned his neck to look down the hall toward Kaiya’s room before directing his attention back to me. He lowered his voice, but the anger in it was still obvious, “If you hurt her, I swear to God, I will-”

“Look, I lo-” I paused for a split second, catching myself, “care about Kaiya. I’m not going to hurt her.”

We glared daggers at each other until Kaiya walked back into the room. Tension radiated from both of us as she looked from Kamden to me. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“Everything’s fine,
sorella,
” Kamden answered with a forced smile, his voice still strained with lingering anger.

Kaiya met my eyes, seeking my agreement with her brother’s statement. “Yeah, everything’s great, baby.”

I could tell by the wary look on her face that she didn’t completely believe us, but she didn’t press the issue further. “Ready to go?” she asked as she came up to me.

Nodding, I followed her to the front door. She said goodbye to Kamden before we walked out. As we went down the stairs, she questioned, “What was that all about?”

“Just Kamden being protective, that’s all. Don’t worry about it.” I shrugged nonchalantly.

Rolling her eyes, she responded in irritation, “He acts like I’m a child.”

Chuckling, I replied, “He’s just worried about you—he loves you.”

“I know,” she sighed as a small smile took over her face. “He can be a little much sometimes, but he really is a great big brother.”

“Great for you; me, not so much,” I joked.

“Yeah, I’d hate to be in your shoes. He doesn’t like you very much,” she admitted with a light laugh.

“His opinion doesn’t matter to me—only yours does.”

We reached my truck, and I walked Kaiya to the passenger side. She turned to face me, placing her back against the door. “I guess you’re lucky that I like you,” she teased with a playful grin.

Tugging on one of her curls, I twisted it around my finger and leaned in to kiss her. As I pulled away, I looked into her eyes, letting go of her hair as I ran my knuckles down her cheek. “Yeah, I’m pretty lucky.”

Kaiya’s cheeks flushed as I opened the door. I helped her step into the raised cab before getting in on my side and starting the engine.

Kaiya rested her hand on my knee the whole drive to her work. She leaned over to kiss me when we reached her office and groaned when we broke apart. “I really don’t want to go to work.”

Pulling her back to me, I gave her another kiss. “I told you to call in sick, but you insisted that you had to come.”

She glanced up at the tall building before looking back at me. “Fine,” she moaned. Gripping the handle of the door, she cracked the door open. “See you later?”

“Yeah, baby. Have a good day.”

She smiled as she hopped out of my truck and shut the door. Blowing me a kiss goodbye, she waved and walked toward the building.

After I dropped her off, I went back to my house to sleep before I had to go to work. I had a busy schedule filled with training sessions and classes to look forward to, so I needed to have as much energy as possible to get me through the day. I couldn’t imagine having to get up early every morning like Kaiya did to go to work.

I woke up a little before lunch time, and I didn’t have to go in until a couple hours later. I decided to see if Kaiya had gone on her lunch break yet.

Me: Have you had lunch yet

Warrior: No

Me: Can I pick you up

Warrior: Sure :) my break is in twenty

Me: See you soon

Kaiya met me outside her office building twenty minutes later, and we decided to go to a deli around the corner to save time. After we were seated, I asked, “How’s your day been?”

She groaned unhappily, “Grueling. Mondays are the worst. We have so many meetings. How about you?”

“Good. I went home and slept for a couple of hours.”

“Must be nice,” she replied sarcastically.

“Eh, it was okay.” I shrugged. “I’d much rather have stayed in bed with you.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.

“Me too, but I don’t have the luxury of working after lunch time like some people.” She gave me a playful glare.

The waitress, a cute blonde with a heavy Boston accent, came to take our drink order. Once she left, we talked about one of Kaiya’s meetings until the server brought us our waters and wrote down our meals.

When she walked away, Kaiya asked, “Do you have a busy day today?”

“I have a few classes and personal training sessions. They should keep me busy.”

Kaiya swallowed nervously before saying, “Speaking of classes, I don’t know if I should go to self-defense anymore.”

“What? Why?” My face scrunched in confusion.

Sighing, she looked away at the wall. “I totally embarrassed myself last night. How am I going to be able to look those people in the eye after they saw me freak out like that?”

“Hey, look at me.” I grabbed her hand across the table and rubbed it until she met my eyes. “No one will judge you. Hell, some of them have been in abusive relationships, and probably can relate to feeling out of control. Don’t worry about what everyone else will think.”

She exhaled a breath. “Can’t you just give me private lessons?”

“Although I would love to,” I paused, smirking as I thought about all the things we could do if I gave her private lessons. I put the thoughts to the side, saving them to act out later. “I’m not going to. I know you can do this, Ky.”

Pouting, she reluctantly gave in. “Fine. I’ll keep going.”

“That’s my girl,” I stated proudly as I squeezed her hand. She was used to running when things made her scared or uncomfortable, but she had become much stronger than she was when we first met, even if she didn’t believe it. I knew she could do anything she set her mind to as long as she fought her fear.

After we finished our lunch, I took Kaiya back to her office, then went back to my apartment to get ready for work.

As I drove to the gym, I thought about the conversation Kaiya and I had at lunch, about how much Kaiya and I had changed since that first day we met. I was glad I had decided to go after her, even though she fought me and made me work to finally have her. She was so worth it, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her now.
Things would be so different.

I headed straight for my office when I entered the gym, needing to look over my schedule one more time to make sure I was prepared for all my sessions and classes.

The day went by pretty quickly, and it seemed like only a couple of hours had passed when Kaiya and Kamden arrived at their usual time. Both of their faces were lit up in smiles when they walked in.
I wonder what’s going on.

I had to wait until I finished with a client before I was able to talk to Kaiya. Dragging me into my office, she shut the door, threw herself into my arms, and kissed me.

“Well, hello to you, too,” I mumbled against her lips.

“I have great news. Kaleb’s release was denied!” she exclaimed excitedly after pulling back from me.

“That’s amazing, baby!” I hugged her and gave her another kiss.

“I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me. I still can’t believe it.” Her eyes were bright with happiness and a huge smile spread from ear to ear.

I loved seeing her so happy. Maybe she would be able to get rid of all the negativity dragging her down since Kaleb wasn’t getting out now.

“We need to celebrate. Anything you want to do this weekend, consider it done.”

Squealing giddily, she bounced up and down. “I can’t wait. Thank you for being so wonderful throughout this whole mess. Most guys would have turned and run once they got a glimpse at my issues.”

I wouldn’t have been able to stay away from her—I had tried and failed miserably. Kaiya had captivated me from the very beginning, and although we had some rough times, she brought so much good into my life, changing me for the better.

“I’m not most guys. You know I like the challenges you give me,” I said with a playful wink. Pausing, I debated saying more, wary of going deeper into how I felt about her. I wasn’t ready to tell her everything, but I wanted her to know that she meant something to me. “My life wouldn’t have been the same without you, Ky.”

Giving me a sweet smile, she laughed lightly. “I know that I wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t have you, but I doubt it goes both ways.”

“Oh, it does, Warrior. I definitely wouldn’t be this… alive if you didn’t come fighting into my life,” I replied sincerely as I cupped her cheek, grazing over it with my thumb.

Standing on her tiptoes, Kaiya pressed her lips to mine and slipped her tongue in my mouth.

Suppressing a groan, I snaked my hand around to the back of her head, cradling it as I deepened the kiss, my fingers tangling in her soft hair. Her hands traveled up my chest to around my neck as she pulled herself against me, moaning softly in my mouth.
Fuck, I don’t think anyone will ever taste as good as she does.

Pushing her back against my desk, I propped her up on it as her legs wrapped around my waist. Our hands roamed over each other’s bodies, eagerly exploring as they sought more.

A knock on the door jarred us apart, leaving us both panting for air. Kaiya slid off the desk, keeping her distance from me as she stared at the door.

I cleared my throat from the lust clogging it. “Come in.”

One of the other trainers walked in, holding a stack of papers in his hands. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were with a client. Can you come to my office when you’re finished?”

“Sure thing,” I replied, irritated at the interruption. We shouldn’t have been doing anything in the first place, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted as much of Kaiya as I could get. It didn’t matter where we were, even my work.

Once he left, my eyes ran over her, appraising her hungrily. “Now, where were we?”

There was no word to describe the elation I felt when I heard that Kaleb wasn’t going to be released. Joy, relief, and excitement all combined within me to form some amazing emotion I hoped I felt more of in the future. Everything was finally falling into place for me, and I was ready to move on with my life without Kaleb looming over me.

I was really nervous about going back to class on Tuesday following my meltdown, even after my talk with Ryker. Although I was afraid of facing everyone, I didn’t want to be ruled by my fear anymore. There was nothing I feared more than Kaleb, and now that he was out of the picture, I wanted to try and face any challenge presented to me.

Sitting in my car outside the gym, I took some deep breaths before getting out. The entire walk to the kickboxing room, I silently chanted,
you can do this, you can do this.
The whole situation might not have been a big deal to anyone else, but it made me so self-conscious that other people had a glimpse at my personal demons. I worked so hard to keep them private, and now everyone in class knew there was something wrong with me.

Stopping outside the door, I reached for the handle, but stilled before grabbing it. I noticed that my hand was shaking. I balled it into a fist to stop the trembling.
What if they make fun of me?
I laughed at myself.
What am I in high school? Who cares if they make fun of me? It’s not like their opinions matter. Suck it up and quit being afraid.
I took another deep breath, repeated my mantra again, and opened the door.

Avoiding eye contact, I searched for Ryker, needing his support if I was going to make it through class. If he wasn’t the instructor, I doubted I would have come back at all.

Our eyes met from across the room. His sexy smile sent warm tingles through my body, and my stomach flip-flopped, making me forget my apprehension about class.