It's All Relative(23)
Kai laughed, then sighed. She was comparing her ex to him…this was all so weird. Reaching into a box, Kai started putting away some of his books. Jessie shook her head as she watched him. “God, I can’t believe I said that to you last night.” Looking horribly embarrassed, she stopped unpacking his clothes and stared at him. “I’m generally not that…”
She bit her lip as she let her thought trail off. Kai smiled as he remembered. “Aggressive?”
Jessie groaned and let her head fall back. Then her hands came up to cover her face. She looked mortified. Kai wanted to reassure her, let her know that she had no reason to be embarrassed about her actions. Everything else aside, the physical part of their night had been amazing. Quietly, he told her, “I’ve never had anyone be like that with me. It was amazing, you were amazing.” Deciding to be perfectly honest with her, he admitted, “It was the best sex I’ve ever had.”
She slowly lowered her hands; her face reflected his own sadness and revulsion. “That makes me feel wonderful…and horrible.” Kai gave her a sad smile. He knew just what she meant. Shaking her head again, she stuck her hand back into his box of clothes. “This is so messed up, Kai.”
Returning to his box of books, he muttered, “I know.”
After another hour or so, they had emptied all of Kai’s boxes. Jessie laughed at several of his private things. A mug he’d made in art class one year—it had an obvious lean to one side. A photo of a group of his friends tossing him into the ocean. A Tiki statue with a gigantic schlong. One of his friends had found it in an adult shop, and had thought it would bring Kai good luck in the girl department. Kai wasn’t sure if it had or not.
Jessie smiled to herself as she flipped through one of the photo albums his mom had made for him. She stopped on a picture of him and his friends standing shirtless on the beach. Her finger languidly traced the swirling pattern of Kai’s tattoo peeking up over his collar bone. As he came over to sit beside her on the bed, his chest ached with the memory of her soft lips touching his tattoo last night. “Does it mean something?” she asked, her finger pointing to the black ink in the picture.
Kai smiled and shook his head. “Not really. They’re just tribal markings. A group of us decided to get them after graduating from high school.” He pointed to his friends in the pictures, to the various spots on their bodies where they’d each gotten the swirling, slashing tattoos.
Jessie glanced at the tattooed arms and legs in the photo, and her gaze drifted to Kai’s shoulder. She bit her lip, and he could tell that she wanted to see it again. Not thinking about why he shouldn’t show her, he lifted his layers of shirts up enough so that she could see the bulk of it along his back, along the blade. Jessie’s mouth popped open as her finger came out to touch the dark design. Her index finger traced a swirl, and her nail teasingly grazed his skin. The heat of the contact instantly shot through him. Realizing how close they were getting and where they were sitting, Kai stood and let his shirts drop down into place.
Flushing, Jessie looked away. Not getting too close was going to be a lot harder than Kai would have ever imagined. Smiling reassuringly at her, he casually asked, “Hungry?”
Shutting the book, Jessie nodded. “Yeah, starving. There’s this great pizza place nearby. I’ll call.” She stood up and headed to the kitchen for her phone in her purse.
Running a hand through his hair, Kai glanced up at the ceiling and prayed for the strength to get through this. He was about to reply to Jessie’s suggestion when she shot back, “Hawaiian, right?” When he dropped his gaze to hers, he spotted a playful grin on her face. Seeing it relaxed him. Yes, they could do this.
Teasing her back, he said, “No, Haole don’t make it right. Pepperoni is fine.”
Jessie twisted her lips and rolled her eyes as she made the call. Kai dug into his wallet for some cash and handed it to her when she was finished ordering their dinner. Jessie shook her head and tried giving it back to him, but Kai refused to take it. “You’ve done so much for me today, it’s the least I can do.” With a calm smile on his face, he hoped she would let him do this for her. Try to repay her kindness in some small way.
Jessie gave him an expression that clearly said it wasn’t necessary, but she did stuff the bill into her jeans. Happy that she’d accepted, Kai leaned back against the counter. Jessie copied him on another counter and they passed the time with small talk, mainly Jessie filling him in on all the attractions Denver had to offer. She teased him good-naturedly on his island heritage, but by the way her eyes drank him in, Kai could tell that his looks appealed to her. Of course, he’d already known that. Pushing that fact out of his head, he focused instead on the soothing sound of her voice.
Jessica Marie woke up Sunday morning with less of a headache than yesterday but a throbbing skull, nonetheless. She was having quite a weekend. She’d met a man, an attractive man. She’d gone home with him and let herself be someone she really wasn’t. She’d fulfilled a fantasy, a fantasy that was supposed to help heal her bruised heart. It wasn’t supposed to give her heart a different sort of ache. The man was not supposed to be her cousin.
Letting out an irritated sigh, Jessie shoved aside her mountain of covers and hopped out of bed. She immediately slipped her feet into a pair of fuzzy slippers. The entire house had wooden floors, and they were especially chilly early in the morning. Jessie could hear the sound of cartoons and laughter coming from the living room when she opened her bedroom door; her roommates were awake. She’d managed to go an entire day without them grilling her about her hookup. She’d been reluctant to share details about that night before, but now… Jessie had no idea what she should tell her friends. Hearing them softly talking with each other, Jessie darted into the bathroom so she could buy herself some time with a refreshing shower.