Page 103 of Kai
“Kai,” I whimpered. “You know that I’m incapable of—”
“Says who?” he demanded.
“Everyone who knows me!”
“Not everyone,” he interjected, his voice stern. “Onlyoneman said that you were unlovable and incapable of love. He must’ve said it so many times that you believed him. One man. And… he’s dead.”
“He’s dead,” I repeated to myself.
“He was also wrong,” Kai said. “You can’t be unlovable.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because…” He paused as if gathering his courage, then cleared his throat and said, “I know we haven’t known each other for long, and yet I feel as if I’ve known you forever. What I’m gonna say sounds absurd, I know, but it’s true.”
“Kai?” I pushed the question through my strangled throat. “What is it?”
“We’re meant to be,” he said, and his conviction blew me away. “I believe your sisters, and I believe my grandmother as well. Our connection defies explanation, but it transcends time and space. I also know that you’re lovable, Cece. I know this for sure becauseIloveyou.”
A gasp escaped me, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t find enough breath to refill my lungs. “Did… did you just say… you… you… l-l-love me?” I squeaked, wondering if I’d heard him wrong. “But… It can’t be… You told the guys—”
“I lied to the blockheads. I wasn’t ready to face the music.”
“I… I don’t understand.” My heart was beating so fast I worried I might pass out. “You don’t lie.”
“I don’t lie to you,” he corrected.
I felt as if I were floating in outer space. Kai believed that fate had brought us together. Perhaps most incredibly, Kai thought he loved me.
My heart pounded, and my emotions scattered all over the place. “Maybe you need to have your head examined.”
“I stand by everything I’ve said,” the stubborn man said.
“But… I…” I grappled for words. “I don’t even know what the ‘L’ word means.”
“My grandmother had a theory about that,” he ventured. “She used to say that our time on earth was brief, but love was timeless. It’s a force woven into the very fabric of the universe. It exists in its own dimension.”
“Holy shit.” I scrubbed my face. “Your grandmother was a kupuaanda poet.”
“She would’ve loved hearing that.”
“It’s a beautiful thought,” I whispered as tears swelled in my eyes.
“But you’re also thinking that love is not scientifically provable.”
I blinked away the tears and shrugged. “That, too.”
“In that case, do what you do,” he suggested. “Look at my aura. It’ll tell you that everything I’ve said it’s true and comes from my heart.”
His aura glowed even brighter than usual. The hope that gathered in my chest was too much to hold, too large to contain.
“You… you really think you love me?”
His eyes danced with a smile. “I know I do.”
“I… I don’t know what to say.” I wavered between disbelief and shock. “How did you get to that conclusion? When did this happen?”
“I got there on my own.” He lowered his face to mine. “You did what no Zen master could do for me. You made me face my fears and understand myself like never before. You listened to my story, the one I’d never been able to tell before. You’re the force pulling me out of the mud, helping me get unstuck, making me move forward. Thanks to you, all those years of learning about myself finally mean something. Everything came together for me because I love you.”
