Page 16 of Fighting For Light
Then I lean forward, angling my mouth closer to her ear. “Thank you.” She nods and looks up at me with eyes I have no business looking into. It’s a look I have no business thinking any further about. It’s a look that makes me want to drop to my knees in front of her. I take a large swig of my mojito and break our eye contact.
Another woman makes eyes at me, and I avert mine. I’d give her thenoby standing closer to Cordi, but it will makethisthat much harder. Caught in a catch twenty-two, I toss the rest of my drink back, trying to ignore the way I feel when I’m this close to my best friend and simultaneously not look like I’m interested in anyone else.
Cordi downs her drink and grabs my hand.
“Let’s dance!” she yells.
I leave my glass on the counter before she drags me down to the dance floor. Of all the things I’m good at, dancing is not one of them. Mom got us lessons in classic ballroom dancing, but the general gyrating of hips is not my strong suit. With her hand already in mine, Cordi spins herself around and then steps up close to me. I do my best to mimic her movements, but it only makes her laugh.
“You know I can’t dance like this,” I yell. She shrugs and grabs my shoulder as I lift her arm like we’re about to waltz, though my hand would be considered at an indecent place at the base of her spine. She pushes herself up closer to me, and I spin us around in a two-stepping motion. I can dance to the beat; it just doesn’t mean I’m smooth with it.
Cordi tilts her head back, giggling, and then steps out of my arms, shimmying her hips to the beat. She looks beautiful under the multi-color lights flashing over her skin. Her smile is intoxicating and makes my heart pound as hard as the base. As I reach for her, another man comes up to her side, palming her hips. I hesitate to step in and push the guy off of her, but she subtly shakes her head and then faces the guy who grabbed onto her. I stand there feeling like a fool and simultaneously wanting to beat the guy’s face in for touching what doesn’t belong to him.But she’s not yours.
I sigh and head back to the bar while keeping an eye on Cordi when a woman’s manicured hand slides across my abs from behind. I look down, seeing the woman who was making eyes at me earlier. She’s circling my body with her nails over my chest and up around my neck, catching my gold chain.
Because Cordi and I can never be what I wish we could, I keep my focus on her while still checking in on Cordi out of the corner of my eye. I grip the woman’s waist and lean in. “What’s your name?”
She leans in, pouting her pretty lips. “Leah,” she says into my ear.
Leah is a small thing. With her heels, she barely reaches the underside of my chin.
“Kai,” I say back. She smiles and presses herself closer.
“I knew you would have a sexy name,” she says and bites the lobe of my ear.I guess we’re going the forward route, then.Leah turns around and grabs my hands, resting them on her hips as she pushes her back into me. I got the picture from all the other dancers as they grind against each other, which is literally dry-humping, as far as I’m concerned. She leans her head back on my shoulder as we sway. I check on Cordi, and the man she’s dancing with has his hands all over her while she stares at us with daggers shooting from her eyes. A lump in my throat grows,and I swallow, trying to push down the nausea tinged with anger that another man’s hands are on Cordi, and mine are on this random woman. It feelswrong.
***
Kai 20, Cordelia 19
Cordi walks over to the campground pool in her one-piece swimsuit. Her hips sway, and she bounces to a song coming from her headphones. Her big sunglasses cover her pretty eyes, and I don’t know if she realizes I’m staring. I’ve been working on my bike all day and decided to chill out for a bit. I’ve only been a professional for less than a year, and I’m still learning the ropes. The last thing I need is to get in trouble with coach by hitting on his daughter when he explicitly told me not to touch her. I respect him too much to ignore his demand, but…I like her a lot, and she’s my best friend. She’s one person in my life who doesn’t know the dark and the dirty. It’s partly because I won’t tell her, but it doesn’t change the way I feel about her.
My phone rings, and I glance at the screen, reading Mom’s name. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. I wanted to check in on you and see how you’re doing.”
“I’m fine, still getting used to everything. We almost placed top four. I got second, and the other guys came after me.”
“Oh, that’s great, honey.”
“How are Liam and Emerson?” I ask her. This is the first time I’ve been away from all of them for this long. We’re at a point where we can take care of ourselves. But I know it makes Mom really nervous for me to be on my own like this. Emerson wasn’t too keen on it, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Not many people have the opportunity to go pro. I love this sport. I couldn’t say no.
“Liam is good. He’s making me nervous with all of his climbing. He’s at the point where he’s taking bigger climbs. He wants to try forEl Capitanlater this year. He also qualified for his surfing championship.”
“That’s good, but don’t you have to free climb that?” I ask her.
“Yes, that’s why it makes me so nervous. And Emerson…well, he came to visit, and his knuckles were split, and he wouldn’t tell me why. I’m worried about him, Kai. Other than that, it’s been quiet over here,” she says quietly.
“Good, and I’ll call him, but Mom … you know how he is. He probably won’t even talk to me. But I’ll try,” I say, looking at Cordelia descending the stairs into the pool. She’s the one thing I want and can’t have.
“Thank you, Kai,” Mom says.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” We say goodbye, and I hang up the phone. My feet take me to Cordelia before I consider the consequences of my actions. Every time I look at her, I have to remind myself we can only be friends, even if I wish we could be more. But maybe things will change one day, maybe we could finally have a chance with each other.
10
Cordelia
My skin feels likeit’s burning over my muscles as Kai and some tramp dance together. I have no reason to be jealous. She’s probably really nice, and he’smy friend, but tonight, I wanted to make him see what he was missing. To see there is something between us.
