Page 23 of Tiger's Quest
The doorbell rang again. At the very least, I knew I couldn’t leave Li standing there.
Turning to Ren, I explained, “I need to go now. Please stay here. There’s sandwich stuff in the fridge for dinner. I’ll be back later. Please be patient. Anddon’t . . . get . . . mad.”
Ren folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes. “If that’s what youwantme to do. I will.”
I sighed with relief. “Thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Slipping on my shoes, I picked up the wrapped set of DVDs I had bought for Li. Tight-lipped, Ren helped me into my coat and then stalked into the kitchen. He leaned back against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest and a raised eyebrow. I gave him a weak, pleading smile and headed for the front door.
I felt a twinge of guilt at having a gift for Li and not for Ren, but quickly dismissed it and pulled open the door acting as if nothing strange was happening. “Hey, Li.”
“Merry Christmas, Kelsey,” Li said, completely unaware that everything in my life had changed once again.
My date with Li did not go as originally planned. We were supposed to see a martial arts movie and have Christmas dinner at Grandma Zhi’s. I was somber, and my thoughts kept drifting back to Ren. It was hard to focus on Li—or anything for that matter.
“What’s wrong, Kelsey? You seem very quiet.”
“Li, would you mind if we skipped the movie and just had an early dinner? I need to make some calls when I get home. You know, to say merry Christmas to friends.”
Li was disappointed but rebounded cheerfully, as usual. “Oh. Sure. That’s not a problem.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. Iwasplanning on calling Mr. Kadam later. But that didn’t make me feel one bit better about changing our plans.
At Grandma Zhi’s, the boys were mid-way through an all-day-game marathon. I played, but I was distracted and made bad strategic decisions—so bad that even the guys commented on it.
“What’s up with you tonight, Kelsey?” Wen asked. “You never let me get away with a move like that.”
I smiled at him. “I don’t know. Christmas blues maybe.”
I was losing badly, so Li grabbed my hand and led me to the living room to open our presents. Li and I exchanged gifts and opened them at the same time.
We pulled the paper off and laughed long and hard. We had bought each other the exact same present. It felt good to let go of some of the tension I had pent up.
“Apparently, we both like martial arts DVDs,” Li chuckled.
“I’m sorry, Li. I should have put some more thought into it.”
He was still laughing. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a good sign. Grandma Zhi would say it’s good luck in Chinese culture. It means we’re compatible.”
“Yeah,” I said thoughtfully, “I guess it does.”
We went back to the game after eating, and I played robotically while thinking about what he’d said. He was right in many ways. Wewerecompatible and probably much more suited for each other than Ren and I were. Like Sarah and Mike, these were normal people, a normal family. And Ren was . . . not. He was immortal and gorgeous. He was too perfect.
I could easily envision making a life with Li. It would be comfortable and safe. He would be a doctor and set up a private practice in the suburbs. We’d have a couple of kids and vacation in Disneyland. The kids would all take wushu and soccer. We’d celebrate holidays with his grandparents and have all his friends and their wives over for barbeques.
A life with Ren was harder to picture. We didn’t look as if we belonged together. It was like matching up Ken with Strawberry Shortcake. He needed Barbie.What would Ren do in Oregon? Would he get a job? What would he put on his résumé? High Protector and former Prince of India? Would we purchase a time-share in a wild animal theme park so he could be the main attraction on weekends?None of it made sense. But I couldn’t deny my feelings for Ren—not anymore.
It was painfully obvious that my rebellious heart yearned for Ren. And, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself to fall for Li, the fact of the matter was that I was always drawn back to Ren. I liked Li. Maybe someday I could even love him. I definitely didn’t want to hurt Li. It wasn’t fair.
What am I going to do?
After I played badly for another hour, Li drove me home. It was early evening when he pulled into the driveway. I looked at the windows for a familiar shadow but didn’t see anything. The house was dark. Li walked me to my door.
“Hey, are my eyes deceiving me or is that mistletoe hanging up there?” Li asked, squeezing my elbow.
I glanced up at the mistletoe and remembered my resolve to kiss Li tonight. It seemed like so long ago. Now everything has changed.Hasn’t it? What about Ren? Could we really just be friends? Should I risk everything and take a chance with Ren? Or go with a sure thing like Li? How do I choose?
I’d been quiet a long time, and Li was waiting patiently for my answer. Finally, I turned to him and said, “Yeah. It is.”
