Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
He opened the dresser drawer I’d unpacked my clothing in and pulled out a pair of pajamas and underwear. He dressed me first, then put on a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt for himself.
“The other night when you washed your hair, you untangled it with a brush and some hair products,” he mentioned. “Can I do that for you?”
My sad, tired heart…
It began beating again.
“Yes,” I whispered. I showed him the products. He collected them all. He then grabbed a cotton T-shirt to dry my hair so it wouldn’t damage my ends. He sat me down on the floor and pulled over a chair to sit in. I sat with my legs crossed in my pajamas.
Kai began adding the product to my hair, double-checking he had the right amounts before adding it. He used the tipped-metal bristle brush to comb through my hair, ensuring my natural curls were intact each time he combed through it. He then learned how to twist my hair into a few sections as I instructed him and wrapped it up in a hair scarf once he finished to protect it during the night.
After he finished, he collected the clothes from the bathroom, went down the hall, and tossed them into the washer. He returned to the room with a hot tea for me and shut the bedroom door behind him.
I didn’t even know that was one of my love languages until that night—acts of service.
“Here, drink this,” he ordered. I did as he said. The warmth of the tea and his kindness flowed through my system, breathing life back into me.
“Thank you,” I said, climbing to sit in bed.
“Of course,” he replied, sitting beside me.
I turned to him again, placed a hand on his cheek, and looked into those eyes that were beginning to mean the world to me. “Thank you,” I repeated, ensuring he knew how much his actions meant to me.
He gently cupped my face and gave me a gentle smile. “Of course,” he repeated. Then he kissed my forehead.
Right then and there, I knew I never wanted that man to leave my life. That fact alone terrified me because I knew how falling for someone could hurt. My damaged heart was proof of that.
The idea of Kai hurting me was almost enough to make me want to run away. Almost.
I stayed because he was the only thing that comforted my troubled heart. He was beginning to feel like home to me. All I hoped was that that said home wouldn’t crumble over time.
I placed my cup of tea on the nightstand, feeling a bit foolish for how I’d fallen apart.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered as the embarrassment of the whole situation caught up with me.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Apologize for feeling.” He bent his knees into his chest and crossed his arms, resting them on his kneecaps. He tilted his head toward me. His brown eyes were packed with concern and care. I wasn’t certain I’d ever seen Kai gentler and more attentive than he was that evening. “What do you need from me, Holly? How can I fix it?”
“Fix what?”
“Your heart.”
Those two words made my eyes swell with emotion again because I knew there wasn’t much he could fix, but the softness of his tone felt like a weighted blanket wrapped around me.
“I don’t know if I have the kind of heart that can be fixed,” I explained. “Not after what the two of them did to me.”
Our elbows brushed as I crossed my arms and placed them on my kneecaps, just like his position.
“Do you want to talk or be quiet?” he asked.
“I don’t really know.”
A part of me wanted to talk about it.
A piece of me had needed to speak on the betrayal I’d gone through.
Yet the other part of me wanted to try to forget it ever happened.
I ran my hand over my face. “It’s such a mind trip, you know? Because I hate them. I hate Daniel and Cassie so much for what they did to me, but I still had such a big reaction when I saw them. I felt so hurt. How was that possible? How could I hate two people so much and still care so deeply?”
“Because that’s not how it works.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t stop caring when someone betrays you.” Kai’s brows lowered. “When I found out Penelope had cancer, I denied it. I had her get second options, third, and fourth. Because I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that someone I cared about was sitting with stage three cancer. I couldn’t understand how something like that could happen to someone I knew and loved.”
I listened to him intently as my heart pounded rapidly against my chest. I knew how hard it was for Kai to open up to people, and he shared a part of himself to comfort me and make me feel less alone.