The fool is grinning, and I throw a rag at him, making him duck with a mocking laughter.
“Dude, you are low-key obsessing, I can tell,” he says.
“Fuck off.”
But despite how much I want to smack the hell out of him, he is right. There is that one feeling poking at my heart like a sparrow searching for seeds of hope—relief.
9
CALLIE
I wantto talk to Kai.
I never thought I would, but here on the island, four years after what happened to us, I feel like he is one of the few people I know well. Or did until the Block Party.
He’s changed so much that the only thing familiar about him is his face. From his neck down are the tattoos that cover most of his body down to his feet. It’s shocking and mesmerizing. His hair is longer, past his ears, dark and messy and wet.
Kai was never a bad boy. Maybe, a bit dark. Quieter than the rest of Archer’s obnoxious crew. An underdog among the sharks, but independent, not giving a shit whether he fit in or not.
But he’s changed. There is no sweetness in him. His piercing dark eyes lack usual kindness. There’s hate in them. His movements are jerky like he wants to rip things apart.
I can’t stop looking. He takes my breath away.
I watch him the entire time Bo is talking and see him glance up at me. But as soon as our eyes meet, he looks away.
I want him to look at me. I want to talk. I want to finally sort out the why and what of that night. I want him to look me in the eyes and admit what he did. It was all his doing. And he has no right to glare at me like he does.
Yeah, I heard about his falling out with Archer. About the transfer to online classes. You reap what you sow. And then the accident. I don’t know the details, but it sounded bad. I just never knewhowbad until Abby told me almost a year later.
Kai rakes his fingers through his hair, and it’s so sexy that, for a moment, I forget how much I hated him all these years.
The meeting is over. Maddy and Ty are leading me, Katura, and Dani toward the bungalow we will be staying in.
Ty is smiling as always. The boy with the heart. The Golden Retriever. Six feet of lean body. A wide grin. A golden tan that makes his blond shoulder-length hair stand out even more. He is like an Abercrombie&Fitch poster boy.
He elbows me as we walk.
“I never expected to see you here,” he says. “How’ve you been?”
I shrug. With all that happened in the world, it’s easier to talk about Deene than life.
“I mean.” He shakes his head. “Considering.”
“Yeah,” I echo. “It’s been rough, you know.”
It’s too early to ask questions. About his family and all. We will eventually. Though I am surprised that Ty is on this side of the island and not with Archer’s crew. Maybe it’s better that I am here, though I desperately want to see Abby.
I finally manage a smile. “You look great.”
He laughs. “Well, considering.”
I love his laughter. It’s contagious. Always has been.
Palm fronds mixed with the sand prickle my feet, but it feels good. So does the ocean breeze and open space that is cheerful and not dusty and full of destruction.
The sun is relentless, and I fight the feeling of trying to skip to the shade. I’ll get used to it.
It’s surreal.