My heart flutters at the sight of Kai as we walk through the dim workshop closer to him.
Ty whistles at him.
“What up, bro,” Kai says without turning and tosses the wooden piece onto the desk. When he finally turns, he freezes, his eyes squinting at me, cigarette hanging off his mouth, smoke curling around his face.
Shit.
It always feels like my mere presence irritates him.
Katura gives a low surprised whistle as she looks around.
“Came to give our guests a little tour,” Ty says and starts explaining the shelves, the crates that are full of homemade guns and all sorts of weapons. He shows us the generators and explains solar panels.
Katura asks more questions. Ty answers, smiling at Dani as if she were the one asking. Dani looks like she couldn’t care less.
And I keep glancing at Kai.
He is mesmerizing. Dangerous. Gorgeous.
Hostile.
He cleans up the desk, then stabs the cigarette in a tin jar, walks past me without meeting my gaze, and leaves the shop.
I should leave him alone. But if there is a good time to apologize, it would be now. Yesterday, actually, but I was too drunk. Four years ago, maybe, but I was too young, petrified, and embarrassed.
So I do the one thing that feels right—I turn and leave the shed, intending to finally sort things out with Kai.
16
KAI
I’ve avoidedher so far today, having meals after everyone is done, keeping my head low at the workshop, trying to stay in my zone, with my music in my head.
But she follows, her footsteps fast approaching me from behind.
“Kai,” she calls out, but I don’t stop.
She follows still.
She is fucking sticky.
Like the island sand that gets into your every pore.
Like the salt that coats your skin and makes your hair coarse.
Like the parrots that chirp and screech in the mornings, and when you don’t hear them, they peck at your garden, ruining the work you’ve done for so long.
There is no avoiding her now. Suddenly, this village is too small. Everywhere I turn, I see her.
I stomp toward the beach, not really sure where to go to get away from Callie.
Last night made me angry like never before. I sat till dawn thinking about the last four years that were a fucked-up chain of events that followed that one night. When she is close to me, I can’t think of anything else but her.
“Kai, wait!” She catches up with me right as I step onto the open beach and head for the boat.
If I jump into the ocean, will she follow too?
She is not a good swimmer. I know that. She’d almost drowned at the lake when she was fifteen. It’s a miracle she is one of the few who survived the boat crash.