moment or two then pull away.
Again, he doesn’t immediately release me, circling his arms around my waist, instead.
“Some of the stuff I’ve skimmed through already … It makes me question how she was ever found guilty,” he says softly, resting his chin on my shoulder. “Just try not to get too excited until I read through everything, okay?”
I try to do what he asks and not get overly thrilled, especially when my mom is currently behind bars, but what Kai just told me makes a tiny bit of weight fall off my shoulders.
“I’ll try not to.” I hug the bejesus out of him. “But I’m still going to say thank you at least a million times … And I’m going to make this up to you … somehow.”
“You don’t need to make anything up to me.” He traces a path up and down my spine. “I wanted to do this for you.”
“Still, you worked so hard.” I swallow hard as his fingers tangle through my hair. “And I know you haven’t been sleeping that great …” I trail off as he nuzzles his face against the crook of my neck.
“The only thing I want is for you to go out and have some fun with me today,” he says. “We’re supposed to be at the paintball place at noon, and I want you to be ready to have some fun.”
I nod, planning on finding a way to make this up to him. I’m not sure if he realizes what a big deal this is to me—giving me a glimmer of hope at the end of a very long tunnel I’ve been stuck sprinting down for days. The end never seemed to be within reach, and I was starting to worry I was going to run until my legs and lungs gave out. And now I have hope that maybe, one day, I’ll be able to rest again and escape the damn tunnel.
Gratitude overpowers me, and I turn my head, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. I’ve never been much for kissing or hugging, probably because I haven’t really been hugged or kissed a lot in my life. But my gesture seems appropriate for the circumstances. At least, I hope it does.
“Thank you, Kai,” I say. “Not just for this, but for being there for me and making sure I didn’t lose it.”
He lifts his head, his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted in shock.
Crap, maybe I misread that. Maybe a cheek kiss is not the kind of thing to do when my possibly best friend just gave me the best gift ever.
His shocked expression gradually evaporates as he searches my eyes. “You’re welcome,” he finally says then leans forward and grazes his lips against mine.
I suck in a breath, caught off guard. Then my shock quickly goes poof because, holy tap dancing butterflies, his lips are so deliciously soft. Like chocolate velvet cake with buttercream frosting soft. No, better than that. Better than any sugary treat I can think of. Indescribably better.
I want more. I wonder if he does, too, or if he’s just giving me a friendly kiss back. I’m unsure. I’m unsure about everything right now. I seriously might be the most unsure girl in the world. My new superhero nickname could be Clueless About Kissing, and my kryptonite would be cute guys who used to live next door, ones who can make me smile almost effortlessly.
Kai lets out a soft groan, his lips parting and his tongue slipping out. My heart slams against my chest.
Holy crap, he’s going to kiss me. Like, really, really kiss me.
“Isa, have you seen my car keys!” Grandma Stephy shouts from the hallway, dousing the moment like a cold bucket of ice water.
Kai and I jerk back like we just got busted making out, though we weren’t. We were just friendly kissing.
Weren’t we?
“Okay, you’re not in your room,” grandma Stephy says loudly with heavy suspicion in her tone. Her voice rises, her footsteps growing closer. “I hope that doesn’t mean you slept on the couch.”
“No,” I call out, smoothing my hands over my hair. “We’re just hanging out, looking at something … on the computer.”
Kai chuckles. “Is that what we were doing? Hmm … I didn’t know looking at stuff on the