Obsession

Chapter 8

"I'm impressed. You nailed every move today," Leo says, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He sits down on the floor next to me and grins. "I'm honestly blown away."

"Well, I have a lot of free time on my hands now that I'm banned from social media," I chuckle.

"So that's why you haven't followed me back on Instagram yet..."

I smile bashfully. "You followed me?"

"I figured you wanted me to since you were already stalking me anyway," he smirks.

Shear terror covers my face. I had forgotten all about that. I try to think of some lame excuse, but the truth is, I was actually stalking him.

"It's okay. I've stalked you before too."

I'm still not able to look up at him, but his confession makes me smile.

"So why are you banned from social media?" he asks, changing the subject, much to my relief.

"One of my professors challenged me to go a month without using it so I can tell our class how it affects my life."

"How has it been so far?" he asks.

I finally look up at him and scoff. "Two of the longest days off my life. But...I've been able to get more practice in. So I guess it has its advantages."

"So with all this extra time, I guess you can work in that date with me now?" he asks, biting his lip.

Butterflies go wild in my stomach. I didn't think it would be so easy for me to move on from Kai, but I have to admit, I'm really starting to like Leo. "I think I can clear a spot on my busy schedule for you."

When he smiles, my heart goes into overdrive. "What about Friday?"

Even though I have absolutely nothing to do on Friday, I pretend to think it over for a while. "Yeah, okay."

After Leo leaves and I've locked up the room we were practicing in, I walk out to my car. I grab my phone out of my bag and pull up the group text between Rue, Anna and me. My body is trembling with excitement, making it hard to type out a message. I opt to call them instead, but just when it starts ringing, I see a shadowy figure leaning up against my car.

I stop for a few seconds, wondering who it could be. Leo's car is gone, so it's not him. It's too tall to be Rue or Anna. I take a couple of steps forward, trying to get a better look. That's when he turns his head in my direction and the streetlight above reflects off of his perfect, golden skin.

"Kai?" I whisper in disbelief.

"Mara," he says, walking towards me. "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" I ask when he stops in front of me.

"Waiting for you," he replies in a duh tone. "I don't have your number, or I would've called."

I feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience. I'm too shocked and overwhelmed to think. My mouth wordlessly opens and closes, even though there's so many things I want to say to him.

"Are you okay?" he asks, raising a brow.

Oh my God. Did that stupid rock actually work? Is Aunt Roma really a Gypsy charmer?

I shake myself out of my confusion and nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I'm just wondering why you're talking to me...after you said..."

"Look, forget about what I said. I guess I just didn't know how to tell you how I feel."

"How do you feel?" I ask, looking up at him.

His perfect brown eyes stare into mine and without missing a beat, he takes my hands into his. They are soft and warm, totally different from the way they were in my dream. "Mara, I have always wanted to be with you. I just didn't know how to say it. I've always had this wall up. Because I thought...I thought you were too good for me. Too perfect...." he whispers, releasing one of my hands and gently touching my face. "Until the other day, I never imagined you felt the same way."

I laugh nervously. I still don't know what to think of all this. Is this even real? It felt real last time, but then I woke up in my bed, alone. I can't live through that kind of disappointment again.

"Kai..." I trail off, not even sure what to say.

Without warning, he presses his lips to mine and everything else disappears. His lips are soft and sweet. They mold perfectly with mine as if they were always meant for me. He takes my face into his hands and deepens the kiss making me go weak in the knees. I cling onto his hoodie just to keep my balance.

I've never felt such a powerful explosion of emotions all at once. I've fantasized about this day for years, but the real thing is nothing close to anything my imagination could've concocted.

He pulls away with a smile on his face. "Wow."

I'm out of breath and my head is spinning. All I can do is smile.

"I've wanted to do that for a very long time," he whispers, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his forehead to mine.

I giggle like a school girl with a crush. I've never felt so on top of the world. I never want this feeling to end. "Me too."

"I promise, you have my full attention now. I'm not stupid enough to let you slip through my fingers again," he says, pulling me against his body.

I hug my arms around his waist and rest my head against his chest. His heart is beating wildly.

I'm still in daze from my heightened emotions and the shear shock of the moment. This is really happening. This time, it's not a dream.

My buzzing phone snaps me back into reality. I pull away from him and pull it out of my bag to see Rue's picture flashing on the screen. I dismiss it for now, but I can't wait to tell her all about this later. Especially since she was so against this whole thing from the start.

Kai looks around before looking down at me. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry?"

Even though I could care less about food right now, I nod in agreement. "Sure."

He wraps his arm around my shoulder and leads me to his car that's parked behind mine. "Hanky's is still open. If you're in the mood for a big, greasy hamburger."

"I'm always in the mood for food," I laugh.

I spend the next four hours getting to know Kai better. Some things I already knew, like his artistic talent and his strange taste in music. But some things I never knew before. I learned that he loves dogs. He wants to draw cartoons someday. He wants to have a lot of kids. He's a mama's boy. He doesn't have many friends because of his cultural insecurities. Being an immigrant from another country was hard on him, especially as a middle schooler. He's always felt out of place and insecure in America and until now, he didn't think he'd ever change his mind.

Now that I know so much about him, it's easier to understand why he's been so closed off all this time. I can't imagine what it must've been like moving to a brand new country at such a pivotal time in one's life. But now that I know all this, I feel closer to him.

After he takes me back to my car and gives me the sweetest good night kiss, I sit in the driver's seat long after he's gone and let what happened tonight night sink in. I can't believe that after all this time, it's finally happened.

I take out my phone to call Rue and Anna, but then I notice it's well after midnight. I'll have to wait and surprise them with the news tomorrow. For now, I'm going to turn up my music, open my sunroof and sing to the top of my lungs.

Because Kai Sweeney is finally mine.