“We’re meant to be together. You, and me, and Kyle. But he’s gone, and there’s no way in hell—no way in fucking hell—he’d rather us be apart than together, no matter what his feelings were before he died.
“So listen to me,” I say, grabbing her face with both hands and looking into her eyes. “Listen to me right now. Hear me, OK? I love you and from now on, I don’t care what anyone thinks about that, I’m gonna keep loving you. And if you don’t love me back, fine. I’ll live with it. Because I’ll have to. I won’t like it, and I won’t be happy about it, but I’ll live with it. But if I had my way, Kali Anderson, I’d marry you today. Right the fuck now. I’d drag your ass down to the courthouse and make you my wife, and then I’d put you on a plane, and whisk you off somewhere special, and then we’d make babies. All right? That’s it. That’s what we’d do. Get married, fuck on a tropical beach, and make babies. So there! What do you think about all that?”
She’s covering her mouth with her hand.
Appalled?
Surprised?
Shocked?
“What?” I say. “What are you thinking? What… are you laughing at me?”
She starts to giggle, then holds up one finger. “Wait right here. No,” she says, closing her apartment door, taking my hand, and tugging me behind her. “Come with me.”
She grabs her phone off the couch and holds it up.
I stare at the screen, not understanding. “Who’s on the line?”
“Kyle,” she says. “It’s Kyle. And you just said all that to him.”
“O-kaaay,” I say. Then, “Well, good. Good. I’m glad he heard me. Because I meant every word. If he loved us, and he did, then he wants us to be happy. And being happy means—”
“Aiden,” she whispers, leaning up to kiss me on the lips. “He does. He said so on my message. Let me play it for you.”
She puts the phone up to her ear and says, “Kyle? Aiden’s here now. I’m gonna hang up so he can hear your message too. But I’ll call back. I have so much to talk to you about.”
Kali looks at me, then the phone, and she calls Kyle again.
I take a seat on her couch and listen. Hear every word. I cry, I smile, I laugh. I think I rollercoaster through every emotion possible.
“He always knew, didn’t he?”
“He did,” Kali assures me. “And do you even realize that you knocked on my door just moments after he told me to open it?”
I sigh. It’s a sigh of relief. I’m not looking for signals. I’m not looking for meaning, or destiny—and I don’t believe in much. I’m not religious, I’m not even really spiritual. I don’t believe in aliens, or ghosts, or vampires.
But I believe in Kyle.
I believe in Kali. And me.
I believe in us.
Kali sits next to me on the couch, then climbs into my lap, both arms around my neck so she can lean her forehead against mine.
And then she says, “Yes.”
“To which part?” I ask.
“All of it, Aiden. Every single thing. Just yes.”
I grin and decide to tease her. “OK, you just said yes to marriage, and kids, and moving back home.”
“Moving back home…”
“I’m kidding,” I say. “But not really.”
“Hmmm…” she says, slowly tracing a finger down my chest. When she get to the hem of my shirt, she lifts it up and the moment her skin touches mine I get a chill. Not the bad kind. Not the kind that makes your gut clench because something’s wrong.
But the good kind. The kind that makes your heart swell, and ache, and open up because it feels so right.
I reach for Kali’s face, placing my hands on both sides of her head so I can guide her into my kiss. She responds exactly how she’s supposed to. Eager, slow, tender kissing.
She rolls the front of my t-shirt up my chest and I lift my arms so she can take it off. She reaches for the hem of her tank top and pulls it up over her head too. Both of them are tossed aside without another thought.
She sits here, in my lap, hands on my shoulders, beautiful breasts in my face—and she says, “Let’s start now.”
I grin at her and say, “Which part?”
And she says, “All of it,” as her hands dip down to pop the button on my jeans. “Lean your head back and close your eyes, Aiden. I’m gonna take care of you first.”
I smile, but do exactly as she says. Because Kali is a gift and I’m going to accept her with grace.
She gets down on her knees between my legs and pulls my zipper down. Thirty seconds ago I was not thinking about sex but now… “Oh, God,” I sigh, as her mouth dips down to kiss the bulge in my pants.