Kai's POV
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I didn't mean to run into her.
Not tonight. Not like this.
But the goddamn universe is cruel, and somehow, I'm alone in the law library at 10 PM with her—Sky Ren. Chaos personified. Dressed in a soft pastel hoodie three sizes too big and sitting cross-legged on top of the table like she owns the place.
She looks up from her casebook, eyes lighting up like it's Christmas morning.
"Kai!"
I flinch. Out of instinct.
She frowns. Only a little.
"I—sorry. I know you've been avoiding me."
She says it casually. Like it doesn't kill her.
She always says the painful things like they're fine. Like she's used to her feelings being too much for people to handle.
But for once, I can't walk away.
"I haven't been avoiding you," I lie, sitting down across from her.
"You absolutely have."
"…Okay, yeah. I have."
She blinks. She wasn't expecting that.
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "I needed space."
Sky's voice is quiet. "Because I said I love you?"
"No." My eyes snap to hers. "Because you meant it."
Silence.
And then she smiles. So soft. So infuriatingly hopeful. "I always mean what I say."
I know.
That's the problem.
She hops off the table, books in hand, but trips over her own feet—again—and nearly faceplants into me. I catch her. Again.
Like reflex.
Like I was made for it.
She's close now. Closer than she should be. Her hoodie brushes against my chest. Her braid falls over my arm. She smells like honey and soap and trouble.
"Why do you always catch me?" she whispers.
"Because I always know you're going to fall."
Her lips part.
I should move. I should take a step back. Set a boundary. Say something cold, calculated, and safe.
Instead, I reach up slowly. Fingers brushing her cheek.
"Don't move," I whisper.
She freezes.
Her heart is pounding—I can feel it. She's trembling, not from fear, but from the weight of the moment.
I lean in—just enough. Close enough to feel her breath. Close enough to ruin everything.
But I stop.
Because if I kiss her now, there's no coming back. No turning this off. No pretending she's just a girl in my class with too much hair and too much heart.
She's already more than that.
She's everything.
And I'm not ready to lose control.
So I pull away.
Sky blinks, dazed. "You're such a tease," she mutters, cheeks flushed.
I smirk. Barely. "You're the one who said you love me, remember?"
She narrows her eyes. "You love me too. You just don't know it yet."
Maybe I do.
Maybe I've known all along.
And maybe I'm terrified of what that means.