The Big Break. Cara Lockwood

Too vulnerable.

      “I’m fine,” he said, shaking it off. Shaking her off, and stepping away from her touch. “It’s no big deal.”

      But he suspected Jun knew he was lying. He could tell from the way she stared at him, the skepticism evident in her dark eyes, her lids blinking away the judgment. He wouldn’t be able to bluff his way through training with her. Yet the thought of admitting the depth of his problem, of the ways his body was failing him, made him panic. Saying his body was weak out loud just made it more real than he wanted it to be.

      “I’m fine,” he said again, this time not looking her in the eye. He didn’t want to see the flash of pity there.

      “Everything all right over here?” Tim appeared then between them, an unwanted intrusion.

      “Just slipped out of my hand,” Kai lied. “Not her fault.”

      Tim glanced at Jun and then back at Kai. “Maybe that’s enough for today?” Tim didn’t bother to disguise his animosity toward Kai, which didn’t bother him a bit. They both wanted the same woman. No sense in trying to dance around it.

      “Kai, need some water?” Jun asked, nodding toward a dispenser in the corner.

      “I’ll get it,” Tim offered, eager to do what he could to speed Kai’s exit from his gym, no doubt.

      Once he was out of earshot, Kai looked at Jun. “I guess you can tell training me won’t be easy.” Kai couldn’t help sounding defeated. His knee had failed him again, and this time in front of Jun. He was a lost cause and he knew it. But he wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. Not yet. Not when Jun could help him.

      “But...tell me, which way are you leaning?”

      Jun studied him a second, and Kai felt for sure she’d tell him a flat no. Her face told him that was exactly where she was leaning. He couldn’t let that happen. He felt suddenly seized with panic. If she didn’t help him, who would?

      Kai had an idea in that moment, one that he might regret, but she was going to turn him down, so what did it matter anyway?

      “Wait,” he interrupted, hoping his Hail Mary would work. “Before you turn me down, come to dinner.”

      Her eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed in suspicion. “Excuse me?” Clearly, she thought he was asking her out on a date.

      “Not just with me. With my sister, my aunt. My friends Dallas and Allie. You remember them?”

      Jun slowly nodded. Dallas and Allie had pulled Po and Kai out of the floodwaters and to safety on their kayak. Without them, Kai knew he could’ve died out there. They were also the ones who’d found Jun and reunited her with Po.

      “They’re having a dinner tonight at the Kona Estate. Why don’t you come? Bring Po.”

      “I wasn’t invited,” Jun began, unsure. Kai noticed she was still a little distrustful, as if she suspected it was some kind of trap. And, really, it was. Kai knew she might be able to tell him no, but Aunt Kaimana would be another story. She loved kids, and he knew that once she saw Po, it would be love at first sight. She’d practically insist on taking on the babysitting.

      “They always cook more than we can eat. Dallas is barbecuing, which means he can’t stop unless he’s seared the whole cow. I’m serious. Besides, Aunt Kaimana knows me better than anyone. If after you talk to her, you still want to tell me no, then I’ll leave you alone.”

      “One dinner tonight with them and then if I say no, you won’t show up at my work? Stalk me?”

      “I wasn’t stalking you,” Kai said.

      Jun stared at him, dubious.

      “Okay, so I was. I admit it. But come tonight and if you don’t want the job after that, then I’ll leave you alone. I promise.”

      Jun mulled this over. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll come.”

      “I can pick you both up at six.”

      “No,” Jun said quickly. “I’ll meet you there.”

      Kai decided not to press the issue. She’d agreed to come. He’d have to be satisfied with that.