Page 31 of Oops, I'm Having My Best Friend’s Baby!

CHAPTER 11

KAI

Kai didn’t know where Jason got his endless supply of energy; he really didn’t. Maybe it was genetics, or maybe it was just determination mixed with caffeine. But one minute they were sitting on deck chairs, relaxing in the morning sun, and the next Jason was wrangling them all to go out on jet skis to “make the most of this vacation.” Kai had wanted to keep dozing in the sun like a cat because that was how he intended to make the most of his vacation, but Jason had literally grabbed his hand and hauled him up from the deck chair, so that was that.

Where on earth they had procured four jet skis from, Kai had no idea. He didn’t bother to ask, though. Sometimes it was more fun just to live in the mystery of it all. And as much as he would have loved to be asleep on deck right now, he had to admit that zooming around at breakneck speed appealed to his inner ten-year-old very much indeed.

Poor Amy, it turned out, was not that keen on the idea of operating a jet ski.

“Don’t you need a license to drive one of these things?” she asked, eyeing the vessel over with a frown. It took a lot of self-control, but Kai managed not to laugh. He maybe couldn’t match her level of grave seriousness, but he could avoid laughing at the very least.

“You don’t need a license,” he assured her. “It’s really easy. You just turn it left or right.”

“Oh, like a car is really easy, huh? Remember when you said driving a car was easy, Kai? Sorry if I don’t trust your judgment on vehicles anymore.”

Kai tried not to laugh — he really did — but he failed and ended up snorting so hard he nearly fell over backwards into the water. Amy gave him an unimpressed look.

“You know what, I’ve changed my mind,” he said. “You’re right. You shouldn’t be in control of anything with an engine.”

“That was a quick turnaround.”

“I’m just having flashbacks to you trying to get your driver’s permit for the fourth time in a row and failing.”

Amy gave him a sour look. “It’s heavy machinery. There’s a lot to learn, okay? And I drive just fine now.”

“Fine is one word for it.”

She was just about to throw seawater in his face when Jason intervened.

“Hey, man,” he said to Amy, because she had been dubbed with “man” just like anyone else that Jason considered a friend. “I get it. And I mean, safety first is always the best strategy. But don’t you worry. I’m going to teach you the basics, and you’ll be zooming around like a pro in no time. I guarantee it.”

So that was how their morning went. It was a strange division of their little group, with Kai and Jess racing around on their own jet skis at a frankly terrifying pace, with Jess beyond fearless as soon as she’d gotten on the jet ski. The only reason she was even wearing a life vest was because Jason had insisted, and even then, she’d agreed with a begrudging roll of her eyes. Meanwhile, Kai would look over and find Jason patiently teaching Amy how to drive a jet ski, explaining every knob and switch, and after an hour of careful persuasion, he’d convinced her to slowly but surely drive the jet ski in rings around the yacht, riding right beside her on his own vessel and cheering like he’d just coached the winning team at the Superbowl.

All of it made Kai happy. And maybe there was a fancier word to describe the feeling, something more poetic and dramatic, but then again, the simplest word seemed to be the exact right one. Right at that moment he was happy in a way that he hadn’t been for a very long time. He was happy that he had accepted the invitation to come out on the yacht, even if he’d done it while accidentally lying about having a fiancée. He was happy that it had given him an opportunity to actually get to know Jason beyond the business side of things. The man talked like he was a caricature of a stereotypical “cool dude” from a cartoon, but he was actually a really good guy. He treated his wife like a queen and had all the time in the world for Amy, nothing but a perfect gentleman. And with that knowledge, Kai now understood why Jason had reacted so badly to him canceling their meeting at the last minute with no real excuse other than “something had come up.” He was a guy who only ever wanted to do the right thing by everyone, so when someone screwed him over, it must have stung on a way deeper level than just business, especially if he’d started seeing Kai as a friend and not just a business partner.

But the part of this that made Kai the happiest of all was that he’d been able to spend more time with Amy. God, how many years had it been since they’d spent an entire day together, let alone a whole week? Even amongst the quiet joy, he was devastated that he’d drifted so far from her in the first place. That time was lost forever. He wasn’t going to let any more opportunities slip through his fingers…

Amy had retreated back to the edge of the yacht when Jason went off with Jess, and Kai rode over to her.

“Come on,” he said. “Let me show you how fast these things can really go.”

“No, thank you,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to go fast.”

“Well, how about I show you how smooth and uneventful it can go?” he offered instead. “Give you a ride where you don’t have to worry about steering.”

She eyed him skeptically, but Kai held out his hand and waited patiently. Sure enough, she sighed and clambered onto the jet ski behind him.

“Please don’t go super fast,” she repeated, lips right by his ear. “Please.”

“I won’t,” he said, patting her hand where it was grabbing at his side like an anchor. “Promise.”

He kept his promise, knowing that this wasn’t a time for practical jokes or trying to be funny. There were very few things in this world that Amy was truly afraid of, but this seemed to be one of them.

“You’ve got a life vest on,” he reminded her over the hum of the engine as he slowly drove around, increasing the speed a little at a time. “If you fall off, you’ll just bob around. And you can swim, or did you forget about that little fact?”

“I won’t get chopped up by the propellers?”

“It’s a jet ski. It uses water jets, like the ones in a hot tub, to push it forward.”

---