Page 17 of Mending Scars

I let go of her shoulders. “I’m going to put you in the choke now.” I slipped my arm around her neck and secured the hold with my other hand. “Bring your left leg around behind my right one, squatting slightly into a horse stance.”

Once she was in the correct position, I continued, “Now elbow me and continue to push while turning your body into mine. Use as much force as possible to knock me backward over your knee.”

It took Kaiya a few times to knock me over, so we practiced until she became more comfortable with executing the move before I ended class.

Everyone joined together on the mats. “I hope that learning this technique will be helpful to you if you ever need it. Remember to practice at home so that the movements become reflexive and automatic. Have a good night, everyone.”

After I locked up, Kaiya and I picked up some Chinese takeout for dinner, then headed back to her place. When she opened the door, she called out, “Kam? We’re home.”

Kaiya slipped off her shoes and threw her keys and purse on the table as I shut the door. “Kam?” Kaiya repeated louder.

I set the bag of takeout on the table while Kaiya searched the apartment for Kamden. She entered the dining room with a perplexed look on her face. “He’s not here. He’s usually home by now.”

She went to her purse and pulled her phone out. After dialing his number, she put the phone to her ear and paced back and forth between the living and dining room. She chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for Kamden to answer.

Her face fell as she lowered the phone. “No answer. I hope he’s okay. I wonder why he didn’t call or text me.”

I took out the various boxes of food and placed them on the table. “I’m sure he’s fine. Kamden can take care of himself.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she halfheartedly agreed as she stared down at her phone in her hands. “I’m going to send him a text, anyway.”

Her thumbs quickly swiped over her screen as she typed her message. Once she was finished, she went into the kitchen to grab some plates before coming back and setting the table.

Throughout dinner, Kaiya barely touched her food or spoke. I could tell she was still preoccupied about Kamden. “Don’t worry, babe. He’s probably out drinking or something.”

Her eyes snapped up to mine, then narrowed in anger. “That doesn’t make me feel any better. He’s an alcoholic.”

I reached across the table and placed my hand over hers. “I didn’t mean to upset you, I’m just saying that he’s probably at a bar, and can’t hear his phone because of the loud music.”

Ignoring my comment, she grabbed her phone off the table and angrily swiped the screen. She put the phone to her ear and stood from the table before storming into the living room.

After several seconds, she pulled the phone away from her ear and cursed, “Damn it, where is he?”

I stood from the table and walked over to her. I rubbed my hands up and down her arms. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m sure he’ll be home soon.”

She sighed in frustration, then changed the subject. “Let’s clean up this mess.” She gestured to the dining room table.

After we put the dishes in the dishwasher and packed up the leftover food, we headed to Kaiya’s room to get ready for bed.

Once we showered and changed, Kaiya insisted that she wait up until Kamden came home. We went back out to the living room and curled up on the couch with one of her extra blankets.

Kaiya was laying with her back on me in between my legs. She leaned her head back against my chest and let out another deep sigh.

I tried to keep her mind occupied by asking, “Tell me more about therapy today.”

Shit, this probably isn’t the best topic.

She turned over, propping her chin on her hands atop my abdomen as she looked up at me. I expected her to get upset and not want to talk about it, but she didn’t. She seemed relieved to have the chance to get it off her chest. “We talked about my mom.”

“What about her?” Kaiya’s mom was a crazy bitch, and I didn’t see how talking about her would help Ky or Kamden.

“Kamden said she’d been leaving him messages and harassing him. Then, Dr. Lowell asked him how he felt about that and wanted to hear both of our opinions about her.”

No wonder she was so stressed when she walked into class—Kaiya’s mom was a tough subject for both of them. Add in the threatening text message and her day seemed pretty shitty. “I’m sorry—sounds like you had a bad day.”

She chortled. “Bad is an understatement. To top it off, I’ve had a fucking headache all day. This therapy shit sucks.”

I laughed and rubbed her back. “I think it’s great that you’re doing it for Kamden. I’m really proud of you.”

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