Husband With Benefits

"Break up with Cai?" Dora repeated slowly, shaking her head as she tried to gather her thoughts. She opened her mouth to explain, but Kael cut her off before she could utter a word.

"Just hear me out before you disagree," Kael said, his tone more urgent now. He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, "You and I—we’re perfect for each other. Think about it. We have the same likes, the same dislikes. We understand each other better than anyone else. You know that.You enjoy spending time with me. And I love being around you. And let’s be real—we’re so physically drawn to each other we can barely keep our hands off one another. I was your first, Dora. That means something. You’ve known Cai since you were kids, but you’ve never crossed that line with him. Isn’t that telling? On some level, you must know you’re not meant to be with him."

"Cai is my best friend, and..."

Kael didn’t let her finish. "I can be your best friend too," he interjected, his voice softer now, almost pleading. "Just give me a chance, Dora. I can be everything you need. Everything. Just don’t be with him. Don’t throw this away."

Her heart raced, pounding in her chest as the weight of his words sank in. He hadn’t said he loved her, not once. No "I love you," no promises of a future filled with care. And yet she felt his words to her soul. But, she reminded herself. All this began because of something else. And that something else was still unresolved. How could he claim that he liked to spend time with her when his reason for spending that time with her was because of his bet and plan.

She pulled her hands from his, "You’re right, Kael. You can be everything but can you be the person who never hurt me? Who didn’t break my trust? Who didn’t think for a moment before leaving me on that stage to embarass herself? Put yourself in my postion, Kael. Know my place in my country.I was willing to bet all that and more for you. And what did you do? In fact, what can you do?"

Kael bowed his head then. He’d made a mistake, yet. But he had never apologized for it. Even now, in his heart, he’d felt justified to not apologize because... because he believed that she’d had Cai with her. In fact, not once had he tried to make up for his mistake...

Kael’s shoulders slumped, his head still bowed as Dora’s words hit him with the force of everything he had tried to avoid. His usual confidence wavered as the realization of his mistake, one he had never fully acknowledged, began to settle in.

"Dora," Kael said quietly, "I know I hurt you. I know I didn’t apologize when I should have. But I...would you believe me when I say that I never meant to?"

Kael opened his mouth to explain everything, how Kit had mislead him, how the boy had even tried to threaten him with killing himself if he did not let things continue, but as he looked into her eyes, he knew that all of those were mere excuses.

With a deep breath, he looked into her eyes then and spoke softly, "Dora, I’m sorry. I know I should’ve apologized a long time ago. I know that nothing I say can take away what I did. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you, even if it takes that long to regain your trust. I’ll do whatever it takes. Just... don’t shut me out. Please. Lets’ start over?"