Aloha, page 104
“How did you know this is my favorite?” I asked as I took it and cracked it open.
“I’m a man of mystery, Nicky.” He took a large drink from his own. There was something bizarrely sexy about the way he drank and licked his lips and breathed and wore clothes and existed. Adding swimsuits to the list of things he did sexily was making it harder not to stare.
I gulped. No drink, just gulping. Even worse, I gulped on nothing but air.
He offered an intense stare. “You ready to swim?”
“Swim?” I asked, saying the word as if I’d never heard of it. I was lost at sea in a gray ocean.
He blinked and brought me back to shore. “I’d love to,” I lied. I didn’t look the same way Rachelle did in a bikini. I didn’t even own a bikini. I was a one-piece girl. I was a shorts and tee shirt girl. I was a wet suit girl.
“Let’s do this then.” He finished his sparkling water as if fizz didn’t faze him and started unbuttoning his shirt. Each open button exposed a little bit more of him. I licked my lips. It was the least cool thing I’d done. But he didn’t seem bothered by it. In fact, his sexy, fun smile turned to something else. Our eyes locked as he unbuttoned the rest of it and slid it off, revealing his ridiculous body. Perfectly chiselled muscles. Flawless skin that seemed kissed by the sun in a way that never damaged it. He glowed with vitality and sinewy strength. A dark-haired Adonis. A raven-haired Achilles.
I gulped again.
My can buckled a little in my hand under my grip, spilling sparkling water down my arm and startling me with the crushing can sound.
His eyes widened with mine, though he seemed oblivious to the icy water on my skin.
He adjusted the black swimming shorts he wore and nodded at me. “It’s your turn.”
I took a sip of the water and handed him my slightly crinkled can.
It was as if no one else was there as I slid my tee shirt from my body, revealing a black athletic one piece. No cleavage visible. No sexy lines. Nana and I had the same suit. At least something similar.
Why didn’t I let Linnie pack my suitcase?
James didn’t seem to notice. He drank my water and offered his hand to hold my shirt. I gave it to him and struggled out of my shorts, catching a flip-flop I’d failed to remove and nearly falling over.
“Do you want to paddleboard first or swim?” he asked, genuinely.
“Paddleboard. That water is going to be freezing.” My answer was a confident one. I’d boarded a lot in Canada.
“You should be accustomed to freezing cold water,” he teased and carried our clothes to the spot where everyone was putting theirs.
I grabbed a tandem board and paddle and set us up. He jogged over, earning a stare from every member of ours and Simone’s families. His muscles flexed and moved in slow motion, I swear. He smiled wide, making me return the look.
It was impossible to feel sorry for myself in his presence. He was enjoyable. Completely. And weirdly wholesome in a sexy way. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I was one hundred percent certain Linnie understood the assignment. He was perfect.
“You can swim, right?” I asked when he got closer.
“Like an Olympian,” he answered. “It’s how I like to do everything.” He beamed and I gulped again. Like an idiot, fighting the urge to chant “Hercules” at him. “Do you like being in the front or the back?”
I blinked, wanting so badly to say on top. I’m a top. That was my answer. Top. Top, please.
He narrowed his gaze. “You seem like the kind of girl who wants to steer. Why don’t you go up front, then?”
I nodded, unable to say anything that wasn’t top. My brain had overheated and glitched.
He smiled pointed at the board. “Get on the board.”
“What?” I bit my lip and clung to the paddle, confused until I realized I was waiting for the sex dream in my head to play out to the end. “Right,” I said. “Okay.” It took a whole other second for my body to be able to move. “Being in the front is probably a better idea,” I muttered, suddenly aware of how distracting he was. I’d steer us right into the waterfall at this rate. Hopefully, it would put out the fire inside me at least.
We giggled and paddled about, escaping several near misses as everyone else fell into the water one by one. All except for Rachelle who sat on the end of her paddleboard as Thomas paddled her around the pool, as if she were on vacation in Venice. Every time I glanced in their direction she was focused on James. It was creepy.
But James was an incredible distraction from my woes. “You have amazing core,” he said as I steered us as near to the waterfall as you could get without falling in.
“You have amazing core,” I replied. “I have okay core. I haven’t done much in the last six months.” The confession stung and was inappropriate here in this sexy daydream.
“Fifteen years of intense rugby suggests otherwise.” He scoffed.
“I guess,” I said and realized what he’d said. “Wait, how do you know that? It’s almost seventeen, but how did you know how long I played?”
“Linnie said she played that long,” he said casually. “I assumed it was the same amount of time.”
“Yeah, I quit a little before her. Got my second concussion and that was it.” It wasn’t entirely the truth. Thomas had demanded I quit; the concussion was simply the breaking point. I turned around and faced James. “Guess I could have started playing the fairer sport. You lot never seem to have concussions. Not real ones anyway,” I teased, letting my guard down a bit more.
“You would love football. I could teach you.”
“You mean when we get back to the real world?” I joked but he didn’t smile.
“Absolutely.” His intense stare sucked me in again.
I lost time until my mother shouted something about lunch.
I handed him the paddle. “Want a turn?”
He stared at it for a second and shook his head. “Nope, I think it’s time you get wet,” he said.
“What?” Was it crude to tell there was a good chance I was already quite wet?
I didn’t have a chance as he rushed me, tipping the board, and sending us sinking into the icy water below.
The current from the river pulled a little, but he found me in the dark and swam us both to the surface. We broke the waves together, gasping for air. He was sexier wet, with water dripping down his face and coating his lips. I stared at them, noting every curve, and wondering how they felt.
He grabbed the paddleboard with a long arm and pulled it to us for me to grip, but I remained treading water and staring at him.
He smiled deliciously and took my hand in his, creating warmth in the cool water. “Ready for lunch now that you’re not so hot and sweaty?”
Were his questions all sexy or was my brain switched to the sexy setting?
The better question was, Would it be wrong to have sex with him?
Did a pity date include sex?
Chapter 4
The rehearsal dinner was done but the party continued. The lights and torches all around us created a romantic glow.
Music played loudly, making talking an intimate affair.
James danced with Nana, leading her next to Jacob and Simone. I began to wonder if Nana knew who he was and was smitten. Rachelle and Thomas made their way closer to them. Her dress was stunning. An obvious attempt to upstage the bride but Simone didn’t seem to notice. She and Jacob were focused only on each other. I’d never seen him this way. Not even when he and Linnie dated briefly in high school.
I sipped my glass of sangria, noting this one was slightly stronger.
When the song ended, James made his way over to me. He took my sangria and finished it in one large drink. He shuddered. “I think that bartender is trying to get you a little bollocksed,” he said with a wince and glanced in her direction. “Oof, she’s just your type. Allow me to get the drinks.” He walked off, leaving me questioning how he knew she was exactly my type.
Was that something Linnie would have shared?
It seemed like a weird thing to bring up.
He came back a moment later. “She knew it was for you. It’s twice as strong.”
I laughed. “Maybe she’s trying to help you out.” I took the drink.
“Nicky, I don’t need alcohol to seduce you,” he said, as if it was a simple statement. A fact. His stare bored down into mine, again holding me hostage. “Let’s have a dance.” He offered a hand.
“Okay,” I said, taking his hand.
He led me to the dance floor where the band played an interesting version of “Free Bird.”
Our eyes locked and I was hostage.
Desperate for a distraction, I decided we needed to get to know each other better. “Tell me about you,” I demanded a little heavily for the conversation starter. “Three things you don’t like talking about.”
“I’m an only child. I had a brother but he died when I was eleven. He was fifteen. He was born sick, but he fought. He was amazing. Nathanial.” James spun me around the dance floor like he’d had lessons. He was right, he did everything like an Olympian. “My cat, Percy Jackson, is my best mate. He rescued me three years ago when he showed up on my doorstep in Kensington. I learned how to crochet so I could make him jumpers. He has one for every holiday.”
I laughed at that one.
He smiled but I was lost in the dance steps as he whirled me around. His movements were sharp and direct, firm and controlling. He was bizarrely talented.
“And lastly, I’ve followed your career.”
“What?” I tried to comprehend his sentence. “What do you mean?”
He danced us to the far side of the stunning platform overlooking the sea. He stopped dancing when we reached the corner. His eyes were iridescent with the light of the torches beside us. “You can't judge me on this, okay?”
“Okay,” I lied.
He bit his lip, pausing as though he might not say it, but he took a deep breath. “Fuck it. When I was thirteen, I went to a girls’ rugby tourney in Ireland. A cousin was playing for England. There was a girl there, she was fifteen. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. She played with such heart it put everyone I knew to shame. She scored a try in the last seconds of the game. It was the fiercest thing I’d ever seen. She broke her ankle but kept pushing. She played on a broken bone.”
I gasped, remembering how painful that had been but was immediately distracted by what he was about to say.
“We hung out all weekend. I bought her a slushy drink and made her laugh. I kept the receipt.”
“Smithy,” I whispered slowly, recalling with perfect detail his face as a thirteen-year-old boy. I’d considered him too young, but he was so cute.
How was this possible?
“I followed her from then on. When she was invited onto the Canadian Olympic team, I made my mates come celebrate with me. I went to every game I could from the moment I made money playing football.” He closed his eyes as if humiliated. But it got worse, and I realized that was why he closed his eyes. “I ordered her posters and had a tee shirt of her card made. I wore it under my kit for good luck. It’s still in my locker at Stamford Bridge.”
“Oh my God.” I lifted my hands to my mouth. I was judging. It was accidental.
“I know. It gets worse, believe it or not. Fucking hell.” He nodded, not yet meeting my gaze. “When my mate started dating her friend, I begged them to set me up. I even showed her friend my childhood bedroom with the posters of her friend on my walls. Still.”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head in tiny twitches. I wasn’t upset that he was a stalker, I was humiliated for him. I imagined how this must feel to tell this story. It was awful. And yet, I’d never had a fan before. Not like this. Recognition of women’s rugby in Canada was still a bit sad instead of celebrated as it should be. And Linnie would have tortured him.
“Her friend said she was engaged to a horrid bloke and there was no chance. I was crushed. But then he cheated on her a couple of months later with her little sister and broke her heart.” His stare found mine again. My eyes watered and his glistened with the light around us. “So, for six months I waited for the chance to tell her. Until this wedding came along. It was the moment I’d waited for my whole life.”
“Oh my God,” I repeated.
“It’s been fifteen years since I saw you play rugby. It’s why I know that bartender looks astonishingly similar to the girl you dated year twelve or senior year. It’s why I know mango sparkling water is your favorite. It’s why I know the scar on your ankle is from the surgery you had to have when you returned to Canada.”
It was unbelievable. I had no response. How was this possible?
“For every person in the world who has fanned over me, I have spent an entire life as your biggest fan.”
I blinked, stunned.
“Don’t look at me like that. You play with more heart than anyone I have met and that is saying a lot. And for fifteen years I wished I could do this.” He stepped closer. “Can I kiss you?”
I didn’t answer him with words. I lifted my face as he lowered his and lightly brushed his lips against mine. It wasn’t a kiss in the making for fifteen years; it was soft and delicate and caged.
The subtle vibration behind it suggested it wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg.
Carefully, I brushed my tongue against his lips, hoping to send the signal that he didn’t need to hold back. His arms wrapped around me, his fingers digging in, lifting me off the ground and pressing me into him.
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” my brother’s voice drifted in like a bad dream. “Banana,” he said loudly.
I pulled back, dying at the sound of my nickname over a microphone.
The music had ended and everyone was watching us.
James carefully placed my feet back on the earth, ending the ecstasy and dream I was stuck in.
“Would all the male-presenting people of the wedding come with me for a night of Polynesian ceremony? As you all know, we chose this spot because it’s entirely Indigenous owned and operated to ensure Hawaiians benefit from our tourism. One of the perks of choosing this space was this night that’s offered.” Jacob directed us to a man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was bare chested and wearing stunning Polynesian garments. “This is Jare. He’ll be escorting us to the other side of the resort. We have to paddle there.”
Jare waved and everyone in the party waved back.
“And I’m asking the fairer side of our families to please join me in the spa. We will sleep in the lush rooms there and wake to an early regime of health and wellness the islands are known for,” Simone spoke loudly, not needing the microphone.
I glanced up at James, regretting that we hadn’t escaped before this moment.
“Fuck,” James muttered. His eyes were wild with the conversation we’d been having and not having. There was still so much to be said.
“See you tomorrow?” I asked, hoping he didn’t regret telling me his insane secret.
He leaned down and pressed his lips into mine once more.
He made a sound like a grumble as he pulled away and walked off with my brother, trying to seem excited to be there.
I couldn’t feign the same feelings since all the people I liked were going that way.
“Come along, Nicky, don’t hold everyone up,” Mom called after me as she followed Simone and her mother and sisters down the stairs to the trail back to the spa.
Rachelle waited for me at the bottom of the stairs.
“Worst night ever,” I muttered as I made my way over there.
“You could stay and hide here,” the bartender said as I passed her.
“You have no idea how tempting that is,” I said and winked at her. “Have a nice night.”
“You too!”
“Big sister,” Rachelle said as I started to descend. “You have to tell me the story of how you two met.”
“Why do you care?” I had nothing for her. As far as I was concerned, she had the blood of my broken heart on her hands.
“It’s crazy that you happen to show up to the wedding with this surprise guest. No warning you were bringing a celebrity to steal Simone’s thunder.”
“Ya know, Rachelle, I want to forgive you for doing something so horrid to me.” I stopped at the bottom stair so I was her height. “Because I finally see you did me the biggest favor. You did that for me. You saved me from marrying a villain.” I wrapped my arms around her stiff body and hugged tightly. “Thank you.” I pulled back, smiling genuinely. “If you hadn’t freed me, I never would have found my way back to James.”
“Back?”
“Yes, back. We’ve known each other since we were thirteen and fifteen.” I loved that. Even if he was a weird fanboy, I loved it. For the first time in my life, I felt seen.
“That doesn’t even make sense. You’re lying. Linnie’s boyfriend probably made him do this.”
“Night, Rachelle.” I waved overhead and headed for the spa.
Chapter 5
He was waiting at the entrance to the tent, dressed in his suit, looking fresh faced and handsome. My heart skipped a beat seeing him. I’d thought about him all night long, reliving that summer of rugby and meeting him and his friends. It was crazy I hadn’t recognized him but understandable since it had been fifteen years, and my ankle was broken at the time.
I hurried in my off-the-shoulder white and blue floral A-line as fast as I could without sweating in the heat and humidity. Hawaii was wet. The air was wet. The wind heavy. The ground damp. Not like the interior of Canada at all. More like Vancouver in the summer after a heavy rainfall. A situation I always tried to avoid.
His lips curled into a wide smile when he realized I was walking to him.
“You are stunning,” he said as he walked over and pressed a gentle kiss into my cheek right where he wouldn’t smudge any makeup.
“You also look stunning.” I reached up and brushed a hand on his cheek. “You shaved.”
“Of course. It’s not proper for a bloke to show up to a wedding unshaven. How was the hen do?”
