Aloha, page 91
“I didn’t know,” she defends.
I pop my pecks. “Or maybe you just didn’t notice.”
Stepping back, amusement dancing in her eyes, she waves her hand up and down. “You think it’s because you look like … that?” Then she rolls her eyes. “As if.”
“I own a mirror—I know what I look like. I know what women see and what they want. And I know you were looking at me the same way they do.”
“I was looking for a rebound before I knew it was you.”
And I’m looking for a do-over, I think.
“Look around.” I tip my head backward, toward the crowd. “Do you think any one of those guys believes they have a chance with you now?”
She shoves me again jokingly. I don’t move.
“You’re so full of yourself.”
“Just a heads-up: eventually, you’re going to be so full of me you’ll realize immediately that, even before the growth spurt, I’ve always been the bigger man.”
She laughs out loud. “You’re going to realize even quicker that a man they call ‘The Cock’ hasn’t got a chance in—”
“Hell no.” I laugh. “You can’t take what you already gave me. Do you know how much restraint I used to make sure I did not get hard when your sexy ass was grinding against me?”
She fires back, “I can take away consent anytime I want.” She again playfully tries to shove me. This time, I take her hand, and she doesn’t try to pull it away. “That wasn’t a call to action; that was dancing.”
“Dancing?” I shake my head.
“And an attempt to stay warm. It’s freezing here, and you’re like a furnace.”
“There’s a lot of cold nights in Vermont; you may want to rethink this.”
“I promised myself this wouldn’t be another one-bed situation for me.” She rocks back on her heels, still holding my hand. “I have to keep my options open. I’m a single college girl. I’m not planning on being wifed up. I wasted years of my life doing that.”
“Okay.” I nod, even though it’s not, but hey, I’m not about to force her hand this early in the game.
I let go of her hand and shove mine in my pockets. “When you get sick of the dating game and want something regular, let me know. But Nalani, once you and I’ve gone there, there’s no one else.”
She crosses her arms over the sweater that swallows her up. “The campus Cock isn’t what I’m looking for.”
“Cock is a nickname that—”
She barks out a laugh. “I’m sure it is.”
“That,” I speak over her, “my teammate gave me.”
“That doesn’t make it any better.” She continues to laugh.
“Replace the Cs with Ks and drop the last one,” I explain.
“What?” She shakes her head.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Nalani Kāne. K.O.K are my initials. Koa Olu Kelekolio—Cock.”
“That may be so, but when I asked my friend who you were, she said The Cock. It wasn’t in a K.O.K tone.” I start to object, but she holds up her hand. “No judgment. But I’ve sworn off football players.”
A smile creeps up my face. “Good to know.” I nod to the crowd. “Let me walk you back over.”
She looks me over again, and I notice the slight shake of her head. She’s clearly shocked.
Good.
After making sure Nalani’s back with her friends, I decide it’s time to relocate the party.
I head over to our team’s co-captain, Dash. “You ready to take this back to the house?”
“Yeah, man, of course.” He rubs his hands together. “Let’s roll.”
I lift my chin toward Nalani and her friends. “Those four need an invite. My name needs to be left out of it.”
“Little brunette?” he asks.
“She’s off limits.”
Chapter 3
Nalani
“I can’t believe we’re being invited to our first house party,” Sofia whispers as we walk out of the sorority house, following Lauren and Noelle.
“We’ve been to house parties,” I remind her.
“Not ones on Athlete Row.” I frown, and she relays, “It’s the hockey team, not football. You specifically said no football.”
“I’m losing on a technicality?” I ask.
“Good lesson to learn here and not in the court of law.” She giggles.
When Lauren and Noelle turn on flashlights, I stop.
“Pledge week’s over, right?” I ask because, although they didn’t haze hard, there were some shenanigans involving a scavenger hunt I don’t particularly want to relive.
Noelle laughs. “The hockey house is behind ours.”
“So convenient.” Lauren giggles.
Noelle looks back at us. “Which is code for Lauren’s sneaky link lives there.”
Lauren smacks her arm. “Really?”
Noelle giggles. “What? They’re our littles, our ride or dies; they’ll take it to the grave.”
Lauren turns, shining her flashlight right under her chin and making a deranged face. Sofia screams and jumps at me, causing me to spill my drink.
“Girl, relax.” I laugh as I help steady her.
Noelle throws her arm around Sofia and tries to keep a straight face. “You’re safe with us, babe. Mama’s got you.”
“I’m reliving past trauma here. This is no laughing matter.” Sofia pouts.
“Were you …?” Lauren asks with concern in her voice.
“No, no, no,” she replies. “I was eight when my cousins took me snipe hunting, and I’ll never be the same.”
“What’s a snipe?” Noelle asks.
Sofia begins, “It’s—”
“It’s a flightless bird,” Lauren quickly cuts her off, “nearly extinct, that’s worth a lot of money to, um … bird watchers who want to save the snipes.”
“Why do they want them hunted?” Noelle asks.
When I see Lauren and Sofia faltering, I decide to chime in with my knowledge of the very elusive snipe. “They’re trying to get them off the endangered species list by putting them in natural-ish environments that enhances the likelihood of them breeding.”
“We should do a fundraiser,” Noelle states.
“We most definitely should.” Lauren laughs as she lifts the latch to the gate and pushes it open.
Stepping in, I look up and see strings of lights hanging diagonally across the yard. Music plays softer than it does at the frat parties we’ve attended. I also notice there’s no beer pong table set up. Instead, there’s a massive Jenga puzzle, shuffleboard, and a giant chess game. There’s also an outdoor Tiki bar. On top of it is a giant rooster, with a sign around its neck that says, “KOK’s BAR.”
“What the hell?” I ask then hear a low chuckle from behind me. My spine straightens, the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and … my nipples stiffen.
“Aloha.”
I whirl around and place my hands on my hips. “What is going on here?”
He nods toward the bar, takes my hand, and pulls me behind him. “Let’s get you a drink.”
“Hey, Nalani,” one of the guys says as we pass by.
“Joel. He’s right wing,” Koa explains.
I swear I’m at a loss for words for the second time tonight.
“Welcome, Nalani,” the guy I saw Koa talking to after he deposited me back with the girls says.
“That’s Dash—team’s center and co-captain.”
“What the hell?” I mumble.
“What’s up, girl?” a guy with a girl on each leg asks.
“Hey, Nalani,” they say in unison.
“Tiny—he’s goalie. The girls? I haven’t got a clue.” Koa chuckles.
Gaping at them, I feel a tug at my hand.
“Watch your step.”
I glance down and step up onto the wooden platform.
“Have a seat. Let me make you a drink.” He pulls out a tall, wooden slatted chair with a cushion on it. As I sit, he walks around the bar.
“Why are you at the ice hockey house?” I ask, watching him set a paper plate on the bar, tear open a packet of instant hot cocoa, and pour it onto the plate.
“Got taken out my last game at Baldwin, lost my football scholarship to Texas.” He pulls a paper towel off the roll, dips it in a cup of something, and then rims a plastic martini glass.
“I’m sorry. That’s horrible but still doesn’t explain”—I wave my hand about—“this.”
“Academic scholarship that I turned down was offered back. I took it.” He pours vanilla vodka into a cup of ice, looks up, and winks at me. “And she’s thinking, all this and he’s smart, too.”
I was totally thinking that but shake my head. “Still not sold.”
He grabs a bottle of coffee liquor in one hand and chocolate liquor in another, tipping them both into the cup with ice and vanilla vodka. “Got into a pissing match with Dash over hogging the squat rack; ended up being friends. He dared me to try out for the team during walk-on tryouts.” He places an empty cup on top of the one filled with alcohol and shakes it before pouring it into the martini glass. “I made the team.”
He pushes the drink over to me as I stare at those deep dimples. Water pools in my mouth, because since he left me at the concert, all I’ve done is try not to think about him, like fully tried, and here he is again, all gorgeous and dimpled.
“What’s this?”
“Your favorite drink.” His lips quip.
“And what’s that?”
“Tall, dark, and handsome.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on the bar, fingers steepled. “Blond was never your color.”
Joey was blond.
“No?”
He’s so close and looking at me with obvious intent, but that’s not what’s causing my reservations to crumble.
Even before the summer his dad taught me how to surf, I knew who Koa was. The town he lives in—and my grandmother lives in—Kihei, embodies everything I love about my island. The sense of community, the strength of family, the way people help one another without expecting anything in return, but knowing they’ll receive it when needed. They don’t want to be paid for kindness because they don’t hold money above community. It’s vastly different than the way people who live in the bigger cities and tourist traps behave. I can honestly say I don’t think one friend I’ve ever had wanted to be my friend because of who I am as a person. It was all about who I was.
Koa’s different.
My grandmother was sick the summer before I learned to surf. When I visited and asked what I could do to help, Koa had already done things for her, like taking care of the landscaping and trimming the grass. But that wasn’t all. He brought her fresh flowers every few days when it was too difficult for her to go get them herself. I distinctly remember her mentioning he’d slept on her couch when there’d been a terrible storm and my mother couldn’t get to her.
He pushes off the bar and stands tall, so freaking tall. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
I shake my head and take a sip.
He lifts his chin. “Go find your first date.”
I nearly choke on my drink. Seconds ago, he was giving me not just hook-up vibes, but something more along the lines of what he’d offered before. Something steady. “Someone to keep me warm on cold nights.”
“At least make the effort to act out your bad girl bit.” He smirks.
I slide off my chair and hold up my glass. “When this is gone, you gonna make me another when I come back?”
“Of course I will.”
I slam the whole damn drink then set the glass on the bar and climb back in the chair.
Eyes dancing, he asks, “What can I get for you?”
“Something tall, dark, and handsome.”
Making me another, he asks, “You know what you’re getting into?”
“You’ve given me a pretty good idea.”
“Nalani, I gave you the entire blueprint.” He rims the glass. “You’re mine and no one else’s.” He glances up at me. “Don’t break my heart again.”
“I didn’t!” I protest.
He lifts a shoulder. “Not knowingly.” He pours the drink then slides a full glass back to me. “I’ll never break yours. I’ll protect it.”
I could tell him I’ve heard that before, but if I’m honest with myself, I haven’t. I just assumed that’s the way it went.
“You better.” I lean forward. “That’s the expectation when you get naked and share your body with someone.”
He shakes his head. “Not gonna lie to you. I’ve been naked and sweaty with a few women. None asked for that, and I never offered it to them. I’m offering it to you because it’s not just your body I want you to share with me. I want more.” He steps back. “Doesn’t work for you, at any time, you can tag out.”
“Same goes for you, but could you do so before you get naked and sweaty with someone else?”
“I’m not that guy.”
I look up at the sign and giggle. “You think they know that?”
“In my defense, I didn’t put that damn thing up.”
“Let me guess, one of your hookups did.”
He scrubs a hand over his insanely handsome face. “Actually, it was Tiny.”
Chapter 4
Koa
Sitting under the stars with a drunk Nalani on my lap, she’s giving me kiss-me eyes … again.
“Ku’uipo, I’m not kissing you for the first time and end up being the only one who remembers it.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“I’ve got an idea.” I brush her hair away from her eyes.
“Yeah?”
I whisper in her ear, “Been dreaming about your lips for years.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a tease?” she asks.
“Nope,” I answer her honestly, giving her what I expect back.
She eyes me suspiciously.
“Ask me anything; you’ll get the truth. You need to do that, and I understand. I can tell you over and over I’m not him, and I will if that’s what you need. But I’m gonna do more than that. I’m gonna show you.”
“I’m not putting that on you. It’s not your responsibility to fix what he broke in me.”
“You say that like it’s a burden.” I shake my head. “It’s not. It’s a fucking privilege.”
She licks her lips and looks at mine. “You keep saying these things and expect me not to want to kiss you?” She curls up to a seated position. “I should head back, because the longer I sit on you”—she wiggles her ass against my semi—“the more I’m going to want more than a kiss.”
“You’re staying here tonight.”
“Really?” She acts like I’m kidding.
“Gonna wake up with you in my bed, in my arms, kiss you, and—”
“You won’t kiss me when I’m drunk for the first time”—she holds up her hand when I start to explain why again—“don’t you even try kissing me before I brush my teeth.”
Holding back a laugh, I watch as she stands up and holds out her hand. “You’re staying with me tonight because my toothbrush is not here.”
I stand and take both her hands, walking backward toward the French doors of the house. “I have extras and no roommates in my room.”
“Extras, huh?” she asks.
“Mom sends them in bulk.” I step back across the threshold. “She’s a dental hygienist. The answer to the question you’re not asking but want to”—I swoop her up—“no hook-up has ever stayed the night with me.”
“Them’s the rules,” Dash says as we walk past him and Lauren in the kitchen. “They’re not yours, they don’t stay.”
I watch Lauren cross her arms and stick her nose in the air.
“Lauren, you think you can get Sofia back to her and Nalani’s dorm?” I ask as we hit the bottom of the stairs.
“Sure thing,” she answers.
“Why isn’t Dash committing?” Nalani asks.
“It’s not Dash.” I climb the stairs.
“Oh, wow.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You were hell-bent on playing the field, too.”
She yawns. “Her prerogative.”
“It is.” I walk us into my room, kicking the door shut behind us, then move and set her on my bed. “You are so beautiful, ku’uipo.”
“You, too.” She smiles and begins looking around. “Your room’s so big and clean.”
“The dorms suck.” I head over to the closet and grab her a shirt to sleep in. “Move into KET next semester.”
“That’s the plan.” She stands up and pulls off the sweater I helped her put on.
Then your sophomore year, move in with me, is what I’d like to say, but she’d think it’s a bit premature.
When she lifts her shirt over her head, I freeze. She looks at me as she unbuttons her jeans and shimmies them down.
Fuck.
Bending, she picks up her clothes and walks over to drape them over the chair. “My swimsuits are skimpier than this.”
“That may be true, but you in red lace, in my bedroom …” I make a hand gesture. “Mind blown.”
“Mind blown, huh?” She mimics my movement.
“The realization that my imagination is shit has me second-guessing myself. Beautiful doesn’t even come close to describing you.”
She takes the tee-shirt and pulls it over her head. It swallows her up. Only then do I step forward and help her pull her long, thick, jet-black braids from the collar.
She swallows hard and asks, “Do you have a hair tie?”
I take her hand. “Right this way.”
We walk out of my room, just as Tiny and the two chicks he’s been playing with for the past week crest the stairs.
“You two have a great night.” He winks as they walk by and down the hall.
“Back at you,” Nalani calls to them as we cross the hall and into the bathroom.
Looking around, she states, “This is clean, too.”
“Secret?” I squat down and open the cupboard, pulling out my bathroom tote.
“Tell me all of them.” She smiles as I hand her an unopened toothbrush.
“The four of us chip in and have someone clean the bathrooms and kitchen once a week.” I stand and open the medicine cabinet, grab the paste, my brush, and two hair ties. “Another secret: I can’t sleep with my hair down, so …” I pull my hair up into a bun then move to gather her braids and place them into a ponytail.
