The Man Cave Collection: Manservant, Man Flu, Man Handler, and Man Buns

by Ryan, Shari J.

  Breathe. I almost forgot to breathe. I’m not sure I’ve been asked out on a date before. I didn’t even know whether people went through the motions of asking others out on dates anymore. I guess I assumed things just happen. People randomly meet and fall in love, and blah, blah, blah. “Are you asking me—”

  “Out on a date?” he finishes my question for me.

  “Yes,” I respond.

  “Yes, as in you’ll go with me, or yes as in you wanted to know if I’m asking you out on a date?”

  “I’m confused now,” I tell him, but I’m not really confused. I’m buying myself time. I’m just not sure why I’m procrastinating. Yes, I am. He’s like a stripper, and it would be like diving into the shallow end. Something like that.

  “Kai, will you go out on a date with me tonight?” He clarifies the confusion I wasn’t quite experiencing, ultimately asking me a direct question I can’t shoo off.

  “I—um, Denver, I’ve never really been into the dating scene,” I tell him. I lean forward, cupping my hand over my mouth because I’m feeling embarrassed about my lack of social skills.

  “What do you mean? You don’t date, or are you a proudly proclaimed cat lady? I’m not sure I understand.”

  “I’ve never been out on an actual date before.” Why am I telling him this? It’s really embarrassing, and he doesn’t need to know. I can feel my face getting red.

  “No one has taken you out on a date—ever?” He does seem taken aback by my statement, as would I if someone was telling me this.

  I nod my head but force a smile at the same time, probably confusing him. “I never gave it much thought, really. I’ve been busy. There’s never really time, and life skates by, you know?”

  Denver folds an arm over his chest, rests his opposite arm on top, and reaches up to his chin, scratching at it in thought. “I don’t usually like to say this stuff because it makes me sound a little arrogant, but I don’t have enough fingers on my hands to count the reasons I shouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now. War ... it’s something that will take all the fun out of life if you let it, but I wouldn’t let it. Instead, I told my memories and thoughts to screw off because I wasn’t going to waste a second after I got home, and I kept that promise to myself. I can only speak on my behalf here, but we all have our shit. We all have pasts that built our present, but don’t let yours dictate the future. You don’t have to go out with me or any other schmuck out there, but don’t say there’s no time. We make time for chances of happiness. Otherwise, life would be boring as hell.”

  I let each of his words soak into my mind, allowing them to saturate and expand, understanding precisely what he’s saying and what I’ve been avoiding. Happiness. I’ve told myself I’m not worthy of the emotion if Mom and Dad can’t experience it anymore. I don’t just think that thought all the time. I live it. I breathe it. It’s become my mantra—my way of life.

  “I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant to be a guilt trip. If you don’t want to go out with me, I get it. I’m loaded with heavy baggage, and you probably call me a stripper behind my back, so—” He salutes me and taps the chair I’m sitting on. “I’ll catch you a little later. Eventually, I’m going to have a place to live and won’t be bugging you anymore anyway.” He laughs as he walks away, and I’m stunned, gawking at his back with my mouth ajar. How come I can’t say anything? I want to stop him, so I can agree to go out with him tonight. He’s made me feel. Just feel. I don’t know the specifics of exactly what I feel because the last time I had a crush on a guy was when I was seventeen and in high school. It feels like a lifetime ago.

  “Denver!” A shout erupts from my mouth, and I startle myself, it was so loud. Except, he doesn’t hear me.

  I jump down from my elevated, wooden chair, and—

  My sandal gets caught on the support beam below me, forcing me to tumble forward and fall head first into the pool, but not without scratching the side of my face on the ledge first. Blood clouds around me, and I panic, wondering what I’ve done to myself. I gasped from shock on the way into the water, and I’m spinning in circles while trying to figure out which way is up and out.

  An arm lurches around my body, and fresh air greets my waterlogged lungs. I hear my name being shouted from every direction around me, and though my eyes are opening, everything is still spinning. Did I break my neck? Whoever is holding me needs to put me down, but I can’t talk.

  Hands press against my sternum a few times, pushing the water out of my lungs, and I cough up what was keeping me from breathing. Then a hand rests gently against my forehead. “It’s okay, okay. You’re okay.”

  “I’m fine,” I choke out.

  “Nope. You got to stay still for a minute.”

  It’s Denver who’s telling me what’s what. “I’m okay,” I say again.

  “Can someone get a first aid kit?” he says.

  “Denver, I’m fine,” I tell him again.

  “Hey,” he says, looking at me. “Yes, you’re fine, but I want to get that cut cleaned up, okay?”

  “You’re not a lifeguard,” I argue.

  “No, I’m not, but I know how to clean up a wound.”

  Lea comes running over with the first aid kit. “Is she okay? What happened?”

  “She just tripped. I think she fell for me,” Denver answers for me, sounding matter-of-fact.

  How did he see what happened? I was about to chase after him, and he couldn’t even hear me.

  A burn sears through my forehead as Denver places pressure on it. “Just cleaning up the cut on your forehead.”

  “Do I need stitches?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I need to clean it up first.”

  “Then there was the time that lifeguard needed to be saved from drowning,” Lea says, jokingly.

  “You’re not funny,” I tell her.

  “I think you lucked out. It’s superficial. I’m going to put a butterfly stitch on it, and you’ll be good to go.”

  I close my eyes, trying to remove myself from the embarrassment, but lately, it’s like I’m being followed by humiliation.

  Denver’s hands move and cup around the back of my neck. “Does this hurt?” he asks as he presses down on a couple of places.

  “No,” I say softly.

  “How about this?” He twists my head slowly to each side.

  “No.”

  “I’m going to help you slowly sit up. Tell me if you feel any pain.” Denver helps me up, and thankfully, I don’t feel anything wrong.

  “No pain,” I tell him.

  “Show’s over, everyone,” he roars. “Let’s give her a minute.”

  The guests clear out, and Lea leans over to kiss my head before scratching her fingernails through my hair. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “I got her,” Denver assures Lea. Of course, Lea smiles and nearly skips off, back to the cabana hut.

  “That was my fault,” he says.

  “No, it was mine. I tripped,” I tell him. “How would that be your fault?”

  “I heard you yell for me, but I was giving you a hard time.”

  I scoff and slap the back of my hand against his chest. “Look what you did to me!” I say jokingly, but he doesn’t laugh in response. He looks incredibly guilty.

  “Seriously, I didn’t think you’d even get up. I was going to come back. I don’t give up that easily.”

  “I should have figured,” I tell him. “Thanks for yanking me out of the water. I never thought I’d need to be lifeguarded, but life is just full of surprises, isn’t it?”

  “I think that’s a fair statement. So, what were you tripping to tell me?”

  I give him a long glare before opening my mouth to respond. “Just so you know— you’re not, in fact, funny, at all.”

  “I’m a little funny.”

  “I was going to accept your offer.”

  “What offer?” he asks, toying with me.

  “About tonight.”

 
“What was tonight?”

  “I just hit my head,” I argue.

  “You scratched your head and swallowed water.”

  “Way to underplay the trauma I just endured.”

  “Way to be dramatic,” he continues.

  “Tonight, Denver. The date you asked me on.”

  “I asked you on a date? Didn’t you ask me on a date?”

  “I’m about to say never mind,” I tell him.

  “I’ll pick you up at six.”

  “We’ll miss the sunset,” I tell him.

  “What time do you get off work?”

  “Four. I can be ready here by four-thirty. I have a change of clothes.”

  “Fine. I’m looking forward to our date that you asked me on,” he says.

  I roll my eyes and push myself up to get back to work, but he jumps up first and helps me up the rest of the way. “Thank you, Denver.”

  “You know ... is there a chance you’ve gone on dates but were confused about them and thought they were just long walks on the beach, or something?” He grins and pulls his sunglasses off his head, covering his sun-filled, turquoise eyes.

  “Oh—maybe I was confused. In fact, maybe I got married and didn’t realize it. I could even have a handful of kids too. Why is it so hard to keep up with?” I jest.

  “Trust me, it’s hard to figure out how it all happens sometimes.”

  Our conversation goes from a joke to ... is he serious … very quickly, and he leaves on that odd note.

  13

  Denver

  I’m not sure Kai realizes I’ve been living at the hotel this past week, but the topic hasn’t come up in our passing one-liners, or earlier today when she fell for me—ha—at least I think I’m funny.

  “Why are you leaving?” Aya asks. “I thought you didn’t have to work tonight.”

  I have spent every moment with Aya in the last week, as I intend to do while I’m not working this summer. Over the last few years, I’ve had to balance my level of guilt between working and trying to be human and have a tiny bit of a social life, but the balance hasn’t worked out so well. I’ve put Aya ahead of everything in my life, but I think it’s okay to take a little bit of time for myself, though I’ll probably feel guilty all night. “I need to do adult stuff tonight, baby. Tomorrow, it’s you and me all day though, I promise, so you better think of something fun for us to do.”

  “Fine,” she groans.

  “Mrs. Hale, are you sure this is okay with you?”

  “Denver, I know what you’re doing tonight, and I fully support your desire to be a happy man.”

  I offer her a small smile and place my hand on her shoulder to kiss her on the cheek. Mrs. Hale never fails to treat me like family, and I try to make sure she knows I recognize that. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for letting me share your precious Aya. She makes me feel young again.”

  I know Aya enjoys her time with Mrs. Hale, but I’m willing to bet she might be getting bored spending so much time with an older woman who enjoys knitting and TV. Therefore, the guilt holds me hostage.

  “I love you, Aya. Go to bed when you’re supposed to,” I tell her, pointing at her to highlight my seriousness.

  She rolls her eyes at me like she’s been doing far too often lately, but I’ve learned to ignore it, hoping it’ll fade away, rather than carrying on into her tween years. One can hope.

  I head out the door and downstairs to the lobby where I’m meeting Kai. It’s empty at the moment, and I don’t see her anywhere, so I take a seat on the bench in front of the lobby’s koi pond.

  Maybe I shouldn’t be dating so soon after arriving here. I’m not even settled with a place to live yet, and I’m diving in headfirst with a woman I fell for way too quickly. Maybe I’m like a bat out of hell after leaving the base. Options were limited, and most women were married where I was. I go back and forth in a debate with myself on remaining single and focusing solely on Aya, but she’s begging for a different kind of life and really wants a mother figure around, so I’m stuck figuring out what’s best for both of us while trying not to hurt either of us. It’s hard shit.

  “You have clothes on,” I hear.

  Running through the reasons Kai would say something like that, I realize every time I’ve seen her, I’ve been shirtless at the pool, or basically naked at work. The only other time I was fully dressed, she was too drunk to drive. I stand up to greet the Hawaiian beauty, mesmerized by everything about her and trying to find the right words to just respond. “I thought the occasion was appropriate, plus I heard it gets cold at the peak.”

  “It’s a good thing you heard that. Wouldn’t want you running around a volcano in your underwear.”

  “Your jokes could use a little work,” I tell her.

  “Your appreciation for humor could also use a little work,” she fires back.

  “Touché.”

  She’s had her arms tangled around her body, seeming uncomfortable, but as the jokes commence, she begins to relax. She unwinds her arms, revealing a skin-tight pair of torn jeans and an off-the-shoulder floral top. “You look beautiful, as always.” I pull a hibiscus flower out from behind me and place it gently into her hair. She doesn’t say anything but bites down on her bottom lip as her cheeks burn with a reddish tint. I place my hand on her back. “Ready?”

  I lead Kai to my truck that I had detailed this morning, hoping tonight would work out as I planned. “Do you know your way to the trail?” she asks.

  “Sure do. You can sit back and relax while you accompany me on this trip I’ve been excited for since I started researching Maui a few months back.”

  Kai is very quiet and lost in thought as we make our way up the twisting roads that elevate us higher and higher to the volcano’s peak. “It’s a beautiful ride,” she says.

  “I’d look over at you and agree, but I’m trying to keep us away from the ledge. It looks a bit unforgiving,” I laugh.

  “Yeah, don’t look at me until we reach the top,” she says.

  “Is that why you’ve been quiet?”

  “A passenger should always be quiet when riding up Mt. Haleakala or heading down the road to Hana.”

  “What’s Hana?” I ask.

  “A scarier ride but more beautiful sights. I need to have a lot more faith in your driving skills before we make that type of commitment,” she tells me.

  Now I just want to go just for the sake of seeing what the hell she’s talking about. “I’ve never experienced a scary drive in this country, but you’ve got me curious now.”

  “Shh,” she says.

  It’s been over an hour of driving up the mountain. While I read that it could take up to ninety minutes, I didn’t think that would be the case, but the speed limit isn’t exactly optional if you want to live, so it makes sense now.

  Twenty more minutes of quiet pass, mixed with the hushed breeze floating in through the window, when I finally see signs for sightseeing and parking. Kai sighs with what sounds like relief when I pull into the parking lot. “You’re a good driver. I’ll give you that,” she says.

  “Eh, it was nothing.” I feel a little drunk from all the winding roads, but I’m sure I’ll be fine once we start walking around. “Have you been up here a lot?”

  “No, actually. I went up with my parents on a few occasions, but since they—it’s been about twelve years or so.” I want to tell her to finish her first sentence, but I won’t push. I know there’s more to her story, and I’m curious and intrigued, but prying isn’t my forte.

  She hops out of the truck before I have a chance to make my way around to her, so I meet her in the middle and take her hand without a thought. It feels like a natural gesture when I’m with her, and she doesn’t fight me on it, which feels even better.

  “I know you had to think about tonight, but I’m kind of glad you didn’t play the whole ‘hard-to-get’ game with me. I hate when women do that.”

  “Women play hard to get with you?”

  I’m di
gging a hole, and it’s probably one I’ll have a hard time climbing out of afterward. “Maybe I worded that wrong. I’m kind of an upfront, no filter type of guy, and it’s nice finding that kind of reciprocation in a person.”

  “Ah,” she says coyly, as if she’s calling my bluff.

  “So, I know you have a sister who you like to watch after. I know you lifeguard and teach hula dancing lessons, and you don’t like the bar scene much. Can I try to place other pieces of your puzzle together, and then you can tell me if I’m hot or cold?”

  “Do you do that a lot?” she asks.

  “What? Try to figure people out without hearing it from their mouths? Yes. It’s fun.”

  “I do that, but not with people I intend to spend time with. More like with guests at the hotel. I make up their stories when the hours get too long.”

  “Well, that helps me a lot actually. I’ll add creative to your list of features.”

  “Okay, smarty, what else?” Kai flips her long hair off her shoulders and twists it around, bringing it to one side. We walk in the direction the arrows are pointing us in, and I feel a little lost in thought as I try to piece her together.

  “You’re a strong woman who doesn’t like to follow others around … a slight feminist, but accepting of equality. You put effort into your appearance but don’t put a lot of thought into what others might think about you. I don’t think you intend to spend your life as a lifeguard, but you haven’t figured out how to take the path you’re trying to find yet, and with your sister suddenly switching gears in life, you’re a bit lonely. You’ve lived here on this island your whole life, and you’re not sure if this is your last stop, or if life is suddenly going to shift ninety-degrees and take you in a completely different direction, but the unknown scares you.” I exhale loudly. “Phew. How was that?”

  She’s looking at me, a bit dazed and glassy-eyed. “How did you do that?”