“That’s your friend from the airport,” Lou said, pointing at Declan as the contestants lined up.
“Yeah. Looks like he got the bad luck to be in the first heat.” Keoni pointed to the numbered jerseys the contestants wore. Declan’s was number five. “He knows the waves better than any of these guys. Keep your eyes on him.”
“Okay,” Lou said, coming up to her toes to see over the crowd.
Keoni commented on the contest, telling Lou how the judges scored the riders: “It’s all about wave selection.”
Declan surfed well, catching better rides than the others. He was a seasoned competitor. From the age of seventeen, he’d been competing around the world. Declan knew what the judges were looking for, and he gave it to them.
“Your friend is pretty good,” Lou said.
Keoni nodded. Declan was doing everything right. He was snapping and going straight off the lip, and he got barreled at the end of the heat.
“Why weren’t you invited?” Lou asked.
Keoni shrugged. “They must have lost my address.”
“You’re better than any of these guys.”
Keoni tilted his head toward Lou but didn’t take his eyes off the waves. “You think so?”
“I don’t know surfing,” Lou said. “But my gut tells me there isn’t anyone as good as you. You’re the best, Keoni.”
“Thanks, eh?”
“You’re welcome, eh?”
Keoni laughed at Lou’s impression of his accent. He had the sudden urge to take her in his arms and kiss her, right there in front of everyone. He resisted and turned his attention back to the contest.
The second heat started, but no one looked as good as Declan, who’d been on fire.
Declan sailed through the preliminaries and the quarters, then the semis. He’s going to win, Keoni realized with sudden certainty. Declan was going to win.
Keoni’s chest puffed with pride for his childhood friend. Declan had won plenty of contests in his surfing career, but winning the Duke was like winning a gold medal at the Olympics.
“Geev’um, Declan!” Keoni yelled, holding up his fist in the shaka sign. “Geev’um da lights!”
Declan’s head came up when he heard the Pidgin expression, and he beamed at Keoni.
When the contest was over, the judges took their time tallying the scores, but in Keoni’s mind, it was clear who had won. There may have been a few surfers who caught better individual waves, but Declan had shown them all up by picking the best waves of every set.
The judges took the stage and tapped the microphone to get everyone’s attention.
“Third place belongs to Bobby Carter, and second place goes to James Johnson,” the director said, then paused dramatically. “Let’s give a cheer for the winner, Hawaii’s own Declan Bishop!”
Keoni stood back and watched his childhood friend climb up on the winner’s podium. Declan was showered with champagne, and bikini-clad girls presented him with leis.
When the directors handed Declan the microphone, he said, “I would like to dedicate this win to my brother, Eddie Alvarez.” Then, after a pause, he continued. “And to my man, Keoni Makai, who would be standing in this spot right now if he would have been invited.”
Declan pointed to Keoni in the crowd, and everyone turned to look at him. Keoni raised his hand in the shaka sign, and the crowd began to chant his name.
The directors looked at each other, shifting uncomfortably on the stage. After Declan’s speech, it would be impossible to ignore Keoni in the future.
Breaking the Rules
Keoni
* * *
The party started on the beach after the winners were announced. There was beer and swipe, the potent homemade liquor born in the islands, music, and dancing. The beach was swamped with people. It was nearing midnight, and the party didn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.
Keoni was unusually quiet. For once he wasn’t telling Lou stories, or making her laugh. Everyone was begging him to play guitar, but he couldn’t be persuaded.
“Are you okay?” Lou asked.
“Not really,” he said.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, drawing him away from the buzz of conversation. It was so loud near the stage that she had to shout. “You don’t want to play?” she asked in a softer voice once they were a better distance away.
“The music isn’t in me tonight,” he said, glancing back at the stage.
Lou followed his eyes to see Declan dancing on the stage, surrounded by adoring female fans.
“That’s too bad,” Lou said. “I wanted to hear you play one more time before I left.”
“Sorry,” he said, staring off into the waves. “I just don’t feel like it.”
“Is it the contest?”
“No,” he said.
“Is it Eddie?”
Keoni went very still. He couldn’t bring himself to talk about Eddie, not even with her.
Lou blew out a frustrated breath. “You should take your own advice, Keoni,” she said.
He felt the color draining from his face, but he still didn’t answer.
“You’re trying so hard to blame yourself for something that had nothing to do with you. You need to let go.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“I watched you before the contest. I saw that look on your face. You know the one.”
Keoni knew.
“And then Declan’s dedication…” she continued. She put her hand on his arm. “Is this where it happened?” she plowed on. “Is this where he died?”
Keoni’s breath caught in his throat. He felt like something heavy was sitting on his chest, and he couldn’t breathe.
“You didn’t kill him,” Lou said in a quiet voice that he could hardly hear over the distant noise of the party and the crashing waves.
“I didn’t save him,” Keoni said, feeling the first tear slide down his cheek.
He turned his back and swiped a hand under his eye, embarrassed to be crying in front of her.
Lou wasn’t ready to give up. She stepped around him so that they were face-to-face. Her eyes glittered with tears.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she said.
Reaching up, she brushed the tear from his cheek, just as another leaked out.
“I wanted to come here,” Keoni said, anger making his voice sound like a petulant child. “I made him come. If I would have listened to him, he would still be alive.”
“Do you really believe that?” Lou asked in a shaky voice. “Do you think you’re that powerful? That you control who lives and dies?” she asked.
He shook his head. His throat was clogged with tears, and he couldn’t answer.
“It wasn’t you who killed Eddie,” she said. “It’s damned egotistical of you to think so.”
Keoni went as still as a statue, shocked by her words. He’d never thought of it like that before.
“You have to let go of your pain,” she said, touching his chest right above his heart. “It’s the only way you can heal.”
Keoni flinched, his muscles going stiff under her soft touch. What if he didn’t want to heal? What if he liked his pain and guilt?
Lou poked Keoni in the chest. “You want to be miserable your whole life, blaming yourself for something you couldn’t help?”
Keoni watched the tears spill down Lou’s cheeks, and he felt like she was stabbing him in the heart. He couldn’t stand to see her cry.
“What about Kimo, and John, and all those other boys in Vietnam?” she asked, crying freely now. “Are you responsible for their lives, too?”
Keoni couldn’t take it any longer. He pulled Lou against his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her trembling body. They clung to each other, both of them crying openly.
Keoni knew he wasn’t supposed to cry. He was the descendant of mighty warriors and ruthless chiefs. He was supposed to be strong. Crying was weak.
But the tears wouldn’t stop. After two years
of being repressed, once started the tears wouldn’t end.
Keoni cried. He cried for Eddie, and for the children he would never make. He cried for Kimo, and John, and all those other poor boys fighting a war that made no sense. He cried for Lou, because he wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
He slid his hands into her soft hair, memorizing the feel of her body against his. Would he ever want a woman as much as he wanted Lou?
His tears stopped as a wave of passion filled him. He could feel the soft curve of her breasts pressed against his chest, and his body betrayed him. He felt himself stiffen against her belly, and he started to pull away. Lou pressed closer, evidently liking the feel of him. She lifted her face to his, and their mouths found each other.
Unlike the first time they’d kissed, this kiss didn’t start out slow. It was hot and hungry. Their mouths opened. Their tongues explored. Their teeth bit.
Lou ground her belly against Keoni’s hips, pressing painfully into his erection. He slid his hands through her hair and held her still while he sucked her tongue into his mouth.
When they came up for air, they were both panting.
His mouth traced a path of kisses along her jaw to her neck. His hand was fisted in her hair, preventing Lou from moving as he feasted on her neck. When he got to her ear, he bit her earlobe and licked the sensitive skin behind her ear.
“Come home with me,” he whispered.
Lou shivered in his arms, and for a moment Keoni’s heart stopped. He was sure she was going to say no. It made no sense to do this now. They had resisted each other for nearly two weeks, and this was their last night. They should just let it go, say goodbye, forget each other.
“Yes,” she said.
The steadiness in her voice was enough to convince Keoni to let go of his doubts.
He pulled back enough so that he could see her eyes. They were brilliant in the moonlight, shining like turquoise gems.
“If I take you home, I’m going to make you mine,” he warned.
“You better,” Lou said.
Keoni’s mouth quirked into a smile, and he grabbed her hand, tugging her along the beach toward his car.
“Wait,” Lou said.
Keoni’s heart stopped. Had she already changed her mind?
“I have to tell Penny where I’m going. She’ll worry.”
“K’den,” Keoni agreed. “Hurry.”
“Don’t let go,” Lou said, clinging to his hand. “I don’t want to lose you.”
His heart lurched at her words. He didn’t want to lose her either. But their time together would be brief, and losing each other was inevitable.
They hurried up the beach to the crowd surrounding the stage, and finally found Bones and Penny sitting together.
Keoni had a bad feeling when he saw them. Their heads were close together, but they weren’t speaking. Keoni knew in his bones that his cousin was going to cut Penny loose tonight. The promises of marriage were coming to an end.
“Penny?” Lou asked. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Penny stood up, and the two girls walked off together. “What’s going on?” Keoni asked Bones when they were out of earshot.
“Nothing.”
“You dumping her?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Awrite.” Keoni looked over at Lou and Penny and sighed. “Lou’s coming to my house tonight,” he said.
“You serious?”
“Yeah.”
“Stupid move, brah,” Bones said, standing up. “You’re breaking your rule.”
“Shut up about my rule,” Keoni said, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. “It’s my fucking rule. I made it. I can break it.”
“Sure. I get it.” Bones raised his hands in the air in surrender. “Don’t go falling in love or any of that shit, eh?”
“K’den.”
“And don’t be late tomorrow. Be at Henry’s at 6:00 a.m.”
“That’s early,” Keoni complained.
“I want to get it done. Looks like a storm might be coming through.”
“K’den.”
Bones gave him a stern look. Keoni thought he was going to start in about Lou again, but he kept silent. Keoni told Bones goodbye and went to wait for Lou at his car.
A Night Without Scars
Lou
* * *
Lou and Keoni were quiet on the drive from Sunset Beach to Hale’iwa.
Lou tried not to think about the future or all the reasons she shouldn’t be with Keoni, but it was proving impossible.
She barely knew him.
She was leaving the next day.
One night with him was never going to be enough.
Then there was the biggest reason, the one that had loomed over her attraction to Keoni the entire trip: Paul.
Keoni reached over and took her hand, lacing their fingers together. When they touched, the reasons she shouldn’t be with Keoni were hard to remember. When they touched, everything was perfect.
Lou squeezed Keoni’s fingers, and he took his eyes off the road for a second to look at her. His glance was scorching hot, promising more of the passion that threatened to explode between them.
The road stretched on for miles, weaving between the tall cliffs of the mountains and the cascading waves of the Pacific Ocean. Finally, they came upon a sleepy town with one stoplight and a gas station. Keoni turned onto a street lined with tiny colorful houses. Surfboards, boats, and canoes lay strewn across the small front yards.
Keoni pulled to a stop in the driveway of a green cottage with a wide front porch. He stopped the car and turned to Lou.
“This is it,” he said, suddenly sounding shy.
Lou’s heart twisted as she looked at Keoni. He was pure and unspoiled, like the rugged Hawaiian landscape.
His lips touched her cheek, and his hand cupped her neck, pulling her closer. Lou shivered with anticipation. Suddenly the car felt too small and warm.
“Keoni?”
“Yeah?”
“I have a whole list of reasons why I can’t be with you,” Lou confessed.
“K’den,” Keoni said, looking down at gear shift between them.
“The problem is: when I’m with you, I can’t remember any of them.”
Lou reached up and cupped his jaw in her hand. His beard was soft under her fingers.
He raised his eyes to look at her. His mouth was stern, almost frowning, and his eyes were hard.
“What is it?” she asked, suddenly scared he’d changed his mind.
His dark eyes pierced hers, and he lifted his hand to cup her cheek, drawing her closer.
“I don’t want you to think this is something I do regular, eh?” he said.
“It’s okay. I have no right to judge,” Lou said.
“Try listen,” he said. He blinked and looked down, and Lou knew he was gathering his courage. “I don’t do this,” he said. “I don’t bring girls here. Ever.”
Lou’s eyebrows lifted, and she stared at Keoni. She hadn’t given much consideration to Keoni’s past lovers. She had assumed from his popularity that he had a lot them, but now she was considering otherwise.
The seriousness of their situation wasn’t lost on Lou. Keoni was inviting her into his house, and letting her know exactly what that meant. Keoni was letting Lou see a side of him he didn’t often share.
She drew in a deep breath and looked away from Keoni, letting her gaze drift over the house. The porch was broad and welcoming, stretching all the way across the front of the house. The wood was painted a cheerful white that contrasted with the deep green of the front door. Flowers burst from baskets hanging from the porch railings and bloomed in the bushes. The man who lived there had painted the wood and planted the flowers. He was a family man, a local celebrity, and a hero. He was a complex man with more sides to his personality than Lou could ever know in a short trip.
Lou’s eyes found Keoni’s again, and she nodded. She understood.
They got o
ut of the car and went into the house. Keoni stopped Lou inside the door and knelt down at her feet. She felt the rough slide of his fingers untying the silk ribbons of her sandals.
A shiver of longing raced up Lou’s spine as she looked down at Keoni’s dark head bent over her feet. He glanced up at her as he slid the shoe from her foot, and the shiver up her spine exploded.
If he looked at her like that for much longer, they weren’t going to make it to the bedroom. The thought sobered her, and she remembered that she was about to have sex with a man she’d just met. She was going to cheat on her boyfriend of two years with a man she had no hopes of ever seeing again.
The warning bell in Lou’s head was silenced as Keoni ran a rough fingertip over the instep of her foot. Lou’s knees weakened as a spark of pleasure raced from her toes all the way to her belly.
Keoni undid her other shoe, stood up, and kicked off his own. He took her into his arms and kissed her. He seemed so much taller now that she was barefoot. She had to tilt her face up, and he had to bend down.
Lou came up on her toes, desperate to get closer.
But it was Keoni who set the pace. He ran his hands over her shoulders and down her back, molding their bodies together. He kissed her with a tenderness that made her ache.
A fire built in Lou’s belly as Keoni shifted his mouth to her jaw and kissed a path to her ear. Lou grew impatient and yanked Keoni closer. He stiffened, and she remembered his injured ribs and the ring of dark bruises that circled his abdomen.
“Sorry,” she said, running her hands lightly down his chest.
He pulled her closer. “It’s awrite.” Smiling down into her eyes, he took her hand and led her through the living room. “Come see why I picked this house,” he said.
Lou was disappointed that he’d ended the kiss. Was he trying to drive her crazy? They only had one night, and he wanted to give her a tour of his house?
But Keoni was determined not to rush. He tugged her to his side, squeezing her hand and chuckling as if sensing her frustration. “Come look,” he said. “You’ll wish you had your camera.”
Try Easy: A Slow-Burn Vacation Fling Love Story (Aloha Series Book 1) Page 12