Try Easy: A Slow-Burn Vacation Fling Love Story (Aloha Series Book 1)

by Jill Brashear

  Ryla opened the door to Bones’s old bedroom and pulled Keoni inside. “Take a breath,” she said. “Sit in here for a minute.”

  Keoni went into the room that Bones’s younger brothers now shared. The room brought back memories of Bones as a child. They had been kids when Keoni’s parents had moved their family back to Oahu from Maui. Keoni and Bones had been instant best friends and partners in crime. Keoni had spent as much time in this room as a kid as he had his own.

  The posters on the wall were different, and the trophies lining the shelf were for baseball and track instead of football, but the room still looked the same. It was crammed with furniture and sports equipment. A bunk bed lined one wall, and a single bed was shoved against the window on the other side of the room.

  Keoni sank down on the single bed, letting the mattress take the burden of his weight. He sighed and leaned his head into his hands, feeling the prick of tears behind his eyes.

  Ryla sat down beside him, and Keoni blinked back the tears. She handed him her cup of swipe, and they passed it back and forth between them.

  “Why are you so upset?” Ryla asked after a long moment. “Everything turned out okay,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Keoni said, taking another sip.

  “I know what’s eating you,” she said.

  “Yeah?” Keoni asked. Did she know about Lou?

  “It’s not your fault,” she said. “Eddie’s death was an accident.”

  “I know,” Keoni said, for once relieved that she was talking about Eddie. It would have been worse to talk about Lou. The pain of losing her was still too fresh, whereas the pain of losing Eddie was old and familiar.

  Ryla passed him the nearly empty cup. “You drunk yet?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Me, too,” she said, giggling. “Now I have the courage to do this.”

  She leaned forward and kissed Keoni on the cheek, leaving a smear of red lipstick.

  “What was that for?” he asked.

  Ryla took another gulp of swipe and swallowed it down. “I just wanted to see what it was like to kiss you.”

  “Ryla,” Keoni warned.

  Shaking his head, he pushed up from the bed and paced the short distance to the door. He turned around to tell her wasn’t interested, but the way she was looking at him arrested his words. The day had been too full of emotion, he couldn’t hurt Ryla.

  She sat on the bed, looking vulnerable as she stared up at him. Her eyes were huge and dark, made up to look smoky and dramatic for the stage, but there was an innocence in them that touched his heart. She was gazing up at him adoringly, and Keoni searched for a way to tell her that they could never be more than friends.

  Ryla leaned forward to place the cup on the floor, and Keoni glimpsed down her dress. He wasn’t too drunk to respond to the display of her tanned flesh. His heart sped up, and the blood rushed to his crotch.

  He looked away and put his hand on the door to leave.

  Ryla stood up from the bed and walked toward him. “Don’t tell me you never thought about it before, Keoni,” she said, smiling up at him. “You and me? We’re perfect together.”

  “You’re too young,” Keoni protested.

  Stopping in front of him, she raised her chin defiantly. “I’m nineteen,” she said. “I’ve been up on a stage half my life. I was never young.”

  Keoni remembered the rumors about Ryla Aikau. They said she was a descendant of the goddess Pele. With her long mane of dark hair, bronze skin, and sensual mouth, Ryla looked a lot like the drawings of the fiery goddess of volcanoes. And she sang with a voice that was blessed by the gods, like the mysterious sirens of the sea.

  Ryla was beautiful and sexy, but Keoni had never thought of her as anything other than a kid. The way she was looking at him now, she didn’t seem like a kid.

  She was standing so close that he could smell the musky scent of her perfume. His eyes dropped from her mouth to her chest, and he watched the swell of her breasts rise as she took in a deep breath.

  The seductive scent of Ryla’s perfume weaved a spell over Keoni. He pictured the two of them together in an embrace, her curvy body pressing into his. His body responded immediately, and he reached for her.

  She wanted to know what it was like to kiss him? Keoni thought. Maybe he should show her.

  Keoni cupped the back of Ryla’s neck, pulling her closer. “That wasn’t a kiss,” he said, and then he closed his mouth over hers.

  The small sound of pleasure Ryla made as their lips touched encouraged him, and Keoni leaned into the kiss. Crushing his mouth to hers, he felt some of the tension he’d been holding all day finally release.

  He couldn’t help wishing it was Lou’s mouth he was kissing, but he pushed the thought away. He plunged forward, giving Ryla a kiss she wouldn’t soon forget.

  She tasted sweet, like pineapples and swipe. She opened her mouth for him, and he swept his tongue against hers.

  He dropped his hand from the base of his neck to spread over the smooth skin of her exposed back. Ryla moaned and wrapped her arms around his waist.

  Keoni ended the kiss and took a step back, regaining control. He was dizzy from the swipe, and more than a little drunk, but his senses were slowly coming back.

  This was Ryla, he thought. Sweet little Ryla.

  “That was some kiss,” she said.

  “I gotta go,” Keoni said, reaching behind him for the doorknob.

  “Wait,” Ryla said. “You can’t kiss me li’ dat and then leave.”

  “Ryla,” Keoni sighed, shoving a hand through his hair.

  There was a noise from the other side of the door. Heavy footsteps were coming their way. Keoni froze and didn’t relax until the footsteps continued down the hall to the bathroom. He released the breath he’d been holding and took Ryla by the shoulders.

  “This isn’t going any further,” he told her, looking into her eyes. “I’m drunk. Hell, you’re drunk, too.”

  “I’m not drunk,” she insisted. “I’ve been drinking swipe since I was a kid. I know how to drink.”

  More footsteps sounded in the hall. Ryla pressed closer to Keoni and reached around behind him to turn the lock on the bedroom door, making sure they wouldn’t be interrupted now.

  “I’ve had a crush on you forever,” she said. “Every girl in Hawaii does.” She laughed. “You’re everyone’s hero. You’re handsome as sin, and you surf like the gods. But that’s not why I like you. You wanna know why I like you?” she asked.

  Keoni didn’t really want to know, but he got the feeling Ryla was going to tell him anyway.

  “Because you’re never satisfied,” she said. “The best isn’t good enough for you, Keoni. You want more for yourself. You want more for Hawaii.”

  Keoni closed his eyes and leaned against the door. He had no idea what Ryla was talking about. The alcohol swam in his head, making his thoughts muddy.

  Why did everyone insist on calling him a hero?

  Ryla pressed her mouth to the hollow of Keoni’s throat where the shark’s tooth necklace rested against his skin. His pulse jumped against her lips.

  “We’re alike, you and me,” she said, shifting her lips to kiss his neck.

  “Ryla,” Keoni said, warning her again.

  “I like it when you say my name like that,” she said, chuckling.

  Keoni felt the vibration of her laugh against his chest.

  She stretched up on her toes and kissed his lips very softly. “Kiss me again,” she said, leaning against him.

  As her breasts brushed against his chest, Keoni felt desire flood him. His mind was clouded, but his body knew what to do. Ryla felt his growing erection against her belly and pressed herself against him.

  “Oh, hell,” Keoni muttered.

  He kissed her again. He’d intended for it to be a quick and final kiss, but when Ryla opened her mouth and slid her tongue against his, Keoni’s body responded without his mind’s permission.

  He ground his hips against her soft b
elly and moaned. Ryla moaned in response, and the sound drove a spear of lust through Keoni.

  Ryla slid her hands down Keoni’s back and stole under his T-shirt. Her fingernails raked over his skin as she yanked the shirt over his head.

  Ryla took a step back, letting her eyes drift over Keoni’s naked chest. Her eyes came back to his, and then she reached up to the knot that cinched her dress. She tugged the knot loose, and the dress fell to the floor.

  Keoni’s eyes dropped to Ryla’s chest. Her breasts were voluptuous—full, and round, and tipped with pebble-hard pink nipples. Her waist was impossibly narrow, and her skin was tanned all over as if every inch had been kissed by the sun. She was naked except for a pair of white panties that looked like something a schoolgirl would wear. The panties lent Ryla a touch of innocence, and Keoni remembered how young she was. She had a woman’s body, but Ryla was still a girl.

  He took a step back and ran into the door.

  Ryla took Keoni’s hand and cupped it to her breast.

  Keoni’s heart thumped in his chest.

  Ryla kissed Keoni’s throat. She trailed her lips lower over his chest, lingering over the fading bruises on his ribs.

  Then she dropped down to her knees in front of him.

  Ryla unzipped Keoni’s fly and tugged his shorts down over his hips. His cock sprang up between them, and Ryla’s eyes dropped down to look at it. She wrapped her hand around the base and looked up at him with a wicked gleam in her eye.

  Ryla looked incredibly sexy on her knees in front of him with his hard cock in her hand. Keoni’s mind flashed to Lou, and guilt flooded him. He wished it was Lou kneeling in front of him, stroking him.

  What was Lou doing right now? Keoni wondered. Was she with her man in Seattle? Keoni shuddered to think of his name: Paul.

  Keoni cursed Paul and his good fortune to have Lou in his life.

  Did he appreciate her? Did he love her the way Keoni did?

  Ryla’s mouth closed over the tip of Keoni’s cock. She swirled her tongue around him, licked him as if he was a delicacy that she couldn’t get enough of.

  Keoni groaned and leaned back against the door. His hands came to Ryla’s head. He meant to push her away, but her mouth felt too good. He pulled her closer.

  Ryla took him deeper. She wrapped her hand around the base of his cock and sucked him into her mouth until her lips met her fist. Keoni gasped as he felt his cock strike the back of her throat. He looked down and watched Ryla moving up and down the hard length of his cock. It was enough to make him go insane.

  Those white panties were just for show. There was nothing innocent about Ryla. She knew exactly what she was doing. She stroked and sucked Keoni at the same time until his knees weakened, and he had to lean against the door for support.

  Ryla sucked him hungrily as if she was enjoying it as much as Keoni.

  Lou had never put her mouth on him. They hadn’t had time.

  They had wasted so much time.

  Keoni imagined it was Lou swirling her tongue around his cock and taking him deep into the back of her throat. He imagined it was Lou’s blue-green eyes looking up at him with adoration and lust. Keoni remembered the way Lou had looked, lying on his bed after they’d made love the first time, and it was enough to send him over the edge.

  He felt a flash of guilt that he was picturing Lou as he buried himself in Ryla’s mouth, but it wasn’t enough to make him stop.

  Grabbing the back of Ryla’s head, Keoni drove himself deep inside her, crushing the flowers that were woven into her hair. The terrible events of the day disappeared as he thrust against the back of her throat, fucking her mouth as greedily as she sucked him. A shudder spasmed through his entire body, and he pulled back.

  “I’m going to come,” he warned her, his voice raspy with need.

  Ryla grabbed his shaft and pumped him as her mouth worked. Keoni looked down to see her brightly painted lips moving against the smooth skin of his throbbing cock, and he lost control.

  Keoni’s heart pounded furiously. It was agony and ecstasy all at once. It was guilt and pleasure to the point of pain. Tears clogged his throat as Keoni poured himself into Ryla’s mouth.

  This was Ryla.

  He’d known her in pigtails and bobby socks for Christ’s sake, and he’d just fucked her mouth and let her swallow his cum, the whole time thinking of another woman.

  Ryla sat back on her heels and looked up at Keoni, her eyes glistening with satisfaction. Bones’s old bedroom smelled of sex and gardenia flowers.

  Keoni ran his hand through his hair and reached down to grab his shorts. He pulled them up and buttoned them swiftly with one hand.

  “I gotta go,” he said.

  Reaching behind him, he unlocked the door. Ryla was still sitting on the floor when he opened the door and slipped out.

  Moment of Weakness

  Seattle, Washington

  February 2

  * * *

  Lou

  * * *

  Lou decided not to tell Paul about Keoni. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. She would make it up to him, whatever it took. She started with making sure that she was on time to meet him at Jefferson’s. When she walked into the crowded restaurant five minutes early, Paul was already there, seated at their usual corner table with a half-empty glass and dirty ashtray in front of him.

  He was turned to face the window, leaning back in his chair with one knee crossed over the other. Lou studied Paul’s profile as he looked out over the sailboats on Lake Washington.

  He had the coloring of his Irish family: black hair, fair skin, and brilliant blue eyes. His hair was thick and combed back from his face with a touch of pomade. He had a straight Roman nose, and a stern mouth that hinted at his sensible nature. He wore a navy-blue suit with a precisely knotted striped tie and matching pocket square.

  Lou handed her coat to the hostess and took off her hat. Paul glanced away from the view as Lou walked toward him. He saw her and pushed back from the table to greet her.

  “Sorry, I didn’t think I was late,” Lou said.

  “You must still be on island time,” he teased.

  Paul had ordered Lou her usual martini. She sat down in front of it, wishing for a beer. The cool, crisp taste of a Primo beer would hit the spot after her hard day. She picked up the martini and took a sip, hoping the strong vodka would chase away the remnants of her long, horrible day. She had made mistake after mistake at work and even been called into Mr. Finnegan’s office at closing. He’d given her an earful about the importance of her job and told her she would have to skip lunch tomorrow to make up for her mistakes.

  The only highlight of the day had been seeing Mr. Tollison at Pacific Camera. Lou had hurried over to the camera shop on her lunch break and dropped off four rolls of film taken in Hawaii. They had chatted for too long, and she had ended up being late for work. She’d been chastised by her supervisor, a petty woman named Marlene who’d never liked Lou, and she hadn’t even eaten lunch.

  She was starving. Picking up a handful of peanuts, she popped a few in her mouth, leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. She surveyed the boats as she chewed, but she hardly saw the view. She was thinking of the view from Keoni’s bedroom window.

  It took Lou a moment to realize Paul was calling her name.

  “What?” she asked, forcing herself to focus on Paul’s face across the table.

  Paul snapped his fingers and smiled. “Aha! There she is,” he said. He lit a cigarette and stared at Lou over the orange tip. “You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, babe.”

  “What?” Lou asked again, sipping her drink as she stalled for time. “Of course I have.” She cast around for a thread of the conversation, but it was gone. “I’ve had a hard day,” she admitted.

  She waved her hand in front of the cloud of smoke Paul exhaled. She’d never been bothered by him smoking before, but after spending nearly two weeks breathing in the clear air of Hawaii, the smoke soured her stomach.


  Paul raised his glass in her direction. “Welcome back, babe.” He chuckled as he tapped his glass to hers. “Don’t worry. You won’t be working at that job long. When we get married, you can quit the very next day and focus full-time on being Mrs. Sullivan.”

  Lou took a gulp of her martini and swallowed it down. Paul plowed right on with the conversation. He told her about his day, which sounded even worse than hers. It had involved lots of filing, copying, and running back and forth to the courthouse in the heavy rain. Paul was the lowest member of the law office. He hadn’t passed the bar yet, and until he did his days would consist of the grunt work no one else wanted to do.

  Paul didn’t seem to mind the tedium of his days. He considered it paying his dues.

  Lou had never given Paul’s job much thought.

  She had planned every aspect of her life out very carefully, except she had never given any thought to why Paul had chosen law school or why he wanted to be an attorney.

  They’d known each other since high school, but they’d never discussed their dreams other than to plan for the future.

  “Why do you want to be an attorney?” Lou asked, interrupting Paul’s story midsentence.

  Paul stopped talking and finished his drink. He caught the waiter’s eye and shook his glass, signaling for another Manhattan before turning his gaze to Lou. His blue eyes sparkled in the dim lighting of the restaurant. “What kind of question is that?” he asked.

  Lou shrugged, a gesture she had picked up in Hawaii. “I was just wondering.”

  Paul was quiet. His eyes took on a suspicious gleam. “We’ve spoken of this many times.”

  “Not that I remember.”

  “My father is an attorney, and my uncle, too. You know that.”

  Lou nodded. His response was hardly an answer to her question.

  “Anyway,” Paul said, waving his hand as if to dismiss the conversation. “I hope you’ll feel back to yourself by the dinner Wednesday night.”

  “Back to myself?” Lou asked. Her head felt like there was a drummer trapped inside banging his sticks against her skull. “What do you mean?”