“Hell yeah, I told him! I thought it was sexy, a little uncalled for, but sexy, nonetheless. Besides, what do you got to be mad about? You told Layla!” He points out. I don’t have a quick response because I’m still stuck on him thinking I was sexy.
“Come on, Rocky, show me some more of your moves,” The arrogant asshole says while he holds up his fists and jabs into the air like he’s in a boxing ring. The fog I was under clears instantly and I’m about to tell him exactly where I want to shove my fist when Pika steps in.
“Hey, I’m Pika.” He holds out his hand for me to shake. I know he’s trying to save his friend’s life. I’m grateful he stepped in.
“Aria. Nice to meet you.” Now that I’m up close, I can see that Pika has chocolate brown eyes and brown hair. He’s handsome, and, for some reason, the little chip he has on his front tooth makes him even more attractive. I can see why Layla likes him.
“You’ll have to excuse my friend here. He doesn’t know when to shut his mouth.”
Pika laughs, but any trace of humor leaves Kulani’s face. At first I think it’s because of Pika’s comment, but then I notice Kulani’s eyes are focused on something over my shoulder.
Mere moments later, Layla and Pika are focused on it too. The change in the air is immediate. It’s no longer relaxed and humorous, and the tension is palpable.
“Pika. Kulani,” Seth says as he stands at my side. Neither of them return Seth’s greeting. Kulani continues to glare, and Pika puts his arm around Layla with a fierce glare of his own.
If Seth notices their hostility toward him, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he looks at me and gives me a warm smile. “I trust Layla has shown you around?” I nod. “That’s great. I want to let you know I’m here if you have any questions or anything, Aria. I like to think of the staff here as family and I want you to feel comfortable.”
Kulani and Pika both growl and Layla snorts. I’m confused by their reactions because, to me, Seth doesn’t seem to be anything other than sincere. I open my mouth to answer Seth when I feel Kulani move to my side and swing his arm around my shoulder.
“That’s real nice of you to look out for my girl, Seth, but we got it,” Kulani says, his voice dripping with venom. I whip my eyes to him and give him a ‘why the hell are you referring to me as your girl’ look, but he ignores me and continues to stare Seth down, who’s looking back and forth between us, trying to judge the nature of our relationship.
I want to inform him that there’s nothing between us, but something is holding me back from saying the words out loud. Finally, Seth holds up his hands in surrender and backs away. “I was just trying to help, bro,” he says to Kulani with a smirk.
Kulani’s whole body goes rigid. His arm leaves my shoulder and he takes a heated step toward Seth. “I ain’t your fucking bro. You want to help Aria? Just like you ‘helped’ Layla when you—”
“Kulani!” Pika yells, effectively stopping the rest of Kulani’s statement. I look over to see Pika angry and Layla pale with her eyes as wide as saucers. I get a sick feeling when I realize there is so much more going on here than meets the eye. That sick feeling gets stronger when I look back at Seth. Where he had nothing but a friendly demeanor before, now his blue eyes look like a storm is brewing. He has a grin that can only be described as taunting when he takes a step toward Kulani.
When he speaks again, his voice is low enough that we can still hear him, but passersby can’t. “Yeah, Kulani. Just like I helped Layla.”
Layla and I both scream when we see Kulani lunge for Seth, but, thankfully, before he can reach him, Pika steps between them and puts his hand on his chest to hold him back. “He’s not worth it, Kulani. Trust me, no one wants to lay the fucker out again more than me, but he isn’t worth it,” Pika tells him.
His words don’t calm Kulani completely down, but it does stop him from struggling against Pika to get to Seth. Once Seth sees he’s not fighting anymore, his smirk comes back. He doesn’t spare another glance at Kulani. Instead, he turns his eyes my way. “See you around, Aria.” This time I’m smart enough to remain quiet.
“Fucking asshole.” Kulani storms inside the shack without another word to any of us. I have a thousand questions, the obvious one being what the hell was all that about?
There’s a few moments of silence before Layla composes herself and walks over to me. “We better hurry, girl, or we’re going to be late.” She gives Pika a goodbye kiss and we start walking away.
Once I feel we’re at a safe enough distance, I place my hand on Layla’s forearm to stop her. When she looks at me, her eyes are full of unshed tears. I frown and pull her in for a hug. “Hey, what happened back there?” I ask softly.
“Ugh. I just can’t talk about it right now. I promise, eventually, I will. Just not right now, okay?”
Even though it’s killing me, I agree. Before we start walking again, she says, “Aria, promise me you’ll stay away from Seth.”
Naturally, this statement only makes me more curious, but I can tell it would mean a lot to her for me to give my word.
“I promise.”
Chapter Five
You’re Kind Of A Man Whore
I roll my eyes as soon as I see Kulani walking up to my lemonade cart. Ordinarily, I would have asked Layla to get his drink while I ignored him, like every other day this past week, but he conveniently timed his visit to right after she left on her lunch break.
I guess I should say try to ignore him because Kulani is proving to be very hard to completely disregard. It’s the end of my first full week here and I can’t seem to keep my eyes off of him, much like every other girl at this resort.
I’ve learned two things about Kulani since I started working at the resort: he’s constantly surrounded by half-clothed girls, and he’s as annoying as I originally thought he was.
The first doesn’t surprise me because Kulani is, by far, the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on. What does surprise me is how bothered I am by it. I rationalize my feelings by telling myself it’s not really the girls that bother me, just him in general, but the little nagging feeling I get when I see him flirting with a girl tells me I’m full of shit.
The second thing I learned about Kulani that he’s annoying, is why I won’t admit my growing feelings for him. He’s never serious. He’s always joking or being sarcastic. These traits shouldn’t bother me so much, but they do, and for what felt like the longest time, I couldn’t figure out why. Last night, it finally hit me. Kulani’s behavior bothers me because I feel like I have to be so serious and stoic all the time.
I envy the fact that he lives his life so freely and happily. I doubt he’s gone through one heavy thing in his entire twenty-three years of life. I wish I could live like him. Every time I find myself starting to feel too free or happy, I quickly remind myself that I’m here in Hawaii for a reason, and that reason isn’t a vacation.
Detective Kendrick solidified that I’m not here to have fun when he called three days ago to tell me Sal’s court date was set for the end of next month. After that call, I pulled away from everyone I had begun to build any kind of friendship with. Well, everyone except Layla.
I’ve tried to pull away from her, but she makes it impossible. Layla is funny, smart, and kind. She has such a happy personality that you just can’t help but be drawn to her. There’s something other than her personality that makes her easy for me to connect with. I feel like I recognize a kindred spirit, like she’s also felt pain.
I have a feeling that pain was caused by something Seth did or said. After the words that were exchanged between Kulani and him on my first day here almost two weeks ago, that’s obvious, but I have yet to figure out what happened.
I’ve hinted that I want to know what happened, but Layla has kept her mouth shut. Even though I want to drag it out of her, I won’t bring it up again. What right do I have to ask her about her secrets when I’m hiding so many of my own? So many, in fact, that my entire life feels like a lie.
The Seth situation doesn’t bother me as much when I remind myself that this life is only temporary. I’ll be gone by the end of next month and it’ll be like Hawaii and Aria never even happened, which makes me feel both relieved and sad.
I feel like I’m carrying a weight on my shoulders, that I’m constantly reminding myself I’m no longer Gianna, but Aria. I’m always biting my tongue when I meet a new guest or coworker so I don’t blurt out my true identity. I’m sad that my fake life has an expiration date because of how bad I want this life to be real. Every day I wake up here, I’m amazed at the beauty just outside my doors. My entire life I wanted to be surrounded by views like this.
I want my friendship with Layla to be authentic. When I was a kid, all I wanted was to have one friend like Layla. I can’t help but wonder if my life would have been better had I met her in New York. Would school have been better with her by my side? I was so lonely in school. When my papi went on one of his violent, drunken rampages, it would have been nice to have a friend’s house to be able to escape to.
The what-if that bothers me the most is Kulani. If I really was Aria, and I was just visiting Camille and Layla for an undetermined amount of time, would I be brave enough to embrace the growing feelings for Kulani that I’ve buried deep inside?
As sad as it sounds, I wish I was Aria, that Gianna never existed, and I hate myself for feeling that way. No matter how awful a man my father was, my mom was an amazing woman who tried her hardest every day to give me a decent childhood. I feel like I’m betraying her memory by wishing my life in New York never existed. Every time I think that way, I stop and remind myself why I’m here and why my mom isn’t.
When Kulani reaches my stand, I place a glass of lemonade down in front of him. “Here.” I can see, by the megawatt smile he gives me that he took note of my attitude and is about to give me shit.
“How are you today, Rocky?” I growl at the use of his nickname. He’s been calling me that since the incident in the woods, and now everyone—other than Layla and Seth—calls me that as well. It drives me mad.
“I’m fine and busy, so if you don’t mind…” I trail off and make a shooing motion with my hand. Kulani doesn’t move. No surprise there. Instead, he gives me a confused look and glances around the empty golf course.
When his eyes make their way back to me, he has an annoyingly sexy smirk. “You look swamped,” he says sarcastically.
I glare and mumble, “I am.” I grab a wet rag and scrub at a nonexistent spot on the counter, silently dismissing him. A few minutes pass. I realize Kulani isn’t going anywhere.
When his delicious musky-scented cologne drifts to my nose, I lose my patience and throw my rag aside. “Can I help you?” I growl.
“Why do you hate me so much?” he asks. I’m thrown off-kilter by the serious look on his face. “I don’t hate you.”
“Are you going to the beach party tonight?”
I almost whiplash at his quick change of topics. The answer is no, just like it was last Friday, when Layla asked me.
Every Friday night, all the younger Resort employees throw a bonfire party on a small private section of the beach Camille and Layla’s house sits on. Layla wanted me to go with her last week, but I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep for the next ten days.
The reason I’m about to decline now is because Kulani is the one asking, and going to a party doesn’t seem like a good way to be distancing myself from Hawaii and Aria’s life.
“I’m not a fan of parties,” I answer. It’s not a lie. Well, at least I don’t think it is. I’ve never actually been to one, but I shy away from things that may involve drinking. After seeing the kind of man alcohol made my father, I have no interest in ever taking a sip.
“Yeah, me either,” Kulani says, and I narrow my eyes because I know he’s full of shit. “Dinner?” he asks through a smile. “What about it?” He laughs. “Do you want to go to dinner with me?”
I don’t respond right away. I’m too stunned. Did he really just ask me out on a date? And why is the prospect of him asking me out on a date making my heart do this crazy, nervous, jumpy crap?
That’s the thing with Kulani, though. I can never tell if he’s serious or if he’s just messing with me. When I consider the possibility this might just be a joke to him, my confidence starts to shatter. My defenses immediately go up. It’s almost like a reflex.
“I’m busy.” I turn away from a confused Kulani before he has a chance to answer.
“Kulani, you’re wanted,” I hear Pika say a few moments later, and I turn back around to face them as he points to the Surf Shack. I roll my eyes when I see a gorgeous girl standing there in a small bikini. When Kulani’s eyes reach her, she smiles and waves. Kulani gives her a chin lift and looks back at me just as Layla returns from her lunch break.
I can see Kulani is about to ask me about dinner again, but Layla cuts him off. “What’d I miss?”
I speak up before he can. “Nothing much. I’m going to take my lunch break now.” I rush out and start walking away before I completely finish my sentence. I don’t look back, but I can feel Kulani’s eyes tracking my movements the entire way up to the employee entrance of the resort.
The rest of the day I make sure not to let my mind dwell on how jealous and irrationally upset I got over that girl and I avoid Kulani like the plague.
I’m walking to the employee parking lot when I hear my name being called. I sigh when I turn my head and see that it’s Seth.
“Hey, Aria.” He smiles. For a second, I find myself wondering what he could have done that was so bad it would cause such a reaction from Layla, Kulani, and Pika. Whenever I’m around him, he seems so nice.
“Hi, Seth.”
“You out for the day?” he asks, and I begin to think he doesn’t really need anything. He just wants to make casual conversation. I nod at him and am about to say bye when he starts talking again. “I know you’re new here and have only worked the cart, but I just had a girl call in. She was supposed to work an event in one of the conference rooms tomorrow evening. I was wondering if you could fill in?” he asks hopefully.
I’m about to decline. Then I remind myself how much I need to make some money. I have no clue what I’m going to do after I leave Hawaii, but whatever I do, it’s going to cost me.
“Are you sure you want me?”
“Yes, please. It’ll be super easy. You’ll just be serving dinner. The other waitresses can help you learn the ropes. You’ll be helping me out of a tough spot. Everyone else is busy tomorrow.”
I laugh despite myself at the pathetic pouty face he gives me and nod my head. He pulls me in for a hug. I let out a shocked half-laugh.
“Thank you!” he says through a huge smile.
“You’re welcome.”
With one last smile, he turns and walks away. I’m almost back to the exit when I notice Kulani leaning against it, blocking me from exiting. I take a step back when I see the fierce scowl on his face.
When he doesn’t move to get out of my way, I lose my patience. “Can I help you?”
“You won’t hang out with me. Hell, I can’t even get you to have a decent conversation with me, but you don’t have any problem hugging scum like that?” he rumbles. I can hear the anger and frustration in his voice.
I want to correct him, but I remain quiet because, frankly, it’s none of his damn business. I look to my left and see that there is another exit, so I turn without a word and head that way.
“I’m glad I’ve learned what kind of a person you are. It would have fucking sucked to find out you were scum, like him, after I spent all this time tr
ying to get to know you.”
I took years of verbal and emotional abuse from my father. When I was thirteen, I made myself a promise that I wouldn’t let another man talk to me like that again. With that promise in mind, I whip around and let him have it.
“First of all, Seth hugged me because he was grateful I agreed to take a shift for him. Not that it’s any of your business, but there is absolutely nothing romantic going on between him and me. I know you all have problems, but he’s never done anything to me, and none of you will open your traps to tell me what he’s done to you. That’s fine, it’s your prerogative, but you can’t expect me to just hate him for no reason. Second of all, I won’t go out with you because you’re a clown. All you do is joke around. Life is about fun for you, and that’s great…for you. But some of us don’t have that luxury. I never know if you’re serious or just trying to piss me off, and right now I only have room in my fucked up life for serious.”
I walk away from a very stunned Kulani. When I reach the door to the other exit, I add something I forgot. “Oh, and lastly, you’re kind of a man whore.”
Then I’m gone.
Chapter Six
Kulani’s Story
I watch as the warm Hawaiian sun starts to set behind the crystal blue body of water. Even in such a numb state, I can appreciate the beauty surrounding me. I’ve always wanted to get away from New York and my miserable life there, but not under such horrific circumstances. Losing my momma was too high a price to pay.
From where I’m sitting on the white sand, I can hear the loud music from wherever on the beach the employee party is happening. I never planned on going, but, after what I said to Kulani, there was no way I was going to that party. I feel bad about losing my temper with him. No matter what he said, he didn’t deserve my frustration, but the things I said were true.
When I got into her car after my conversation with Kulani, Layla could easily see that something was wrong, but thankfully, she didn’t ask. She did, however, spend a good hour trying to convince me that the best way to get out of my funk was to go out and have some fun. She almost had me until I opened up an old book I brought with me from New York and a picture of my mom fell out.
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