by L. A. Witt
He laughed. “Cold?”
“Just a bit.” I tried again, dipping my toe in. Then my whole foot. A little at a time, I eased into the water, and by the time I was in up to my knees, I’d adapted to the cold. After the hike to get up here, it felt great.
After I’d waded a little deeper, I scooped some water into my hands, ignoring the way my raw knuckles burned, and leaned down to pour it over the back of my neck. As much as I wanted to splash it on my face, the doc had been pretty emphatic about keeping the stitches clean and dry. Given the microbes that could be lurking in river water…
Though I’d probably already invited those in via the cuts on my knuckles, but whatever.
I turned toward him. “Man, my legs are tired already. You wouldn’t think that hike would be that tough. It’s not even a mile.”
“Except it’s all up and down, up and down.” He made a gesture like a roller coaster. “We should all be glad it’s not even a mile.”
I laughed. “No kidding.” Legs still in the water, I sat on one of the rocks and looked up at the falls. “Wow, this really is amazing.”
“It is.” He turned to me. “This your first time up here?”
I nodded. “I haven’t been on the island long.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Just transferred here recently. How long have you been here? On Okinawa, I mean. Not”—I gestured at the falls—“here.”
“A few years.” He extended his hand. “Name’s Connor, by the way.”
“Aiden.”
His hand was cool and damp from the water, but still hot from his body heat. As we shook hands, our eyes met, and they locked, and…fuck. Wow, he really was hot. Especially up close. Those blue eyes were unreal.
I released his hand, and as we both sat back, he gave me the oddest little smile, one that seemed caught somewhere between shy and cocky. Before I could figure out which, he broke eye contact and busied himself leaning over to scoop some water onto his arms. It was hard to tell, but I thought his cheeks might’ve turned pink.
“So do you come up here a lot?” I asked.
“Every now and then.” Connor splashed some more water onto his arms and then leaned back against the rock. “It’s one of my favorite places on the island.”
“I can see why. Where else do you like to go?”
“You can’t really go wrong on this rock. I’ve been to all the castles, the outlying islands, the good snorkel spots.” He shrugged. “Just depends on what you’re into, I guess.”
“Do you dive?”
“I tried.” Connor tapped just below his temple. “It bugs my ears.”
“Damn.”
“Tell me about it. There’s some awesome places to snorkel here. I’ll bet diving would be even better.”
“Well, I’ve never even snorkeled.”
“Really?”
“Really.” I mirrored his earlier motions, leaning down and scooping some water—holy fuck, that stung my knuckles—onto my arms to cool myself off. “Any good spots?”
“I haven’t found a bad spot here. Though I did stop snorkeling off Kadena Marina after I realized it’s right next to a sewage treatment plant.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “I don’t know if they actually dump anything in the water, and it all looks pretty clean and clear, but…no way I’m putting my face in that water.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“Other than that, though, you can pretty much pull off the road anywhere, jump in the water, and see all kinds of cool shit. Just, you know, watch for jellyfish.”
“That’s what I’ve heard.” I sat back against the rock and, without thinking about it, propped my foot up on the other rock…just inches from his leg.
He glanced down, and that odd smile came back to life as he looked at me again. There was no casually pulling my leg back and pretending it had never happened, so I just kept it against the rock.
Clearing my throat, I broke eye contact. “You had any problems with jellyfish when you’ve snorkeled?”
“Not the box jellyfish. Never even seen one, knock on wood.”
I lifted my gaze. “Are there others?”
Connor nodded. “Buddy of mine got stung in the face by one of the red ones. Those fuckers won’t kill you, but, man, they will ruin your day.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep. Watch out for them. They’re red and about this big.” He held his hands up about a football’s width apart. “Nasty fuckers.”
“Good to know.”
Silence fell between us. My foot was still on the rock next to him. He was still fucking with my pulse just by existing. I had no idea if he was gay, straight or just a goddamned figment of my sex-deprived imagination, and what to say next was completely lost on me.
Fortunately, Connor spoke first. “Listen, um…” He paused, gnawing his lower lip. “There’s a place not far from here, maybe an hour once you get back to the main drag. Some of the most amazing pizza on the island. You, um, want to grab a bite?”
In spite of this unbelievable attraction, my first instinct was to back away and quickly decline, but this wasn’t some drunk Marine trying to coax me into a dark corner. Connor was as nonthreatening as a man could be. And so, so gorgeous.
I smiled. “Sure. Why not?”
Chapter Two
Connor
I always took my time on the way back down from Hiji Falls. For one thing, the heat made sure my shorts were dry by the time I made it to my car. Mostly, though, it was the scenery. It was green year-round—not quite a jungle, according to my high school biology teacher, but close. Every time I made this hike, I found something unusual, whether it was an odd plant I’d never seen before or some insect or lizard.
Today? I took my sweet time, but it wasn’t because of the scenery.
In some places, the trail was too narrow to walk side by side. I didn’t mind—especially when Aiden went ahead—but in others there was room for both of us as long as we were okay with occasionally brushing sleeves or arms. Again, I didn’t mind.
It was just as well we were walking so slowly. Some of the stairs up here, especially near the falls, were steep, uneven and just asking for a guy to fall and bust his ass. Especially when that guy was too preoccupied to pay attention to where he was putting his feet.
And, holy crap, was I preoccupied.
I was used to hot men on this island. I’d nearly killed myself probably a dozen times because of shirtless, tattooed Marines jogging along the roadside, and whenever I went to the gym on base, it wasn’t my workout that jacked up my heart rate. Gorgeous, fit men were just part of living here.
But Aiden. Fuck.
I was thankful I’d been waist-deep in cold water when I’d first laid eyes on him. Pretty boys weren’t usually my type, but the bruise and bandage on his face gave him an edge that made my knees weak. Judging by the scrapes on his knuckles, he’d given as good as he’d gotten, and… What could I say? He was hot. Pretty boy or not, even if he hadn’t had the battle scars, he sure was easy on the eyes.
Military too. Okay, so almost every American guy on Okinawa was military, but with some it was more obvious than others. At least he wasn’t one of those dudes who walked around like he had a stick up his ass. You could always tell the ones who were fresh out of boot camp—it was like they couldn’t stop themselves from constantly being at attention. Aiden stood straight, but he wasn’t that bad.
He was blond, and his hair was still within regs, but just long enough for the humidity, sweat and water to muss it up. I wondered what he looked like with his hair all combed and perfect. That had to be hot. Or in his uniform? Jesus. I didn’t ask what branch he was in—the less I knew about him, the less he needed to know about me—but he must’ve been Air Force or Navy. Marines were never this relaxed. And if he was by chance a Marine, God help the guy who’d fucked up his face.
At the top of one of the staircases, Aiden stopped and exhaled. “Man, I’m not in b
ad shape, but this has got to be the longest kilometer on this entire island.”
I laughed. “Yeah. And the humidity doesn’t help.”
He shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. I’m starting to think I need to spend more time at the gym, though.”
Oh God. An image flickered through my mind of Aiden sweating on a treadmill or lifting weights, and suddenly the tropical weather had nothing to do with my rising body temperature.
I cleared my throat. “You think this is a hell of a hike, you should go up to the mainland and hike Fuji one of these days.”
“Yeah?” He wiped some sweat off his forehead, wincing as he brushed the bandage above his eye. “Have you been up there?”
I held up two fingers. “Well, technically three times, but I had to turn back the second time.”
“Wore yourself out?”
“Bad weather. Happens up there sometimes.”
“Ouch. That sucks.”
“Yeah, just a—” Movement caught my eye. I turned, and a lizard stared back at me from on top of a rock. It was one of those weird green-and-brown tree lizards that couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a gecko or a chameleon.
“Hey.” I pointed at it. “Check this out.”
Aiden stopped. “What am I looking at?”
“On top of the rock.”
“I don’t—oh, there it is.” He leaned in a little closer, moving slowly enough he didn’t startle the critter. “I’ve never seen one like that.”
“They’re kind of weird looking, aren’t they?”
Aiden nodded.
The lizard watched us for a moment and then skittered up another rock. There it stopped to look back at us again, but a second later it shot into the bushes and disappeared. We both laughed, and I was about to say something, but when I looked at him, he looked right back at me, and I forgot what I was going to say. For a split second, I couldn’t even remember what language I spoke. Was it even possible for someone to have eyes that green?
I cleared my throat and gestured at the trail. “I guess we should keep moving.”
“Right. Yeah.” He made a similar gesture. “We’re, what, halfway back?”
“I think so, yeah. I always lose track. Isn’t like they mark the trail, you know?” And why the fuck was I rambling like an idiot? Biting my tongue, I continued walking, and he fell into step beside me.
A few steps in, he glanced at me. Then he faced forward, and I took a chance and stole a quick look at him. My heartbeat was all over the place, and it wasn’t because of the hike. I could do this hike in my sleep and still have enough left for a run when I got back to the base, but he was tripping me up left, right and center.
I had no idea if Aiden was gay. I’d never had much of the “gaydar” a lot of guys claimed to have. It didn’t help that on this island, Americans tended to cluster together even if they met out in town or something. Two guys could run into each other on a beach and spend the whole day talking and hanging out just because they spoke the same language, which made it really fucking complicated for guys like me who could’ve seriously gone for some kind of code word for I speak English and I’m into dick.
But with Aiden, I really didn’t care if he was gay. I liked talking to him. Yeah, sure, he was some serious eye candy—Jesus Christ, he was gorgeous—but if he turned out to be straight…oh fucking well. Him and every other man on this island. Walking and talking with him was still fun. I didn’t even mind walking and not talking, which we’d been doing for a little while now since we’d stopped to watch the lizard.
Aiden cleared his throat. “So, are there any other places like this on the island? Hiking spots, I mean?”
“Oh yeah. They’re all over the place.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “You have got to check out Nakijin Castle…”
~*~
The last steep slope of the trail leveled out and led us past the picnic area at the bottom. As the parking lot came into view, I said, “It’s a bit of a drive from here, so it’s probably best if you just follow me.”
“Cool. I’m parked right over there.” He gestured at the other end of the short lot, where a piece-of-shit silver Toyota sat in the shade.
“Mine’s over here.” I nodded toward where my equally shitty brown Nissan was parked and then pulled my cell phone out of my backpack. “The route gets a little tricky once we’re off 329, so I’ll give you my number in case we get separated.”
Aiden took out his cell, and we put our contact information into each other’s phones. He spelled his out—Aiden Lange—but I just put in my first name. Aiden was obviously military, and I wasn’t quite ready for him to figure out who my dad was and run screaming for the hills. That time would probably come, but…not today.
“Okay, so we’ve got a backup in case we get separated.” He slid his phone back into his pocket. “Assuming there’s a signal.”
I laughed. “Yeah, good luck with that. Best bet is to not get separated.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
We exchanged a long—holy fuck, he’s gorgeous—look and then retreated to our cars. Mine was hot from being out here most of the day, so I rolled down the windows and blasted the AC. While the car cooled down, I backed out of the spot and started out of the parking lot, but stopped to let Aiden catch up with me.
One glance in the rearview, and… Yeah, the windows and AC didn’t help. At all.
Get a grip, Connor.
Yeah, right.
All the way to the pizza place, with Aiden’s car in my rearview, I still couldn’t get my pulse to settle down. I was used to hot men as far as the eye could see, but I wasn’t used to them giving me the time of day. Or giving me those little looks that could’ve been read as innocent glances or something that wasn’t even in the same ballpark as innocent.
And I definitely wasn’t used to them taking me up on an offer to jump in the car and go grab a bite to eat.
But there he was.
~*~
Forty-five minutes or so after we’d left Hiji, I turned into the unmarked, unpaved parking area outside a nondescript house. My heart started beating faster as Aiden pulled his car up beside mine.
He got out of his car and looked around, brow furrowed. “This is the place?”
I gestured at the tile roof sticking out from between the trees. “Yep. Doesn’t look like much, but I think you’ll like it.”
“Lead the way.”
We walked up the path to the house, which was actually the restaurant, and a hostess invited us in. We took off our shoes and then followed her to a table.
This place was out in the middle of nowhere, up on top of a hill overlooking the East China Sea. Wasn’t the greatest place in the world to eat after a long hike—sitting on the floor hurt like hell—but the food made it worthwhile.
“This is easily the best pizza on the island,” I said as we settled in cross-legged on the tatami mats beside the low wooden tables.
“Yeah?” He shifted a bit to get comfortable.
I nodded. “Trust me. There’s a reason people are willing to get their dumb asses lost trying to find it.”
He chuckled and glanced toward the road. “I can see how people would get lost out here.”
“Everyone does. Anyone tells you they found this place on the first try, they’re lying through their teeth.”
Picking up the menu, he said, “Are they also lying if they say they can read the menu?”
“Most of them? Yes.” I waved a hand. “Nobody can read menus on this island unless there’s pictures.”
He turned it around to show me. “I think they forgot to give us the picture menu.”
“It’s okay. They only have one kind of pizza anyway.”
A waitress came up to us right then, and I ordered us a pizza and a drink for myself. Aiden managed to find something to drink on the menu—Coke, of course—and ordered that. When she returned ten or fifteen minutes later with our food, Aiden eyed the pizza, and I laughed. I coul
dn’t exactly blame him. The pizza here was different, that was for sure. Not quite a flatbread, not quite a hand-tossed crust, and amongst the melted cheese and tiny pepperonis, there was…corn. Weird. But, sweet Jesus, it tasted amazing.
“Try it.” I gestured at it. “Trust me.”
He threw me a suspicious look but then shrugged and reached for the pizza. The second he touched it, he snatched his hand back. “Fuck! Maybe I should let it cool a bit first.”
“Oh yeah. It’s hot.”
With a playful scowl, he said, “Thanks for letting me know before I burned my hand.”
“Sorry,” I said with a semi-apologetic shrug.
Aiden rolled his eyes. Then he smiled, though one corner of his mouth didn’t rise quite as high, probably thanks to the bruising along the edge. “So it seems like you know this island pretty well.”
“I’d better know it. I’ve been here long enough.”
“Is that right?” He tilted his head slightly. “You’re not military, though, are you?”
“No.” The question lingered in his eyes—curious more than demanding. “I…” Some warmth rushed into my cheeks, and I focused on pulling a slice of steaming-hot pizza onto my plate. “I still live with my parents.”
“There’s no shame in that,” Aiden said. “Especially if you’ve been here for several years.”
“Okay, true. I just hate being that guy who still lives at home when he’s twenty.”
Something in him seemed to settle.
Yes, I’m legal, I wanted to say, but bit it back.
He tested the pizza again, and it must’ve cooled a bit because he tore off a piece. “So you must be in college, then?”
I met his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. Thank God for the on-base campus.” Cringing inwardly, I waited for the inevitable chain of questions. So I’m guessing your dad’s military? What branch? Yeah? What does he do? No shit? What’s his name? Oh fuck. That’s your dad?
But the questions didn’t come. As he chewed the bite of pizza, Aiden shifted his attention out to our view of the village and the water below us. I subtly watched him and couldn’t help glancing at that nasty-looking gash above his eyebrow. There was a thin bandage over it, and the stitches were still visible, sticking out along the edges like the legs of a squashed spider. The bruising on his jaw and cheekbone wasn’t serious, but it was still fairly fresh—bluish-purple without the green halo that fading bruises usually had. And whatever he’d done to his raw knuckles? Definitely recent. Very recent.