by L. A. Witt
He came around behind the car and gave a shy smile, his chin down a bit and his eyebrows pulled together, which seemed really strange when he still had enough scrapes and bruises to look like he’d recently fucked somebody up.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” I hoped my cheeks weren’t too red after I let my gaze briefly—very briefly—dart below his shiny belt buckle.
“I, um…” He pointed with his car keys at the building beside us. “I need to grab a shower and put on some civvies. Won’t be a minute.”
“Sure. No rush.”
Another smile, maybe a little shier than the one before, and we headed upstairs. In the breezeway on the second floor, he keyed open the door. I tried not to read too much into his hand being a little shaky. It was still healing, after all, so maybe it hurt to do even simple things like unlocking doors.
Aiden waved me into the apartment, which was nice and cool after being out in the humidity. “I’ll just be a minute. Make yourself at home.”
“Take your time.”
As he disappeared down the hall, I tried not to think about how close I was to his bedroom. I’d been horny as fuck ever since Hiji, and I was really tempted to suggest we explore something besides Okinawa tonight, but I didn’t. For all I knew, he was straight, maybe even married or with a girlfriend or something. I wasn’t great at reading guys. When I thought a guy was gay, he was straight. When I thought he was flirting, he was just talking to pass the time. And when I was absolutely sure the straight guy was talking to me to pass the time, it turned out he was gay and flirting with a capital F. I really sucked at being gay.
So for right now, I just bit my tongue and decided I’d see where this evening went.
The shower kicked on in the other room. I rocked back and forth from my heels to the balls of my feet, and checked out my surroundings.
Aiden must not have been here very long. He did say he was new to the island, didn’t he? It was obvious now—boxes everywhere, some open, some not. He’d put a few things up on the wall, but it was still pretty bare for the most part. A framed diploma from the Naval Academy at Annapolis was propped up against the wall, so he probably intended to hang it there eventually.
Some framed photos were on top of a box. Looked like Aiden came from a family that must’ve been still intact—he resembled both his parents way too much for either of the smiling, tanned people in that picture to be a stepparent.
In the other room, the shower stopped. A few minutes later, Aiden came down the hall, dressed in cargo shorts and a plain blue T-shirt with a pair of sturdy sandals—the kind you could wear hiking or climbing all over shit without getting hurt or too hot. His hair was damp, and had been flawlessly arranged again. About the time I caught myself wondering what it would feel like to run my fingers through it, I cleared my throat and gestured at the door.
“Ready to go?”
“Definitely.” He spun his keys on his finger. “We never did figure out where we’re going, though.”
“Well”—your bedroom sounds like a winner—“have you ever been up to Cape Hedo?”
Aiden cocked his head. “I’ve heard about it but never been. What’s up there?”
“Cliffs and water. Want to see it?”
“Absolutely. If you’ll tell me how to get there, I’ll drive.”
~*~
We left my car at his apartment, and I slid into the passenger seat of Aiden’s car. Yesterday, he’d followed me, and I couldn’t deny that I got a little thrill out of being in the same car with him now.
And we’d be in here for a while too, which was absolutely deliberate. Cape Hedo really was one of my favorite places on the island, but secretly that wasn’t the reason I’d suggested it today. It had more to do with the eighty-nine kilometer drive. On an island this small, it was one of the farthest points away from where we were.
And a longer drive meant more time in the car with Aiden.
Perfect.
At an intersection a few blocks from his apartment, he pointed at a sign for the expressway. “That where I want to go?”
“Yeah. Head north. It won’t take us all the way up, but it’ll save us some time.” Not that I necessarily wanted to save time, but I did want to get us there before the sun went down. We could always take the long way back.
Aiden pulled up to the tollbooth and took a ticket. He handed it to me and continued onto the expressway.
“Fair warning.” He grinned at me as the engine whined and the painted stripes whipped by faster. “I have a bit of a lead foot.”
I laughed and glanced at him. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”
Aiden chuckled, facing forward, and accelerated. The speed limit out here was eighty clicks, which amounted to about fifty-five miles an hour, but nobody paid attention to it.
Especially not Aiden, apparently. He wasn’t lying about his lead foot, and as we screamed past other cars in the right lane—the passing lane in this country—I was almost dizzy from the speed. Though I still wanted this drive to take a while, I wasn’t about to tell him to slow down. There was something intoxicating about speeding up the expressway with him. The needle on the dash was creeping up on a hundred and twenty, and it felt like that was miles an hour instead of kilometers, like we really were being reckless and dangerous, and I loved it. He might’ve just been in this for the tour guidance and a little company, but I let myself get lost in being next to him. Because, hell, why not?
Once we got up past Nago and left the expressway, the drive was slower, but the scenery was really pretty. The highway mostly hugged a seawall built along the coast. There were a few small towns—more like villages—along the way, but a lot of it was just open country and forested hills. I came up here by myself all the time, driving all over the place with no destination in mind, and having Aiden next to me made it almost surreal. I could barely believe this place existed, and I could barely believe he existed, and now I was experiencing both at the same time. If this weren’t real and someone had slipped me some acid or shrooms or something, I hoped like hell they didn’t wear off any time soon.
“So you’ve really never been up here?” I asked as he followed Highway 329 along the coast.
Looking out at the water, Aiden shook his head. “Hiji Falls is the furthest north I’ve ever been.”
I smiled. “Then you’re in for a treat. The north end of the island is awesome.”
“Is it?”
“Yep. The south end was bombed out pretty bad in World War II, so a lot of the old stuff is gone, but the north end? Old growth and ancient buildings. Wicked cool.”
“In that case…” The engine whined as he accelerated.
We talked about random shit as the highway wound along the seawall, mostly shooting the breeze about nothing until something caught his eye.
“What are those things?” He gestured out at some huge structures in the water. They were maybe thirty yards long, built out of what looked like jacks made out of concrete.
“They’re tsunami breaks.” I watched the surf breaking against the jacks. “When a tsunami comes in, it hits those and breaks up a little before it hits the seawall that we’re on right now.”
“Brilliant engineering.”
“It’s Japan. Of course it is.”
“Fair point, fair point. So how far to—” His phone buzzed on the dash. Aiden grabbed it and glanced at the caller ID. “Fuck. I need to answer this.”
“Better stop so the JPs don’t bust you.”
“Yeah, I know.” He pulled over and picked up the phone. “Ensign Lange.” Someone spoke on the other end. “Yes, sir. Right. Yes, sir. Understood. Yes, sir. I’ll have it on your desk in the morning, sir.”
“Boss?” I asked as he hung up the phone and set it on the dash.
“Yep.” Aiden rolled his eyes and then pulled out onto the deserted highway. “It’s always something, and it’s usually something that can wait until tomorrow.”
I laughed. “What do you do, anyway?�
�
“I’m the command antiterrorism officer.” He smirked. “And trust me, it’s not nearly as fun as it sounds.”
Snickering, I said, “It doesn’t sound fun to me at all, actually.”
“It’s not. It’s pretty much paperwork and PowerPoint.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I think I’d slit my wrists.”
Aiden laughed. “There’s a reason they dumped the job on me.” Rolling his eyes, he added, “Give it to the kid who’s fresh out of the Academy, because he’ll do anything.” He tapped the wheel with his thumbs. “I have to say, the threat assessments can be kind of fun, if only because they get my ass out of the office.”
“What are those?”
“I go around the bases and check for security vulnerabilities. The paperwork afterward is a headache, but it’s not a meeting and it’s not sitting at my desk working on PowerPoint presentations.” He turned to me briefly. “What about you?”
“Just a student right now. I’m about halfway through my bachelor’s.”
“Oh yeah? What’s your major?”
I chuckled, hoping I didn’t sound as self-conscious as I was. “Haven’t declared one yet. I’m still trying to settle on something.”
“Anything grabbing your interest?”
“Nothing that will ever keep my lights on, according to my father.”
“Pfft.” Aiden waved a hand. “Look, unless you’re going into some specialized field like medicine or engineering, it really doesn’t matter. Most of the corporate jobs out there? They couldn’t care less if you majored in business administration or underwater basket-weaving as long as you have a degree.”
“Really?”
Aiden nodded. “So what interests do you have that your dad doesn’t think will keep the lights on?”
I shrugged. “Oh, you know. Mostly graphic design. Stuff like that.”
“Graphic design?” He glanced at me, brow furrowed. “And he doesn’t think that’ll pay the bills?”
“He thinks it’s one of those jobs where people just barely squeak by, living from freelance gig to freelance gig.” Another shrug. “And a lot of them do. But I think I can pull it off.” I pointed up ahead. “Take that left.”
He turned, and I directed him down the short, meandering road to the parking lot. Aiden parked in the small lot that was surrounded on two sides by information placards, vending machines and snack shacks.
The wind was blowing just like it always was at Cape Hedo, but I loved it. The day was a hot one, and the wind kept it cool enough to be bearable. Perfect for an afternoon up here.
We followed a trail from the lot toward the cliffs, but before we’d gotten far, I stepped off the well-worn path. “This way.”
“I…beg your pardon?”
I glanced back at him. “Come on. Trust me.” He watched as I picked my way between plants and rocks toward the lip of the cliff.
“Shouldn’t we stay on the path?” he called after me.
I turned around again. “You see any ropes or fences?”
“I… Well, no…”
“That’s because there aren’t any. Come on—the view is worth it.”
He hesitated, then followed me.
“I like the lack of safety railings.” I grinned at him as we neared the edge. “Lets me live dangerously.”
Aiden laughed, approaching the cliff’s edge but eyeing it nervously. “Doesn’t seem like you let anything stop you from living dangerously.”
“Okay, no, I don’t. But seriously, wouldn’t this place look stupid with railings all over it?”
He didn’t stand quite on the edge and cautiously leaned forward, craning his neck to look over it.
I, of course, went all the way to the edge. The rocky lip was solid and stable enough, and as long as I kept my weight on my heels—and my center of gravity back just enough to balance me if a sudden wind tried to push me forward—I wasn’t in any real danger.
This view never got old. Never. I could come up here every day between now and when I eventually left the island, and I’d still have to stop and stare out at the rocks and the water.
And what was I doing? Letting my gaze slide to the left and turning my head just enough to watch Aiden without him noticing. His T-shirt sleeve fluttered just enough to give me a glimpse of his toned arms—no ink or tan yet, but anyone who stayed here longer than a few months ended up with both eventually. His blond hair was short, but the wind still managed to play with it, which didn’t help me with the whole quit-staring at-him thing.
Desperate for something else to talk about—and look at—I gestured at the horizon. “Sometimes, if it’s really clear, you can see Yoron Island from here.” I squinted, but there was a little bit of haze in the distance today. Just enough to hide the island.
“Anything interesting out there? At Yoron?”
“It’s a good spot for spearfishing.”
“Spearfishing?” Aiden’s eyebrows jumped. “You’ve done that?”
“Couple of times. Last time, I got a little too close to a barracuda, and then a swarm of box jellies. I still snorkel and dive, but at least then I’m not focused on hunting, so I can actually see what else is around me.” Stop rambling, Connor. “Anyway. Yeah. It’s cool.”
“Sounds like it. I’d like to give it a try someday. Minus the, uh, barracuda.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’d avoid those.”
“Good idea.” He scanned the horizon, taking in the scenery for the first time.
“What is that?” He gestured at the forested hills off to the right, and I knew before I looked what had caught his attention.
On top of one of the hills, partially hidden by the thick vegetation, was a huge bird statue. Black with the distinctive red beak and orange legs.
“That’s a rail,” I said. “One of those endangered flightless birds running around on the island.”
“Interesting place for a statue. Doesn’t seem like many people could see it unless they were up here.”
“Actually, it’s an observatory.”
He turned his head. “Really?”
I nodded. “You can climb up in it and get a great view of Hedo. Want to check it out?”
“Hell, yeah.”
~*~
The observatory wasn’t far from Hedo. It had taken me a few tries to find it, but now I knew exactly which side road to take and where to turn to head up the steep, winding hill to the huge statue. Aiden parked, and we started up the stairs from the parking lot.
Up ahead, the giant bird came into view. Ass first, naturally, with the giant tail feathers throwing some shade over the stairs as we climbed higher.
As the stairs leveled out, Aiden looked up at the giant bird. “Wow. That’s…insane.”
“Right?”
“Can we go up in it?”
“Of course.” I started toward the bird. “Let’s go.”
There was a staircase beside the bird in a building set up to look like a tree stump, and as we started up it, our footsteps echoed inside the hollow metal statue. Near the top, there was a window with a ledge big enough for two, maybe three people to sit comfortably.
I slid onto the ledge and sat with my legs dangling out the window.
A moment later, Aiden joined me. “Is this the top?”
“Not quite. We’re right under its neck.” I gestured up at the carved neck extending out above us, which led up to the bird’s bright-red beak.
Didn’t matter that we weren’t at the top, though. From here, we had an unobstructed view of Cape Hedo. The cliffs, the park, everything. The water was rough with huge swells and whitecaps. The tide peeled back to reveal the reefs, then rolled forward and slammed into the rock wall with a pop I could hear—and almost feel—from here.
“Doesn’t look like great snorkeling conditions today,” he said.
I shrugged. “Probably great conditions around the rest of the island, but you wouldn’t want to snorkel Hedo anyway.”
“Really? I thought you said you can
’t go wrong snorkeling off this island. Aside from spearfishing, anyway.”
I shrugged. “Well, there’s plenty to see out there, but look at the waves.” As if on cue, a huge wave smacked against the cliffs even harder than before.
“Oh. Point taken.”
We glanced at each other and both laughed quietly.
“You dive?” I asked.
Aiden shook his head. “Not yet. I’d like to learn, though. Eventually.”
“Me too.”
The conversation fell into a lull, but the silences between us weren’t awkward. I wanted us to keep talking so I could get to know Aiden as much as possible, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence that I needed to fill.
Eventually, Aiden gestured up at the neck of the statue above us. “You ever seen one of the rails? One of the real ones, I mean.”
“I’ve seen a few. If you know where to look, and you’re patient, they’re not too hard to find. Not too many left, though.”
“There aren’t?”
“No, they’re really endangered because of the mongooses.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Some idiot decided the mongooses would be good for getting rid of the snakes.”
“That worked in Hawaii, didn’t it?”
“They were in Hawaii to eat rats, not snakes. But the idiots who brought them here didn’t notice that Habu are nocturnal and mongooses aren’t.” I shook my head. “So then the mongooses figured out these flightless birds were an easier target.”
“Guess they aren’t stupid.”
“Not when it comes to eating.”
“Bet the birds wish they hadn’t been quite so fucked by evolution.”
I snorted. “No kidding.”
We both laughed and then fell quiet. It wasn’t an awkward silence. A thoughtful one, maybe—I had no idea what he had on his mind, but while my eyes were focused on the cliffs and ocean in front of us, my brain was completely tuned in to the man beside me.
After a while, Aiden turned to me. “Seems like you really know your way around this island.”
“After this long, I’d better— Look!” I pointed out at the water and a jet of spray that had just shot up between the waves. “Did you see that?”