Page 11 of The Wrong Sister
I love Kaka‘ako. It’s young and vibrant, artsy and fun. Long term, if I was married and planning on kids, I’d probably want to relocate to the windward side and have a life like my parents. For now, though, I love being over here. One of my favorite things about Kaka‘ako is all the street art. The buildings, walls, and even some fences are decorated with incredible murals. There’s a whole festival, “POW! WOW! Hawai‘i,” that takes place over the week of Valentine’s Day every year. International and local artists create new installations. It’s the best. Turning the corner by one of my favorite murals, I catch movement out of the corner of my eye, like I’m being followed, and spin back around. There isn’t anyone there. I shake my head, glad there wasn’t anyone nearby to see that. Embarrassing. I have to stop being so jumpy. I take my time walking through the neighborhood, enjoying the sights and sounds before finally crossing Ala Moana Boulevard.
All of the Ala Moana beachfront is nice, but I love Magic Island and the lagoon. Everyone else would probably make fun of me and demand we go somewhere with waves to surf or something but, when I’m alone, Magic Island is like the perfect ocean pool. It’s also usually quiet—all old people and families with young kids. I never have to deal with skeevy dudes or partying groups during my preferred beach times. I like to set up over on the far side, by the harbor, giving families the sand space in the middle. I’ll swim around, enjoying the warm salt water, and when I get tired of that, I like to walk over and watch the boats and the waves before relaxing with a book.
It only takes me half an hour to get down there and the lagoon is pretty empty. I see a few towels spotting the beach but it’s peaceful. My usual spot is free and I spread my towel out, using my slippahs (flip flops to mainlanders) and bag to hold it in place. I shove my caftan into my bag and start applying sunscreen. I got the visible spots on my walk but now I need to make sure everything else is protected. I’m very fair-skinned and being sunburned sucks. Easiest way to spot a tourist? Look for the epically burned skin. They always underestimate the sun here. This is a downside to being a haole local, for sure. I wish Catherine was here, to get my back. It’s one of those classic single gal problems that I’ve never been able to solve. I tend to awkwardly swipe at myself and then hide in the shade if I start to feel like I’m burning. I also go to the beach early in the morning or in the evening to avoid the highest sun points since I can’t rely on having someone with me to help out. I’ve gotten everything except that annoying spot between my shoulder blades. I’m trying to contort my arms like I’m auditioning for Cirque de Soleil when someone comes up behind me and grabs the bottle from my hand.
I go into defense mode, spinning around into kouchi gari. I’ve grabbed the base of his neck, back-stepped, and knocked him onto his back before I’ve absorbed who it is.
“Mina! Shit! It’s me!” Griffin is on his back in the sand, hands and my bottle of sunscreen held out in front of him.
“Oops. Sorry, Griffin. It’s not a great idea to sneak up on me like that.”
He stands up and I try to brush the sand off his back but stop when all the close contact has me tingling. It wasn’t smart to run my hands all over his bare skin. He’s wearing board shorts and water droplets and sand are clinging to all his muscles. His chest has dark hair across it and my fingers itch to run across his pecs to see if it’s soft.
“Sorry, Meens. I was swimming and saw you walking over. I guess you didn’t hear me call out. I was going to help you get your back. It looked like you were having some trouble.” He smiles and I melt a little. That smile has always caused me problems, with his stupid nice teeth and the obnoxious little dimple in one cheek that kills me. He turns me and his warm hands are on my back. I shiver involuntarily. So much for ignoring my crush. It’s much harder to do when he’s touching me and standing close enough that I can feel the heat coming off of his naked torso. He clears his throat. “I think you’re good now.”
“Thanks, Griff. Are you here swimming alone?”
“Yeah, I walked down early. I swam off Ala Moana for a bit and had come over here to relax some before going home. Where’s Raff?”
“Why would I know that?”
He’s watching me closely. “I thought…last night…did he not stay over?”
“Raff may be my closest friend, but we’ve never been into sleepovers. As comfortable as it is, I don’t think he’d enjoy sleeping on my couch more than he would his own bed.”
I could almost swear relief floods over his handsome face, but that doesn’t make sense. What the fuck does he have to feel relieved about? “Right. Of course.” He starts backing into the lagoon. “Are you coming?”
I consider it for about half a second and then I run past him, diving in. I swim out but soon need to head closer to shore to stand. It feels so good to be in the water, using my muscles and soaking in the sunshine. I stretch my arms up over my head, my back to the lagoon, wiping the water from my face when strong arms grab me around the waist and haul me backward. I shriek and hear Griffin’s familiar, warm laugh. Butterflies take flight in my stomach. He tips backward, pulling me into his chest as we fall into the water. We spend the next ten minutes running, splashing, and knocking each other over. It feels like it did when we walked down to the beach growing up, except I’m not a self-conscious kid anymore.
Griffin had been grabbing me, throwing me over his shoulder, dragging me back towards him as I swam away. Then suddenly he’s swimming away from me. He may have an extra 15 inches in height on me but I’m a strong swimmer too. I take off towards him, jumping up and grabbing at his shoulders from behind. He ducks down and my momentum takes me over his shoulder, face-first into the water. I come up sputtering, eyes burning with salt water. I’m ready to laugh at how embarrassing that was but Griff’s hands are on me, pulling me upright and against him. He wraps one arm around my body and uses his other hand to lift my hair off of my face and wipe the water away from my eyes.
“Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to dump you on your face!” I gulp, the feeling of sparks on my skin from his hands nowhere near as distracting as the feeling of a very impressive erection against my torso. He must realize it too because his hands still and he swallows hard. His voice drops, making my stomach clench. “Mina, did I hurt you?” I tear my eyes away from his lips and look at his silvery grey eyes, concern and embarrassment at war in them. I shake my head and he lets go of me. “I’m gonna go grab my, uh, water.”
I let him go, giving him the space he must need while thinking about what Catherine said earlier. Maybe she was right. Griffincouldhave been checking me out last night. It seems like being close to me affected him. I swim back over to where my stuff is, the sand hot under my feet, and stretch out on my towel, pulling on my sunglasses. I’m weighing it all in my mind, wondering what it means, when Griffin’s tall body casts a shadow over me. I had been sort of afraid he’d leave.
“Can I sit here?”
I wave at the area next to me and he puts his towel down, stretching out. It’s not fair how good he looks. I don’t exactly know how to proceed. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, but I can’t stop thinking about how he felt against me. I’m saved by the sound of a text alert from inside my bag. I sit up and dig around in its depths before I find my phone, all the way at the bottom.
Catherine the GREAT: All done but I’m sweaty and exhausted
Catherine the GREAT: Shocking, I know!
Catherine the GREAT: A shower is very, very necessary at this point
Me: I’m probably finishing up here anyway, no worries
Me:Any plans tonight?
Catherine the GREAT: nope
Me: Wanna hang?
Catherine the GREAT: definitely! Come to mine
Me: K
Me: Love you
