Page 78 of Catch a Wave

I love Kalaine. That’s all that matters.

There’s a noise from inside the house—the sound of the front door shutting. Mavs jumps backward, nearly tripping over the pile of my next load of laundry. Next thing I know, she’s dodging away from me and ducking behind the workhorse where the board I’m shaping sits like a table top. Her eyes are wide and wild.

“Kai’s home!” she whisper-shouts.

“Duck!” she calls over to me in that same nearly-silent rasp.

Under any other circumstances, I’d probably think, “Why?” But instead, the panic on Mavs’ face, the thought of Kai catching us, combined with the swirl of thoughts and emotions I’ve been experiencing ever since our kiss … well, I freak out.

“Where?” I ask, frantically in a hoarse whisper, looking around for a space like I’m that one kid who always got caught first in hide-and-seek because he debated his spot for too long.

Mavs points to the shelving along the side wall which ends about two feet before the garage door. I duck into that small nook between the end of the shelves and the front of the garage, and maintain eye contact with her.

“Why are we hiding?” I whisper across to her.

Kai obviously knows we’re home. The grill is on. My laundry is running. The fish is marinating in the fridge.

This can’t end well.

Somewhere in my brain the words,Act natural,flit by. Unfortunately, we’ve long since forfeited the opportunity to act natural. Natural’s not even remotely an option at this point. I can only stand here in this cranny and hope for something akin to an alien abduction. I’d gladly have my brain probed right nowinstead of facing my best friend when he figures out I’m hiding because his sister and I have been kissing all afternoon.

“Shhhhhh,” is the only answer I get from Mavs before Kai’s voice booms through the house.

“Guys? Kala? Bodhi? Where are you?”

I’m ready to step out of this ridiculous hiding space and face my best friend, but the look Mavs sends me keeps me glued in place. She talked a big talk:Forget him. When it comes down to it, she’s as nervous about his reaction to us reconnecting as I am. I’m not quite sure how hiding in the garage will solve that issue, but I’m not about to go all logical on her when she looks like a feral animal hunkered down in her ineffective den made of eight workhorse legs.

“Guys?” Kai’s voice booms again and then the door leading from the house to the garage opens.

Shaka comes bolting down the stairs and runs straight to Mavs, tail wagging wildly when he sees her. Mavs stays ducked under the workhorse, hidden in plain sight, as if she can evade her brother even though he’s looking straight at her now.

“Shaka!” she says, standing, bonking her head on the board, and ducking down again to rub the point of impact. “There you are!”

Okay. So we’re going withthe dog was missing and you were on all fours under a workbench looking for him. Totally believable. No problem. We all crawl around when we’re searching for Shaka. All day, every day. Yep. She’s got this. Kai won’t suspect a thing. In other words, I’m a dead man walking, or hiding—in an equally ridiculous spot, if we want to be honest. I’m pretty sure Kai sees me by now too.

“Kala, what are you doing?” Kai asks. He folds his arms across his chest and his voice takes on that stern older-brother tone that annoys Mavs to no end.

Shaka’s not finished with his role as private investigator. He trots from where Kalaine is still hunkered down straight over to me. His tail wags and he jumps so his paws land on my stomach in a gesture that very much says,Here’s Bodhi. I found him.

“Bodhi?” Kai’s confusion is evident—and obviously valid.

“Yep,” I say, stepping out from the odd nook where I’d been hiding. Then I turn to Shaka. “There you are, buddy! We were looking for you.”

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Kai looks from me to Mavs and back. “Looking for the dog? That’s what we’re calling it these days?”

Mavs stands from under the workhorse slowly, craning her neck a little to avoid another collision with the surfboard. When she’s at her full height, she props her hands on her hips.

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“With you looking for the dog under the workhorse?” Kai asks with a smirk on his face. “And Bodhi looking …” Kai gestures to where I’m standing, now just outside the little nook where I had sequestered myself. “Over there?”

“Right. With me and Bodhi … uh … looking for a dog … together.”

“You’re consenting adults. Look for a dog together however you want. Just don’t get hurt in the process.” Kai turns his full attention to me. “And don’t hurt my sister … while … dog hunting. Or you’ll wish you never started that hunt.”

Kai turns and heads back into the house. “I’m going to lay down. Can we eat in a half hour?”

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