Page 28 of Try Me

Declan’s chest tightened as Keoni’s head turned in his direction. He felt the hot lick of Keoni’s gaze inspecting him. There was a long pause during which Declan knew Keoni was remembering the last time they’d seen each other. Declan had behaved like a complete ass, and he wouldn’t blame Keoni for ignoring him. The moment passed, and then Keoni was coming toward him, hand extended. He moved awkwardly, and as he got closer, Declan saw that bruises covered Keoni’s face.

Bones came up to join them. “Look who’s back,” he said in his baritone voice.

Declan shook hands with both of them, then lowered his sunglasses to inspect Keoni’s face.

“What the hell happened to you?”

“Waimea Bay,” Keoni said, grinning despite his busted lip.

“I thought maybe you got some girl pregnant again,” Declan joked.

“That wasn’t me,” Keoni said, not laughing.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as they stared at each other. Declan thought there was a good chance Keoni might deck him, and Bones was always up for a fight. There was also a good chance that Keoni would embrace him, sweeping away Declan’s transgressions without a second glance.

Keoni smiled and the moment passed. He introduced Declan to two women who were visiting from the mainland. Bones had a reputation with the ladies that was even worse than Declan’s, and there was nothing fake about it. Bones was notorious for hooking up with tourists. But Keoni usually steered clear of them. It shocked Declan to see Keoni anywhere near the airport. He’d expected to run into his old friend at the beach, but he’d never thought he’d see him here.

“Whatchu doin’ home?” Bones asked.

“You didn’t hear?” Declan asked, his throat aching. He still couldn’t believe he was surfing in the Duke and Keoni had been passed over. It wasn’t right, and Declan yearned to fix the discrimination in the system that made success so much harder for men like Keoni.

“Hear what?” Keoni asked.

Declan reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the red envelope. He’d been carrying it around for days, still unable to believe he was surfing in the most prestigious contest in the sport.

“I’m surfing in the Duke,” Declan said unnecessarily. Every surfer in the world knew what was in one of those red envelopes. Saying it out loud made him feel worse.

Bones looked as if he could happily choke Declan, and Keoni’s face paled under the bruises.

“Congratulations,” Keoni said.

Declan cleared his throat. “It should have been you,” he said, stuffing it back in his pocket.

The tension mounted between them. The situation was out of their control, but it still drove a wedge between them. Declan had been born lucky. His family was old money Oahu, and he’d always had advantages that Keoni didn’t have. Declan had been a pro surfer since he was twenty-two, and Keoni had been repeatedly passed over.

It was not his fault, but still Declan felt guilty. He glanced back at the Rolls Royce where Pearl was waiting. “I gotta go,” he said.

They shook hands again and said their goodbyes. Declan felt their eyes follow him as he walked down the sidewalk and ducked into the car. Declan sank into the seat beside a sleeping Pearl, and felt the bone-deep pain he’d known would be waiting for him in Oahu. He just hadn’t expected it to greet him at the airport.

Welcome home.

---