Page 100 of Mistaken Identity
I chose to skirt to the side, squeezing in between Telly and Carter.
Carter shifted to the side to allow me to pass, and suddenly I got my own unencumbered view of the sexiest man alive dressed in his authentic Hawaiian attire.
I realized now that Audric’s skin tone nearly matched his good friend’s. And Audric had just as many tattoos as Keanu did.
Seeing the two of them together…
Wow. There was nothing else I could say to describe it. Words couldn’t be formed to explain their combined beauty.
“You ready, hoaloha?” Keanu asked Audric.
“Ready when you are.” He flashed a grin.
The two went to their separate trees that were surrounded by a crowd of a hundred and shook out their arms.
A different man yelled out, “One, two, GO!”
I didn’t know who to look at.
Keanu, to see if he was winning, or Audric because he was just that beautiful of a man.
In the end, I chose to stare more at Audric, taking in his bulging biceps and thick thighs.
Carter laughed joyously beside me, but all I could stare at was the man at the top of the tree who was pointing at his friend across from him saying, “Victory!”
Their joyous laughter had me beaming from ear to ear.
“Wow,” Telly said as she stared at the two men. “I didn’t know that was even possible.”
“They’ve been fighting this out for years,” Carter informed us. “Every single gathering they had, the two of them would be in those damn trees racing. There’s been more than a few broken bones over the years, too. Though, Audric has had more of them. He’s a little more rusty since he doesn’t do this often. I’m honestly surprised he won, though.”
Audric and Keanu descended their trees, and when their feet hit the ground, they came together for some complicated handshake before Keanu took over the talking.
An hour later, we were watching the best show on earth.
Or maybe it just felt like that for me because this was my man and watching him undulating and sweating while dancing under stage lighting was fantastic.
You could tell that he was rusty. He messed up more than once, and he would laugh it off.
He’d definitely done it before, though.
Honestly, it looked like he was having the time of his life, and I was all there for it.
“This last one is a time-honored tradition,” Keanu said after dinner was served and we were working on dessert. “Who’s heard of the Haka?”
My heart started to pound.
I’d read about the Haka.
According to the books I’d read, the Haka was performed to celebrate, welcome, to show respect, or even to protest.
I’d read all about the Haka in my favorite rugby books, but I had no clue how exciting and exhilarating it would be to witness it in person.
“My friend and I, we used to have competitions to see who had the best scary face.” Keanu laughed. “Y’all will have to tell us who actually wins when we’re done!”
The lights dimmed, and I watched, enraptured, as Audric performed the Haka.
I couldn’t stop myself from taking a photo of him pounding on his thighs, veins bulging, head thrown back as he bellowed for all he was worth.
