Page 33 of The Player in New Zealand
“Deal.”
We shook hands while Tane sighed, exasperated. I may have sold my soul for the Lord of the Rings fandom, but I didn’t care. A weekend in Auckland and a night in Hobbiton would more than make up for it.
* * *
“Thanks for coming. Have a good night!”I called out to our last customers. Being that it was a Thursday night, the bar had been quiet. Nina had left for the wedding already, a day early, to wrangle her kids and fly up to Auckland.
Tamati, Nina’s friend who would be in charge of the bar while we were gone, had been around all day as Tane made sure he had everything he needed. Tamati and Tane were in the back office, so I walked over to the door and locked up after the customers had left. When I turned around, Tane stood next to the bar, arms crossed and watching me. I jumped.
“Jesus. Tane, you scared me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You knew I was here.”
“Yes, but not here, here.” I gestured with my hand up and down his body and stepped around him. Before I could pass, though, he caught my wrist.
“Can I talk to you?”
I stalled, and looked down at where his fingers gripped me. This was the first time we’d touched in months. He quickly let go.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said, looking up and trying to relax. “I’m your fake date, remember? We’re going to touch.”
He blew out a breath and looked away. “Yeah, about that...”
His eyes flicked around the room, looking anywhere but at me.
“Am I still going?” What was going on?
“Yeah, but...” He hesitated and then turned, raising an arm to corral me toward the back door. “Come here for a minute.”
Tane let me lead, a gentle touch just above the small of my back guiding me. He opened the door and I stepped out onto the back deck. I didn’t come out here much, since the servers took care of the food and drinks for guests.
Beyond the squares of light coming through the windows from inside, the deck was in shadows. Tane fumbled for a minute before there was a click and the string lights above me shone down on us. They were warm, casting a soft glow over the entire deck. Wooden chairs and sofas were centered around low tables and fire pits. Beyond the deck, the darkness swallowed up the axe range into mere shadows.
“What’s going on?”
Tane stood facing me, his features tense, brow furrowed and arms crossed over his chest. “One thing you should know, since you’re an American. We have a greeting.”
I raised an eyebrow. “A greeting?”
“Yeah. Some of the women may kiss your cheek, but the traditional way is called ahongi.That’s how we’ll greet the family this weekend. You press your noses”—he gestured between us with his hand—“together. It represents the sharing of life.”
“Oh, like akunik.”
Tane shot me a look. “I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s a greeting from the Inuits, where you rub noses.”
“We don’t rub noses,” he said, affronted.
“No, okay, it’s similar but not the same. Sorry.”
I pictured the move in my mind, and held my hand up to my face. “Is it, like, you bow forward and press noses together?”
He shook his head. “Here, I’ll show you.” Tane offered me his hand. “This is how you’ll greet my family. Handshake, and then lean in.”
I slipped my palm into his, a little giddy with the feeling of his big, callused hand in mine. I needed to get used to that this weekend.
