Page 40 of The Player in New Zealand
I crossed my arms and rested my elbows on the picnic table. “Honestly, not much. I’ve been saving up my money a little bit to try to get a car. What do you think I should see?”
That led to a fiery discussion that required little input from me. I loved how passionate Kiwis were about their country. When Tane finished eating, he dropped his napkin onto his plate and dusted his hands off before sliding them around me, tugging me into the V of his thighs. Some of his family noticed the affection and exchanged smiles. Tane was good at this, and I tried to relax more into him. He was warm and comfortable.
“The ferry’s crazy expensive, mate,” he argued with one of his cousins. “And it’s getting too cold anyway. Not worth going down to Wanaka, if you ask me.”
I snorted. “Please, I’m from Boston. I can handle some cold.” Although, I hadn’t packed my cold-weather gear. I was going to need to buy more, based on how bitter the wind was whipping around Wellington.
“Hey, Tane,” a voice called, and out of the corner of my eye something flew toward us. Tane snatched it out of the air before it could hit me.
A few gasps went up and Tane shifted protectively under me.
“Still got those rugby reflexes, then,” a young man said. I couldn’t remember if I’d been introduced to him yet. The names and faces were starting to blend together a bit, but this guy was young, maybe still a teenager. The woman next to him—his sister?—glared at him.
“Oi, Park. Careful there. My catch is better than your aim, but someday I won’t be fast enough.” Tension around the backyard eased, and a few other people threw jabs at Park’s throwing skills.
The thing in Tane’s hand was a beer bottle. Just like that, I saw beer bottles everywhere. Everyone was drinking but Tane.
My eyes caught Nina’s. She watched Tane, brow crinkled and concern etching her features. I wondered how many of the family knew that Tane was sober now.
Everyone was still laughing over the ribbings and Tane placed the beer, unopened, on the table. We glanced at each other, and he gave me a small, tentative smile, leaning in. “I shoulda brought my own, hey?”
If his family noticed the unopened beer, they didn’t say anything.
TWELVE
Tane wasbusy with wedding errands, helping out the bride—his cousin—and his mom. I took the bus in Auckland armed with a list of suggestions from my friends on what to do. I scoped out the war museum, the botanical gardens, and a nice public green space called the Auckland Domain, which reminded me a bit of Central Park, with museums and trails and sports fields. I enjoyed myself a bit too much and had to rush back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the wedding.
This time, I checked with Nina to make sure my outfit was appropriate, sending her a pic of me in my dress. The wedding was in a hotel ballroom, but based on how casual everyone had been the night before, I wanted to be sure.
When I opened the door at Tane’s arrival, I expected some sort of ribbing about my outfit, but he was oddly quiet.
The door clicked closed, and I gestured. “Better today, right?”
He put his hands into his pockets and we scanned each other. Tane was in a pin-striped gray suit that had to have been custom-made. No way would his thighs fit in anything off the rack. A dark blue handkerchief peeking out of his pocket drew my eye.
I tried to think back—had I ever seen Tane like this? He didn’t dress up around the bar, sticking with athletic gear.
“Fishing for compliments?”
“No, sir, proper attire checking only.”
He scanned me again, from the black-and-tan floral pattern to the ankle boots and then back up to my hair, which, since it was getting a little longer, I had styled.
“Hideous,” he said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. “But the dress looks nice.”
I stuck my tongue out and flipped him off. He didn’t move, so I paused, waiting for him. To my surprise, he leaned forward, clasping a hand on my waist, and even though we were alone in the hallway, no one to see a kiss for a fake date, he brushed his lips against mine ever so gently. My lips parted in surprise, and I sucked in a breath, but Tane moved back before I could react further. My body tightened, thinking about that kiss under the sky on the back porch and now this. We were edging outside of the expectations I had for this trip, but I didn’t mind those lines being crossed.
In fact, I might be liking it too much.
“Thanks for doing this, Claire,” he said softly, oblivious to my thoughts.
I swallowed, wondering how he could match my temper so well sometimes but yet flip it around on a dime other times, turning everything sweet.
He offered me his elbow, and we rode the elevator down to the ballroom, where guests were crowding around the hallway. Some faces I remembered from the night before, but most were new. We dropped our linked hands to hongi with the family, but Tane’s hand always returned to the small of my back afterward.
“And this is my mum, Emily,” Tane said.
Mrs. Taumata and I did a hongi together, and when she released me, she pinched Tane’s cheek and teased him.
