Chapter 22
I breathe her in, holding her close as I try to digest her words.
I can’t even begin to imagine losing my parents and what that would be like.
Fuck, just losing Mitch was hard enough, and I know my dad still struggles with not having his best friend in his life.
Miles and I try to be there for him, hopefully filling the gap a little, but I know it’s still hard.
Like it must be hard for Quinn too.
“You know, we have a word in Hawaiian, ohana,” I start, tightening my arm around her shoulders as I steer the boat with my other hand. “It means family.”
Quinn huffs out a little laugh, looking up at me as she says, “I’ve seen Lilo and Stitch, you know.”
I lower my hand and give her ass a gentle smack. “Okay, cheeky, everyone’s seen Lilo and Stitch, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Oh?” she asks, smiling.
I steer the boat into a bay that has good snorkeling, dropping anchor and angling us so we’re facing the shore. When I’m done, I pull her back to me again, my arms wrapped around her.
“Ohana means family, but it’s more than just blood family,” I say. “It’s family, it’s friends, it’s this island. And it’s also about belonging and mutual support, about being connected to each other.”
Quinn slips her arms around my waist, her hands sliding under my T-shirt to rest against the bare skin of my back. Her touch ignites a fire in my body that I try to rein in, even though that feels impossible. Her touch just makes me want her even more, and I already can’t get enough of it. Or her.
“Okay,” she replies, smiling up at me. “I kinda like that.”
I smile, dropping a quick kiss to her lips as I say, “You are our ohana now, Quinn. Mine, my family’s, all of our friends. We’ve got your back.”
She pushes up on her toes, her nose brushing against mine as her lips press a gentle kiss to mine. “Thank you,” she whispers.
I brush the hair back from her face, my hands holding her cheeks as we watch each other, something different and new passing between us now. I don’t know what it is, but whatever it is, it sends my heart into a free fall inside my chest, the blood coursing through my veins.
“You wanna go for a swim?” I ask, tipping my head toward the water, needing to cool down a little and not just because of her hands on my skin.
“Sure,” she says, stepping back from my embrace, almost like she too recognizes that something changed just then.
I watch as she pulls her dress off to reveal a very sexy pink bikini. “Wow,” I breathe out, pulling my T-shirt off and throwing it onto the deck. I hold my hand out, and Quinn takes it before I lead her to the edge of the boat. “Ready?” I ask, smiling when she nods, before we both jump overboard.
When we surface, Quinn is smiling, pushing her wet hair back from her face. I reach for her, pulling her into my arms, smiling as she wraps her legs around my waist. Without a word, I’m kissing her, one hand on her back, holding her to me, the other on her ass.
Also holding her to me.
Never wanting to let her go.
She loops her arms around my neck, her tongue instantly tracing my bottom lip in a way that makes me smile, knowing she wants this as much as I do.
Deepening the kiss, I pull her closer, our bodies entwined, our lips barely separating as we kiss and taste and tease and discover everything we can about each other. It feels so new, just making out like this, and I kind of like the fact I’m forcing us to take things slow.
I also don’t really care about breathing or staying above water right now. I only care about kissing this woman who is willing to give me a shot, to believe me when I say I want something more with her.
I want so much more.
Even if all of it terrifies me.
Never in my life have I felt this way about anyone.
“Kai,” she groans as she grinds her hips against mine.
Chuckling, I pull back a little, so my eyes meet hers. “Still not happening today, babe,” I whisper, before closing the distance between us.
She lets out a frustrated huff, which I immediately smother with kisses, before she mumbles, “What the hell? Are you trying to recapture your youth or something?”
This makes me laugh. “Seriously?” I ask, tucking some hair behind her ear. “My youth?”
Quinn rolls her eyes, but it’s playful and fun as she says, “Okay, whatever, but I mean, how long is this dating each other and holding out thing gonna last?”
A loud laugh bursts out of me as my other hand moves to her ass, grinding her against me and the obvious hard-on I seem to permanently sport around her. Who would have thought it would be Quinn pushing for us to sleep together and not me?
“Frustrated?” I tease.
She wriggles her hips, teasing me. “What do you think?”
I close the distance, kissing her again. “I think that maybe the whole foreplay thing is fun,” I whisper.
“You’ve never done foreplay?” she asks.
“Oh, I do foreplay,” I tell her. “But never like this.”
Quinn narrows her eyes, and I can’t help but laugh at her obvious frustration and annoyance with me. And as much as I would fucking love to pull her bikini bottoms off and fuck her right here and right now, I’m not going to.
I want this, but I want it in the right way. A way that’s different from every other time for me.
“So like when, then?”
“Don’t you have a birthday coming up?” I tease.
She blinks at me. “What, it’s like a birthday present?”
I laugh again, shaking my head as I say, “No, I’m changing the subject, babe, because I have some ideas for your birthday, so—”
“But—”
I cut off her question with another kiss. “We’ll get there, Quinn,” I whisper against her lips. “I promise, okay?”
“Okay,” she breathes out, even as she shifts her hips against mine.
Swallowing the groan, I say, “So, your birthday.”
“So, you’re really into this chick, huh?”
I glance over at Eli, who’s carrying a cooler full of ice and beers onto the deck. “Dude, do you have to show off like that?” I ask as he puts it down, not even out of breath.
Straightening, he shoots me a grin. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, and you’re avoiding my question.”
I roll my eyes at him as I head back inside to grab plates and shit. “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I repeat back to him.
“Bullshit,” Eli scoffs, following me inside. “I have lost my wingman, haven’t I?”
I grab the plates and cutlery from the counter, handing them to my roommate before I walk over to the fridge to grab snacks and salads and meat.
“Kai?” Eli prompts when it’s clear I’m stalling.
I blow out a breath. “Yeah, you have,” I admit, finally meeting his gaze.
Eli’s grin widens as he nods once and then turns and walks back outside. I follow after him, confused.
“Wait, so that’s it?” I stupidly ask, regretting my question the second he turns and looks at me, a huge-ass grin on his face.
It’s been a couple of days since I took Quinn out on the boat, and honestly, it’s been some of the best days of my life.
Whenever we aren’t working, we’re together, hanging out and getting to know each other.
We’ve been making out a lot too, dry humping like we’re in high school, Quinn trying like hell to push things further.
It takes every ounce of self-control I have to push back.
Not because I don’t want her—jesus, I fucking want her—but because I want to do this right.
“That’s it,” Eli says with a nod as Owen and Sloane call out from the front door before he walks into the house to greet them.
I blink, confused at his response, certain he was going to give me shit for falling for a girl and wanting to get involved with her.
“Hey,” Owen says as he walks out to the back deck.
Eli and Sloane follow behind him, Eli with an arm casually draped around Sloane’s shoulders. It makes me smile to see, because Sloane has always been slightly standoffish with all of us. Since she’s been dating Owen, though, she’s really kind of come out of her shell, and it’s super cool to see.
“Hey,” I say, pulling Owen into a hug.
“Kai’s in love with Quinn,” Eli announces at the same time, Sloane giggling.
“Oh jesus,” I groan, leaning in to kiss Sloane on the cheek. “Dude, don’t listen to your cousin. I think he’s lifted too many weights and burst a blood vessel or something.”
Eli laughs, crossing his arms over his chest, which is huge even if he isn’t even trying to puff it out. “I’ve lost my wingman. He’s admitted it,” he now says.
“That’s because he and Quinn are dating,” comes Alana’s voice as she, Flynn, Nate, Sage, Daisy and Miles all round the corner of the house.
“And,” I start, just as I see Quinn behind them, a nervous look on her face, like maybe she’s heard some of this conversation and is wondering where it’s going.
I smile at her, walking over and pulling her into my arms. “Hey,” I whisper, before dropping a quick kiss to her lips.
“Happy birthday, babe,” I add, even though I said it to her this morning when I took her to breakfast and again when I met her at work for lunch, texting it to her multiple times throughout the day too.
Quinn giggles. “Your friends are all looking at us,” she whispers.
I roll my eyes. “They’re just jealous,” I tell her as I hear Flynn say, “Dude, you owe me fifty bucks.”
Quinn and I turn to see Eli shake his head with a laugh as he pulls a fifty from his pocket and hands it to Flynn.
“I can’t believe those assholes bet on us,” I say as we turn and head onto the deck.
“I think it was you they bet on,” Quinn teases. “Not me.”
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” I ask, slinging an arm around her shoulders as Quinn just laughs, and we join the others.
Everyone has brought her gifts, which I fucking love, and Daisy is holding a birthday cake.
“It’s a double-layered cake that’s half coconut and half pink vanilla,” she says, a sly smile on her face.
“Your favorite flavor and Kai’s favorite flavor.
” She’s grinning at us, giving me a quick wink as she puts the cake on the table beside the gifts.
“Thank you, Daisy,” Quinn says, immediately pulling her into a hug. Behind them, I see my brother smirk at me, his arms crossed against his chest as he tips his head in the direction of his fiancée and my girl.
“What?” I mouth.
Miles just smirks, and I respond by flipping him off, which only makes him laugh.
“Open your presents,” Daisy now says, clapping her hands as she steers Quinn toward the table.
“I can’t believe this,” Quinn whispers. “You guys didn’t need to do all of this.”
“Sure we did!” Alana says as she looks over the table before turning to me. “Where’s your present?”
I laugh, dropping an arm around Quinn’s shoulders as I press a kiss to her temple. “It’s in my bedroom. It’s—”
“Oh my fucking god,” Miles says.
“What?”
“It’s in your bedroom?” he repeats, a smirk on his face as Nate laughs beside him.
“Yeah,” I reply, knowing exactly what he’s thinking right now. “It’s kinda too big to put on the table,” I add with a smirk. I’m tempted to grab my junk just to fuck with him because I know he’s thinking my present to Quinn is me, naked.
Which it will be.
But not in front of these guys.
“Uh huh,” he says. “So are you going to give it to her then?”
I laugh, shaking my head at him. “Yeah, I’ll go get it right now,” I say, giving him a gentle shoulder nudge on my way past as I head inside to grab Quinn’s present.