Chapter Nine #2
Kelly smiled politely as he rolled down his window. “Aloha, brah. What—"
“Don’t ‘brah’ me,” Derek interrupted him and then spotted me. “Oh, you know this guy, Reese?” Derek smiled like he thought this was the funniest thing he’d seen all week. I could tell he was judging Kelly and his truck.
It was clear now that Derek was a classic bully, and I had never backed down from bullies.
I straightened in my seat. “This is my boyfriend, Kelly. Can we help you?”
“You haven’t even been here a week, and you already have a boyfriend?” He shook his head. “Pretty girls like you do move fast.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Kelly cut in as the smile from earlier was long gone.
“Nothing,” Derek said innocently. “Anyway, I saw this junker in front of my house and was going to tell you to get off my property. But since you’re bumping uglies with my houseguest, I’ll just tell you to make sure your piece of shit truck doesn’t drip oil on my driveway, brah,” he said this last word with an overly exaggerated native accent.
Before either of us could respond, Derek was walking with long strides back towards the garage.
“Who the hell was that?” Kelly’s nostrils flared and his knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel within an inch of its life.
“That’s Beth’s husband, Derek. I just had the pleasure of meeting him right before I walked out of the house.”
“And you’re staying in the same house as that guy? What a fucking prick.” I could read all over Kelly’s face that he wanted to get out of the truck and follow Derek.
“It’s not worth it,” I said as I buckled my seatbelt.
“I’m supposed to ignore what he said? Who even says ‘bumping uglies’? Is he a spoiled frat boy?”
“He was probably a frat boy in the past, but now he’s some hotshot real estate developer,” I said, trying to remember the few facts I knew about him.
Kelly laughed without humor. “Ya know, that makes a lot of sense. A guy like him would be pushing locals away from Hawaii.” He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Guys like him come in, buy land or homes that were foreclosed on. Then he flips them and sells them for an absurd price. Locals could never afford those prices, so someone from the mainland swoops in and pushes a local family out. I have cousins who were forced to leave the islands because they couldn’t afford the real estate.
” Kelly had loosened his grip on the wheel, but his body was still rigid with tension.
“That’s terrible,” I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. He looked down at the contact, and I could see the tension start to melt away.
“I’m sorry I lost my cool,” he admitted, putting his hat back on.
“For the record, I don’t think you lost your cool. Derek is a dick, though,” I said, and Kelly laughed at this. “Let’s get going. I don’t want to be late meeting your family.” I removed my hand and looked back at the dog, panting at the back window for some love.
“Who is this big, handsome guy?” I pushed down the glass separating us and was met with wet kisses.
“That’s my dog, Ted Mosby. Ted, this is Reese Phillips.” My heart skipped a beat at the name, and Ted gave me his paw to shake.
“Ted Mosby? As in Ted from How I Met Your Mother?” I asked incredulously.
He smiled at my recognition. “That’s the one. HIMYM is a comfort show of mine.”
“HIMYM is my comfort show, too,” I admitted, smiling.
Kelly was beaming as he started the truck again. “Ted, lie down, buddy. It’s go time,” he said as he slid the window shut. I watched as he reached for the gearshift, pushing down the clutch.
“You know, I have always wanted to learn how to drive a stick,” I said as we cruised out into the neighborhood, leaving the drama of Derek behind us.
“Really?” He glanced over at me as he shifted gears. “I could teach you in a single afternoon,” he said.
With Kelly’s eyes entirely focused on the road, I took a moment to take him in fully.
His hair was peeking out of the sides of the worn, black baseball hat he was wearing.
There was a wave to his hair today, and I resisted the urge to run my fingers through it.
He had on a black Oregon State t-shirt that hugged his biceps perfectly and gray basketball shorts that made his legs look extremely tan.
I quietly cursed Beth in my head as I nervously traced the lace on the dress I was wearing. I was feeling overdressed and not at all like myself.
“I would love that. Maybe we can do that for one of our fake dates,” I laughed.
“I’ll add it to the list,” he seemed to relax the further we got from the Scott residence. “After we get through this dinner, I promise I’ll show you some of the best parts of the island.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Oh, no. It’s gonna be a secret.” His smile was playful at this.
“First, we have to get through this dinner. I’m a little nervous,” I said honestly.
“You don’t have to be nervous. My family, while completely crazy, are all very down to earth.”
“I’m nervous about lying,” I admitted. “I want to seem convincing.”
“I think if you are just yourself, then they will love you—no need to pretend to be anybody else. But make sure you stay away from Kalani. If she gets you alone, she will try to drill you.”
“Duly noted. What about her husband?”
“Jeremy? He’s harmless and doesn’t get involved with Kalani’s drama. He is also working, so he won’t be there.”
He turned onto the main highway, and I glanced out at the far-off coastline. “Where do your parents live?”
“It’s called Kapolei. It’s on the West side of the island.” His accent was light, but it thickened when he said Hawaiian words.
“Is this the same house you grew up in?” I wondered what it was like to have a childhood home. A steady place that welcomed you back year after year.
“The same one.” He smiled fondly at what I assumed were the memories flooding his brain.
I cleared my throat, willing myself to bring up the uncomfortable topic I knew we still needed to discuss. “So, I know you mentioned you are not a big fan of PDA, but I figured we should have some guidelines in place.”
“Guidelines?” He seemed amused by my formal wording of it.
“Yes. For example, I am okay with holding hands, but I think it would be tacky if you grabbed my butt.”
“Dang, I was going to do a lot of butt-grabbing in front of my Tutu tonight,” he said, his voice thick with sarcasm.
I smacked his arm gently, and he pretended to groan in agony.
“You know what I mean!” His deep laugh filled the truck, and I found a part of myself lighting up at the sound of it.
“Couples are normally affectionate, despite what your reputation has been in the past. I just want to set up some expectations.”
“I’m sorry.” He glanced over, amusement filling his eyes. “Please, continue.”
Despite his teasing tone, I went on. “I think if you put your arm around me, it would be fine. I want to be convincing, but I am not going to be all over you,” I said, picking at my cuticles.
Kelly glanced over at my hands. “Reese, relax. We are going to go hang out and probably won’t need to do any of that. If it comes up, we can have a code word first. To see if you’re comfortable.”
“What kind of code word?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ll ask you if you’re too hot. If you say ‘yes’, then I won’t touch you. If you say ‘no’, then I know I have permission to carry on. You can say no to whatever you want. We can also leave at any time. I know that my family can be overwhelming.”
The corners of my mouth crept up just slightly. Kelly was already more thoughtful than any of my real ex-boyfriends. “Okay, deal.”
Kelly looked back and forth between me and the road several times as if he was trying to memorize this moment. “What are friends for?”