Chapter Fourteen
Reese
Kelly parked his truck on the side of a two-lane road and cut the engine. There was a thick tropical forest on either side of us, with no sight of the ocean from where we were. I looked at him accusingly, and he put his hands up like he was under arrest.
“Okay, okay. This seems very serial killer-ish. But I promise, there’s nowhere else to park.”
I smiled and shrugged a little. “At least if you kill me now, then I never have to tell my airplane story to anyone else ever again.”
Kelly had laughed and even cried a little as I explained the vibrator fiasco, and then how I needed to visit the tiny airplane bathroom for eight hours.
I thought Kelly would make fun of me for the whole thing, but after he finished laughing, he seemed genuinely empathetic about it. He also had some choice words for the rude TSA agents I’d encountered. Bonus points for him as he had laughed at my term ‘Beavis and Butthead’ for them.
Now, Kelly was out of the truck and heading for the bed. I jumped out, strapping my backpack on tight, and joined him.
“I think that’s the opposite of what needs to happen. You should be telling that story to every person you meet,” he said when I was in earshot again.
“Obviously,” I said sarcastically. “The next person I see, I’ll just go ‘Hi. My name is Reese. Would you like to hear about the time I had liquid ass?’ People love that kind of stuff.”
Kelly pulled out some chairs, strapped them to his back, then pulled out a large bag that seemed to have goggles poking out of it. I spotted some towels and grabbed them before Kelly could.
“I don’t know, Reese. I know we just met, but I think that story has the potential to launch your stand-up comedy career.
” His blonde hair was shining now that the sun was out in full blast. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt and some bright blue board shorts.
I could see his rich black tattoo on his bicep poking through at the edge of his shirt.
I followed Kelly as he led me into the thick vegetation. A narrow, worn-down path came into view after we got through the first layer of plants. The humidity increased as we walked, and I had to take off my jacket and wrap it around my waist.
“I’ll have you know I was voted ‘most likely to become a comedian’ in high school,” I joked as I saw the dirt path starting to become mixed with sand.
“I bet you were voted ‘most likely to be the best fake girlfriend.’” Kelly smiled at me confidently. The way he smiled at me didn’t creep me out like the way Charlie had. Instead, I felt a slight flutter in my stomach.
“You want to bet on it?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “The usual?”
He laughed like he hadn’t expected that comeback. “Absolutely not! I like how my eyebrows look right now, thank you. Besides, we both know you were probably voted ‘best smile’ or ‘most amazing eyes.’”
I was blushing as he complimented me, and my palms started to sweat as his eyes locked onto me.
“Were you voted ‘most friendly’ or ‘most likely to be successful’?” I asked, ignoring his comment and focusing on the path ahead.
“Truthfully, I was voted ‘most likely to join the NFL.’”
“Really? You played football?” I shouldn’t have been surprised.
The path widened as sand completely took over. The crashing sounds of waves broke through, and I knew we were close.
“I did. I played in high school, and it’s how I was able to pay for my undergrad,” he said nonchalantly.
“Wow, that’s impressive. Why didn’t you go on to the NFL?”
“Honestly?” He stopped for a moment, his eyes looking more gray than blue today. “I was good, but not that good. If the opportunity had come up, I would have definitely jumped on it. But I was realistic about my prospects of going pro. So, I set my eyes on a different future for myself.”
“You love being a vet?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
He smiled easily at this. “I do.”
He held back the branches of a tree so I could step through. Once on the other side, I finally got my first real glimpse of the beach.
It was completely empty, which was unheard of after seeing the beaches of Waikiki on my way to work over the last week.
The sand at this beach was extra fine and velvety soft beneath my feet.
The water was a lighter shade of blue here, so clear you could see straight to the bottom, and the shoreline cascaded down for at least a mile.
“Wow,” I exhaled as I looked around.
“This is one of my favorite beaches,” Kelly said as he plopped down his supplies and got busy putting up the chairs.
I put down my backpack and started taking off the t-shirt and shorts I had on over my swimsuit. This time, I had my own bikini to wear. It was a plain navy blue, and the bikini bottoms actually covered my butt this time.
“Do you have a wetsuit?” Kelly asked, looking at my bikini top.
“I don’t own one. I figured the water would be warm enough.”
“It can be cold first thing in the morning.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a teal long-sleeved top. The material was shiny and looked thicker than your average rash guard. “You’ll want to put this on.”
“Are you sure?” I looked at him skeptically. “I thought Hawaii was known for its year-round bathwater temperatures.”
“Trust me. The water gets cold during the night and doesn’t warm up until the sun has had a chance to heat it. This is my sister’s. I figured you didn’t own a wetsuit top.”
“You don’t think we need the full suit?” I asked sarcastically.
“It’s not that cold. But you’ll be thanking me here in a minute.”
I took the long-sleeved top and watched as Kelly took off his shirt.
I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his tanned skin.
His body was lean and muscular, suggesting he was active, but not so toned that it made me think he spent hours in the gym.
He covered his body with a dark gray wetsuit top, and I looked away before I was caught ogling him.
To distract myself, I pulled out the sunscreen that I’d packed and started lathering up my face before moving on to my legs.
I offered some to Kelly and expected to get the same reaction I’d gotten from Beth.
Instead, he surprised me by happily taking some, not skipping a beat as he applied some to his skin.
“Are you a strong swimmer? Or should I pull out the arm floaties?” Kelly pretended to look around in his bag.
I hit his arm playfully. “I’ll have you know that I am an excellent swimmer!”
“Sure, sure. That’s what they all say.” He scrunched his nose at me. I reached out and rubbed in some of the remaining sunscreen on his face.
He froze under my touch, and I wondered if I had crossed a line. I was about to take a step back from him when he said, “Don’t worry, Reese. I’ll keep you safe,” he said, so softly, as if he were talking to himself. His eyes darted to my lips, and I felt myself being pulled in closer.
After a beat, he smiled. “Lucky for you, I was a lifeguard back in high school, and I never lost a person. Even you can’t break my record.”
I broke away from the intimacy of the moment and pretended to glare at him. He laughed, a deep laugh, a rich and beautiful sound that perfectly crashed with the waves.
“We’ll have to swim about fifty yards out to get to the right spot. The break is strong here, so you’ll need to swim harder than normal to get through it,” he said, looking out towards the horizon.
“Sounds easy enough,” I said, wondering how far fifty yards was, but too embarrassed to ask.
“Are you sure that you’re a strong swimmer?” Kelly asked, eyeing my hesitant stance. “No judgment. We can do something else.”
Now was the time I should have been honest and admitted that I had never actually swum in the ocean before last week.
I was a strong swimmer in a pool, so that had to translate, right?
I didn’t want to walk away from this just because I was a little scared.
It meant a lot to me that he had taken the time to plan this out.
I was tired of sitting on the sidelines of my own life.
“I’m solid,” I replied.
“Good to hear it,” he said, passing me some goggles with a snorkel attached and flippers to match.
We walked down to the water’s edge, and I watched as he slid his flippers on. I followed suit, not wanting to fall behind.
I awkwardly waddled my way into the water and gasped as the cold water crashed into my shins. I was shaking uncontrollably and now wished I had worn a full-body suit. I hugged my arms close to my body as I tried to walk further in. The waves pushed me around, and I thought about calling it a day.
“Frick, this is cold! I thought it was supposed to be warm here!” I squealed.
“Did you just say frick?” Kelly laughed.
“I’m not big into...cussing,” I said through chattering teeth.
I waited for the teasing that normally followed my lack of a sailor’s mouth, but Kelly just nodded. He seemed to accept me when others usually didn’t.
“You’ll start to warm up once you move around and your body gets used to it. Maybe try going completely under,” Kelly said, and then disappearing beneath the surf, headfirst. He rose a few seconds later and slicked his hair back.
“That sounds like something Ted Bundy would say,” I tried to joke as my body shivered uncontrollably. You would think we had just escaped the Titanic from the way I was shaking.
“Trust me, come here.” Kelly moved to face me, our torsos touching as he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Is this okay?” he asked, my skin warming instantly at his touch.
I sucked in a breath as I nodded in agreement.
My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist as he pushed us further into the sea.
He spun us around so I was facing the shore, where I could see how beautiful the beach looked.
Emerging from the dense jungle of tropical plants were large, lush, green, rounded mountain peaks.