Chapter Twenty-Two
Reese
After a quick shower and changing into a pair of Kelly’s basketball shorts and an old t-shirt, my palms were sweating as we pulled up in front of the Iona family diner.
The diner was a standalone building on the West side of the island. Its exterior had chipped, sky-blue paint, with large windows covering most of the front. The sun had set, and the lights and sounds of the building drifted out into the parking lot.
I saw my reflection in Kelly’s rearview mirror and shuddered at how puffy and red my face looked.
I rarely cried, and I could already feel my cheeks burning with heat, knowing everyone in that diner would see what I’d been up to.
My breathing was shaky, and my heart was beating out of my chest as I questioned my decision to go inside.
I hadn’t even noticed that I was anxiously squeezing my thighs with my hands until Kelly’s hand slid over onto one of mine.
“We don’t have to go in there.” The diner's lights reflected in his dark ocean eyes. “We can turn around right now and go home.”
My heart skipped a beat at the way he said ‘home.’ Like I belonged there, too.
I shook my head a few times before I found my voice. “No. I want to turn this night around. I think a little fun is exactly what I need.”
“Okay, but we can leave at any time. You can tell me it’s too hot and we can leave immediately. No questions asked.” Kelly’s eyes bore into mine, and a voice in the back of my head whispered, ‘That’s love.’
I blinked, a little surprised, and tried to quiet the voice down.
I stepped out of the truck, and Kelly joined me, interlacing our fingers. He led me up to the door, where he held it open for me.
The mouth-watering smell of French fries invaded my senses as we walked into the lively space. My eyes bounced around, taking in the red leather booths, the lime green walls, the black and white checkerboard floors, and the royal blue countertop bar.
To anyone else, this diner probably looked ordinary, but Kelly had been abandoned here—the same diner where a family of five decided they couldn’t let Kelly get lost in the foster system. To me, this diner was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.
“Here,” Kelly motioned to a wicker basket full of cell phones on the front table. “We have to drop our phones off here,” he said as he slid his phone out of his pocket and deposited it.
“Wow, this is intense,” I joked, but I dropped my phone in.
“You have no idea.” Kelly led me through the sea of people. Six people at a time crowded into the booths, excitedly talking and laughing. The atmosphere was light, and it immediately lifted my spirit.
We reached a far booth where Jeremy, Kalani, Kahale, and Emily were. Husbands on one side and wives on the other, with two whiteboards in the middle.
“You’re just in time, brother.” Kahale reached out and gave Kelly a special handshake. Kalani rolled her eyes.
“Reese, you’re on our team.” Kalani stood and yanked me away from Kelly, sandwiching me between herself and Emily. “It’s always guys versus girls. We are the Sparkling Sirens,” she said proudly, picking a piece of invisible lint off the yellow tank top strap she was wearing.
“I hope you came to play.” Emily glared at Kahale, and he just smiled back with his goofy grin, completely unfazed.
“I didn’t realize winning trivia night was so important.” I raised my eyebrows at Kelly, and he snorted.
“We’ve never won,” Kalani admitted, as if she had just revealed a dirty little secret.
“Never?” I asked incredulously. “How long—”
“Two years,” Emily interrupted me.
I couldn’t think of a single thing I had consistently done for two years. “What’s tonight’s trivia topic?” I asked.
“Not sure yet,” Jeremy shrugged, stroking his mustache. “Kekoa announces the topic when we begin, so you can’t study up beforehand.”
“It’s very serious business,” Kahale said sternly, but his face said otherwise. “It’s hard always being on the winning team. Are you sure you don’t want to be on the winning team, Reese? It’s not too late to switch.”
“What’s your team’s name?” I asked, not for a second considering switching.
“The Tiki Titans,” Jeremy said, as all three guys whooped in unison.
“Hard pass,” I said. “I’m more of a Siren.”
Kalani smiled at this, and I felt a small part of myself glow, knowing I was wanted on a team and not just the last person available.
“Aloha! Welcome to trivia night,” Kekoa’s voice announced on some overhead speakers.
I looked around and found him sitting at the bar with a microphone.
“You guys know the rules. All phones betta’ be in this basket.
If I see you erasing your answer after the time is up, it won’t count.
And no fighting in the diner. Take that shit outside. Got it?”
The room grumbled in acceptance.
“The topic tonight is...” the room held onto his every word. “’Nineties sitcoms!”
My eyes went wide as Kelly looked right at me, trying not to smile. It was a good thing no one was looking at me because I had no poker face.
I’d been alone a lot when my parents were stuck at work, and the only channel we consistently had when we moved around showed nineties sitcoms 24/7. I was an unofficial expert.
“Fuck,” Emily whined, rubbing her temples and looking defeated. “We didn’t have a TV until I was in high school.”
“What’s the bet going to be this time?” Jeremy asked.
“Bet?” I asked. What was with this family and their bets?
“Ladies,” Kalani pulled us in as she started whispering. “I don’t feel strongly about this one. We should bet low.”
“I agree,” Emily said, with no hesitation.
“I say we bet big,” I said, my tone full of confidence. This was my time to shine.
“Big?” Emily whisper-screamed.
We looked up to see if the boys had noticed, but they were deep into their whispered conversation.
“I know pretty much every nineties sitcom you can think of.” I wasn’t sure whether I should be proud of this, but I held my head high.
“Are you fucking serious?” Kalani smiled widely, and it scared me how excited she seemed. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent.”
They exchanged a look, and then, in unison, nodded their heads.
“We go for the big one.” Kalani looked crazed.
“Finally!” Emily was giddy in agreement.
Before I could ask, the guys turned back our way.
“So, what will it be this month?” Kahale pretended to yawn. “Another loser makes dinner bet?”
“No,” Kalani said with a fire that had the guys sitting up straight. All of them, except for Kelly. He looked like he had been expecting this and had a shit-eating grin on his face. Was he rooting for us?
“If we win, you guys have to grow out full mustaches. Top Gun-worthy mustaches—and the mustache only.” Emily crossed her arms over her chest.
Kahale shrank back a bit while Jeremy clapped his hands. “Easy enough!”
“We’re not done.” Kalani put her hand up. “Jer, you have to shave yours.”
The smile vanished from his face, and on instinct, he stroked his upper lip. “For...for how long?”
“Three months,” Kalani said.
“Don’t worry, brah,” Kahale stretched out his arms behind his head. “They are never gonna win. Let them make this stupid bet.”
Jeremy scanned our faces and then stopped on mine. “Nuh-uh, brah. Something is fishy here. This one knows something.” He pointed his finger towards me, but Kalani swiped it away.
“What, are you scared, Jer?” she taunted him.
“Of you? Never.” He peered over at me. “Of her, maybe.”
“Me?” I tried to say it as innocently as possible. “I read a lot of books back in the day. Maybe some of these shows were based on them.” I lied through my teeth, and Kelly had to hide his face in his hands as he silently laughed.
Jeremy seemed to buy my act, visibly relaxing. “Okay, fine.”
“It doesn’t even matter what they are betting.” Kahale leaned back, stretching his arms behind him. “When we win, you ladies have to drive to the North Shore to get us some of Uncle Benny’s shrimp.”
“That’s not too bad,” Emily shook her head in acceptance.
“On Saturday,” Kahale finished with a devilish grin.
“This Saturday?” Kalani scowled.
I looked over at Kelly, completely lost.
“Everyone, settle down, ya hear?” Kekoa’s voice boomed overhead. Kelly mouthed the word ‘later,’ making me think he would explain this whole shrimp fiasco when we were done.
“Do we have a deal?” Kalani reached her hand out.
Jeremy still seemed hesitant, but Kahale grabbed his sister’s hand with full strength.
“God, I hope you are the dark horse you claim to be,” Emily whispered in my ear.
“Why is the shrimp such a bad punish—”
“First question to start the night off easy,” Kekoa interrupted me overhead, and both women sat up as straight as possible. “Which sitcom was built around then-rapper Will Smith? And a bonus point if you know the year it premiered.”
“Easy,” Kalani wrote down The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on the whiteboard.
I shook my head in agreement and whispered to her, “It premiered in 1990.”
Her eyebrows went up straight to her hairline, and Emily practically vibrated with excitement as Kalani wrote it down.
I looked over at the guys to see Jer and Kahale in an intense argument. This first question was one anyone would know without even watching the show. That made me think that they were probably bickering about the year.
I expected to find Kelly weighing in, but instead, I found a pair of gray-blue eyes staring right at me. There was a special gleam in his eyes that made me blush from the very top of my head all the way down to my toes.
The old me would have turned away from such a strong gaze, but Kelly made me feel safe—he made me feel brave. So, I looked straight back at him, smiling a genuinely happy smile. A smile I wouldn’t have believed I could have after the day I’d just had.
“Time’s up. Markers down,” Kekoa instructed. “Everyone, flip your board.”
Kalani held our board up high, and I glanced over at the Tiki Titans to see that they’d written down the correct show, but that it started in 1992. Amateurs.