Ginny nodded. “Happily.”
“I can’t imagine not having Tom around,” Amber said. “You don’t want a guy?”
Ginny laughed mirthlessly. “Of course I do, but it’s not that easy.”
“Well, Kapena’s single,” Meghan suggested.
Ginny and I shared a secret smile and both shook our heads.
“Nope. Been there, done that. He has his eye on someone else, and I’m perfectly content to be single until a guy looks at me like Kapena looks at Ada.”
Dammit. Why did she have to say Ada’s name? She didn’t mean to start something, but it was about a second and a half before Meghan and Amber shared a devious smile.
“Ada? Our officiant? She’s the one you want?”
Ginny flashed me a wide-eyed silent apology. I shook it off. It wasn’t her fault. They never would have been suspicious if it weren’t for me.
“Ada’s an amazing woman,” I said carefully.
“She really is,” Meghan agreed. “I liked talking to her. She really wants to make our wedding special even though we don’t know her. She cares. That’s part of why we came to Opposites Attract. Kiana and the rest of them all want to make our wedding perfect. Even coming here is perfect.”
I nodded. What the hell was I supposed to say to that?
“You should ask Ada out,” Meghan offered as though she was telling me something I hadn’t already thought of.
A date, a real date, with Ada. The problem with that was if she said no, we couldn’t go back to the way things were. She would know how I felt about her.
And if she said yes, eventually everything would blow up and we’d be over.
Status quo seemed to be the smartest move. Let things play out however they were meant to. Let Ada take what she wanted from me, and when she was done, I’d let her go and know I did everything I could to hold on to her for as long as she’d let me.
“Ada likes a certain kind of guy.”
“What kind?” Amber asked.
“The kind who looks the part of a business man. Pressed and polished and perfect. Not a guy with hair longer than hers and a job that is less than normal.”
“She was flirting with the chef. Is she seeing him?” Amber asked without realizing the barb she shot was a good one.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Listen, why don’t we get back on the water. Get the rest of you onto some waves.”
Thankfully, they jumped at the chance to get back to surfing. I followed them out, hanging on Cole’s heels. When we reached the spot I wanted us to be in, we all sat up.
“I still think you should ask her out,” Meghan said again.
“Honey,” Cole warned. “I’m thinking he’s tried that. You need to back off a bit.”
“But I—”
“I know,” Cole said gently. “You want to make everyone around you as happy as you are. I get it, but not everyone is going to get as lucky as we are. You have to accept that one of these days.”
I didn’t want to be the unlucky guy who never got the woman he wanted, but Cole was right. The chances of me ended up with Ada were hovering somewhere around WTF-are-you-thinking.
The rest of the surf lesson went well. By the end of it, one of the cousins was the only person who hadn’t caught a wave yet. He was determined, but I could tell his focus was more on getting Ginny’s number than on learning to surf.
Too bad he didn’t realize she’d be much more impressed if he actually caught a wave.
Ginny waited with me until they all left, then went to my fridge and grabbed a beer.
“You okay?” I asked.
She sucked down half of it before nodding.
“You sure?”
I sucked in a deep breath and nodded again. “Yeah. Those guys were more interested in the chicks on the beach and me than they were on surfing.”
“Sorry, Gin. You should have told me. We could have swapped.”
“Yeah, you’d have fit in with them.”
I snorted, thinking about the couples I had.
“How were your couples?”
“Relentless,” I said. “The bride wants me to ask Ada out.”
“So do it.”
I laughed. “Not gonna happen.”
“Why not? You’re a good looking guy. And you already know the sex is good with her. Why don’t you want to ask her out?”
I sighed. “Because she’ll say no. She doesn’t have any interest in dating me.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot. How’s my board coming?”
I jerked my head toward the hallway and led the way down to show her the progress. It was nearly finished. Another coat or two and she’d be ready to test it out.
“This thing is hot. Shit. How much do I owe you? I realized the other day we never talked price.”
“You don’t owe me a thing.”
“Like hell. You put a lot of time and money into this. I’m going to pay for it.”
“Just ride it at the competition and kick some ass. Then when you’re famous and everyone knows your name, tell them I’m the only one you’ll get boards from.”
Ginny grinned. “I’d do that anyway.”
I laughed with her. I had no doubt she would kick ass at the competition. She was a rockstar on the water. Those idiots had no idea what they were missing out on with her for a teacher.
“Did the one cousin do anything?” I asked. I had to know if I needed to go knock him out or anything. It was never okay to touch a woman who didn’t want you to touch her, and if he didn’t know that, I’d happily teach him.
Ginny shook her head after a second. “No. He kept his hands to himself. I think he might have tried something if we were alone, but he didn’t.”
“When they come back, you’re not with him. You got me?”
She nodded. “Thanks, Kapena. Ada’s crazy if she thinks holding out on you is a good idea. You deserve a woman who can see what she has with you. Maybe you should cut her loose.”
Ginny said it with a smile, but it didn’t soften the words. I couldn’t let her go anymore than I could chop my own arm off.
“I love her,” I admitted. “I know love is a ridiculous notion that two people are really meant to spend their lives together, but I want that. I want what I always thought was unrealistic.”
Ginny stared at me for a few second before she swore. “Well, fuck. I’m not sure that’s good news. Not when you’re just sleeping together. How’s the sex?”
“None of your business,” I snapped.
“So damn good,” she said with a grin. “Good.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re compatible. And if the sex is that good, you’re not the only one feeling it. I’ve slept with a lot of guys. There are times it’s great, and there are times it’s just okay. The only time it’s great every time is when there’s more than just sex going on.”
I opened my mouth to argue but found I couldn’t. Ada spent a lot of time telling me she wanted me. She always flirted with me. She was constantly teasing me. I passed it off as drunk flirting, but she wasn’t drunk any of the times we slept together.
“You think so, too, don’t you?” Ginny asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Gin. It’s hard to imagine that could be the case. That she might want me for me.”
Ginny smiled. “She’d be crazy not to.”
Ginny left a few minutes later. I pulled out her board and was working on a new layer of epoxy when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but I rarely got the numbers of the clients Kiki set up for me.
“Aloha.”
“Kapena! Aloha. How the hell are you?”
“I’m good. How are you?” Who are you? would have been a better question.
“Good, good. I have some news for you. You remember how we talked about my business connections. Well, I have someone who’s been looking for a company like yours. He’s a surfer, but his major contract is up. He needs a new sponsor. I told h
im you’re just starting out, but he agreed to talk to you. If you can get him a couple boards, he’ll use them. A few shirts would be a good idea, too. We can work out all the details, but I think this is really possible. You can make all this happen. Grow that business of yours and impress the girl. You know, if you’re interested.”
Chapter Nineteen
Braden. Shit. I’d forgotten about him. He said he’d call when he got home from his honeymoon, but I never expected he actually would. Especially not with news that he was changing my entire life.
“Wow. Shit. Really? That’s awesome.”
“Yeah. I was kinda thrilled about it. I don’t know what your timeline is, but do you think you can get a couple boards done in about three weeks?”
Three weeks was tight, but I could do it. It was my dream. I wasn’t passing up the chance.
“Yeah, I can do that. I need some information about him. Height, weight, stuff like that so I can make the board he needs.”
“Yeah, he said you’d probably need all that. I’m sending you his contact information right now. Give him a shout and you two can get it all ironed out.”
The phone beeped with the incoming text message. I resisted the urge to look at who my new mystery client was.
“Thanks, Braden. This is awesome. I can’t believe you did this for me.”
“Ah, it’s no big deal. It’s what I do. And you deserve this. It’ll be great.”
“Do I need to pay you or something?”
Braden laughed. “No way. Just get the girl, Kapena. Ada’s a good one. Don’t let her slip away.”
I smiled. “I won’t, Braden. Thanks.”
He hung up, and I swiped to see who I was making boards for.
“Shit,” I murmured. “Holy shit.”
Anderson Franklin wasn’t just a surfer. He was the surfer. He was the guy to beat in almost every local competition. He was old for a surfer, but he was killing it out there. He was definitely a guy I could get around supporting.
I added his contact information to my phone and called him, ready to leave a message.
“Aloha?” he answered.
“Oh, damn. Anderson. I didn’t think you’d answer.”
“Who is this?”
“Hey, sorry. It’s Kapena Palu. I got your name from—”
“Braden! Right. You’re the board guy. You gonna be able to get me a couple boards?”
“Absolutely. I just need an idea of what you’re looking for.”
“Shortboard, flat tail. Fast. I definitely need fast. A gun if you can make it, too.”
A gun? Shit. Yeah, I could do it, but it was different. But a board was a board. “Absolutely. Whatever you need.”
“I can’t find a website. Can you send me a few pics of what you’ve done?”
“Yeah, I will in just a minute. Just, uh, so you know, I haven’t been doing this long.”
“Braden said you’ve only made one or two boards, right?”
“Yeah. Are you sure about this?”
Anderson chuckled. “Braden also said you’re the best surf instructor he’s ever had. For a guy who travels like he does, he knows his shit. If he trusts you with his life, I trust you with mine.”
“It sounds like you’re good friends. Were you at his wedding?”
“Unfortunately, no. I had a competition that weekend and couldn’t get over to the Big Island. Heard it was a hell of a party, though.”
“Yeah, it was good.”
“Listen, Kapena, I gotta run. I’ll text you with a few more things I’m thinking about. How long do you think you’ll need? I’m hoping to get the boards in three weeks so I can get some practice in.”
“I can have them done.”
“Awesome. I’ll jump over and pick them up when you’re done. Thanks, dude. You saved me.”
“Thank you. Seriously, man. I can’t wait.”
“Me, too. We’ll be in touch, Kapena. Aloha.”
“Aloha.”
We hung up and I fisted my phone to keep from shouting. Hell yeah, I was making two boards for Anderson Franklin. Holy shit.
I needed to get to work.
My first stop was by the hardware store to grab the wood and foam I’d need to get started. I could worry about the epoxy later.
I sent Ginny a text because I had to share my news with someone. My first thought was to call Ada, but she didn’t know I was building boards. When my work was on television under the feet of a professional surfer, then I’d tell her. But until something more than I’m trying this out was true, I had to keep it to myself.
I just finished gluing the foam on the first board, the shortboard, when someone knocked on my door. The knock was too hard to be Ada so instead of cleaning everything up, I left it on the lanai and went to open the door.
“Sawyer. What’s up?”
He held up the album I gave him. “I wanted to drop this off. I recovered almost all the photos. I put them in here.” He handed me another album, one that was nearly identical to the first. “I wasn’t sure if the people would want the old ones back or not so I left them in here just in case.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking the new album. He did amazing work. You’d never know most of those pictures were almost destroyed a few weeks ago. “Wow. These are like new.”
Sawyer nodded. “It took some work, but I think they look pretty good.”
“What do I owe you? I know this was a lot of time.”
Sawyer shook his head. “It’s good. It’s what you do for your neighbors around here. Have you had any leads about whose this is?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t started really looking, but I haven’t heard of anyone trying to find an album.”
“I made up a few signs if you want me to show them to you. We could post them around the area and maybe in some coffee shops or something.”
“Really? You did?”
Sawyer nodded like it was no big deal, but he understood. I didn’t get the full story on his past, but he told me he’d lost people. One of them was the brother of a bride Kiki had shortly after Sawyer moved to Hawaii. And being a photographer he knew exactly how important pictures could be.
“Thank you. I really appreciate the help.”
“I’ve got a few hours if you want me to help you get them put up.”
I glanced back at the board stretched out on my lanai and nodded. “Yeah. That’ll be great. Thanks.”
We drove around for a few hours, talking and joking. He answered a few texts from Kiki, and we hung up all the flyers he made about the photo album. Unfortunately, we made it back to my place without any leads, but we were getting the word out. Someone would call.
“You want a beer?” I asked when we pulled into the driveway.
Sawyer nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.”
He followed me inside and straight to the fridge. He both leaned against the counter and sipped. For me, it was emotional to carry that album around. Like a weight hanging over me, one I couldn’t set down. Until we found the owners, I was unsettled.
“What’s out there?” Sawyer asked, zeroing in on the board outside.
“Oh, uh, a surfboard.”
“It doesn’t look like a surfboard.”
“That’s because I’m making it. It’ll look like one when I’m done.”
Sawyer walked outside. “You’re making a board. Why didn’t I know this?”
I sipped my beer and tried to be casual. “I haven’t told anyone about it.”
“Why not?” he looked up at me, but his gaze snagged on my other board. The finished one. “Did you make this one?”
I nodded.
“I’m not like you when it comes to surfing, but this is awesome. When did you do this?”
I shrugged. I didn’t like being in the spotlight. Not anymore. There was a time when I’d happy jump in front of someone else to get my moment, but it had been a while since I tried to draw any attention to myself.
Even talking about something I worked hard on, something I s
pent years researching and understanding, made me uncomfortable to talk about. I was happy in the shadows, or at least, that’s what I told myself. Reality was I wanted to stand out for something good. To be a guy people looked at and wished they could be. Instead, I was usually the guy people looked at and felt better about their lives.
“You’ve been holding out on me. Does Kiki know about this?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t told anyone.”
“Ada?”
“No, definitely not her.”
“Why not? This is good. Damn good. And you’ve got another one in progress and it looks like you’re going for a third.”
“Fourth, actually. I have one that’s almost done in your old room.”
“Can I see it?”
I nodded and jerked my head that way. He led the way to the board set up in the center of the bedroom. I moved it back there so I could get started on Anderson’s boards. I still had plenty of time to get it finished for Ginny.
“Why are you hiding this?” Sawyer asked, all signs of joking gone.
“I’m not hiding it. I’m just not sure it’s something that’s going to work out so I’m not telling everyone yet. If it ends up a dud, I don’t want one more thing out there to show everyone that Kapena is a screw up. He can’t finish anything.”
“That’s not Kiana talking. Or Ada. Or me. What’s going on?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t put all the shit about my parents on Sawyer. It wouldn’t be fair to him. He’d feel an obligation to tell Kiki, and she’d know they weren’t the perfect couple like she thought.
“Nothing. It’s no big deal. I just like to try things out before I tell everyone. This board is for Ginny. The one out there is for a pro surfer on Oahu. He asked me for two boards.”
“Wait. How did a pro surfer find out about you?”
“Wedding from a few weeks ago. The groom is friends with him or something. He saw the board and hooked us up. I just talked to him today, but he needs two boards in three weeks so I needed to get started.”
“So you have told people?”
The hurt in his voice came through loud and clear. I told a complete stranger and another friend, but I didn’t trust him enough to share it with him.
I started to defend myself and realized I had no defense. I didn’t tell him on purpose. I specifically kept him, Kiki, Ada, and the rest of them in the dark. I didn’t want them to think I was a failure if I couldn’t do it.
Better vs. Worse Page 17
