Man Buns

by Shari J. Ryan

  “Yeah, you are.” Why am I fighting with a seven-year-old, like a seven-year-old?

  The ride is less than ten minutes from the hotel, which is good because by the looks of the cars out front, I think we’re going to be heading right back there. The previous renters were supposed to be out of here hours ago. Maybe it’s the cleaning crew, but the toilet paper running along the front shrubs doesn’t scream clean to me. “Um, can you just hold on a minute?” I ask the driver. “I have a feeling we’re going to need you to take us back to the hotel.”

  “Of course,” he says.

  “Aya, come with me,” I tell her, opening my door. She unclasps her seatbelt and slides out behind me.

  “What’s the matter?” she asks.

  “Hold on, baby.” I take her by the hand and warily walk up to the front door and knock.

  “People are yelling inside,” Aya says.

  I pull her behind me and lean over to peer into the frosted glass window. I can’t see much, but there are people inside.

  The door flies open, and a burly guy wearing a stained, wife-beater shirt with his gut hanging out stares at me for a long second. “What do you want?”

  “I’m the new renter. Are you—”

  “We’re the current renters—the renters who aren’t leaving. Take a hike, kid.”

  If Aya weren’t standing behind me, I’d have more words to share with this bozo, but I’m not risking anything with her here. I pick her up from behind me with a scoop of my arm and continue backward, shielding her from whatever shit is going on in the house. “Dad!”

  I ignore her as I turn around and jog toward the cab, quickly tossing her inside. “Buckle up, Aya.”

  “Thanks for waiting. Mind taking us back to the hotel?” I ask the driver.

  “No problem, kalani.”

  “That means ‘chief’ in Hawaiian,” Aya schools me. She’s learned most Hawaiian words in school and knows I’m not well versed, so she feels the need to teach me whenever necessary.

  “I know. Thank you.”

  “Are we not getting that house?” Aya asks.

  “It doesn’t look that way. I guess we’ll have to go find something on our own. I’m worried that the truck wasn’t there, though.”

  I pull out my phone and see a missed call from Noa. Of course. I didn’t feel the damn thing vibrate. I call him back, and he picks up on the first ring.

  “Dude, I am so sorry. They are having a legal issue with the house you were supposed to rent, and I don’t think that option is going to pan out. First, the realtor I was working with needs to find a new career. She didn’t tell me about the situation until an hour ago. Second, she had your stuff sent to storage and your truck sent to the hotel. I’m so sorry. I don't even know what to say. I’m friends with this woman, but I’ve never worked with her before, and I won’t be working with her again; trust me.”

  “Yeah, we just showed up at the house, and there are some really classy inhabitants still there who weren’t very welcoming. It’s fine, though, but do you know where the storage unit is? I have to get some stuff out of there. We were each traveling with just a bag full of crap.”

  “Yeah, yeah, it’s like a mile down the road from the hotel, so it’s close by. I’ll totally help you find another place. I know you’re not familiar with the area yet.”

  “Noa, don’t worry about it. I have it under control. I’ll be fine, but thank you for trying to help.”

  “You know what? I’ll see if Lea can get you a room for a few nights at the hotel. It’s the least I can do, seeing as this is my fault.”

  “That would be really great. It would give me time to look around a bit, so I find a good spot for us.”

  “Plus, spending more time with Kai wouldn’t be the worst thing … hint, hint. Right?”

  I clear my throat and look over at Aya, who’s gazing and daydreaming out the window, probably about the same thing Noa is teasing me about. “When did I become prime bait for everyone to play matchmaker with?”

  “After you turn twenty-five, you have to throw your hands up.”

  “That’s insane,” I tell him.

  “I know, but she’s hot, and I’m marrying her sister, and … just think … we could be brosephs for life, dude!”

  “Bye, Noa.”

  “See you tonight, broseph.”

  “Bye, Noa.”

  “Good news,” I tell Aya.

  “You’re marrying Kai, and she’s going to be my new mom?” Holy shit. She’s seven, but even at that age, why would she think life moves that quickly?

  “Who has gotten into your head?”

  “What are you talking about? Someone can get in my head?” She wraps her arms over the top of her head, taking me literally.

  “Never mind,” I laugh.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kai

  “Kai … Kai,” I hear Lea shouting from across the pool.

  I pull my sunglasses down the bridge of my nose to find out what she wants and why she needs to yell it. I put my hands out to the side questioningly, and she holds her pointer finger up while jogging toward me. She knows I can’t leave my chair while on duty, though she forgets daily.

  “What’s the matter?” I ask as she makes her way over to me.

  “Will you be okay if I go straight to Noa’s after work? He’s going to pick me up since neither of us is working tomorrow.”

  How is it almost the end of the week? I feel like the week just started. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

  She rests her arms on the chair’s middle brace and looks up at me. “I know I’ve been gone a lot lately, and I hate the thought of you sitting alone every night.”

  I reposition myself in my chair because I’m uncomfortable with the topic I’ve been trying to come to terms with. “Lea, you’re a grown woman, and you’re getting married soon. It’s inevitable that you’re not going to be with me every night anymore. It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  Lea doesn’t look like she believes what I’m saying, but it’s true. I’ll be fine. I don’t mind being alone, and what matters is that she’s happy. “Maybe once I move, you might consider a roommate?”

  “I can hardly live with you, never mind some random woman.”

  “True,” Lea agrees. “A puppy?”

  “I’m not home during the day. It wouldn’t be fair to the dog.”

  “True … a boyfriend?”

  “Lea.”

  “It’s going to happen whether you like it or not. It’s like a train coming at you full speed, and there’s no time to get out of the way.” She slaps her hands together, making a crashing sound.

  My forehead crinkles from the confusion running through my head. “Having a boyfriend is like a train running me over?”

  “No,” she groans. “Why are you so annoying?”

  “Why do you use weird analogies?”

  “You should go out with Denver or something, okay?” she continues.

  Denver has been coming and going from the pool for the last few days with his flirty winks, smiles, and compliments that make my stomach turn inside out. All I have done is try to maintain a straight face, ignoring the fluttering in my heart, along with the desire to explore the avenue of whatever it is he represents, but I don’t think he’s my type. He’s basically a stripper in a sense, and with my lack of dating experience, I feel like I’d be diving into shallow waters just looking to get hurt. Heartache isn’t on my agenda. I’ve experienced enough of that to last me a lifetime.

  “Is Denver supposed to be the train in this situation?”

  “Well, obviously.”

  “So, if I don’t move out of the way—I mean if I had time, that is, Denver would run over me?”

  “You know what? Forget it.” She slaps her palm against her forehead.

  “Lolo.”

  “Lolo? Don’t call me stupid because you’re saying ridiculous things.”

  Lea rolls her eyes and walks off in a huff. I never ask for her wrath,
yet it’s always handed to me whether I like it or not.

  Speaking of the devil—it’s like they’re in cahoots. She tries to set something up, and he comes walking along casually as if she didn’t try to push the boyfriend subject on me just two minutes ago. Maybe I’m inexperienced, but I’m sure a date of sorts would come before a boyfriend title, so I think Lea’s expectations are a little off. Denver hasn’t even asked me out. In fact, I doubt he is thinking of me in any way, other than as an easy target to embarrass at his Bunville job, which won’t be happening again.

  “Aloha, Miss Kai,” Denver says, approaching me alone today, without his adorable sidekick.

  “Good morning,” I offer, keeping my focus set on the kids playing in the pool.

  “I have a question to ask you,” he says.

  “Do you, now? Did Lea tell you to ask me a question?” I ask.

  He chuckles, and out the corner of my eye, I see him shaking his head. “No, but since you’re assuming that, I’m going to remember not to tell Noa my plans before I act on them. Those two have the biggest mouths I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  “Well, that’s something we can agree on, but what is your question?” He lost me before he started talking about Noa.

  He sighs with exasperation. “I told Noa I was going to ask you to do something tonight, and he obviously went running to Lea, who must have tipped you off well enough to assume she was setting something up. Right?”

  “Yeah, they both have incredibly large mouths and can’t be trusted with any type of information, important or not.”

  “Noted. Definitely noted.” Denver was going to ask me out. I nearly missed that part while getting riled up about learning that Lea and her soulmate happen to have a matching set of big mouths. “Anyway, I was able to secure a sitter for Aya tonight. For some reason, when I started working with Noa on Monday, I thought he told me I was on the schedule each weeknight this week, but apparently I either misunderstood him, or he meant to say ‘except Thursday.’ I should have looked at the schedule sooner than last night, I guess. In any case, I’m off tonight, and I keep hearing something about the sunset on the peak of Mt. Haleakala. Would you be up for joining me tonight?”

  Breathe. I almost forgot to breathe. I’m not sure I’ve been asked out on a date before. I didn’t even know whether people went through the motions of asking others out on dates anymore. I guess I assumed things just happen. People randomly meet and fall in love, and blah, blah, blah. “Are you asking me—”

  “Out on a date?” he finishes my question for me.

  “Yes,” I respond.

  “Yes, as in you’ll go with me, or yes as in you wanted to know if I’m asking you out on a date?”

  “I’m confused now,” I tell him, but I’m not really confused. I’m buying myself time. I’m just not sure why I’m procrastinating. Yes, I am. He’s like a stripper, and it would be like diving into the shallow end. Something like that.

  “Kai, will you go out on a date with me tonight?” He clarifies the confusion I wasn’t quite experiencing, ultimately asking me a direct question I can’t shoo off.

  “I—um, Denver, I’ve never really been into the dating scene,” I tell him. I lean forward, cupping my hand over my mouth because I’m feeling embarrassed about my lack of social skills.

  “What do you mean? You don’t date, or are you a proudly proclaimed cat lady? I’m not sure I understand.”

  “I’ve never been out on an actual date before.” Why am I telling him this? It’s really embarrassing, and he doesn’t need to know. I can feel my face getting red.

  “No one has taken you out on a date—ever?” He does seem taken aback by my statement, as would I if someone was telling me this.

  I nod my head but force a smile at the same time, probably confusing him. “I never gave it much thought, really. I’ve been busy. There’s never really time, and life skates by, you know?”

  Denver folds an arm over his chest, rests his opposite arm on top, and reaches up to his chin, scratching at it in thought. “I don’t usually like to say this stuff because it makes me sound a little arrogant, but I don’t have enough fingers on my hands to count the reasons I shouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now. War ... it’s something that will take all the fun out of life if you let it, but I wouldn’t let it. Instead, I told my memories and thoughts to screw off because I wasn’t going to waste a second after I got home, and I kept that promise to myself. I can only speak on my behalf here, but we all have our shit. We all have pasts that built our present, but don’t let yours dictate the future. You don’t have to go out with me or any other schmuck out there, but don’t say there’s no time. We make time for chances of happiness. Otherwise, life would be boring as hell.”

  I let each of his words soak into my mind, allowing them to saturate and expand, understanding precisely what he’s saying and what I’ve been avoiding. Happiness. I’ve told myself I’m not worthy of the emotion if Mom and Dad can’t experience it anymore. I don’t just think that thought all the time. I live it. I breathe it. It’s become my mantra—my way of life.

  “I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant to be a guilt trip. If you don’t want to go out with me, I get it. I’m loaded with heavy baggage, and you probably call me a stripper behind my back, so—” He salutes me and taps the chair I’m sitting on. “I’ll catch you a little later. Eventually, I’m going to have a place to live and won’t be bugging you anymore anyway.” He laughs as he walks away, and I’m stunned, gawking at his back with my mouth ajar. How come I can’t say anything? I want to stop him, so I can agree to go out with him tonight. He’s made me feel. Just feel. I don’t know the specifics of exactly what I feel because the last time I had a crush on a guy was when I was seventeen and in high school. It feels like a lifetime ago.

  “Denver!” A shout erupts from my mouth, and I startle myself, it was so loud. Except, he doesn’t hear me.

  I jump down from my elevated, wooden chair, and—

  My sandal gets caught on the support beam below me, forcing me to tumble forward and fall head first into the pool, but not without scratching the side of my face on the ledge first. Blood clouds around me, and I panic, wondering what I’ve done to myself. I gasped from shock on the way into the water, and I’m spinning in circles while trying to figure out which way is up and out.

  An arm lurches around my body, and fresh air greets my waterlogged lungs. I hear my name being shouted from every direction around me, and though my eyes are opening, everything is still spinning. Did I break my neck? Whoever is holding me needs to put me down, but I can’t talk.

  Hands press against my sternum a few times, pushing the water out of my lungs, and I cough up what was keeping me from breathing. Then a hand rests gently against my forehead. “It’s okay, okay. You’re okay.”

  “I’m fine,” I choke out.

  “Nope. You got to stay still for a minute.”

  It’s Denver who’s telling me what’s what. “I’m okay,” I say again.

  “Can someone get a first aid kit?” he says.

  “Denver, I’m fine,” I tell him again.

  “Hey,” he says, looking at me. “Yes, you’re fine, but I want to get that cut cleaned up, okay?”

  “You’re not a lifeguard,” I argue.

  “No, I’m not, but I know how to clean up a wound.”

  Lea comes running over with the first aid kit. “Is she okay? What happened?”

  “She just tripped. I think she fell for me,” Denver answers for me, sounding matter-of-fact.

  How did he see what happened? I was about to chase after him, and he couldn’t even hear me.

  A burn sears through my forehead as Denver places pressure on it. “Just cleaning up the cut on your forehead.”

  “Do I need stitches?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I need to clean it up first.”

  “Then there was the time that lifeguard needed to be saved from drowning,” Lea says, jokingly.

  �
�You’re not funny,” I tell her.

  “I think you lucked out. It’s superficial. I’m going to put a butterfly stitch on it, and you’ll be good to go.”

  I close my eyes, trying to remove myself from the embarrassment, but lately, it’s like I’m being followed by humiliation.

  Denver’s hands move and cup around the back of my neck. “Does this hurt?” he asks as he presses down on a couple of places.

  “No,” I say softly.

  “How about this?” He twists my head slowly to each side.

  “No.”

  “I’m going to help you slowly sit up. Tell me if you feel any pain.” Denver helps me up, and thankfully, I don’t feel anything wrong.

  “No pain,” I tell him.

  “Show’s over, everyone,” he roars. “Let’s give her a minute.”

  The guests clear out, and Lea leans over to kiss my head before scratching her fingernails through my hair. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “I got her,” Denver assures Lea. Of course, Lea smiles and nearly skips off, back to the cabana hut.

  “That was my fault,” he says.

  “No, it was mine. I tripped,” I tell him. “How would that be your fault?”

  “I heard you yell for me, but I was giving you a hard time.”

  I scoff and slap the back of my hand against his chest. “Look what you did to me!” I say jokingly, but he doesn’t laugh in response. He looks incredibly guilty.

  “Seriously, I didn’t think you’d even get up. I was going to come back. I don’t give up that easily.”

  “I should have figured,” I tell him. “Thanks for yanking me out of the water. I never thought I’d need to be lifeguarded, but life is just full of surprises, isn’t it?”

  “I think that’s a fair statement. So, what were you tripping to tell me?”

  I give him a long glare before opening my mouth to respond. “Just so you know— you’re not, in fact, funny, at all.”

  “I’m a little funny.”

  “I was going to accept your offer.”

  “What offer?” he asks, toying with me.

  “About tonight.”