by Eden Butler
Kai must know how beautiful he was. Gia thought, there was no way he could live in that body and not know what impact he had on the world around him. She moved her gaze, attention working down his face, focusing on his bare neck and a thought struck her as she remembered their first meeting and how he’d worn the black obsidian pendant on a thin leather strap around his neck. It had been so similar to the one Luka was never without. He’d swum out with his twin, Kona and found the stone and sworn it gave him courage.
There were the same fractures in the stone, the same wave of cooling lava that turned into volcanic glass running over the surface. But Cat had checked as Gia asked. They’d asked around, hired a P.I. Kai Pukui wasn’t related to Luka and Kona. There was no history as far as they could tell. That pendant wasn’t Luka’s.
“What are you looking at?” Kai asked when Gia must have gone on staring at him for too long.
“Nothing,” she said, stepping away from the warmth of his body. “I’m not…it’s nothing.”
“Gia…”
“That is enough,” she finally said, raising her voice. The tone stopped him, brought away the pleasant expression of his soft features as he watched her. It quieted Kenny and Nick as they mumbled between each other in the hallway. “This has gone on for too long and it has to stop.” When Kai opened his mouth, when he took a step forward, Gia shook her head, stopping him without uttering a sound.
“I know I’ve been…”
“Doesn’t matter,” she told him. “It ends now. That night at Summerland’s was nice, but I was in my feelings and very drunk. I didn’t know who you were. If I had…” Kai blinked, head shaking, and Gia thought he might be holding his breath ready for her to continue. “If I’d known, I would have walked away from you.”
“But you didn’t,” he offered, his tone even.
“No, but I should have. You should have.” She smoothed her hair off her forehead and pulled down on the shirt she wore. “Regardless, it’s over and it won’t be repeated.” Kai opened his mouth, seeming ready for a fight but Gia silenced him, grabbing his hand to sit. “You need to decide what you want most—to relentlessly hound me like a fourteen-year old with a crush on his teacher…” she didn’t return the laugh he released and pulled her hand off his wrist, frowning, “…or act like a professional, pay your fine, sort out your contract and work your ass off until your name and a bust of your pretty face is in the hall of fame.” Gia stepped back, folding her arms across her chest. “In my mind it seems like a very easy solution.”
“Oh, you think so?”
“Yeah, Mr. Pukui, I do, but then again, I wouldn’t enjoy benching anyone. Especially not because you were too proud to follow the rules.”
Kai shook his head, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You’re…you’re serious?”
“Perpetually,” she told him, turning to face the doorway. Regardless of how sweet that spark felt, she still had a job to do and wouldn’t let a pretty face stop her. “Now, if you don’t mind, please help the movers unlodge this sofa from your door so I can get home.”
5.
KAI
BUDDY MILLS HAD DISCOVERED Kai on a fluke. The man had been on a last-minute second honeymoon with his wife, he’d told Kai, to win the woman back the year before she gave up and left him for her Pilates instructor. Mills spent the entire trip doting on the woman, wining and dining her, but when he heard the bartenders at the pool discussing the state championship game being held at Aloha Stadium, just ten miles from the resort where he and his wife stayed, he convinced the woman to check it out with him.
One championship game and that man trying to save his marriage had changed Kai’s life. But it didn’t mean that he put any stock into Mills when he left the field.
He was an asshole. He treated women like garbage—one reason among many, Kai had heard, why his woman had taken up with the pretty Pilates instructor.
But what was worse, Kai thought, was that Mills’ attitude, and how loud he’d bitched about Reese Noble becoming a Steamer, seemed to give Robert Hanson unfettered permission to be an asshole himself to her.
Kai stood next to Wilson, finishing their laps, readying for their drills when Reese jogged onto the field, following behind a bored-looking Mills and Wilkens. But it was Hanson that got all her attention as the running back seemed to be more interested in messing with the placekicker than focusing on practice.
“Look at this stupid prick,” Kai told Wilson as Hanson started bellowing the second Reese pulled out his phone and started to record Reese’s reaction to his loud, obnoxious chant of “make me a sandwich.”
“Aw, hell no,” Wilson said and both he and Kai started for Hanson, both pretending not to hear Ricks’ whistle when he blew it.
But their QB was way ahead of them, and he had a lot more tact than either Kai or the running back combined. Ryder stepped behind Hanson, quieting his obnoxious cat calling with one hand to the man’s neck, taking that asshole’s phone from him before the running back could put up much of an argument.
Reese smiled at Ryder, her expression open, appreciative, something the man returned, and Kai thought there was something there—something unspoken that spoke louder than Hanson’s obnoxious insults. It wasn’t Kai’s business. But Reese was his friend and from what he knew of their general manager and the shit storm anything between the QB and placekicker might cause, Gia would likely want to make it her business. He made a mental note to hang back and find a second to mention it to Reese.
“My man,” Wilson said, grinning as the QB went out nosing through all of Hanson’s content.
Kai laughed, returning to his drills, trying hard not to notice the other distractions on the field. Like the long legs and curves that made up their general manager. She watched Reese as the woman returned to Mills and Wilkens, running through her own workout, seeming to forget that Hanson had tried to get into her head.
Gia’s attention was cool, collected, but Kai knew better than anyone on that field what those calm looks meant. He knew there might be a threat lining just below the surface. When he moved into laps, hustling away from the offensive squad to tail end the sprints he and Wilson completed, Kai made a point to catch Gia’s gaze, wanting to get a read on her.
She’d left his apartment after laying a challenge at his feet. She’d called him out, accusing him of acting like a kid anytime she was around because he wanted her. Gia seemed convinced Kai was incapable of being a professional around her. He had plans to change her mind.
Work your ass off until your name and a bust of your pretty face is in the hall of fame, she’d recommended and the memory of that suggestion pulled a grin from the man as he sped past her, catching her eye, satisfied when he held her attention as she watched him run along the field. So, she thought he had a pretty face. That wasn’t nothing. Kai shook his head, squashing the stupid thought before he was outright laughing.
Flirting with her, laying out all his cards in front of her had done nothing for him. Gia needed reminding of what had moved between them at that club, even if she pretended it had been a mistake. Kai knew better. He felt the way she touched him. Even after she knew who he was, last week in his apartment, he’d felt something moving between them when she asked him to put on his shirt.
Gia wanted him, but she would not let herself admit a damn thing.
Kai’s thoughts became a blur, his breathing accelerating, and he moved through the last stretch of grass and turned toward the goal post. Wilson had beat him by less than a minute, he was sure, but Kai still hustled, digging deep to make sure no one but his friend nosed ahead and then, with his general manager watching, likely analyzing how he moved, Kai finished his lap, collapsing on the grass.
He fell to the ground next to Wilson, arms over his forehead, breath coming in heavy, wild pants as he lay there. Kai took the water that the kid manning the bottle handed him, gulping down most of it before he doused his head in the rest, gripping a towel to rub his face dry. His breathing leveled and evene
d out after several moments as Kai spotted Gia staring at him, still with her hands moving, holding her phone in front of her as she spoke to someone. But there was no mistaking the look she gave him, how calm she carried herself, how it seemed like nothing could ever get to her. Kai knew better. He planned to prove it one day off this field.
Halfway across from him, he spotted Reese pummeling balls into the uprights, landing one after another, her leg extending perfectly, her form excellent and even Mills nodded, crossing his arms before he jerked his chin down and waved the kicker off. Reese asked him something, and the coach pointed to something across the field. Kai moved to his feet, wanting to catch her before she hit the showers, but found himself slowing the closer he came to the sidelines, taken aback by Gia turning, by the slow twist of her legs, and her small waist when she paced moving near the table that held the aluminum Steamers cups.
Glancing to his left, he noticed Reese had busied herself with more drills, new ones, it seemed that she and Wilkens discussed and Kai grew idle standing close to Gia, shutting his eyes when a slow, cruel breeze picked up, carrying the hint of Gia’s perfume right against Kai’s face.
She’d finished her conversation but kept herself distracted with whatever she tinkered with on her screen. Her attention was captive, her fingers sliding up and down the flat surface until she looked up, staring, at first at Reese, her mouth cordial, then to Kai with just the shift of her gaze moving to her right.
“Mr. Pukui,” she greeted, nodding at him.
“Miss…Ji…lani…” he replied, purposefully drawing out her name. He wanted to make sure she knew he was following her rules, while he was on this field.
She glanced at him then, that easy cast on her lips moving up on one side, like she thought of smiling but knew she better not. Then Kai took the debate from her by nodding toward Reese, crossing his arms to keep from moving closer and touching her. “Noble looks great. She’s strong.”
Gia nodded and that curve arched higher for half a second more before she returned her attention to the field, finally agreeing. “She’s fearless. She’s ready.” The GM watched her kicker for a few moments more before saying, “I’m proud of all my players.” Then the infuriating woman looked back down at her screen.
Gia had a beautiful profile—there was the smallest bump in the center of her otherwise perfect nose and full, plump lips. Kai had tasted how delicious they were, how much they’d give when she wanted to share. Her cheekbones were elevated, set high on her face and her forehead was small, slightly sloped. She reminded him of a doll, that oval face elegant, beautiful. Of course he couldn’t keep from staring at her.
If she stared any longer, he might come off as a freak and Kai knew he had to look away before anyone caught him, but just then, Mills’ whistle sounded and he jerked, spinning to throw a look across the field, catching the grinning smirk that Reese sent him.
Eyes rolling, he met her in the center of the field, glad for the distraction. It wasn’t the first time the kicker had caught him watching Gia. Kai was sure it wouldn’t be the last time either. Besides, he knew the women were friends. God only knew what Gia had let slip about the two of them.
“What?” he asked when Reese kept laughing at him. She shot a glance behind him, and he understood there was a tease about Gia hanging on the tip of her tongue. “I can’t look?”
“Did I say that?” Reese asked, jabbing Kai in the ribs. “She is beautiful.”
Kai nodded his agreement, throwing another glance at Gia, but knew better than to say much more. Reese cleared her throat, and he felt like an idiot for how long he’d watched Gia. “Beautiful, yeah,” he said, thinking of something to distract the kicker, his smile stretching wide when he remembered the text his ex Keeana had sent him that morning. “But, hey, let me show you someone even more beautiful.”
Kai knew he’d likely come off as some bragging idiot that should be sporting a dad bod, but he didn’t care. He scrolled through his picture gallery, coming to the images he’d downloaded from Keeana’s message that morning, grinning as she held out his phone for Reese to see.
The kicker leaned next to him, holding her hand over the screen to block out the glare from the sun and Kai glanced at her, suddenly proud and beaming when the woman’s features softened as she looked down at those pictures of Kai’s beautiful daughter.
“Keola?” she asked.
“Yep,” Kai said, remembering how often he and his new friend had discussed their families, how many times they’d talked about the kids her brother and his wife had together and how much she missed them and how much Kai hated being away from his eight-year-old daughter. “Look. She did her first hula.”
His beautiful pēpē was decked out in a green grass skirt and wore a pink and white flowered head piece with matching leis around her ankles and wrists. She’d gotten taller just in the few weeks he’d been gone from the island, and Kai swore her long, black hair was several inches longer. She looked so much like her mother—beautiful heart-shaped features with a full mouth, and eyes dark and wide.
“She’s coming here for Christmas. I can’t wait,” Kai said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “Wilson said you’re gonna have your own team with the kids’ league?”
“Yeah. Hopefully.”
“Well, maybe you can let Keola practice when she’s here.” Kai had promised his daughter he’d asked. She’d kill him if he’d forgotten. “She won’t shut up about you when I FaceTime her.”
“Oh?” Kai rolled his eyes at Reese’s sad attempt to withhold her proud smile. He couldn’t blame her. It felt good to be admired. He imagined it was new for her, something that meant a hell of a lot when it came from little girls who wanted to do what she did.
“Yep. You’re her hero.” He scrubbed his face, exaggerating an irritated head shake. “Not, you know, her hard-working defensive lineman dad.” Kai forced a sigh, laughing when Reese’s grin widened. To their left, he felt Gia’s stare, heard the distinct lilt of her voice moving across the field like it called to him. He hated how easily she could distract him. He hated how much he didn’t fucking hate it much at all.
“Anyway,” he told Reese, “I promised her I’d introduce you.”
“Can’t wait.” Reese glanced over Kai’s shoulder when Gia called her name, and Kai followed her stare, biting his lips when the GM held up her hand, silently asking the kicker for a minute when her cell rang.
Kai watched her move, taking in those delicious curves, his mouth watering as she stretched, pushing her shoulders back. He wanted to stand behind her, massage the tension from her, kiss her…
“Stop being so obvious,” Reese said, jabbing Kai again in the rib.
He ignored the directive, waving her off with a quick dismissal when he spotted Wilson and Baker near the stands looking ready to head out. Reese glanced between Kai and Gia as he started to move away from her and he jogged around, moving back to her under the guise of asking her about the weekend.
“You coming to Lucy’s this weekend?” Kai barely noticed Reese or the expression on her face. He wasn’t all that interested in her weekend plans. He was just being sneaky, wondering if Gia was still talking, curious if she noticed him at all.
“Maybe,” Reese said, not hiding her laugh, head shaking.
Kai waved at her, turning to offer Wilson a nod as he approached. He grabbed a fresh bottle of water from the table Kenya leaned against, downing it while his friend messed with his phone.
“You good, Glenn?” Kai asked, surprised when the QB’s attention seemed caught on the sidelines and the stare he shared with Noble.
“I’m gravy, man,” Ryder said, not looking away from Reese when he spoke.
Kai nudged Wilson’s shoulder, bringing his attention to Ryder and how focused he seemed on the placekicker. Kenya frowned, abandoning his phone, shifting his gaze to the left and Kai took his meaning, moving away from the table to stand between Glenn and the sight he had on Reese.
“Good practice,” he mutter
ed, looking from a now frowning Ryder to Wilson and Baker who leaned forward, his head between his hands as he sat on a cooler. “You good, Baker?”
The offensive lineman lifted a hand, nodding but didn’t speak.
“This cabrón,” Kai heard, turning to see Pérez approach, throwing his helmet on the ground. He tossed a nod over his shoulder, his voice low, his anger brimming as he glared behind him at the approaching Hanson. “Ricks makes us run double drills because this motherfucker is a pendejo.”
Hanson approached, jerking back the lid to another cooler with his foot, making Baker flinch away from his exhausted pouting.
“Watch it,” Baker mustered, sweat dripping from his face.
Hanson shot him the bird, falling against the table holding the water, his chest heaving, his jersey stuck to him like oil as he downed one bottle after another and reached for a third.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” Wilson told Hanson, his words seeming to make the younger running back still as he held his bottle in front of his mouth.
“Fuck you, Wilson.”
“Say what you want, man, call me what you want, but you had no fucking cause to pull that shit on Noble today.”
Hanson glared at Wilson but seemed to forget his irritation when Ryder released a low cough from his easy lean against the bleachers behind them.
The running back shook his head, his gaze shooting across the field to where Reese and Gia stood talking. The kicker laughed at something the GM said, holding an aluminum sports bottle between her fingers, taking a couple steps back toward the exit leading into the stadium building.
“I was just messing with her,” Hanson tried, but the excuse was lame. None of his teammates seemed to buy it.
