Page 48 of This Could be Love

“Have you ever seen any? Here, I mean.”

“Of course. You haven’t?”

I shook my head.

“We’ve got to change that ASAP.”

Hiswecaused my heart to skip a beat.

“There are a couple of beaches where you always see them. Sometimes they even come onto land.”

“Wow. That must be something.”

“I—” He broke off. “Laurie can show you the way to one of the good spots.”

“Cool,” I replied without showing that his quick reverse was a tad disappointing.

We kept on dancing, and our movements gradually became more relaxed and smoother. As if we’d gotten used to each other.

“Wow, they’re really going for it today.” Vince nodded toward Pili and Milo.

“At the beginning, I thought that you and Pili were maybe…well…”

“We’re just friends.”

“Yeah, that’s what Laurie said too…” I stopped mid-sentence and screwed up my eyes.

He took it in stride. “What’s with you and Chip? Do you regret not giving him your number?”

“God, no! Chip really isn’t my type.”

“What’s your type?”

The question stunned me even though I’d been the one to clear the way for it. I lifted my head and looked into his eyes, but what I read there was too dizzying to hold onto.

“I don’t think I have one. Or, well, not one that I could describe in three words anyway.”

I played with the idea of throwing the question back at him, but I didn’t know whether I’d like his answer, so let it go. Meanwhile the song had ended, and another question was hovering between us: how the evening would continue. I took my hands away from his neck and looked at my watch. It was already nine-thirty.

“I can give you a ride home.”

I opened my lips to object, but at the last moment decidedagainst it. Leaving now was more reasonable. Tomorrow would be another long day of training.

“Yeah, that’d be nice.”

Leaving the dance floor, for a split second I felt his hand upon my back. A fleeting gesture that nevertheless caused my nerve endings to begin to vibrate.

Chapter 20

On the drive home we didn’t speak much, but it was a pleasant, warm silence. We listened to the album of the Hawaiian band we’d danced to while the dark landscape rushed past. Silhouettes of palms and mountains stood out against the sky like giants.

Nearing Pupukea, all my contradictory feelings began to fight within me. I didn’t want the evening to end but felt how tired my body was. How desperately I needed quiet and to go to bed. At the same time, I could feel that I was far too wound up to be able to sleep. There were just too many questions, too many things weighing down on me. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice Vince turning into the Ohana’s driveway instead of Kay’s.

“I’m still going to walk you home, don’t worry.”

“Umm…okay.”

Frowning, I got out of the car. Down here it was a few degreeswarmer, and I could immediately smell the ocean. A light breeze rustled the palms above us and pleasantly brushed across my naked arms. We took to the edge of the road in silence. I wondered whether he would say anything else before we reached Kay’s, when all of a sudden he stopped. Even in the pale moonlight I could see that he’d grown a bit tense. Something was bothering him.