“This was the first and last duty station for my folks,” Lani said. “My mom was a master-at-arms, and my old man was an aviator. They met here early in their careers and were fortunate enough to be transferred back before they retired. Guam is home to me.”
“My folks always intended to move back,” I explained. “But they passed away before they could. I jumped at the first opportunity I had to live out that dream for them since all of my earliest memories are of our lives here.”
“Ohh, so is this a permanent relocation sort of situation?” Nyx asked.
“Yup, got here three weeks ago, and I have to say that tonight has been one hell of a welcome home party.”
“We’ll have to throw you a better one,” Lani offered. “If you’re interested in bumming around the beach with a couple sea turtles.”
It only took me a few seconds to think about it. “I can’t think of a better way to spend my weekend.”
“The party starts at sunrise,” Lani said. “So you’d better catch some Zs tonight if you want to keep up.”
“Maybe I’ll just show up slow and sluggish and hope you’ll take me for a ride,” I blurted, blatantly flirting and enjoying every minute of it.
Lani leveled a challenging gaze across the table, lust blooming in his eyes, bright even beneath the dim light of the chandelier above our booth.
“Now that,” Lani growled, running the tip of his tongue over his upper lip, “can be arranged.”
Chapter 2
Lani
“You made it,” I called out when I spotted Kekoa descending the dune to join us. “I wasn’t sure you would after the way we shut down the bar last night.”
“Because someone decided he wanted to try his hand at shooting pool against me,” they grumbled as they slid down the last part of the dune. “Where’s Nyx?”
“Regretting his life choices,” I said and pointed to the lump sprawled on a beach blanket beneath a coconut tree, a floppy hat pulled over his face. “After we walked you back to your motel, he got it in his head thatIshould make a batch of coconut candy for us to snack on as well as a batch of Pancit Bihon, so I sent him to the twenty-four-hour mart to get the ingredients while I caught a quick nap. In hindsight, I should probably consider myself lucky that he didn’t fall asleep in one of the aisles after the twenty-minute walk it takes to get there, but I was too inspired by his suggestion to think that far ahead. I was feeling rather refreshed by the time he got back, and he so kindly aided me ingetting everything prepped so I didn’t have to break out the food processor.”
“In that case, I’ll refrain from giving him shit for passing out before breakfast,” they said as they unpacked several cartons from their backpack. “I stopped at the food hut down the street from the motel and grabbed us some breakfast sandwiches.”
“Nice,” I said as I weighed the ends of the blanket down so they wouldn’t flutter so much.
The wind blowing off the ocean was steady and a bit cool this morning, though I knew it would warm up later in the day.
“Ohh, this looks delicious,” I said as I opened the lid on the container holding the sandwich he’d brought me. “What kind is it?”
“Scrambled eggs with cheese, onions, and spam,” they explained.
“Now that’s a sandwich,” I said, lifting it from its Styrofoam carton only to put it right back down when the wind threatened to blow the carton away.
“Here, let me,” they said, reaching for the carton, so I lifted the sandwich to my lips while they put it back in the paper bag he’d taken it out of.
That they’d assessed the issue and helped me deal with it without making me self-conscious just made me like them even more. I’d lived my whole life minus a flipper, which made things in and out of my shifted form a challenge and provided more than one opportunity for people to stare, which was just plain rude.
“Did someone say food?” Nyx asked from under his hat.
“Yup, scrambled egg sandwiches,” Kekoa explained. “So drag your ass over here and enjoy one before they get cold.”
“Mmm, you had me at eggs,” Nyx grumbled, removing the hat from over his face and sitting up to rub the sleep from his eyes.
His progression across the blanket wasn’t the steadiest I’d ever seen, even crawling with the occasional pause to brush the hair out of his eyes. Sleep-ruffled didn’t even begin to describe him as he accepted the container Kekoa held out and clutched it to his chest, inhaling and sighing dramatically.
“Now these are the kinds of party favors that will get you invited back to future events,” Nyx declared.
“Good to know.”
“I’m a cheap date, I know,” Nyx said. “But it really doesn’t take much to earn my appreciation.
