After I hand her a drink, I join the rest of the guys around the fire pit, Sloane and Alana now both talking with the girls.
“You look smug as fuck, little brother,” Kai says, grinning as he takes a sip of beer.
Owen bursts out laughing as he nudges my leg with his foot and says, “That’s because he is.”
“Oh?”Kai asks, a brow raised in question.“And why is that?”
Shrugging, I take a sip of my beer before saying, “Just did something for Daze.No big deal.”
Owen lets out a loud laugh, his head falling back as he mutters, “No big deal, my ass.”
“K, well, now you gotta tell us,” Flynn says as the girls wander over, and he pulls Alana into his lap.“What’d ya do?”
“He bought Daisy a shop, her shop!”Alana squeals, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Wow, way to go big, Olsen,” Flynn says with a laugh.“And thanks for upping the game for the rest of us!”
“Oh, babe,” Alana croons.“You quit your job and stayed in Hawaii for me.I think you kinda set the benchmark high already.”
Flynn laughs, his hand on Alana’s ass as he leans in and kisses her long and deep.
“Fuck my life,” Kai mutters, downing the rest of his beer.“What is it with you lot and this whole love thing?”
Now it’s me laughing as I shake my head at my brother, the guy who loves women but is vehemently opposed to actually falling in love.“You know, I can’t wait for the day when some woman walks in and you fall hard,” I tell him.“Something tells me it’s gonna be spectacular to watch.”
Kai stands, walking over to the fridge to grab some more beers.“Never gonna happen, little brother,” he replies.“I’m strictly a one-and-done kinda guy.”
“You are not!”Daisy shouts, pointing a finger at him.“What about Lisa?”
Kai bursts out laughing, twisting the cap off his beer as he hits Daze with a grin.“Lisa, your boss, you mean?”he teases.
Daisy lets out a groan as she says, “Yes.You admitted that had happened more than once.Many times, in fact.”
His smile widens as he winks at her.“Sure did, but she’s not a tourist, so it doesn’t count, does it?”
Daisy slow blinks, turning to me as though I can rationalize my brother’s weird-ass logic.“No idea,” I say with a shrug.
She turns back to Kai, narrowing her brow at him.“Well, I’m predicting that this time next year, you, Kai Olsen,” she says, pointing her finger right at him, “are going to be the biggest, sappiest, in-love person here.And that’s saying something,” she adds, waving her hand around the group.
Kai walks over, stopping in front of her.He says, “Care to make a bet on that, Daze?”
“Yep,” she says, holding out her hand.
Kai laughs.“What are we betting then?”
Daisy glances at me, smirking before she turns back to my brother.“If I win, which I will, you have to dress up in a cupcake costume and promote my shop.”
Kai laughs, grabbing her hand in his.“Fair deal,” he says.“And if I win, then you have to...”He trails off, shooting me a quick look before he says, “Tell me about this secret tattoo my little brother got for you.Deal?”
After movingout of my mother’s house at eighteen, returning was the last thing I ever wanted to do, but here I am.I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way.My mom has been an empty nester since I left, and now she’s dealing with me being back and cramping her style.
Despite the little guest house out back behind the shop being a complete disaster, I want to move into it as soon as possible.So today, I’ve loaded up my Jeep with cleaning supplies, and I’m determined to make it livable in the next week.
I pull into the lot out front, stopping for a few seconds to look at the shop.This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember.Some girls dream about their wedding or falling in love, becoming a doctor or a lawyer, a teacher or a nurse.Not me.I dreamed of opening my own bakery right here in my tiny community, in this specific building, only sharing my idea with Miles one night with such passion that it stuck with him.
The dream became ours together, talking about how Miles could help after being a part of his dad’s small business.It grew in our minds into something that would probably never happen, but we loved sharing and chatting and building it.
But while all of this was happening, Miles’s dream of his band taking off was happening right before our eyes.After playing in all those little bars all over Maui, the band played one night that changed their lives forever.
