“Ayden, right?”
After a brief hesitation, it’s as if he’s snapped back from somewhere and returned fully to the present. “Yeah. How… do you know whoIam?” I’m quite literally opening my mouth to respond but he just keeps going, “I mean, that isn’t meant to bean insult like ‘how couldyouknow’ just, I’m a freshman and a little caught off guard. Never mind, I didn’t mean to interrupt, what were?—”
“Here you go.”Damn it, that was fast.
The thick black band in her palm is stretched out to me, and without contacting her skin, I grab it and gather my hair up.
Ayden stares at my mouth for some reason, maybe wanting me to say something?
“Thanks,” I offer to the girl before continuing with him. “I met your sister.” The last thing I need is for him to think something weird like I’m stalking him. “Third period PE.”
“Ah. Right.” He sounds disappointed.
I don’t know why, but I like that.
We’ve only got a few minutes before I need to get back on the field. It’s strange, but I have this urge to stay and chat—a feeling that’s completely out of the ordinary, especially at a game, even if it’s just pre-season and mostly practice.
“After the game, do you want to?—”
“Kaipo!” Of course she would take advantage of this.
I glance toward the bleachers where my mom leans over the railing, her long, wavy black hair spilling forward as she waves.
It’s our first game, but she’s just as excited as she was last year—for the first, the second, and every single one after that. She’s my biggest fan, and really the only one that matters. As much as I want to keep talking with Ayden, she comes first.
When I glance back at him, his gaze is already fixed on her.
“See you later?” That pulls his eyes back to me, and when he smiles, it’s perfect. The kind that makes something shift in my chest before I can stop it.
“Yeah, see you… later.” His hesitation is cute.
I catch myself grinning at it, which is peculiar. Stranger still is the sudden want to see him again, and again. I don’t usually feel that, but with him, I do.
Rushing over to my mom, I lift just slightly up to press a kiss on her cheek she brings down to me.
“You’re doing so good out there, Keo sweetheart. I’m surprised the coach put you in for the first game.”
I shrug my shoulders. “Tyler and I will likely take the second game off, but it’s important to show dominance.” My tone is playful. Mom doesn’t need reminding of how good we are, but it’s always fun to tease her.
She swats my shoulder pad. “Silly… but, really quick, remember I told you about Grant?”
I nod just as my coach calls the sixty-second countdown to regroup.
“I brought him, hope that was okay.”
Honestly, I can’t help but grin. “Of course, Mom. Where is he?” I haven’t met him yet. She wanted to put the feelers out first. They’ve been dating for about a year, so bringing him here means it’s getting serious.
“See him in the red shirt?” She points off over toward the center of the bleachers. A man, pretty tall even while sitting, is staring off toward our direction. He isn’t looking at us, but he’s smiling. “He’s amazing, Keo.”
“Good catch.”
“I know?—”
“No, no,hegot a good catch.”
She swats once again at me. “Aue, kaohi i kela!”
I don’t know much of my mother’s native language because I grew up here on the mainland and not in Hawai?i, but that needs no translation.
