“Well, that’s something we can agree on, but what is your question?” He lost me before he started talking about Noa.
He sighs with exasperation. “I told Noa I was going to ask you to do something tonight, and he obviously went running to Lea, who must have tipped you off well enough to assume she was setting something up. Right?”
“Yeah, they both have incredibly large mouths and can’t be trusted with any type of information, important or not.”
“Noted. Definitely noted.” Denver was going to ask me out. I nearly missed that part while getting riled up about learning that Lea and her soulmate happen to have a matching set of big mouths. “Anyway, I was able to secure a sitter for Aya tonight. For some reason, when I started working with Noa on Monday, I thought he told me I was on the schedule each weeknight this week, but apparently I either misunderstood him, or he meant to say ‘except Thursday.’ I should have looked at the schedule sooner than last night, I guess. In any case, I’m off tonight, and I keep hearing something about the sunset on the peak of Mt. Haleakala. Would you be up for joining me tonight?”
Breathe. I almost forgot to breathe. I’m not sure I’ve been asked out on a date before. I didn’t even know whether people went through the motions of asking others out on dates anymore. I guess I assumed things just happen. People randomly meet and fall in love, and blah, blah, blah. “Are you asking me—”
“Out on a date?” he finishes my question for me.
“Yes,” I respond.
“Yes, as in you’ll go with me, or yes as in you wanted to know if I’m asking you out on a date?”
“I’m confused now,” I tell him, but I’m not really confused. I’m buying myself time. I’m just not sure why I’m procrastinating. Yes, I am. He’s like a stripper, and it would be like diving into the shallow end. Something like that.
“Kai, will you go out on a date with me tonight?” He clarifies the confusion I wasn’t quite experiencing, ultimately asking me a direct question I can’t shoo off.
“I—um, Denver, I’ve never really been into the dating scene,” I tell him. I lean forward, cupping my hand over my mouth because I’m feeling embarrassed about my lack of social skills.
“What do you mean? You don’t date, or are you a proudly proclaimed cat lady? I’m not sure I understand.”
“I’ve never been out on an actual date before.” Why am I telling him this? It’s really embarrassing, and he doesn’t need to know. I can feel my face getting red.
“No one has taken you out on a date—ever?” He does seem taken aback by my statement, as would I if someone was telling me this.
I nod my head but force a smile at the same time, probably confusing him. “I never gave it much thought, really. I’ve been busy. There’s never really time, and life skates by, you know?”
Denver folds an arm over his chest, rests his opposite arm on top, and reaches up to his chin, scratching at it in thought. “I don’t usually like to say this stuff because it makes me sound a little arrogant, but I don’t have enough fingers on my hands to count the reasons I shouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now. War ... it’s something that will take all the fun out of life if you let it, but I wouldn’t let it. Instead, I told my memories and thoughts to screw off because I wasn’t going to waste a second after I got home, and I kept that promise to myself. I can only speak on my behalf here, but we all have our shit. We all have pasts that built our present, but don’t let yours dictate the future. You don’t have to go out with me or any other schmuck out there, but don’t say there’s no time. We make time for chances of happiness. Otherwise, life would be boring as hell.”
I let each of his words soak into my mind, allowing them to saturate and expand, understanding precisely what he’s saying and what I’ve been avoiding. Happiness. I’ve told myself I’m not worthy of the emotion if Mom and Dad can’t experience it anymore. I don’t just think that thought all the time. I live it. I breathe it. It’s become my mantra—my way of life.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant to be a guilt trip. If you don’t want to go out with me, I get it. I’m loaded with heavy baggage, and you probably call me a stripper behind my back, so—” He salutes me and taps the chair I’m sitting on. “I’ll catch you a little later. Eventually, I’m going to have a place to live and won’t be bugging you anymore anyway.” He laughs as he walks away, and I’m stunned, gawking at his back with my mouth ajar. How come I can’t say anything? I want to stop him, so I can agree to go out with him tonight. He’s made me feel. Just feel. I don’t know the specifics of exactly what I feel because the last time I had a crush on a guy was when I was seventeen and in high school. It feels like a lifetime ago.
“Denver!” A shout erupts from my mouth, and I startle myself, it was so loud. Except, he doesn’t hear me.
I jump down from my elevated, wooden chair, and—
My sandal gets caught on the support beam below me, forcing me to tumble forward and fall head first into the pool, but not without scratching the side of my face on the ledge first. Blood clouds around me, and I panic, wondering what I’ve done to myself. I gasped from shock on the way into the water, and I’m spinning in circles while trying to figure out which way is up and out.
An arm lurches around my body, and fresh air greets my waterlogged lungs. I hear my name being shouted from every direction around me, and though my eyes are opening, everything is still spinning. Did I break my neck? Whoever is holding me needs to put me down, but I can’t talk.
Hands press against my sternum a few times, pushing the water out of my lungs, and I cough up what was keeping me from breathing. Then a hand rests gently against my forehead. “It’s okay, okay. You’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” I choke out.
“Nope. You got to stay still for a minute.”
It’s Denver who’s telling me what’s what. “I’m okay,” I say again.
“Can someone get a first aid kit?” he says.
“Denver, I’m fine,” I tell him again.
“Hey,” he says, looking at me. “Yes, you’re fine, but I want to get that cut cleaned up, okay?”
“You’re not a lifeguard,” I argue.
