I see a similar sense of pride in Kai, and I think that’s what’s highlighted our connection. Her dry sense of humor oozes confidence but without being over the top. She’s beautiful, yet doesn’t care to think of herself that way, or so it seems. She’s just easy to read and get to know. It’s a fresh breath of air after my past relationships. She’s special. I know that.
“I’m bored,” Aya says, dropping her head down on top of the white-linen-covered table we’re seated at.
“The show is going to start in a few minutes. It will be worth the wait. I promise.” We’ve eaten the traditional pig roast and enjoyed the accompanying sides, and other kids are running around playing, but I asked Aya to sit still so she’s here when the show starts. “Are you excited to see Kai?”
“Obviously,” Aya says. “Isn’t that the only reason we’re here?” When Aya is bored, it’s her thing to make sure I pay the consequence for not keeping her entertained every second of the day. I try to ignore her moments of irritability, hoping they’ll subside, but I know it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
“No, you’ve been asking me to take you to a real luau for years and here we are.”
“But you just want to see Kai,” she says with a small smile.
“I want you to have fun, baby.”
“Well, I’m bored.”
Just as I hear the word bored for the thirtieth time since we finished dinner twenty minutes ago, the sound of drums slowly grows in the distance. “It’s starting,” I tell her, feeling excited to see the show too. I’ve never been to a luau either. We definitely didn’t have them on base, and I wasn’t invited to any off base. I know this type of luau is the entertaining-tourist kind, which is different than traditional luaus, but nevertheless, it’s fun, and I get to see Kai in a grass skirt again.
The lesson she gave us last week was very slow and easy going, but from what I’ve heard of these luaus, they aren’t very slow paced, so I’m curious as to what we’ll see.
Flash forward fifteen minutes, and I’m being dragged up on stage. “This is payback,” Kai whispers in my ear. How can I truly be upset when she’s wearing a traditional grass skirt with nothing more than a bikini top and a puka shell necklace. Her bronze skin is illuminated by the glowing tiki torches encircling the area.
Volunteers were invited to join in with the Hukilau dance. Aya is sitting with Noa and Lea at the table, clapping her heart out and shrieking my name with excitement.
“I know you have moves.” Kai isn’t letting me off the hook with this one, and I admit I deserve it, even though it wasn’t my idea to put the spotlight on her at Man Buns.
One of the dancers is instructing the guests on the few arm and hip gestures to follow when the music restarts. “I’m not ashamed of my moves,” I tell her. “I know what you’re doing.”
“I think the other guests deserve the privilege of enjoying your talent as much as the clientele at work,” she whispers.
“Well, I don’t know about that. There are kids in the audience, so I’ll need to keep it tame here,” I respond.
“Hmm,” she says. The music restarts, and Kai’s hands fall to my hips as if I need assistance with the movements. She’s pressed up against me, her breasts feathering against my back. Her touch is slight, and it’s enough to send a wave of flames through my body, rather than allowing me to focus on the dance. “Remember, people are watching.”
“I know people are watching,” I mutter back.
“Don’t lose your focus,” she whispers as she gently drags her fingernails up my back. Shit. This isn’t part of the dance. “Maintain control.”
“Kai,” I grumble.
“You want me?” she whispers.
“You can’t do that right now,” I try to convey through a slur of words.
Her hands slide up to my arms, repositioning them to match what everyone else is doing, then her knee gently presses into the back of one of my knees. “Bend your knees slightly,” she says. When she removes her knee, she makes sure to slide it up the back of my leg first.
“Kai, I can’t control myself with you like this. People are watching. Aya is watching.” Her hands release from my body, and she moves on to the next person, using incredibly different teaching tactics that don’t require physical contact. Now, I’m just standing here with everyone staring at me as I’m supposed to be doing the Hukilau, except I’m focused on keeping my dick in place. Damn her.
My mind spins throughout the entire volunteer dancing section of the show, and I finally snap out of it as I’m chauffeured back to my seat by Kai’s soft hand. “Good job, Marine. I’m glad I can teach you some new moves,” she says softly as I arrive at my seat.
“Nice, Den. I had no idea you could do the hula too,” Noa says. “I’ll have to have a hula night at the restaurant.”
God, I need to find another job. One that preferably has a desk and no uniform.
“Dad, your phone keeps ringing,” Aya says, handing it over to me. “It’s Auntie Brielle. Do you think she’s finally coming to visit us?”
That’s weird. We talk about once a week for a few minutes or on text, but she doesn’t usually call me at night during the week. “I don’t think she’s coming out, baby. She’s all the way in Massachusetts. It’s a pretty long flight out here, and she just saw us a few months ago.”
“Oh,” Aya says, looking downcast. She loves Brielle, but we only see her once a year, at most. She went to college out on the East coast and stayed there afterward.
