She snapped her head to him, eyebrows raised. “How do you remember that?”
“Because I had to come to your house for those tutoring sessions.”
“I had forgotten.” She rolled her eyes as she faced the road. “I was a new driver then. And I had two small accidents. One wasn’t even my fault.” There had been a third accident much later in her life. But she didn’t speak of it.
“Whatever.” Roshan stayed fixed on the road in front of him. He was quiet for a moment. “Your sister was a soccer player, right?”
Nimita stifled her groan. “You remember.” Mostly, she’d tutored Roshan at his house, but every so often they’d go to hers instead. Having Roshan at the house had been a big deal for Reena, who was still in middle school but was a star soccer player. Roshan was well-known for his goal-tending abilities. Her sister had gaped every time Roshan came over, like he was some kind of rock star. Nimita had been mortified.
“She fangirled every time I was there.” He chuckled. “It was humbling.”
“You were a hero to her,” Nimita admitted.
“A good thing she never really actually spoke to me then,” Roshan said quietly. “You know, never meet your heroes and all that.”
“Agreed,” Nimita said. But then she felt a bit bad for saying it. “And your sister? Malini, right?”
“Fine. Still always getting into trouble if I’m not there to stop it.”
She thought that was an odd thing to say. Wouldn’t Malini be in her twenties now? Weird.
They arrived at Twin Falls. The hike was a bit muddy but not long, and the falls did not disappoint. Emerald green water pounded the rocks below, a light mist clinging to the air. They were early enough in the day that it wasn’t crowded. The men became boys almost immediately upon entering the water, proceeding to splash each other and outdo each other. Nimita wasn’t sure what to make of them, but their laughter was contagious.
The next stop was another gorgeous Hawaiian hike, the Waikamoi Ridge hike—an easy mile or so full of giant eucalyptus and mahogany trees. It was perfect for stretching their legs.
“It’s 9:00 a.m.! We had breakfast like two and half hours ago, Karan. You already eating your lunch?” Vishal shook his head at Karan, and Roshan just laughed.
“That’s what I like about you, Karan. Your stomach is the same as it has been since Montessori school.” Roshan playfully smacked Karan’s arm.
Karan, for his part, wasn’t abashed in the least and finished his sandwich in about three bites.
Next, Nimita brought them to the Ke’anae Peninsula, which was just off the main road. The main reason for stopping here was that on the way out, they could get warm banana bread from a small stand. Nimita was sure that Karan would love it. This was also the halfway mark to Hana.
“Nimita! This is a culinary delight.” Karan nearly swooned, and Nimita was visited by the idea that the way to Karan’s heart was definitely through his stomach. She had no idea what the path might be to crack Roshan’s heart of stone, though an image of him in only his bathing trunks chose that moment to occupy her brain. She shook it from her mind. She wasn’t trying to get into his heart or his pants.
Karan slowly ate the bread. “What do you think, Roshan? I can totally deconstruct this and make it at home.”
“You would need the bananas from here,” Roshan said.
Karan nodded agreement. “I might get close.”
“You would also need to save some to take home and deconstruct.” Vishal grinned. “Meaning you would have to stop eating.”
“Yeah. No. Never mind. I’ll just enjoy it here.” Karan grinned at Nimita as he popped the last bite into his mouth.
Luckily, the next stop was hiking and swimming at Pu’a Ka’a State Wayside Park. Roshan seemed to enjoy his time with his friends but was making a concerted effort to ignore Nimita. She had caught him looking at her a few times, but he had quickly turned away.
Whatever. She wasn’t here to make friends. She shed her shorts and T-shirt down to her two-piece bathing suit and entered the swimming hole to cool off before eating lunch. The water was wonderful.
She saw the guys from the corner of her eye, swimming and razzing each other. Karan held a small ball, the soft kind used in a pool. He tossed it to Roshan, who caught it and tossed it to Vishal.
She grinned. They were adorable together. Her heart ached a bit. She didn’t have that kind of relationship with anyone. Not even her own family. She and Reena had been close growing up—inseparable almost, even with their age gap. Now, she was basically alone. She wondered if these men had any idea how rare their bond was.
“Heads up!” Vishal said as the rainbow-colored ball was lobbed in her direction. She was just in time to lean over and grab it with one hand.
Karan clapped. “Nice catch!” He held up his arms for her to toss to him. She did, throwing a line drive at his chest. He caught it easily and did the same throw to Roshan. Roshan caught it, and with a glance at her, did the same throw to Vishal. Vishal turned to her and threw the ball with a different throw. Getting the gist, she copied Vishal. Then Roshan switched up the throw and so on.
They passed time pleasantly, all of them laughing and enjoying the water and the beauty of the falls.
