Documentary (18 page)

But Kai had.

Shit.
He hung the toothbrush from his lips and smiled halfway. She turned away from him, sucking in a short breath when her face warmed from the blood rush.

Leko wrenched the guy up to his feet and shoved him out to the deck. “You got two choices: you can take the stairs now or go over the railing in a few seconds,” he shouted out the door, and the muscles in his back t
ensed. “Either way, security is going to know not to let you on the deck anymore.” When the sound of pounding footsteps drifted farther and farther way, Leko turned back to the house. The flash of anger was gone, and he walked over to kiss Dylan on the cheek.

“I hate that you had to see that, baby girl,” he said, looping his arm around her neck. “Can’t stand that asshole.”

“I told him he can’t come here anymore,” Kai explained before walking away to spit out the toothpaste in his mouth. He wiped the back of his hand across his lips when he walked back out.

“You probably didn’t say it like I did. Dude, if you actually acted like the a
sshole everyone thinks you are…” Leko’s voice trailed off when he began to laugh.

Dylan hugged him tightly and held on. He probably thought it was a delayed greeting, but it was really gratitude for dealing with her blubbering at the
deejay charity battle. She understood why Kai had him around. He seemed to be good at handling everything.

“You okay?” Leko whispered.

“Now I am,” she whispered back, hoping he understood.

Kai cleared his throat behind her. “We should probably get started and, by the way, it’s your day off, Lek.” Dylan smiled into Leko’s damp shoulder.
A wave of happiness crested inside her, but she reminded herself that their time together was going to be simply as friends. Colleagues, actually. But she hated him so it didn’t matter.

After taming her smile, she spun around and nodded, still hanging on to Leko. “Can we stay and eat first? I want to film and I want to talk to your friends—”

“They aren’t all my friends.” When Kai interjected, his brow furrowed. He might’ve meant for it to be purely informative, but Dylan detected a touch of sadness. She turned her head toward the sliding glass door; there had to be at least twenty or so people out there. She thought back to his story about his mom’s family, and what Leko had told her when they dropped Kai off the day before. She imagined how easy it probably was to have so much and so little at the same time in his world.

“I’m going to start with Leko, and Seth—
Ribsy
—promised me one of those burgers, so I’d still like to hang out,” she explained. A wicked grin sneaked onto Leko’s face, and he trained it right at Kai before he did a ridiculous dance with just his shoulders.

“You’re talking to Lek? Are you sure this is
to
help
me?” Kai raked his hair forward and gave her an exaggeratedly dubious look. “You’re supposed to be making me look good.”

“
Oh…I don’t think I’ll have to do much,” Dylan teased, but from the looks of those around her, it had hit everyone’s ears—including her own—as flirtation. She was really speaking about his singing talent, but he was shirtless, and her tone had gotten confused on the way out of her mouth.

This time
, Tiffany cleared her throat, and she padded across the floor right into Kai’s arms. She hugged him and only pulled away enough so that her hands were linked behind Kai’s neck. Jealousy rushed into Dylan’s blood, freezing her in place like some paralytic poison. She couldn’t tear her eyes away, or will her legs to move to trail Leko when he walked out to the deck.

“It doesn’t sound like I’m invited to all of this, so I’m gonna go,” Tiffany said.

Really? ‘Cause I thought that was me,
Dylan thought as she watched them.

“You still up for dinner later this week?”

Kai grunted and looked uncomfortable when he glanced at Dylan. “Yeah. I’ll give you a call.” Tiffany turned his face just slightly toward hers and puckered her lips, but his gaze was still holding Dylan. Dylan stared back at him, and with every ounce of her being, pleaded with him in silence not to do it. Her heart raged and her muscles tensed. She relinquished a lot of her pride to look so desperate; to beg him quietly to wait to see where things went after the project was over. But she dropped her eyes as reality set in. It was illogical to expect him to not live his life for weeks, and for what? Dating
anyone
just wasn’t something that was on her agenda when she had to make sure she became the stellar Carroll child now that the real one was lost. Anyway, today was supposed to be different. Dylan finally stepped out onto the deck just as Kai leaned in.

“Is Kai the same person now that you met as a kid?” Dylan asked, keeping the camera steady on Ribsy.

He made an expression like the answer should have been obvious. “Definitely the same guy he was at fourteen when he moved next door to me
on Akuna Boulevard.” He nodded. “He has a lot more money now, but deep down he’s the same kid...and sometimes that kid from Akuna still comes out.” Ribsy laughed. “From the outside, I’m sure this just looks like non-stop partying, but for those of us who know him, this is Kai being generous.” Ribsy motioned at the house, which was in the background of the frame. “He wasn’t popular in school in the way the football players and cheerleaders were, but he was very inclusive. People hung out with him because he always asked them to join. He wants people around him and they come—I have my ideas on
why
they come, but everyone knows where to go when you’re looking for place to chill and eat, even if you need a place to crash.” Ribsy lowered his stare away from her. “I think he should be more discriminating, but Kai never wants anyone to be alone and feel left out. He knows that life.”

Her heart squeezed as she ended filming. She had talked to
Ribsy for nearly half an hour—fifteen on camera, fifteen off—and he had probably given her the most insight into Kai, even more so than Leko. After Butch’s boxing career and his singing stint both ended, the family moved to Oahu when Kai was eight. His dad died a year later, and when his mom died, he moved in with one of her friends on another part of the island, right next door to the Ribisis. He described Kai as a quiet kid who could beat any guy in a fight and who seemed happiest when he was writing or singing.

When they walked back up from the beach, Kai was out on the deck. He mingled with a few of his guests before he picked a burger off the grill. One of the girls in the hot tub splashed him as he walked by before h
e went to sit on the far end on a bench. He was alone so Dylan figured that Tiffany had left through the front door, which was good because she wasn’t interested in playing friendly again.

“Was that good? The stuff I said?” Ribsy asked her when they sat on an empty wooden bench on the deck, and she finally got a chance to try one of his burgers. It was better than any she’d had. He had explained that he was a desk clerk at the Four Seasons in Wailea, but he was interested in pursuing a culinary career.

“It was perfect,” Dylan said gratefully as she ate. While waiting for Kai, Dylan had spent the time pestering a few of the guests about Kai after screening them through Leko. She was unsure of how much of it she would use for the final product, especially because most of it had been superficial commentary about Kai, but she figured all of it was worth having.

“You definitely got that part where I said he’d never make it as a singer? And
how he sucked at surfing? And how he was lucky to have a cool friend like Seth Ribisi?”

“Haha, asshole,” Kai said from directly over her. He dropped a hand on her shoulder and smiled down when she looked up. Anger over Tiffany, as irrational as it was, made her heart race
, but she smiled back to be polite. She had no claim to him, but she wouldn’t have done that with another guy right in front of him. Well, maybe to make him a little jealous.

“You ready?” Kai asked.

“Yup.” Ribsy was kind enough to take her plate away, and she waved to everyone before they walked back through the house to the garage.

“What do you think
of the house?” he asked. “Jamie’s dad’s real estate agent found it for me.”

“This one? Amazing,” Dylan said with a smile.

“Seth and Micah had a place, but I asked them to move in when I moved to Maui. They really like it here, and Lek’s been living here for a few years now. I don’t know how long I plan to be here, but probably until the media dies down a little more. I miss Oahu. Better surf. Oh and Nina sent out a press release finally, so no one will think you’re my girlfriend when they see us together.”

No one will think you’re my girlfriend.
An ache twisted in her heart, but she knew she needed to hear that to solidify the truth about things being absolutely finished between them. This was the sacrifice to be made for what she wanted.  As she got into the passenger seat of his Escalade, she said, “I was starting to think you couldn’t drive.”

Kai smirked once he was in the driver’s seat and cranked on the engine. “I’m full of surprises, Dylan Kimberly Carroll.” Rap music tore out of the speakers, and when Dylan reached over to turn down the volume, he took hold of her hand and held it. “You don’t get to do that.”

              “I was turning it down!” She yanked her hand back and he pushed the volume’s down button. He squinted at her like he was seriously upset, and it was adorable enough to force out some of her irritation about Tiffany and everything else.

             
Kai checked his phone, scoffed and leaned over to show her the screen before he opened the garage door behind them. “Nina made me set up Google Alerts for myself. I don’t really check them often. Look at the headlines.” When she took the phone, their hands grazed, and bolts of heat rushed over her skin.
Kamikaze Kai Out of Control Again
and
Who is Karing for Kai,
they read
.
She passed the phone back. To her knowledge, Kai hadn’t done anything wild enough for any of those stories to be true. He had partied like the rest of them. Dancing on a bar hardly seemed like news.
She pulled out her own phone and thought to set up Google Alerts for her name, just in case she started turning up on websites as well, but got distracted. There was an email from Nina, wanting to know if she was with Kai yet. She typed out a quick response that they were together.

             
“You were probably going to change the station to something cheesy, like something that plays Taylor Swift,” Kai said, resisting against the corners of his mouth turning up. Dylan got indignant and smacked him on the shoulder.

             
“Taylor is
not
cheesy.” She sat back hard against the leather seat and crossed her arms over her chest, feigning anger like he had earlier. “For your information, I like all kinds of music, especially rap.” Dylan leaned over the center console and said with confidence, “I sort of have this little trick that I do. If you name a mainstream rap album, I can tell you what year it came out. At the most, I may need you to name a single or two from the album, but I can do it.”

Kai smirked doubtfully and looked ready to take up the challenge. “Any mainstream rap album? You want to set it that broad?”

Dylan nodded. “Any popular group or solo artist. Go for it.” Kai sighed and looked down at his phone. After a few seconds of quiet, he looked up again with a roguish smile.

“Dr. Dre’s
The Chronic.
”

After a scoff and a roll of her eyes, Dylan said, “Too easy. 1992.”

Kai blinked quickly, gawking with his mouth open just slightly. After he shook his head to recover, he went back to his phone to look up some more trivia. Dylan giggled as he kept throwing suspicious glances her way.

“You were lucky that time. Jay-Z’s
Reasonable Doubt.
” Kai poked her side with his elbow.

“
Reasonable Doubt.
” Dylan breathed onto her nails and buffed them on her shoulder. “1996.” She jabbed him back in the ribs with her finger.

“Correct,” he muttered nonchalantly, but his eyes widened in
bewilderment. Kai scrolled the screen of his phone to find another name to test her. “Run-DMC’s
Raising Hell.
”

Dylan sat up and forward in the seat. Her smile faded as she searched her mind for the answer. She refused to let him stump her. “Okay, help me out.” She was having fun with him again, which made her wonder how long it would last this time.

“This one had the classic “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith,” said Kai. He sang out the familiar guitar riff at the beginning of the song to help jog her memory.

“Eighty…fi…
six. Eighty-six!” Dylan yelled out. She shook his shoulder anxiously, needing to know if she was correct. “It’s eighty-six! Tell me.” But Kai frowned and shook his head.

“Sorry. Wrong.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” Dylan didn’t believe him, and she lunged for the phone, but he was faster, dropping it down to the compartment built into the driver side door.

“I’m right. Let me see!” She laughed as he fought her off with one hand, but Dylan released her seatbelt and dove toward him. In the process of the struggling, she landed in his lap with her back against the door. They both froze, and just the light, unintelligible murmur from the radio filled the car. It was as if each was waiting for the other to dictate what would happen next. Dylan knew what she wanted, and she knew what she wanted to do.