I smiled. “I think I caught onto that pretty early.”
“Did he make you watch a rom-com?”
I snorted. “No, but he did take me to trivia, and then to see Moulin Rouge! on Broadway.”
She seemed proud when she smiled again. “He’s always been a Broadway fan. Makoa, my sister Tamar, and I used to put on plays for our parents all the time when we were younger. Makoa thought he was such a good singer.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Well, he’s lost that over the years, I think.”
“Oh, no — I said he thought he was a good singer.” She waved a soapy hand. “That boy has always sounded like a bad mix of Bob Dylan and Miley Cyrus.”
We both bent over at that, the exhaustion making me laugh harder than I normally would have. I was wiping the tears from my eyes when she continued.
“Well, if you know anything about my brother, then you know he wears his heart on his sleeve. And I can see it after just tonight.” She paused, sponge in hand as she turned to look at me. “He cares about you, Belle.”
I swallowed, nodding as my eyes found the dish in my hand again. “I care about him, too.”
“I don’t think you understand what I’m saying.” She stopped the pretense of washing dishes, tossing the sponge in the sink and turning to face me completely. “I’ve never seen him like this with anyone else.”
My heart stuttered, kicking back to life at a quicker pace. “Really?”
“Before you, Belle…” She sighed. “Let’s just say my brother has been through some shit. He’s not afraid to love, even when he’s been burned so many times. But it worries me. As his big sister, to see him giving himself so fully, because so far, no one has been worthy of that kind of care. He’s been kicked around by far too many girls, and I just…” She rolled her lips together, glancing down the hall before her gaze met mine again. “Please… don’t break his heart. I’m not sure he could survive it. Not this time. Not with you.”
I looked down at the rag in my hand, wrapping it up in my fists. I didn’t know what she meant about Makoa, because we hadn’t talked about his past that way. I didn’t know about his ex-girlfriends, or what they’d put him through.
And I hated that he hadn’t felt comfortable enough to tell me himself.
“I’m more worried about him breaking me,” I whispered.
Pania smiled, reaching out to squeeze my upper arm. Her eyes flicked behind me before she said, “If he does, I’ll give him the biggest wedgie since the one I gave him when he was nine years old. And trust me, that’s one he still hasn’t forgotten.”
I laughed just as two big, warm arms wrapped around me from behind, and Makoa kissed my cheek, pulling me back against his chest. “I don’t know what the first part of this conversation was, but please don’t take her up on this offer. I’m still picking my boxers out of my ass all these years later.”
Pania rolled the towel in her hands, winding up and swatting him with it before she winked at me and left us alone in the kitchen. The Kumaka family was gathering around the television in the living room, and Makoa spun me in his arms until we were facing each other. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he kissed my nose, eyes searching mine.
We didn’t say a word.
We didn’t have to.
My throat was sticky and dry, heart pounding in my chest as we stood there, holding each other, his sister’s words on repeat in my mind.
He’s not afraid to love…
Makoa framed my face with his hands, kissing me sweetly and slowly and surely before he grabbed my hand and led me into the other room with his family.
And I realized that when it came to him, maybe I shouldn’t be so afraid, either.
Makoa
It was after midnight by the time my family finally let me take Belle home. My mom hugged her for what felt like half an hour when the time came, and only let go when Belle promised to come visit them all in Hawai’i soon.
I drove her to her condo across town, and we were quiet the entire way, my hand holding onto her thigh. Belle was so tired she had her head against the headrest, eyes closed, dozing in and out while I watched the streetlights float across her face.
When we made it up to her door, I walked her inside, chuckling as she fought back yawns and peeled off her high heels.
“I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight,” she said with a croaky voice.
“Hopefully better than a baby. Those things scream all night,” I countered, pulling her into my arms as soon as she was barefoot. I swept her hair behind her ears, searching her eyes for any sign of her never wanting to see me again after everything that had ensued tonight.
“Hi,” I breathed after a moment.
She gave me a sleepy smile, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Hi.”
“You okay?”
She nodded, but just as she did, she yawned so long and big. I thought she’d get lockjaw.
I chuckled, leaning in to press a kiss to those lips as soon as she’d shut them again. “I had a completely different idea in mind for tonight when I took you to my place.”
“That makes two of us.” Her smile widened. “But it was fun.”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t think so?”
“I did, I just… I know that had to be a lot for you, meeting my family. And unexpectedly so.”
Belle tickled the hair at the back of my neck. “It was definitely a surprise… I haven’t ever met a man’s family before.”
I shook my head. “That’s so crazy and hard to believe, because you just knocked it out of the park.”
“They’re easy to get along with.”
I scoffed. “You didn’t
