Page 26 of Pallas & Kawehi

"Date?"

Kawehi looked at her cousin and gave her the stink eye.

Maile pinched her smile down into a thin line, but her eyes were still smiling.

When she looked back at Dom he was smiling too.

"I don't care what you want to call it, Kawehi, I just want to spend some time with you."

When he stepped back, Kawehi felt the loss keenly. Her cheek felt cooler than normal as if the air-conditioning had kicked up suddenly.

"I'll see you on Monday."

“I wish I was seeing you on Monday,” Maile’s laugh was more of a snort than a giggle, “but I don’t poach.” She gave Kawehi a wink.

He nodded. "Let me know if you want me to pick you up."

"I'll text you with the address."

He looked behind him before he took another few steps back. "Feel free to call me, too. If you want."

"Or you could call me."

She smiled at the way his expression brightened at her words. She felt it in her chest, like light building up inside of her.

He nodded. "I will. See you soon."

He turned and headed for the door, and she could have left it there, but something inside of her pushed her for more. "Dom?"

He stopped with his hand on the door, ready to open it. "Yeah?"

“Be careful.”

“I’m always careful, gorgeous.” He gave her a wink and left the bowling alley.

That's when she let out a breath.

“Holy shit balls, Cuz.”

Kawehi turned to look at her cousin. “Stop saying those things.”

Maile waved off her warning. “You’re here griping about my cursing and I’m about to fall off of this chair because your ‘Dom’ isn’t just stupid hot, he’s f-”

“Stop!” Kawehi dropped her face into her hands.

“You’ve got a boyfriend! I thought I’d never see the day that you’d pull yourself out of this funk you’ve been in. And what a man! He’s-”

“Yes, he’s hot and yes, I’m stupid, but I just can’t talk about this right now, okay?”

“Wow.” Maile set down her chopsticks and walked around the counter. She took Kawehi by the shoulders and lowered her voice as she looked into her cousin’s eyes. “I know I give you a lot of grief, but it’s been two years since your husband took off. There’s got to be something you can do to cut those ties officially. You’ve got this guy… this man running over here to see you after work just because. When did Nick ever do anything like that?”

Maile waved off her own question with a shake of her head.

“Seriously, I got chills watching the two of you.”

“I don't want to hear about your chills.” Kawehi moved down the counter to bus the dishes left behind by one of their regulars, stacking the dishes onto one pile. "It's not about chills."

"It's totally about chills. I know what I see."

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