Page 27 of Pallas & Kawehi

Kawehi put the pile into a dish tub at the back counter and returned with a wet cloth to wipe down the counter. "He's a nice guy."

"He's a hottie."

"He's very sweet."

"He's totally into you."

Kawehi turned her head to look at her cousin. "I'm not interested in getting into a relationship."

Maile paused with noodles pinched between her chopsticks. "You may not be interested in getting into one, but that doesn't stop the fact that you are getting into one."

Kawehi's shoulders sagged at the thought. "I wasn't looking for one."

“Of course you weren't, Cuz. And I love that about you.” She lowered her chopsticks and shook her head. "That doesn't change the fact that you've got a stupid-hot marine stopping in just to say hello. And look at you like he wants to push you up against that wall and lay one on you."

“Maile!”

“Kawehi!” She laughed softly. “Seriously, I feel like you’ve been sleepwalking for a while and now you’re waking up and I’m so fucking glad.”

She gave her cousin a look of frustration.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry for swearing, but just think about it. I’m going to keep you focused on my stupid stuff until your stupid hot Marine takes you to the beach. I don't suppose you'll take a picture of him in his swimsuit for me?”

Kawehi rolled her eyes and finished wiping up the counter with quick furtive circles. "No."

"Oh... you know I wonder if he's a board shorts kinda guy or if he's a Speedo kind of guy. I think board shorts, but I gotta tell you, after seeing that ass walking out of here, I'm dying to know what he'd look like in a Speedo."

"Maile! Stop!"

Kawehi felt her cheeks heat up and she turned to lean back against the counter. “Just eat, please, just eat. I need a few minutes.”

Maile got up from her seat and leaned in over the counter. She put her hand on Kawehi's shoulder and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Okay. Okay. I’ll be nice for now, but later, I'm going to want to know what your boyfriend looks like at the beach.”

Kawehi shook her head and let out a laugh. "He's not my boyfriend. We're just... friends."

The snort she heard from her cousin was followed by a loud laugh. "You keep saying that, Cuz, but no one is buying it."

PALLAS

Pallas rolled over in bed and picked up his phone when he heard it chime. He had always been a light sleeper, but in this case, he was pretty glad that he wasn't a deep sleeper.

KAWEHI: Just got home and you're in trouble, mister.

He narrowed his eyes at his phone confused.

PALLAS: I'm sorry?

KAWEHI: You better be. LOL

He let out the breath that he'd been holding and hit DIAL.

The call picked up almost immediately.

"You have no idea what my cousin put me through after you left today."

He smiled. Her voice wasn't upset. She was laughing even though she sounded tired. "What did she do?"

"She kept asking me to take a picture of you at the beach so she could see what you look like. She thinks you're stupid-hot."

---