Page 106 of The Big Break

Jun ran up to him and threw her arms around him, taking him by surprise. “I caught you,” she breathed. “I wasn’t too late.” Po wrapped his tiny arms around Kai’s legs, silently hugging him, too.

Henley stood back a bit. Kirk, who had wandered down the beach, turned in time to see the embrace.

Jun pulled away from Kai. “I don’t want you to do this.”

“Jun, we talked about this. Big Island Kids—”

“Can survive without you. We found some big donors to help out. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to kill yourself.”

“Bad boo-boos out there!” Po added, his little face solemn as he looked up at Kai.

Kai felt as if he’d been blindsided. Was that true? Could the charity go on without his doing this competition? Could he really drop out? Then Kai thought about all that would mean. He’d told Bret he’d retire after the competition, and he’d meant it at the time, but was he truly ready to walk away from the love of his life?

“Jun, I appreciate that, but...” He trailed off, not sure what to say. Without her in his life, he didn’t really care what happened to him.

Jun bit her lip, and tears filled her eyes. “But you’re going to surf anyway, aren’t you?”

“I...” Kai wavered. He shook his head.

Jun kissed him with everything she had. Then she pulled away. He felt a little breathless.

“You can’t go out there today. Po needs you. I need you,” Jun said, and the words stopped him in his tracks. “I love you, Kai.”

Kai blinked fast. “You do?”

“I do, too!” Po chanted, excited as he bounced up and down.

Jun nodded. “We need you.”

Po nodded seriously.

“Really?” If this was true, if Jun wanted him, if he was going to be a father for Po, could he really do something so risky? Suddenly, he understood why Bret had given it all up. Because he had ’ohana, a family to care for.

Now Kai knew he wouldn’t be able to go out there. He felt a sharp disappointment but also a sweet relief. Jaws wasn’t going to kill him. Po tugged on Kai’s board shorts. Kai knelt down so he was face-to-face with Po.

“Don’t do it,” Po said, his eyes wide. “That wave...it’s like your house is on fire. Good fear says don’t go in!”

Kai couldn’t help but laugh a bit, as the boy had twisted the metaphor he’d told him on the beach about fear. Still, he wasn’t wrong. Jaws was about as dangerous as a house fire. Maybe more so.

Kai’s heart squeezed as if the boy had wrapped his tiny hands around it. How could he deny the boy something like this?

“Okay, little guy. I won’t go.” Jun hugged him and squeezed, squealing. He almost couldn’t breathe, she held him so tightly. Once she let him go, he swooped Po up into his arms, much to the boy’s delight.

“Good call, bro,” Henley said, and clapped Kai on the shoulder. He gave him a nod of respect.

“What’s a good call?” Kirk had stalked back over to the launch and glanced at Kai, Jun and the big schooner bobbing in the sea. “Why aren’t you set? You’re up next.”

“I’m not surfing today, Kirk.”

Clouds gathered around Kirk’s face. “What do you mean, you’re not surfing? You’ve got endorsement deals. You’ve got obligations!”

“Yes, I do. Important ones.” Kai stared at Jun and she grinned back up at him.

“You can’t just quit!” Kirk always valued money above everything else. Sacrificing that, to him, was worse than risking a life.

“I’ll surf for him,” Henley volunteered. “By proxy.”

“You don’t have to do that, man,” Kai said.

“I know I don’t, but I want to. If it’s okay with you.”

Kai saw that the kid wanted to do it. And he’d seen him surf the other day. He had talent and moxie. And, Kai realized, surfing for him now, on this kind of stage, could launch his career.

“Can he do it?” Kirk asked Kai.

“He can. He’ll destroy those waves out there. He’ll be the next big thing.”

Kirk considered this. “If he’s as talented as you say, I might be able to talk to some of the corporations. See if they will be okay. I might be able to finesse this.”

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