*Lokela

Lokela took a deep breath, inhaling her scent and warmth and closeness.

Her lips parted. "Ice-cream," she whispered.

Every nerve had been ready to hear bedroom. Reality slapped him in the face, again. He stepped back. "Ice-cream it is. Ready to go?"

"Absolutely. I want ice-cream in November. That's what I want." She blinked several times. "I just have to get my thingy-thing for the what do you call it?"

"Helmet for your bike?"

"Right!" She snapped her fingers and in a flash, she was gone.

It took a moment for his heart to slow down enough for him to go downstairs to join her. He did these things to himself because he was an idiot. As if she would suddenly kiss him again after he yanked her arm out of its socket and made her stand too close.

Bedroom.

If there was one moment he could wipe from his memory to keep from having to ache for it over and over all the time, it would be the day she whispered bedroom, and for a minute, had wanted him.

They hopped on their bikes and he motioned for her to go first in order to follow her—at least he could enjoy the view.

He let himself get set up for the inevitable fall every single time Ray talked to him. If she breezed into his room while he was writing her a letter he would never have the courage to give her, and then asked him to do something wild, outside, his mind immediately imagined her naked body entwined with his in the Birds of Paradise bushes.

But all she wanted was ice-cream.

His hopes went out of control. His reality crashed into him.

The words ice-cream coming from her lips was sweetest nectar, though. He would be happy to listen to her describe the cold, creamy goodness instead of actually having any.

Or at least, he believed this lie until he had to sit across from her at a tiny, metal table and watch her lick that cold, creamy goodness while his own cone sat forgotten in his fist, dripping.

"Hey, need a napkin?" she asked, pointing at the running chocolate drips on his hands. "Here. Or do this."

She demonstrated cleaning her hand with her tongue and his erection sprang to life so suddenly, he couldn't breathe.

"Lokela, seriously." Huffing in exasperation, she wiped him with a thin napkin, smearing the chocolate more than anything else.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said.

He was not fine. Far from it. He shifted his legs, hoping his loose shorts hid his predicament. Aloha Tower was filled with tourists and islanders like the two of them, looking for a shady spot to relax and enjoy the people-watching.

But he was watching one person, and one person only. Ray's hair was held from her neck by a messy braid. Blond strands escaped its hold, though, and stuck to her pink skin. A couple of spots of sweat glistened on her forehead from their bike ride to the sea, and her filmy shirt hung open in a deep V at her chest.

He told his eyes not to wander, but when she twisted in the seat, the top fell to the side and revealed the lacy strap and top of her bra. The soft swell of her breast tantalized.

So close. So far away.

Ray bounded upwards, waving. "Hey, Doug!" She addressed Lokela again. "It's Doug, I'm going to go say hi. Don't leave, all right?"

He motioned vaguely to his chocolate ice-cream covered hands as if to say where the hell would he even go with this mess all over him, but she had already taken off. In a flash, she was on Doug's back, giving him a full body squeeze. Doug's new boyfriend took a selfie of the threesome.

Lokela's phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket and for a second, he assumed the trio had sent him a copy of them having fun.

But that new dude didn't have his number.

He wiped a few fingers clean in order to check. Miller was supposed to send him an answer about cutting a few hours at the shop.

Zach was calling him. Calling? Wouldn't a message be enough?

He answered. "Zach, what's up?"

"I'm doing great. Leg's healing, feeling good in general, like being stuck at home isn't driving me completely crazy. Oh, no wait. It is, but that's cool. How's things with you?" Zach said.

There was music in the background and what sounded like voices either from the TV or in another room. Guilt struck Lokela. There was a reason Zach was going around in circles on crutches at his parents' house in California instead of hanging out on the beach here in Hawaii.

"Classes suck, what do you want me to say? But that's life. You need something?"

"Yeah, actually. Did you get my last itinerary ideas? For the trip? What did you think about adding South Africa?"

A girl's laughter nearly drowned out the last part of Zach's question, and the muffled sounds of a scuffle came through the phone. It was true Zach had two younger sisters who still lived at home, but the laughter didn't seem sisterly to Lokela. And by his calculations, it was ten at night there, since it was evening in Honolulu. On a school night.

"Are you busy?" Lokela asked. "Do you need to take care of something?"

Zach must have had him on speaker phone, as a girl suddenly answered, "Oh, he's going to take care of something all right! Aren't you, my Zachy-wacky?"

Lokela threw up a little in his mouth. On the other end, Zach was angry. "Becka, you are totally drunk, go back to the party and let me talk to my friend. I'm serious, go."

"The fuck?" she yelled. "You can't talk to me like that. You are only here because I invited you. You said you loved me and you were going to spend some time with me for a change, but instead you sneak off to make phone calls. I am not drunk!"

She sounded so drunk it was painful. But on top of that, she sounded sincere. Lokela clenched his fist around his ice-cream cone. The stupid thing was dripping and his first instinct was to toss it in the trash, but he resisted. Ray would ask why. He didn't know whether he wanted to bash Zach's face in for making Ray think he loved her for the last two months, or jump up and yell.

Not yell for victory—he hadn't won yet. But victory was that was much closer. Either way, he had to play this cool for Ray's sake. She couldn't know that he knew something was up.

Becka was crying and Zack was telling her to leave.

Lokela hung up. As Ray waltzed back to the table, he sent a message.

Lokela: Tell Ray you are seeing another girl

Zach: I'm not I swear she's drunk

Zach: this is bullshit

Zach: it means nothing

Ray frowned at him as Lokela checked his phone. "Are you here with me, or do you need some alone time?"

"I am definitely here with you." He watched as she licked her cone. Fuck. He was so right there with her. His phone vibrated in his hand under the table. "How were Doug and his new boyfriend? I didn't catch his name."

"Aren't they cute together? I'm so happy for him, and the boyfriend. Whose name is Aaron. Good name, don't you think? Anyway, the other reason I asked you here was because we are friends, right?"

"Right." He was barely listening. As her tongue worked that ice-cream cone, his eyes darted to the phone.

Zach: I love Ray. I'm coming back to her in the spring semester, but a guy needs some action sometimes

Lokela's head was close to bursting into flames. "Do you want to see the fish in the harbor?"

There were tropical fish who gathered at the wall, tourists loved to watch them as they strolled along the sidewalk. Ray took the bait. She jumped up and bounded forward, leading the way.

Lokela: tell her now that you are screwing another girl

Zach: no way

Lokela: but you are screwing other girls there in California

Zach: it doesn't mean anything

Lokela: tell her or—

He didn't send the message. Ray turned to yell at him to catch up and he stuffed the phone in his pocket. His cone was basically soft goo at that point. He ditched it in the trash and licked his fingers as clean as possible. He was licking when she grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to sit with her on the wide harbor wall.

"As I was saying a minute ago, as you are my friend," she said, pausing on the word friend, "there was something very important that I wanted to talk to you about."

"I'm listening." The idea that Zach was with another girl in California at a party, instead of breaking up with Ray burned in every muscle of his body. He had to force himself to sit still and focus on her.

"There is this problem I've been trying to solve for a while now," she said. "A big step I need to take in my life, but I'm not sure if I'm going in the right direction. Understand?"

His phone vibrated on his hip. He nodded. "So far."

"And I think you might be the person, the friend to help me move forward. I've talked to you about this a little bit before." She broke off with a nervous laugh.

Sweet goddess Pele, was she talking about her virginity again? Because he might have a heart-attack if she talked to him about sex.

Bedroom.

"You are my friend, and I can trust you, right?" she asked.

He nodded, unable to utter a word.

"And Zach is your friend and you know him, right?"

"Wait," he said. Ice-water cold slivered down his back despite the setting sun's heat. "Is this about Zach?"

"I have tried so hard not to ask you about him or to talk about him, because why should you care, but there are things I have to know, and he doesn't ever want to give me answers. I'm going cra—"

"Give me two seconds, I have to answer a thing for this person in one of my classes," he said. He stood up and turned his back on Ray.

Lokela: tell her you are having sex with other girls or I will show her these messages

Zach: no way please I love her

Zach: bros before hoes, right?

Lokela: you have five minutes she's sitting right next to me

He sat on the wall, legs dangling in the empty air, tropical fish turning in circles in the blue water ten feet below. He took Ray's hand.

She smiled at him. "I just need to understand where the letter and the poetry came from, and if that is the real Zach, or he is just the sweet, goofy guy who says he misses me. Who is the real Zach? Do you know?"

Lokela swallowed, willing his phone to buzz or for her to notice she had a message. "It's difficult for me to be—"

A cheerful jingle started up from her purse. She didn't make a move to answer it, though. "It's difficult..." she prompted him.

The bells stopped. Then started again. Stopped. And started.

"I think you have a phone call or something?" Lokela said.

"They can wait. I'm here with you now. Go on."

The sound stopped. The air grew to thick to breathe. She gazed into his eyes, waiting for him to tell her who Zach really was.

Her phone jingled one last time, a different bell melody. A message. Lokela glanced at her purse. "It's all right if you want to check. I'm having a hard time formulating my thoughts."

Well, at least he was fucking honest for a change.

Then fear lanced him. What if, as an act of revenge for having to break up with her, Zach told her the letter and the poem to ask her on a date were from him?

Because bros before hoes was off.

*** Is Zach going to do the right thing and break up with Ray? And will he be the first to tell her the truth? ***