Page 79 of The Love Penalty
And I’m more than happy to be.
CHAPTER 34
LEILANI
Asher drops me back at my dorm after lunch. It’s been a relaxed morning, and I saunter up the stairs with a smile on my face. Who am I kidding? Relaxing? It was mind-blowing! After sucking Asher off, he returned the favor, going down on me with that expert tongue of his. The orgasm that shot through me was explosive. I swear I’ve never had one so intense before, and I just lay there panting for who knows how long afterward.
He gathered me into his arms, and we lay on the bed together, talking, kissing, then watching the first Lord of the Rings movie. Asher’s got the extended editions, so it took like three hours. But that was the relaxing part, I guess.
I unlock my dorm room door and step into the lonely, quiet space, kind of wishing I’d stayed at the house a little longer. As much as I love solitude, being in Hockey House is fun. At lunchtime, we all sat around the table eating and laughing and… it reminded me of the good times at home.
Taking out my phone, I quickly bring up my mother’s number and see if she’s free for a video chat. The screen beeps and blips while I wait for her to answer, and then Lehua’s sweet face is filling the screen.
“Hi, Leilani!” she chirps, then smiles at me. Honestly, my ten-year-old sister has the sweetest face on the planet. Those big brown eyes are always so gentle, and my heart melts just a little bit as I smile back at her.
“Hey, beautiful. How are you?”
“I’m good.” She licks a spot of something off the edge of her mouth. “Mom’s letting us eat ice cream before Dad gets home!”
“You’d better hurry up! He’ll be home any minute!” Mom calls. “Who are you talking to?”
“Lani!”
“Oh, my girl!” Mom’s voice brightens, and she bustles into the room, her wide smile taking over my screen when she grabs the phone off Lehua. “Kaikamahine.” Mom beams at me. “How are you, my daughter?”
“I’m good.” I nod and actually mean it this time. I haven’t been calling as much this year because I haven’t wanted to fall apart and spill the truth. I just can’t. Dad will never get over it. He’d be devastated to know something like that happened to one of his precious children. And there’s no way Mom couldn’t not tell him that his daughter had been raped.
I don’t want to do that to them, so I’ve just avoided them instead.
But I’m feeling stronger today. And after talking to Asher about our families all morning, I’m kind of in the mood to speak to mine.
“How are the studies going?” Mom asks all the usual questions, and we chat about school.
Dad arrives home in the middle of it and blows kisses at the camera before noticing ice cream on Lehua’s face.
“What have you been eating?” His mock roar makes Lehua squeal, then giggle. She runs away while he chases her like a bear, and then Keala and Rangi have to get in on the action too. I listen to the laughing commotion in the background and wave at the camera when little Melika crawls onto Mom’s lap.
“Hey, baby girl,” I croon.
She grabs the air, wriggling her fingers in a sweet toddler wave, while blinking slowly at the camera.
“She’s due for her nap.” Mom kisses her head. “I’d better go in a minute.”
“Okay.” I nod. “Nice to see you guys.”
It’s always so brief and chaotic. Dad lumbers back into the room with children clinging to his every limb.
“Hi, Leilani!” Makana shouts, and I wave to him in the background. He’s dashing through the house with who knows what in his backpack. That kid is always up to something.
Dad will sort it while Mom puts Melika down, and the rest of the kids will start crashing from their sugar highs in a minute. I’m kind of glad I’m not there for that.
But I do miss them.
Not the chaos, just the love.
Emotion swells in my chest as I wave to my siblings. “Love you guys!” I blow kisses at the camera and get a smattering of distracted waves and endearments.
“Love you, beautiful girl.” Dad’s face fills the camera.