Page 27 of Waves
EZRA
I nervously tapped my fingers against the wooden counter while looking around the restaurant and checking the door for the third time in five minutes. For once, I arrived before Mary, and I didn’t know what to do with myself.
The waiter brought over my marble soda, which I ordered simply because I knew Kai would get a kick out of it—and was I ever right. When I shot the marble into the neck of the bottle, he reacted as if I performed a magic trick. He kept trying to figure out how to get the marble out, despite me insisting it would be impossible to do without breaking the bottle.
With nothing else to do and the novelty of the soda worn off, Kai started flipping through the lunch menu. “What are you going to get?”
“My usual, spicy avocado. Then maybe sweet potato or cucumber.”
“Hmm,” Kai said with a tilt of his head. “And what am I going to get?”
I smiled and shifted my attention from the door and back to him. “You can order whatever you want.”
Kai nodded while he looked at his menu, then at me, then back to the menu again. “And what, uh, what do you think I’m going to want?”
“You have no idea what any of this is, do you?” I chuckled.
“Not in the slightest, no.” Kai laughed with me.
“Let’s start you off with sashimi, and then maybe nigiri, and if you like that, you can graduate to sushi.” After the way Kai scrutinized groceries, I couldn’t imagine him enjoying something covered in panko or condiments.
“Sounds good to me.” Kai closed his menu.
Mary finally arrived in a whirlwind of red hair and shopping bags. “Sorry, sorry I’m late,” she said before she sat on the barstool next to Kai.
Of course, she would sit next to him. I should have insisted Kai take the seat at the end so she couldn’t talk his ear off the entire time, but I didn’t think ahead.
Kai, of course, was not as easily shaken as me. He extended his hand to Mary and didn’t even break a sweat when she started grilling him for his life story. The only interruption occurred when we placed our order, and again once our food was ready.
“So, Kai, you’ve really never been here before?” Mary asked, while mixing her wasabi into her soy sauce.
“New to the area,” Kai said while struggling with his chopsticks. He remained persistent in his effort and slowly got the hang of it. “Never eaten at a place like this, though.”
“You’re pretty brave for a first-timer,” Mary said, pointing to his plate of sliced raw fish.
Kai shrugged and gulped another piece down, barely even chewing. “I guess.”
Silently, I smiled to myself while I ate my roll. I knew Kai would like sashimi.
“So, Kai, how about you come to my party tonight?” Mary suddenly asked. “You know, since you’re new to the area.”
I swallowed hard and struggled to hold in a cough. Mary was too pleased with herself to worry about facing my wrath, and ignored my glaring in her direction.
“I would very much like to attend with Ezra. Thank you for extending an invitation,” Kai said with a smile. He turned back to me, wondering if I had a differing opinion.
I could already see him looking forward to this party. Crap, now we really had to go. “I suppose,” I said, flicking my free hand at Mary.
Mary cackled at her ingenuity, but I still had to fight back the burning in my throat from almost choking earlier. I wasn’t so sure I was ready for this. Yes, of course, I very much liked Kai, but bringing him around my former friends felt as if I were inviting disaster.
Mary left us after lunch, and I hit the strip mall in town with Kai. I previously bought a few basics for him on the off chance my quest for a white whale succeeded. The guy still needed more than one outfit and a toothbrush. Of course, Kai protested every step of the way, but his argument went ignored. I figured my job paid me to learn more about the seals living on the bay, and technically, this applied to him, too.
We had a few hours to kill before it was time to make an appearance at Mary’s, so as soon as we got home, I popped in a movie. I was such a nerd, almost all the films in my collection had to do with the ocean one way or another. I doubted Kai would mind. Given his expression right now, he seemed pretty entertained.
I had a feeling he would like this one. The CGI had been very well done, and with cinematography more beautiful than most in my collection. I nodded off towards the middle because I watched the saga of the boy and the tiger lost at sea many times before tonight. Besides, it was hard to not fall into the cuddle trap that was Kai. He had a way of reeling me in closer and closer without ever laying a hand on me. Even though we started on opposite ends of the couch, we wound up tangled together.
Once the movie credits rolled, I woke from an unplanned nap. “Why did you do that?” I groaned while I stretched my arms.
“What?” Kai said with a mischievous grin.