My eyes take in the green glow of the digital clock on the dashboard and my foot presses harder against the gas pedal, speeding up because I'm already over an hour late to meeting my girlfriend tonight. The tires of my Range Rover screech against the asphalt as I steer into the parking lot of the beach I'm supposed to be meeting Lani at. My eyes immediately search the mostly empty spaces of the car lot, hoping with everything in me that her vehicle houses at least one of them this evening.

Just when I begin to give up hope, I spot a familiar green Cherokee parked near the stairs leading down onto the white sand and I drive over to it quickly, jumping out of the car as soon as I slam the gearshift into park. My feet work double-time as I sprint down the staircase, not allowing even the sand to slow me down until the foamy shoreline of the ocean comes into view. I skim my gaze across the horizon now setting over the ocean, grinning like a fool the second I catch Lani's silhouette riding her surfboard against it. I continue to watch her as I make my way closer to the water, amazed at her sheer talent as she finishes riding out the crest of the wave closing in behind her.

"Hell yeah," I holler out over the commotion of the shore now rushing against my feet, making my presence known. "That's a winner's surf if I ever saw one!"

Her ears must register my voice because her head darts my way, and she jumps off her board into the water. I follow her jet-black hair as her head finally breaks through the surface of the sparkling water, keeping my stare on her as she allows the waves to carry her closer towards me.

"You're late, Maverick," she mouths back, the rest of her body coming into view as she treads through the knee-length water.

The orange and rose-colored glow of the sky reflects against her drenched skin and the sight is impossible for me to tear my stare away. Pushing past me, Lani makes her way towards her bags in the sand on the beach and I follow after her, appreciating the view from behind just as much as the view from the front.

"I know, and you know I hate being late," I begin to tease, catching up to her, bending down, and unhooking the velcro strap still fastened to her ankle. "But I'm just getting so good at it," I finish, tearing the weight of her surfboard out from under her arms and holding it for her as she begins to dry the curves of her body with her beach towel.

"I think we're going to have to terminate these lessons of yours," she laughs, kicking and throwing sand against my legs.

"Hey, hey," I chuckle, shielding myself with the surfboard still clutched in my hands. "Take the punishment out on your Dad, not me."

"Ugh," she groans, bundling her curls up and tying them up into a thick bun on the top of her head. "Did he keep you over again?"

"What do you think?" I challenge her question, raising my eyebrows.

"I'm sorry he's being an ass," she sighs, slipping a sheer bathing suit cover over her head and allowing it to slip down her body, unknowingly stealing me away from the pleasure of looking at it.

"Don't be," I insist, forcing a smile to my face. "Pretty much everyone in the Marines is an ass. It's practically the rite of passage."

"Right," she nods with a smirk, looking me up and down. Picking up her belongings and beginning to make her way towards our cars, she quips back over her shoulder, "That explains things."

"You're feisty, wild thing," I fire back, sprinting after her before she's able to get too far ahead of me. I nudge her ass with the tip of the surfboard, making her shriek with laughter as I affirm, "Now, I know where you get it from."

"Brodie Dawson, if you're trying to accuse me of being anything like my Dad, lessons won't be the only thing I'm terminating," she warns.

"Are you threatening me, Sergeant Kahale?" I tease, cornering her and pushing her back against the railing of the steps leading off of the beach.

Lifting her chin, and puffing her chest up against mine, she banters, "You're walking on thin ice, Jarhead."

Smoothing my hand up her neck and trailing it to her jaw, I allow my thumb to caress the smooth skin of her cheek, immediately melting Lelani's once firm stance. My touch has her leaning in closer to me, and I'm grateful for the sudden proximity as her lips inch closer to mine.

I place a quick kiss against them before inching my mouth to her ears and whispering, "Will you let me make up for my tardiness?"

"And how do you plan on doing that, huh?" She challenges, but by the glint in her alluring coffee-brown eyes, I can tell she's already agreed before I've even spoken another word.

"I'll tell you as long as you have room for at least one more secret."

"Oh, I think I can definitely manage that," she grins, standing on the tips of her toes with excitement.

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"Come on, baby," I whisper-yell back to Lelani who trudges through the overgrown weeds of the field we're currently cutting through. Her short stature is doing her a disadvantage right now, and I force back the chuckles I can feel rising as her feet get caught in the overgrowth.

"I'm stuck," she pouts, trying her damn near hardest to pull herself out of the encapture of the tropical grass.

"Here," I insist, offering out my hand and pulling her through the thicket. Slipping both of my hands underneath her arms, I pitch her body off of the ground, causing her to squeal as I heave her ass up with my hands and begin to carry her through the field.

"Mmm, tall and strong," she taunts, happily wrapping her legs around my waist. "You pull these slick moves with all the ladies, Maverick?"

"Pshh," I begin to tease, "None of the girls were even close to as short as you."

"See, you are an ass!" She exclaims, her arms still wrapped tight around my neck as she nudges her head roughly against my chest.

"Ouch,"I groan, distracting myself from the ache as I place a quick kiss against her head and retort, "I'm your ass."

When the weeds have finally cleared out, Lani hops down from my arms, landing on her feet and taking in the eight-foot, woven-wire fence looming in front of us.

"I know exactly where you're taking me," she grins confidently, crossing her arms against her chest.

"And where do you think that is?"

Squinting to the staggering trail of white, red, some green, and a few yellow lights ahead, she carefully inspects the lit-up asphalt in the far distance. Pointing towards the glimmer of the landing strip and wearing the most beautiful smile on her face, she guesses right,

"Are you taking me for a date on the runway, Maverick?"

"I thought it could be fun," I smirk, walking a few steps until I spot the knee-high opening in the steel fencing. Lifting a corner of the metal barrier, I open it further for Lelani and insist, "Ladies first."

Not wasting a minute, she falls on all fours, crawling and squeezing her petite body through to the other side of the fence. I follow suit, struggling a bit more to fit through as gracefully as she managed as I start to inch through the man-made hole in the fence. My shirt rides up and the metal chills my skin as I wiggle the rest of the way.

"Shit," I curse, feeling a sear tear into the skin on the side of my abdomen.

"You okay?" Lani hurries out, rushing to my side and inspecting the fresh and bleeding scratch now prominent on my stomach.

"Yeah," I say, sucking in a shaky breath as I notice the imprint of an older scar just inches above this new one.

Immediately my head swarms with memories from the past, recalling the day I got that stupid fucking mark in the first place, the group home and...Mia. My skin chills, and for a moment the sensation of the cool Michigan wind rushing past me feels so vivid that I could swear it was fucking real. But it isn't real. None of this is real, despite how cruelly my mind is trying to convince me that it is as Mia's words replay through my head.

You're nearly eighteen. Once you hit that mark, age is just a number when it comes to relationships.

Is that what you really want to do?

Relax, kid. It's just me.

I'm not going to tell on you...

"Hey. Brodie, look at me," my ears begin to hear, but my eyes are still locked on the streak of blood running down my skin. "Baby, look at me."

Gentle, delicate hands force my head away from the cut and my lungs are able to expand further when my stare finally focuses back on Lani. My disassociation gradually fades, and I let out a breath of relief, relishing in the reality of her touch and not anybody else's on me.

"There you are, Jarhead," she says sweetly, running her fingers through my hair as I pull myself further away from the awful and traumatic recollection. The corner of her lips begins to tug up slightly when she's sure that my full attention is back on her. "You okay?"

"Umm- y-yeah," I answer, gathering to my feet and trying my best to regain my once calm composure. When I finally feel stable enough to look again, I pull a handkerchief that I was just lucky to end up having on hand from my shorts pocket. I wipe my new battle scar clean, appreciating that it stays free of any more blood and I take a closer glance at it.

"Well, son of a bitch," I laugh, taking in the convenient shape now etched into my skin.

"What is it?" Lani leans over, looking closer and she laughs, "It looks like an 'L'."

"Just like an 'L'. I suppose this means you'll be etched in me forever."

"You gonna use that as your pick-up line for the night?"

"I just might," I chuckle, letting my shirt fall back down.

I lace my fingers into her's, continue to carry us closer to the landing strip as I previously planned, but suddenly she stops me.

"Brodie?" She prods softly, her eyes soft and inviting as they look me over. "Are you really okay?"

"I really am okay," I smile, telling the genuine truth; because while Lani is the only person in this goddamn world I'd be willing to talk about my past with, I don't care to think about it anymore. She knows the truth of what happened, and for both hers and my sake, I won't grant that memory anymore of our time.

"Come on, gorgeous girl," I demand, tugging her with me.

Finding us a nice spot in close proximity to the illuminated runway, but far enough away to keep my girl safe, I plop down against the asphalt. Spreading my legs for Lani to climb between, my hands help her carefully sit back. I envelop my arms around her stomach, pulling her body close against mine. She relaxes back into my hold and our eyes cut to the deep, violet sky looming above us, the glow of the white, half-moon shining down on us from above.

Speaking up above the buzz of the night swarming around us, Lani asks, "Did you know Hawaii has a moon goddess?"

"A moon goddess?" I repeat, immediately intrigued to hear more of the tropical deity.

"Mhmm," she nods. "Her name is Mahina, and the story goes that she was known for making the softest Kapa cloth on the island- so soft that everyone couldn't wait to get their hands on it. And she worked so hard to share the cloth with the people, but eventually, the demand for it became too high and she became worn out and tired, so one day she decided to just up and leave Hawaii."

"Did she travel by plane?" I tease, nodding forward to the airstrip ahead of us.

"No," she chuckles, shaking her head. "She traveled high into the sky until she landed on a rainbow. She followed it all the way until she met the sun, but quickly realized that it was too hot for her to live on so she went onto another rainbow and followed it until she met the moon."

"And what did she think of the moon?" I ask, watching her closely and admiring her visible excitement to finish the story. She tries to bite back the smile rising to her face, and I pretend not to see it as I continue to listen to her.

"Legend says she thought it was so enchanting and charming that she had no other choice but to make it her home. Which is why Mahina stands for 'moon' in Hawaiian. My grandpa used to tell me that if you look at it close enough you can see her in it."

"Well," I begin to question the girl still relaxed in my arms, "Have you seen her yet?"

"Of course I haven't," she laughs, "Didn't you listen to my story, Maverick? She's busy working on her Kapa cloth. She doesn't have time to make frequent appearances."

"Right, of course," I chuckle, "How could I forget?"

Lani feels so warm against me, her head settling against my chest as I run my hands against the bareness of her thighs, causing goosebumps to spread across her tanned skin. Her fingers play with mine, and she asks softly, "Will you tell me something real about you?"

"What do you want to know?" I ask, resting my chin against her curly-haired head.

"Anything," she admits. "Like, umm-" she goes quiet for a moment, pondering on a question she can ask. "What's your favorite Doritos flavor?"

I burst out into laughter at the unexpected inquiry. "What's my favorite Doritos flavor? That's what you're choosing to ask first?"

"It's an important matter," she waves me off. "Now, answer the question, dammit."

"I don't know, that's a hard choice, but if I had to make one, I guess I'd say, uhh- Cool Ranch."

She gags in response, "You have awful taste, Brodie!"

"I beg to differ," I quip back, tilting her neck up for me to kiss. I brush my mouth against her skin, making her wriggle with contentment in my hold. "I'd say I got pretty damn good taste."

"Okay, okay," she giggles, having enough of the ticklish sensation of my mouth against her neck. "Next question."

"Shoot."

"If you could be granted any wish- any wish possible in this great big world- what would it be?"

It doesn't take me even a second to come up with the answer on that one because, genuinely, the only thing I want anymore is her. Lani invades every single one of my thoughts, and I love the way my mind can't help but think about her in every waking second my body can't spend beside her. I want her and I want every damn person to know it too.

"I'd wish that I didn't have to keep you a secret anymore," I answer simply.

My response catches her off guard, causing her to blush and cut her eyes away from mine as she replies sheepishly, "B-Brodie. A real wish."

"You said anything," I rebuttal, "and that is a real wish. I wish I could be with you. No hiding. No sneaking around. No lying. I want to be with you, and I want everyone and their damn grandma to know."

I've never craved the thought of PDA until now.

My eyes watch the way she bites against her bottom lip, trying her best to stifle the giddy expression starting to rise to her face. "I want that, too. So bad."

"You know what we need?" I mention, ushering Lani to slowly lay back beside me onto the concrete as my eyes notice the headlight of a jet, floating in the sky in the far distance.

"Hmm?" She hums, inching further back and situating her body closer to mine.

"We need a weekend getaway. Our own, private stay where we can be us and not have to worry about anybody else saying a goddamn thing about it."

"That's not a bad idea at all, Maverick," she sings back. Rolling onto her side and resting her chin onto my chest, she eagerly proposes, "You know, I think it may just be such a good idea that we're going to have to make it happen."

"Yeah? And how are we going to do that, wild thing?" I ask, trying to rack up a legitimate plan in my mind but struggling to think of anywhere we'd be able to escape to.

"Well, you just so happened to remind me that I'm best friends with a girl whose parents own an Airbnb on Moloka'i island. We'd have to get a short flight over, but they're pretty cheap."

"Lani, if you're pulling my dick right now, I'm going to be really upset."

"I'm not pulling your dick," she laughs, "I'm dead serious. I'll message Alana, but you know that she'll die before she plays the role of the third wheel. Would Delk and Murphy be up for joining us? Throw a couple of boys at her and that should keep her plenty happy and busy."

"Hell yeah. Of course, they would." Pulling her into me, I force her to look at me, searching her eyes for even the slightest glimmer of bullshit. "You swear you're being serious?"

"I swear, Brodie," she hushes back, pressing her lips up against mine. "Just imagine a whole weekend where we won't have to be either one of each other's dirty little secrets. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"It sounds fucking perfect."

She settles back down beside me, both of us smiling up to the sky above us like fools at the mere idea of being able to finally be together without the pressure of her Dad somehow finding out looming over our heads. The hum of an aircraft engine begins to fill my ears, warning me of the incoming jet that's nearing and preparing to land several hundred feet away from us. Shielding Lani's ears, she covers mine as the small fighter plane soars above us. After the thrill of the plane passing dissipates, I close my eyes, soaking in the feeling of her touch and the promise that this weekend brings of feeling more of it.

Just like Mahina, we're gonna leave this island and the demands it carries with it. This weekend, I think I might just experience true paradise for the first time since I've gotten here.

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