Chapter 40 - Makai - An Awkward Dinner Part 2

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Makai

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When I knew that the food was almost here I had figured I should go and find Ocean. I really didn't want the coach to get here and find that he was missing. He would probably think that we had been fighting or something. That wouldn't be good for either of us. 

If the coach thought we were fighting he might bench the both of us tomorrow. I didn't care about my own races. I could swim anytime that I wanted at home. And I was eighteen, I could move out if I wanted. I had the means and the opportunity to do it. Ocean wasn't eighteen yet though, and I know that when he wasn't at school or the beach he wasn't able to swim. He needed all the chances that he could get. I really didn't want anyone to take his chances to swim away from him.

When I opened the door though, Ocean was standing there with his fist raised. It appears he had just gotten back to the door and was about to knock. Was he really going to knock though? I couldn't tell. The look on his face full of indecision when I saw him jump back in surprise.

"Oh, you're here. I was coming to find you since I know that Coach will be here soon with the food. I didn't want you to miss out or get in trouble." I was so surprised that I just explained what I was doing in a hurry.

"I...I uh, I was on m...my way b...back. I s..s..saw the delivery drivers show up s..s..so I, uh, I..I knew that I had to head b..b..back up here." His stutter was getting really bad right now. Did I surprise him at the door that much? Did just the sight of me make him nervous?

"Oh, well that's good. Why were you standing out here? Why didn't you knock? Or you could have used your key."

"I..I..I forgot my k..key." He blushed bright red as he explained. "I..I uhm, k..kind of left in a h..hurry and forgot to t..take it w..with me."

"Why are you nervous right now?" His head snapped up like I had just told him I could see an alien growing out of his neck or something.

"I..I..I kind of emb..embarrassed m..myself in front of the p..p..pizza guys." He looked over his shoulder as the men in question were coming closer.

"OK, well that sounds like it might be an interesting story. Why don't you get in here so they don't see you in here and we don't have to worry about any of you causing a big scene."

"I..I wouldn't cause a scene." He didn't stutter as much since he was angry when he spoke that time. It was weird what did and did not cause him to stutter.

"Fine, whatever, just get in here."

I stepped out of the way and allowed him to walk past me and into the room. God damn was it hard to just stand there and not say or do anything while he was so close to me. I don't know why I had it so bad for him, I just did.

Every time that I was with Ocean I could smell him so intensely. It was like I was smelling a mixture of pineapples and coconuts and I swear there was a slight undertone of a campfire on the beach. I had to wonder just how much time he spent at that spot of his on the beach if he always smelled like a campfire and the wind that rolled in off the waves.

I had to say though, I loved the way he smelled. It was so unique and amazing. And where did he find that soap or cologne or whatever it was that made him smell like that fruit. I would love to use it. My mom just bought me unscented soaps and I wasn't a big fan of most colognes. I didn't like how the scents made my nose feel. I liked Ocean's though, it really turned me on.

"I..I'm going in h..here." He stuttered again, his anger clearly gone as he ran into the bathroom the moment he was past me. That was good. I didn't need him to see that I was so into him. I could do with his scent being gone and him not being in my line of sight at the moment. I needed to relax my body.

'Come on Kai.' I coaxed myself as I tried to make the blood start to recede from a specific spot of my body and spread throughout my whole circulatory system. 'Just think of things that aren't all that appealing. Think of things that make you sick. Like a desert with no water, or a world with horrible food and small portions, or better yet just think of that trashy bitch Brittney. Her nasty face is bound to make any man go limp.' Once that final thought flashed through my mind I shuddered and felt my body instantly relax. It had definitely worked, even better than I had expected it to.

My body had relaxed and the fit of my pants was back to normal just in time. Right as I opened my eyes there was a knock on the door.

"Rivers? Shores? Your dinner is here." I heard the coach call out for us as soon as he was done knocking. His voice was instantly followed by one of the delivery men remarking on our names.

"Was that coincidental?" He was laughing as he spoke. Apparently he thought the whole thing was funny.

"Was what coincidental?" I opened the door just as the coach was asking that question and he looked just as confused as his voice made him sound.

"Their names are Shores and Rivers. I am going to guess that those are their last names but they go together. Did you do that on purpose or was it a coincidence?" The driver was smirking as he turned away from the coach and looked at me, perhaps he thought I would answer him instead of the coach.

"Oh, hey Rivers." Coach turned back toward me when he saw that I had opened the door for him. "I have your dinner. Is Shores in there?"

"Yeah, he's in the bathroom." I pointed to the door that was just inside the room. The light could be seen around the edge of the door and a shadow was moving on the other side. It was obvious there was someone in there.

"Good. I have extras for the two of you, to make up for the issue you two had to deal with."

I knew that Coach Dickson had felt like he needed to do something to make this up to us. In truth, I felt I was already being rewarded.Well I was being rewarded and punished at the same time but that was a different part of the same issue. I think that Ocean was the only one who felt like he needed to have a special treat to make up for the inconvenience.

"Here, this is what everyone got tonight." Coach Dickson handed me two large pizzas, two salads, and two large bottles of soda. "This was the standard that everyone had. It was ordered to be equal for you all. Now, for your extras." He handed me two small boxes that smelled strongly of garlic, two rounded plastic containers that smelled like bar-be-cue sauce, and two clear plastic wrapped and very large chocolate chip cookies. "I think this might be a nice start for the peace offering. Not to mention, if you both go into a carb overload and pass out from it I won't have to worry about you ending up in a fight in the middle of the night." He laughed at his own weak joke.

"Yeah, good thinking coach." I nodded but I didn't see how it made any sense at all. It didn't matter to me anyway, I could eat this much and way more easily. I didn't know about Ocean but I ate a lot.

"Tell Ocean that I said I was sorry again. I hope you guys know that this wasn't intentional. I didn't even know that this room was mixed up in there with all of the others, or that it was the last one in the line." Coach really did look like he was sorry, this was also causing him a lot of stress right now.

"Don't worry Coach, I will tell him. I understand that it was just a mixup, and I am sure that Ocean does too. We will work it out, one way or another."

"You're both good kids." Coach smiled then. "I knew I could count on you two."

After that Coach left and I took the food into the room. There really was a lot to carry, I had to sit some of it on the floor as it was being handed to me since I couldn't hold it all. I hoped that Ocean approves of his meal, there aren't really any other options for him after all.