Chapter 72 - Both - Birthday Party

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Makai

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I was dressed and ready for Ocean's party. I was wearing nothing but the red swim shorts, medic bag, and a whistle. I didn't have a problem wearing this to the party; it was more than we wore to a swim meet anyway. Not to mention, this would make it so that I could look at Ocean's naked chest all night long.

I was also arriving at the party early. I wanted to be the first one there. When I knocked on the door, a woman that I had never seen answered the door. She was pretty with hazel eyes, golden brown hair, and a natural tan. I wondered for a moment who she was before she started talking, then she made it clear.

"Oh, I've never met you before, and I know almost everyone that Ocean does. Are you here for my little brother's party?" So she was one of his older sisters.

"That's right. My name is Makai, I just moved here a little over a month ago."

"Oh, so you're Makai. I've heard about you. Come in, come in. I'm sure my brother will be happy to see you."

She was grinning at me like she was wanting to tease Ocean with me. Did he tell his family about us? Based on the way that his sister was acting, I thought maybe he had.

"Oh, Kai, it's so nice to see you." His mom came into the hallway then, her purse on her arm and her keys in hand.

"So, you met Makai then, Mom?"

"Yup sure did, Julie; he was the one we met at the hospital. He's the one that saved Ocean from the water when he was sick." Mrs. Shores was grinning now. What was going on with this family? "Ocean! You've got company." She yelled up the stairs, but I noticed she didn't tell him who was here.

"Yeah, I remember you telling me someone saved him, but not who it was. Funny you can tell me about my brother almost dying, but not that bimbo dumping him. That I had to find out today."

OK, maybe he hadn't told them. Did she ask Ocean if Brittney was coming today, and he told her about me, or did he just say that they weren't together. I was so lost right now.

"Hi Kai, nice to see you again. I'm sure Ocean will be down soon." Ocean's Dad came in then, and I was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr and Mrs Shores, and it's nice to meet you as well Julie."

"Did I tell you my name? Or has Ocean been talking about me?" She was looking at me with intense eyes, I could see that she took after their mom.

"I heard Mrs. Shores call you that a few moments ago." I was uncomfortable now.

"Oh, right." She laughed. "I forgot about that."

Finally, I heard Ocean's footsteps as he came down the stairs. This awkwardness might finally be ending. Only there was an issue when Ocean got about halfway down the stairs. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me.

"M..M..M..Makai?" He hadn't been expecting me to be here first. That's a shame, I would have to let him know again how much I cared for him.

"Hey." I smiled and waved. "Happy birthday."

"Oooo." Julie called out softly and giggled.

"Shut up. Leave them alone." Mrs Shores pushed her out of the house. "Bye boys, have fun. We will be home tomorrow."

"Have fun! The pizzas are already here, and the food is in the kitchen; goodnight." Mr Shores followed his wife and daughter and shut the door behind him. I could hear Julie laughing outside, and Mrs Shores scolding her, but I ignored it. I only had eyes, or attention, for one thing, and that was Ocean.

"Soo, that was fun." He grinned at me, but didn't say anything. "Did you tell your parents about us?"

"N..n..n..n..no." He finally managed to get the word out after a long time. "I..I..I..I don't kn..kn.kn.know how they w..w..w..would take i..i..it." He was nervous, that wouldn't do. He was about to have a party, and that meant there would be a lot of people here.

"Well, I think they know. Or at least suspect something."

I was walking toward him while I talked, moving up the stairs. I saw his eyes go wide, something was off about him tonight. What was it? Was he feeling something different today? Was he feeling that pull like I have been, lately? I know that right now, in this moment, I was feeling it stronger than I ever had before. Instead of a constant dull ache whenever I saw him it was like a throbbing in my heart. It was like I needed him more now than I ever did before.

"Are you alright?" I asked him in a soft, gentle voice.

"Y..y..yeah, I..I..I'm fine." I leaned in close to him, my chest pressing against his as I sought his lips. I could feel the rapid pounding of his heart as well, the throbbing in his chest felt even more intense than usual.

"Ocean." I grinned, my lips ghosting over his. "I missed you."

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Ocean

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Makai pressed his lips to mine then, his tongue delving in between my slightly parted lips as he seemed to be conquering me. I didn't know what was happening. The moment I saw Makai I felt like there was something pulling me toward him. It was all I could do to just stand there and look at him when all I wanted to do was jump at him.

My family had been here, though, so I knew that I had to keep myself under control. Was it just because I had barely seen him all week except at school? Or was it because my dad had reminded me that Makai was most likely home alone all week and probably felt very lonely?

I don't know what was causing it, but it felt like something was amping up the way that I felt for him. Oh, and this kiss, God dammit, it felt at least five times more intense. Had they always been like this? I don't know if they had been or not, but it was amazing.

I found my hands wrapping around his elbows and pulling him toward me so that I was holding him against me. I didn't want him to stop, I didn't want his mouth to leave mine, but after a short few minutes, he pulled away.

"I would say that was worth the week long wait." He grinned at me with desire-filled eyes. I was just marvelling at the fact that I was still standing right now when the doorbell rang. "I think you should get that. As long as you're able to." He winked at me.

I know what he meant. He was basically asking me if I had another problem. I had started to, that was for sure, but the bell took the wind out of my sails.

"Y..y..yeah, I probably should." I shook my head and cleared the fog of lust from it. "W..will you stay after the party ends? I..I..I want to t..t..talk to you."

"Of course I will, I want to be the last one to see my boyfriend on his birthday." He winked at me. "Now, go answer the door." He kissed my nose gently.

I ran down the stairs with a grin on my face. I was in a really good mood all of a sudden. Before this, I had actually been sort of dreading the party. Now though, I was really glad it was finally here. The guys had been right, this costume theme was great, and Makai looked amazing.

When I pulled the door open Ryan and Ben were standing there with Cassie, Katie, Whitney, and Alexis. Well, at least we were equal, four guys and four girls. It would look like we did this on purpose. The others probably did, but I just wasn't in on it.

"Hey, come on in. You're a little early. Makai just got here so I was about to start the music." They all came in and said hi to me and Makai.

"Hey Ocean, how come you're the only one that calls him by his full first name and not his nickname?" Katie looked at me curiously.

"I..I don't know." I shrugged. "Probably because he has never referred to himself as Kai to me. He introduced himself as Makai that first day of school, and that was it."

"So, you've only heard other people call him Kai?" Ben looked confused, one eyebrow raised as he looked at me.

"Yeah, I haven't really heard him say Kai either. Just you guys."

"Huh, that's weird he told us all to call him that, he said that's what his friends call him." Cassie laughed. "I guess you're not really his friend." I glared at her and almost snapped back at her.

"He can call me whatever he wants; I don't care one way or the other." Makai shrugged. "Both of them are my name, and I will answer to both."

"Whatever you prefer, Kai. It's your life." Ryan smiled. "Now let's get some music on, and then get some group pictures."

I did as I said I was going to do in the first place and put some music on for the party. It was starting to get dark already, so everyone was going to be here soon. I think altogether we were expecting sixty to seventy people this year. I didn't invite the whole school, but I did invite the whole swim team.

Just before everyone else got to the party, we all posed for pictures. We took turns pretending to be the victim so that someone had to pretend to be saving us; Makai was the one who was saving me. We also had pictures with all the guy's,then all the girls, half and half. We couldn't get the whole group until someone else got there. 

Thankfully Sarah showed up next and was more than happy to take the group shots as long as we sent her one. In each of the group photos, Makai and I were close to each other; still, I don't think anyone noticed anything. We weren't paying that much attention to each other, and they couldn't tell just because we were standing close to each other, right?

Anyway, it was now time for the party to officially start. And true to any usual birthday party, people were bringing gifts for me. Those were being put in the office downstairs, which was not a place they were allowed to go in otherwise.