Before I Ever Met You

“Rambo?” Logan asks. He stops suddenly which causes me to nearly run into his back, then he turns around. With a sly smirk on his lips, he reaches out for my face. I stay absolutely still, my breath in my throat, as he runs his cold, sticky thumbs under my eyes. “Now you’re Rambo,” he says rather proudly before turning back around.

I don’t need a mirror to know that he’s just rubbed red mud under my eyes like some tribal war paint. My skin tingles from his touch.

Fuck. That was an oddly intimate moment. I’m not even sure how to process that except give off a soft, albeit awkward laugh.

“Maybe I’ll clean off at the beach, I packed a bathing suit,” I say.

“No,” Logan, Daniel, and Nikki say in emphatic unison. It’s like I’ve just suggested we ride mountain goats on the way back home, clicking coconuts together with our hands.

“The number of people who have died at that beach is…well, you’ll see. There’s a marker,” Logan says.

“Even the stream crossing can be dangerous,” Daniel says from in front of us.

“We have to cross a stream?” I ask, feeling the panic swirl through me. “I nearly died back there on a bunch of wet rocks.”

“I’ll carry you across,” Logan says.

“You fucking better.”

He eyes me over his shoulder, frowning as always, though his eyes are twinkling.

The rest of the trail is a combination of the steep cliffs and stupendous views which I take a picture of every second, and those muddy, slippery switchbacks. It feels like we’ve been hiking forever and it’s not getting any easier. I’m about to complain and ask how much longer we have to go when I see a family with two young children march past us, the kids in goddamn flip-flops!

“Oh my god,” I say, breathless as we round yet another steep bend. “Flip-flops? Here? On the muddy death trail? Let me guess, they’re locals?”

Logan shakes his head. “Locals would rather do this barefoot. Easiest to trust your own toes. Those are tourists and they’re lucky they’ve gotten this far without incident. One wrong step, one slip at some parts, well, you’ve seen it. You’re dead.”

Sweet. I feel so lucky we get to do this whole thing over again on the way back.

“Almost there,” Nikki shouts from up front.

We round yet another bend and finally there’s a glimpse of a rocky beach way down below. In the valley below the mountains, clouds descending over the sharp peaks further inland.

“Are those clouds coming our way?” I ask Logan. Where we are, the sun is strong and hot as hell, turning the ocean a deep azure and making the red dirt glow.

He nods grimly. “They’re moving slowly right now but the weather is unpredictable. I’m afraid we’ll just have to look at the beach, have some water and turn back. Believe me, it’s not a fun hike in the rain.”

“It’s not a fun hike in the sun either,” I tell him.

“Here,” he gestures to a wooden sign that reads:

Hanakapiai Beach Warning!

Do not go near the water

Unseen currents have killed:

And then beneath it there are a bunch of notches marking how many deaths there have been. I’m quick to count at least eighty.

Eighty!

“Holy shit, eighty people have died here!?” I exclaim, looking at Logan.

He shrugs with a sigh and wipes the sweat off his brow. “Not sure how accurate the count is, but it’s a lot.”

“So tell me, why are we going to this beach?”

He gives me a half-smile. “Because it’s fun, Freckles.”

“Fun?”

He turns and starts walking as the trail starts leading downward. “Admit it, you’re having a fucking blast.”

I roll my eyes and hurry after him. The ridge we’re walking on is exposed to the sun, so at least there’s no mud. “Yeah, walking for nearly two hours, covered in mud and sweat, with dangerous cliffs, rocks, and now killer beaches, is a lot of fun.”

“At least you’ve been able to stare at my ass this whole time.”

And just like that my eyes trail downward. Because, yes, I have been staring at his ass when I haven’t been looking over the edge to my imminent doom.

“You wish,” I tell him. “You’re just mad that I had a good idea during the staff meeting.”

He stiffens a bit at that. “You keep having your good ideas and I’ll keep shooting them down.”

“You didn’t shoot the first one down about the seating by the window. And it’s worked.”

“I was just being polite with that one.”

“Yeah right. You being polite for the sake of being polite. Now I’ve heard everything.”

“Are you guys done bickering?” Nikki’s voice comes from down around the bend.

“Have you ever known me to stop bickering?” Logan yells back as we catch up to her and Daniel. “You guys call me the habut for a reason, I have to keep my reputation.” He glances behind at me. “By the way, you can still ride me if you like.”

My skin grows hot and it takes me a moment to realize what he’s talking about. Further down the path, where it finally levels out, is the stream.

It’s pretty wide but it doesn’t look too deep. There are a bunch of people already crossing it, including the family we saw earlier with the kids in flip-flops. They at least have the sense to take off their shoes as they hop across the rocks, while the mother wades into the water, about thigh high. I think that’s going to be my option. If I took either of the rocks, I’d slip and end up in the water anyway, and probably damage my phone.

“This is it,” Logan says.

“I’ll wade across,” I tell him.

He looks across to the woman who has reached the middle of the stream and nods. “If the stream was any higher I’d say no. You’d be surprised at the current. Especially with this wind picking up. Things change fast.”

I look at the water. It doesn’t look anything but inviting and I can see the current with my own eyes—it’s moving steadily but fairly slow, snaking past us until it meets a bunch of rocks at the end and drops down into a few more pools until it finally reaches the beach and spreads out for the ocean and pounding surf.

“I’ll take my chances,” I tell him, determined.

Nikki and Daniel hop across the rocks with ease, balancing only in the middle for a beat or two before arriving on the other side.

Logan is waiting for me.

“Go ahead,” I tell him as I undo my sneakers, taking them off along with my socks.

He grabs the sneakers and socks from me. “I’ll hang onto these.” Then he nods at the water. “I’ll be right behind you.”

I nearly roll my eyes. Nothing is going to happen. Even if I did slip on a rock under the water, I wouldn’t fall down. And even if I fell down, I wouldn’t be swept away in two feet of water.

Yet there’s some sort of reverence in Logan’s expression, so I take my time. And the rocks are slippery and hard against the soles of my feet.

But Logan is right behind me the whole way and I can feel him, tense and poised, as he follows me through the water, like he’s prepared to catch me at any moment. I hate to admit it but I kind of like the feeling, like I’m being watched over. Like someone cares.