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“Can’t concentrate with that kid interrupting,” he groused. Kai was pretty sure what he meant was he couldn’t concentrate on her ass with the kid nearby. He was willing to guess that the idea of her as a mom didn’t factor into whatever perverted fantasy the jerk liked to concoct during class.
Kai shushed him, annoyed.
The man frowned in return but fell silent.
“We’ll now move on to Ball in the Mountain. Move those arms,” Jun said. “Feel it building your Chi. This is a great exercise for making a stronger mind.”
Po mimicked the same move, stretching his hands in a circular motion forward, but he overexaggerated it and toppled over, like a puppy with oversize paws. Po, fine, bounced back up grinning, ready to start again.
“Honestly, if you can’t control your kid...” the grumpy man said, very loudly this time as he shook his head in disapproval. He seemed to miss the fact that no one else in the class appeared to agree with him. A few shot him dirty looks. “I can’t focus on these moves with him bouncing around like an idiot. Someone needs to teach that kid to be still!”
Kai wanted to teach the man how to be still and quiet. Jun heard his remarks, and her face turned beet red. She sent a worried glance at Po, but honestly, the boy wasn’t doing any harm. The man was overreacting.
Jun transitioned the class into another pose, and this time Po decided to do his own headstand and rolled over in the sand.
Next to Kai, the irritated man bellowed, “If nobody is going to tell that kid to sit down, I’ll do it.”
Jun’s head popped up in alarm. She was already on the move to intercept the angry man from getting to Po, but Kai was there first. He put a hand on the man’s chest.
“Hey, the kid’s not hurting anybody,” Kai said, stopping the man’s progress cold. Jun, who’d hurried to Po’s side, stood still, a protective arm around her son.
“He’s a distraction,” the man growled, dark eyes flashing.
“You’re a distraction,” Kai corrected. “Why don’t you quiet down?”
Murmurs and agreeing nods swept the class.
They were the focus of attention now, and Kai could feel everyone’s gaze on them, even as some tried to continue the motions. Jun just stared, speechless.
The man, clearly not used to being called on his grumbling, glared at Kai. “I’m not going to be quiet. I’m going to get the goddamn class I paid for, a class without kids.”
A few gasps went up from the class at the language.
Jun rushed, too late, to cover Po’s little ears.
“Either quiet down or leave.” Kai wasn’t going to back down. He wasn’t the kind of man who went looking for a fight, but he’d been pushed into plenty of corners by surfers defending turf on various beaches all over the world. Bullies were the same, no matter their age or nationality: you either stood up to them, or you let them walk over you. And Kai had never backed down from a bully, not once in his life.
“I’m not going to have my afternoon ruined by some stupid fuckin’ kid!” he roared, pointing at the little boy, whose bottom lip quivered as his eyes filled with tears threatening to spill.
“Hey!” Jun’s voice was like steel, her eyes glinting fiercely. “You do not talk about my son that way.” Despite her small frame, she’d stalked right up to the angry man, fearless. She was an angry mama bear, protecting her cub. “And watch your language!”
Instantly, the man seemed cowed. There was something in her voice that said she wasn’t messing around. Kai admired her in that moment. What a little firecracker. Here he’d thought she’d needed rescuing, but he had a sneaking suspicion she could’ve handled this man all on her own.
“You have two choices, Mr. Hiram. You can stay in this class and behave. Or you can leave.”
“I—I...” Mr. Hiram sputtered, temporarily taken aback by Jun. “But that stupid kid!”
“You’ve made your choice. Time for you to go,” Jun said, and Kai tightened his grip on the man.
“You can’t kick me out. I paid for this class!” the man sputtered.
Kai dug his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. He tucked the money in the man’s shirt pocket.
