Page 81 of Fragile Hearts

“Oh wow, the one on Lanai?” Alana asks. “Nice.”

“It was amazing,” Sloane replies, giving me a quick smile because it wasn’t just the hotel that was amazing, but the whole weekend. “Annnnnd, my mom showed up.”

“What?” Alana shouts, the smile immediately falling from her face. “When?”

Sloane shrugs, glancing at me once more before she says, “About a week ago. She showed up at work.”

“What the fuck did she want?” Alana asks, practically spitting the words out.

Sloane rolls her eyes at this, leaning forward, her elbows resting on the table. “At first, she said it was just because she wanted to see me, catch up, you know. Claimed she just wanted to spend time with me.”

“Bullshit,” Alana snorts as Sloane nods.

“Yeah, it was,” she says. “I saw her a bit later to tell her I don’t want her in my life anymore, and of course, she was high.” Sloane stops, rolling her eyes again before she continues. “Dropped off by some random, tried to pick a fight and blame it on me, you know, the usual.”

Alana’s eyes narrow as she glances at me before turning back to Sloane. “And how are you with all of this? It must have been...” She trails off, not finishing her sentence.

“I was pissed she showed up, but yeah, I told her I didn’t want to see her anymore, and she doesn’t get to do this to me,” Sloane replies.

Silence falls over the table as Alana stares at Sloane, her eyes wide now. Suddenly, she jumps up from her chair, coming around to the other side of the table to throw her arms around Sloane in another tight hug.

“Fuck, I’m so proud of you, Sloane,” she murmurs, tightening her arms.

“You are?” Sloane asks, an adorably confused expression on her face.

“Yes!” Alana shouts, letting her go as she moves back to her chair. “This is huge, you telling her to fuck off and not, you know...” She pauses, waving a hand at Sloane in explanation.

“Spiraling?” Sloane suggests.

“Yeah,” Alana replies, sinking back into Flynn’s embrace as she smiles at Sloane. “Seriously, this is awesome. And I think this,” she says, pausing to wave her hand at me now, “is a big part of it.”

Sloane smiles at that, a light blush coloring her cheeks as she turns to look up at me. “It is.”

I smile, dropping a quick kiss on her lips. “I didn’t do anything, babe,” I tell her.

Sloane rests her hand on my thigh, her smile widening as she says, “Yes, you did, Owen. You are here, you stayed. That’s everything.”

“It really is,” Alana echoes, her gaze moving to Flynn, who chuckles before cupping her cheek in his hand and pulling her in for a deep kiss.

“Couldn’t get rid of me if you tried,” he says to her when they eventually pull apart.

Alana’s smile widens, and Sloane and I glance at each other, Sloane laughing as she says, “You two are so sappy.”

“Pfft, please,” Alana scoffs, waving a hand at us. “Like you two are any different! Now tell me what else has been happening besides you telling your mom to fuck off. How is our little fluffball?”

We spend the next couple of hours catching up with Flynn and Alana over lunch. It’s great hearing all about their two surf competitions and just how excited they both are about all of the amazing opportunities they are now getting, not just with surfing but sponsorship and promo things too.

It’s super cool seeing them not only do well, but also so happy, especially after everything that went down with Jade.

Just as we’re finishing up, my phone starts to ring, and when I glance at the screen, I see the security company’s number flashing on my screen.

“Shit, sorry, just gotta take this,” I say, standing as I move away from the table, answering with a “Hello” when I answer.

“Owen Sinclair?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” I confirm.

“It’s David Marsh from Security Protect,” he says. “Can you confirm your date of birth and address, please?”