Page 33 of Broken Hearts (Hibiscus Hearts #1)

It’s only been a day since we read the letters from my dad on the beach, but Nate and I have fallen into a comfortable routine, calm washing over both of us at the realization that our lives will forever be entwined.

Even if we hadn’t fallen in love, we’d be running the shop together, forever linked.

I love the way it played out, almost like my dad set it up knowing Nate and I would fall for each other. Now I can carry on, keeping my dad’s hard work alive despite his passing, and having Nate onboard makes it even better.

He knows the ins and outs of the shop, and I told him I’d like to be a silent partner rather than all involved. I plan to still finish school and get a teaching job out here. It’s what I’ve worked for all this time and I’m not just giving up on it since I’m relocating to Hawaii.

I roll over in bed, the sun streaming through the windows, something I’ve grown used to, and I smile when I find the spot next to me empty.

He’s out surfing.

Something he’s done alone since my dad passed. Something he finds comfort in. Something that allows him to start his day doing something he loves.

I stretch my arms above my head. The guilt I once felt has slowly been easing up, and I don’t know if it’s because of my decision to stay or the letter or falling in love with Nate or keeping the shop, or maybe it’s all of those things.

I hear the outside shower start up, the old pipes making this funny rumbling noise before it fully heats up.

I scramble from the bed, wearing just a tank and a pair of panties, knowing Nate won’t open the shop for at least another hour or so.

I head out the door, peeking down the stairs and out into the openness of the yard, and when I find no one, I quickly tread down the stairs, beaming as I surprise Nate in the shower.

“Good morning,”

I whisper, coming up behind him, my arms sliding over his wet torso, feeling the hard ripple of his muscles under my fingers.

He whips around so we’re now face to face. “Holy shit, Sage,”

he yells, and I let out a giggle. “You scared the hell out of me.”

Again, I laugh, my smile widening.

“I thought I’d surprise you down here,”

I say, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. “You ever…”

I trail off, winking at him to see if he catches what I’m thinking.

“No. Never.”

His response is abrupt, his eyes wide. “It’s kinda not really all that…private.”

He pushes up on his toes, leaning forward to look out the open side of the shower.

It literally faces nothing but open land, dotted with palm trees and greenery, and with it being on the side of the shop, no one comes around the side anyway. Well, except me that first day I arrived. Good thing I only caught Nate shirtless and showering rather than more. I could even say it was what started my attraction to him in the first place.

“Might be a little hot,”

I whisper, my tongue slipping out to trace a path along his lips, and he lets out a hard gasp of air when I run my hand over the bulge in his boardshorts.

I pull back, waiting for his answer, and his eyes rake over my body. My tank is wet, my nipples hard and he stops for a second, focusing on them before leaning down and taking my nipple between his teeth.

His hands grip my ass, and he lifts me up, my legs wrapping around him. Backing me up against the worn, wooden shower wall, he fumbles with the tie on his boardshorts, and I giggle, reaching between us to help him.

“Tell me what you were thinking about while you were surfing,”

I say, my hand sliding into his shorts, my hand wrapping around him. I begin to move my hand slowly, squeezing with each pass over his cock.

“You,”

Nate groans out.

“Oh, you can do better than that.”

Nate shifts, his shorts moving down his hips slightly, his dick springing free, and he pulls my panties to the side.

“Being inside your sweet pussy,”

he grunts, thrusting inside me in one quick motion, and now it’s me gasping out loud.

I love the way he feels buried inside me, his thick cock stretching me. The fullness is like nothing I’ve felt before.

“I dream of your pussy, Sage. Of tasting you, of you coming on my cock, of you moaning my name as I thrust inside of you.”

Every word he rasps out sends me closer and closer, his hips moving faster, and mine move in time with his.

I’m chasing a feeling that I’ve only found with him, an explosive need to come, and come hard, and my head falls back, hitting the wooden wall with a thud.

Gripping my ass, Nate drives into me, over and over until both of us are moaning, desperate grunts fall from our lips, loud and needy.

“Harder,”

I call out, my words a plea of desire and desperation. “Harder, Nate. Fuck me harder.”

My hands tangle in his hair, pulling at the wet strands as he pounds into me, my back scraping against the old wood.

“Fuck, Sage,”

he moans, his movements rough, and with one final deep thrust, we both come undone, me calling his name into the air, lost among my labored breathing.

Nate’s head falls to my shoulder, his dick still inside me. He bites gently, his teeth grazing over my heated and sensitive skin.

“I think we need to put a door on here,”

he mutters, pulling himself from inside me and I slide down his body, my feet hitting the ground, and for a second, I worry I won’t be able to hold myself up.

He makes me weak, my legs still shaking from the orgasm, but I would go again in a heartbeat if he asked.

He adjusts his shorts, pulling them back up and tying the front. He smiles at me as I shift my panties back in place, my tank now rolled up on my stomach.

“Wanna meet me out here every morning?”

he asks, playfully, leaning in to kiss me quickly. “There’s no other way I want to start my morning.”

“You seem to really enjoy starting your morning with coffee when I first met you.”

I wink at him, and he reaches out, pulling me to him.

“The only thing better than coffee is you,”

he says, the most perfect smile on his face, his eyes sparkling in the light of the morning sun. “Maybe I’ll start my morning eating your pussy and coffee will lose out.”

“Is that so? I didn’t realize I had such a magical pussy,”

I tease, laughing at how things between us have changed since that day we first met.

“Sage, there’s nothing sweeter than your pussy. And while I love being out here with you, I’m not interested in sharing you with anyone, so let’s get inside.”

“Who would see us?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not willing to risk it,”

he says, and with that, he grabs me around the waist, hoisting me up, he tosses me over his shoulder.

Swatting at his ass to put me down, he doesn’t listen, just heading for the stairs to the apartment, our laughter filling the space around us.

An hour later, Nate is opening the shop, and I’m about to give my mom a call. Things have been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to talk to her since her text message.

My mom has always been a free spirit, so it doesn’t surprise me that she told me to stay. Sometimes it feels like she knows me better than I know myself. She would never hold me back from something, and me moving to Hawaii would be seen as an adventure to her, and not me leaving her behind.

“I was wondering when you were going to call,”

she says as soon as she picks up the call. “No response to my text, no phone call. If I were any other type of parent, I would have panicked that you were dead.”

I laugh at her joke. She’s right. Most parents would panic not hearing from their child after a message like hers, but she’s always been this way, calm and rational.

“I know. Things got a little crazy here after the memorial,”

I start, letting out a hard breath. “Dad left half the shop to me and half to Nate. And then I had to tell him I was staying, and Mom, oh my god, he told me he loves me.”

It’s a bit of a rambling mess, but she picks up on it all, letting out a laugh. “Of course he loves you, Sage. Any fool could see that. I noticed it the second I saw you two together. He’s perfect for you.”

“It really does feel that way. Almost like…”

“Almost like your dad knew too,”

she says, filling in my missing words when I trail off. “He did. He knew you would have a connection with Nate. It’s why he left you both as owners of the shop. It’s why you going there was so important.”

She says this all like she can see the future, and while I know neither her nor my father could, it certainly feels that way.

“There was always more out there for you than staying in New York. I knew the moment I took you on that first trip with me when you were a baby. You loved seeing the world, and you loved the sunshine and the beach when I would visit your dad with you. It’s where you were meant to be.”

Each word she says buries itself deep in my soul, and when I look around my dad’s apartment, it feels more like home than any place I’ve ever been.

“I’m going to withdraw from school and see if I can get in somewhere here,”

I tell my mom, and she lets out a tsk.

“Sage,”

she warns, and I know she’s rolling her eyes.

This is where we differ. She’d gladly see me working at the shop and forgetting about graduating from college. When I told her I didn’t want to take a gap year, she thought I was crazy.

“Mom,”

I chastise right back. “I want to finish school. I want to get a teaching job. The dropout rate in Hawaii is really high, and I want to be a part of changing that.”

“I think that sounds wonderful,”

she now says. “When do you think you’ll be back in New York to get your things? I want to make sure I’m here.”

I give her a couple of dates, and she notes them and asks me to make sure to let her know when I decide on a final one. We chat for a little longer, smiling through the entire conversation. While I’m going to miss seeing her on a regular basis, I know I made the right choice to stay.

After hanging up with my mom, I head downstairs to meet up with Nate. As I head in through the back door of the shop, I find Alana sitting at the little desk in the makeshift office in the storage room.

She’s bent over the desk, her eyes focused on the papers scattered around. Without Nate and Alana, I’m not sure what I would do. I probably would have had to sell the shop, not knowing the slightest thing about running it.

“What are you working on?”

I say, startling her, and she nearly jumps up out of the chair.

“Oh my god, Sage!”

she screams in the way only she can do without it feeling over the top. “You scared me.”

She shakes her head, and then hits me with a smile. “Just ordering some new wetsuits. We got this catalog in, and I was trying to see what’s new. We’re always looking to add new stuff, but it’s hard to know what will sell.”

She stops, and again shakes her head. “Never mind. You don’t really need to hear all about that.”

“Well, I kinda do,”

I say, and she tilts her head to the side, giving me a funny look. “Because turns out I own fifty percent of this shop now.”

“Fifty?”

“Nate owns the other half,”

I tell her, and before I can even fully get the last word out, she’s shoving past me and storming out onto the sales floor.

“Nathan!”

she yells, her tone harsh, and I laugh, following behind her.

“What?”

he quips, narrowing his eyes at her as she storms up on him, nearly running him down.

“We’ve been here together for the last hour and you didn’t say a damn word about being part-owner of The Pipe Dream.”

She punches him in the shoulder and crosses her arms over her chest, obviously annoyed with his secret.

“Guessing Sage didn’t tell you she’s staying either,”

he counters, and my mouth falls open. He just threw me under the bus to get out of trouble with Alana. That shithead.

“Oh my god, what?”

Alana squeals, running to me. She throws her arms around me in a massive hug, giggling as she does.

“Wait, why does Sage get a hug and I get punched?”

Nate questions, his hands on his hips. He hits Alana with a death stare.

“Because I like her. I just tolerate you,”

Alana quips back, absolutely beaming. “I think we need to celebrate. What do you say? I’ll get Daisy and Sloane, and we can do a little party.”

“Sounds great,” I say.

“And I guess you can come too, Nate, even though you didn’t bother to tell me you’re now my boss,”

Alana teases, walking over to him. She pulls him in for a hug, and he returns it. “Congratulations, you deserve it, Nate.”

She plants a kiss on his cheek, and I swear I see him blush.

This is my family now, and I love it.

“You know I’m coming back, right?”