Page 34 of Broken Hearts (Hibiscus Hearts #1)

I blow out a breath, tightening my arms around Sage as we stand together just before the airport security gates. “Yeah, I know,” I say.

She pulls back, smiling at me as she takes my face in her hands. “I’m coming back,”

she whispers, before she leans in to kiss me.

“I know,”

I tell her, believing her even though I hate the idea of her leaving.

What if she gets back to New York and is reminded of the life she has there? Her friends, her mom, school, all of it. I have no idea about any of it and I’m scared that when Sage gets back there, she’ll realize she doesn’t want to spend her life in a small town on Maui with a guy who barely made it through high school.

She smiles now, fumbling with her dad’s bracelet, the one she has never taken off until right now, before she clasps it around my wrist. “I want you to hang on to this for me,”

she says, lifting my hand to her lips. “You can give it back to me when I get back in a week, okay?”

I pull her in for another kiss because even though I know Sage is leaving all of the clothes she came over here with behind in her apartment, this bracelet is her most prized and important possession. When she saw it in the photo of her dad, I knew she was both surprised and overwhelmed by the memento Mitch wore that was obviously dedicated to her. When Tanner then gave it to her, I watched the pride and love in her eyes as her mom helped her put it on.

I know she’ll be back for this.

“I’m gonna miss you,”

I say, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“Me too,”

she whispers, her lips against mine. “Why don’t you use the week apart to put a door on the outdoor shower?”

she now teases.

I chuckle because despite my protests that first morning she found me in the shower and all the things we then did in there, we have done them many more times since. It’s risky, and yeah, it’s hot, but I am serious about not sharing her with anyone.

“Maybe I will,”

I say, kissing her again.

Sage traces her tongue along my bottom lip, pulling a groan from my chest before she pulls back. “I have to go,”

she says. “I love you, and I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you too,”

I tell her. “So fucking much.”

Sage smiles, leaning in to give me one last kiss before she turns and walks through security, and I watch until she disappears.

When I get back to the shop, everything feels weird. Sage probably hasn’t even left the island yet, but already I can feel her absence. It feels different to every other loss too, even though I know she’s coming back.

“All good,”

Alana says as I head toward the office.

“Yeah.”

She laughs. “So you gonna be grumpy for the whole week?”

“What?”

Alana follows me in, a cold brew in her hand as she smiles at me. “With Sage gone, you gonna be grumpy for the whole week?”

“I’m not grumpy,”

I reply, which only makes Alana laugh harder.

“Oh my god, Nate,”

she says, rolling her eyes. “Here, I got you this,”

she now says, thrusting the drink at me. “Hopefully it takes some of the grump away.”

“Thanks,”

I say, taking the coffee as I give her a small smile.

“Why didn’t you just go with her?”

Alana now asks.

I shrug, knowing Sage did ask if I wanted to go with her. “Had to look after the shop.”

Alana snorts. “Come on, I know you’re like an owner now, but we could’ve managed a week without you,” she says.

I take a sip of the cold coffee, nodding. “I know.”

“So why didn’t you go?”

she asks again, poking my arm.

I blow out a breath, putting my drink on the desk as I lean back against it. “I don’t know,”

I eventually say. “I thought about it.”

“And?”

Alana prompts, rolling a hand at me, just like she used to do when we were kids and she was trying to drag something out of me. It makes me smile now, even though it used to annoy the shit out of me back then.

“You know, you’re kinda a pain in the ass at times,” I tease.

Alana rolls her eyes again as she says, “Um hello pot, have you met kettle?”

I laugh, straightening as I walk over and throw my arm around Alana’s shoulders, pulling her in for a side hug. “Whatever,”

I say, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. I might have been pissed at how pushy Alana was back then, insisting she and I be friends even though I did everything I could to push her away, but I am glad she kept trying. “I’m kinda glad you’re a pain in my ass, you know,”

I tell her.

Alana looks up at me, a confused expression on her face. “What are you talking about?”

Chuckling, I squeeze her shoulder as I say, “I’m glad you kept trying with me. That you kept pushing the friend thing.”

She smirks now, elbowing my side as she says, “Are you saying you’re glad we became friends?”

“I am,”

I say with a nod.

“And that I was right and you were wrong,” she adds.

“I wouldn’t go that far,”

I say with a laugh. “But yeah, I am glad you never gave up on me, Alana. It meant a lot…still means a lot.”

She’s looking up at me with a small smile on her face, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “I think being in love has turned you into a softie, Nathan Peterson.”

I huff out a laugh. “Maybe,”

I tell her. “But to answer your question, I didn’t go with Sage because I wanted to give her a chance to say goodbye to her life there. Without me hanging around.”

“Without you hanging around?”

Alana repeats. “What, you think she wouldn’t want to show you New York, introduce you to her friends?”

“I mean, yeah, but I don’t know,”

I say, even though I do know.

Alana turns to face me now, her brow narrowed. “You’re not worried about her changing her mind, are you? Because she loves you, she’s?—”

“I’m not worried,”

I say, even though a tiny part of me is.

“So what, why didn’t you go?”

I blow out a breath, shoving a hand through my hair as I try to find the words to explain it. “Because I wanted to be okay with watching her leave, with being without her even though I know she’s coming back. I don’t know, it’s stupid, but?—”

“It’s not stupid,”

Alana says, cutting me off. “And I get it,”

she adds, even though I’m not sure she fully does.

I raise a brow at her as I say, “You get it, huh?”

Alana smiles, putting her hand against my chest as she says, “Yeah, Nate, I do. You’re used to people leaving and never coming back. And no matter how much Sage loves you, deep down there’s a part of you that worries she’s going to be one of them. You’re protecting yourself but also trying to believe she’s coming back. Which she is, by the way.”

I smile now, slinging my arm back around her shoulder as I say, “When did you get so smart?”

Alana wraps her arm around my waist. “I’ve always been smart, Nate, you’re just too stubborn to notice.”

The week passes quicker than I expect it to. Sage and I try to talk every day, but the huge time difference between Maui and New York makes it difficult. Every day she texts me updates, though, letting me know what she’s been up to, how she’s withdrawn from school, or packed up her apartment, or shipped a bunch of her stuff.

I spend my time doing stuff in the shop, including looking into some new products, like the T-shirts I was sketching designs for. With Mitch leaving half the store to me and Sage happy to just be a silent partner, she’s pretty much told me to just go for it, do whatever I want because she trusts me.

I still don’t think she understands how much those words mean to me.

When the day she flies back finally arrives, I’m at the airport, waiting in arrivals a full thirty minutes early, my eyes on the board, waiting for her plane to land.

When everyone starts coming through the doors, I’m scanning the crowd, looking everywhere for her, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Nate!”

I turn at the sound of my name, just in time for Sage to jump into my arms, hers looping around my neck as she crushes her lips against mine. “Fuck,”

I murmur, stumbling a little as my hands move to her ass, holding her to me as I deepen the kiss, not giving a shit that we are standing in the airport surrounded by tourists.

“Hi,”

she says when she eventually pulls back.

“Hi,”

I reply, brushing my lips against hers.

“Told you I’d come back,”

she says, her eyes sparkling.

I smile, brushing my thumb along her mouth. “I know, I believed you,”

I tell her.

“Good,”

she says, kissing me again. “Can we go home now?”

Home.

Fuck, that sounds good.

On the drive back to the shop, Sage fills me in on her plans for enrolling in school here and for what she wants to do with the apartment.

“I want to stay there,”

she says, smiling from the passenger seat, the window down and her hair loose and blowing in the ocean breeze.

“I get it,”

I say with a nod, smiling at her, loving the idea of her being so close to me even though she won’t be working in the shop with me every day like she has been doing.

Sage laughs. “And I want you to stay there with me,”

she now says.

“What?”

I ask, my gaze flicking to her again before turning back to the road.

She reaches over, taking my hand in hers as she says, “I want you to move in with me, Nate. If you want to, of course, I know it’s quick and maybe you?—”

I don’t give her a chance to finish her sentence, yanking the car over to the side of the road before hauling her against me for a deep kiss. I know we’ve been spending every night together anyway, but this, moving in together feels so much bigger.

Real.

Permanent.

“Yeah, I want to move in,”

I murmur against her mouth.

She smiles against my lips. “You do?”

Now it’s me smiling. “Yes, absolutely. You are home to me, Sage. My home.”

She smiles, kissing me again before she whispers, “So let’s go home.”

When we get to the shop, I park out front before grabbing her bags from the back, smiling as we walk around to the stairs that lead up to what I guess is now our apartment. As we walk past the shower, I smile when I see Sage notice the door I managed to hang the other day.

“You did it?”

she asks, stopping and turning to me.

“I did,”

I reply with a nod.

Her smile widens as she tips her head toward the shower. “Wanna try it out?” she asks.

I laugh because fuck yes, I want to try it out, but considering what’s waiting for Sage in the backyard, now is definitely not the time to do that. “I do, yeah, but let’s get this stuff upstairs first,”

I say, lifting my hands to indicate the bags.

Sage pouts, and it’s fucking adorable. “Fine,”

she huffs, leaning in to kiss me. “But I’m holding you to that.”

I laugh, and as she turns to walk into the yard, I call, “Sage?”

“Yeah?”

I step toward her, closing the distance. “Tanner and I were thinking, wondering if maybe you’d like to give Alana the board Mitch commissioned for her?”

“Me?”

she asks, eyes wide. “Why me?”

Smiling, I put her bags down before taking her beautiful face in my hands. “Because you’re Mitch’s daughter, and I know that’s what he would’ve wanted,” I say.

She smiles, her eyes flicking to my mouth as she says, “Okay, but only if you and Tanner are with me. You guys are a part of it too.”

“I think we can make that happen,”

I say, kissing her softly.

“Ugh, come on, let’s get these bags upstairs,”

she grumbles against my lips. “We have some catching up to do.”

Chuckling, I pull back, grabbing her bags as I follow behind her, knowing that as much as I’d love to have Sage all to myself right now, that’s not going to happen.

And when Sage walks around the back of the shop to find everyone waiting for her, a huge Welcome Home!

sign strung up and food and drinks ready, I watch as she lets out a surprised yelp before covering her mouth with her hands.

Dropping her bags again, I walk up and wrap my arms around her from behind, my mouth at her ear as I whisper, “We’ll get to the shower, I promise.”

Sage turns to me, her eyes shining with tears and a huge smile on her face. “Welcome home, babe,”

I say, kissing her.