Page 34 of Fragile Hearts (Hibiscus Hearts #3)

Sloane peers behind me in the direction I tipped my head. To where I hope the guys left what I got for her.

“What is...is that...” She pauses, looking up at me. “Is that for me?”

Grinning, I lean down and press a kiss to her lips. “It is for you.”

“Why?” she asks, blinking in surprise.

Cupping her face in my hands, I meet her eyes, smiling as I brush a thumb over her lips. “Because you deserve it, Sloane,” I say, my words a whisper. “And I want to give you everything you deserve. Everything you want.”

“Owen,” she murmurs, and I know she’s going to disagree with this.

“You wanna go try it out?” I ask, my lips against hers, not giving her a chance to respond. Sloane might not be used to people helping her or caring for her or loving her, but she’s sure as shit going to get used to it with me.

She smirks, narrowing her brow at me as she says, “Didn’t you say everyone was coming over tonight?”

Chuckling, I pull back, slinging my arm around her shoulders as I turn us both to the water, pointing at the group of people currently sitting out on their boards beyond the break, waiting for us. Everyone waves, Kai yelling something that doesn’t quite reach us.

Sloane laughs, her head falling to my shoulder. “You totally set this all up, huh?” she asks.

I pull her close, pressing my lips to her temple. “Well, I had some help, obviously,” I reply, gesturing to her custom Olsen board, featuring a design Nate created just for Sloane.

“Thank you, Owen,” she says, turning to me, her hand resting on my stomach. “You are amazing, and I am so lucky you were so patient and waited for me.”

“Would’ve waited forever, babe,” I say, kissing her. “Although for the record, really glad you didn’t make me wait that long.”

“Me too,” Sloane says with a laugh.

“So, what do you say we go try out your new board?”

“Hell yes!”

Sloane runs back to the house to change and drop Mochi off, and when she returns, we grab our boards and head out to join our friends. Everyone is here, and as we paddle out to meet them, I fucking love the huge smile on Sloane’s face.

“You look good, babe,” I say as we both lift our boards over a wave. “Board suits you.”

She grins, the two of us sitting up to straddle our boards when we reach the others. “I love it, Owen, seriously. Thank you.”

Reaching over, I grip the back of her neck, pulling her in for a kiss. “Love you.”

“Alright, you two,” Kai yells, splashing water at me. “Let’s keep things PG here.”

“Since when?” Flynn asks, a huge grin on his face as he looks at Alana.

I laugh, kissing Sloane once more as I say, “You ready to give it a go?”

She nods, a huge smile on her face as she turns to Nate and says, “Thank you, this design is...it’s awesome.”

Nate smiles as he nods at Sloane. “Thanks.”

She knocks her knuckles against the board, at the line of hibiscus flowers that span from one end to the other, gradually increasing in size in the middle before decreasing again.

The biggest one is in the center, and it’s a brilliant blue color, just like her eyes.

Sloane smiles at him as she says, “You’re really good at it, Nate. ”

He blushes now, dropping his gaze as he says, “Thanks, Sloane.”

“You ready to give it a go?” Kai now asks, a grin on his face.

Sloane nods, looking at him and then Miles. “Thanks for this, guys, and to your dad too.”

Kai laughs, waving her comment away as he tips his head in my direction. “Owen here is the one who organized it. He’s the one you should be thanking.”

“Oh, I will,” she says, giving me a secret smile.

“Okay, are we surfing or what?” Flynn calls, a smile on his face.

Kai laughs, turning his attention to Flynn. “Alright, Mister-Five-Time-World-Champion. Why don’t you show us what you’ve got?” Kai teases.

Flynn grins, flipping him off before saying, “How about the future world champion schools you boys in how to catch a wave? You know, like she’s always done?” He tips his head toward Alana just in case none of us were clear on who he was talking about.

Alana bursts out laughing as she throws her arms up and yells, “Boom!”

Kai scoops his hand through the water, splashing both Flynn and Alana, who are still laughing as I turn to Sloane and say, “Come on, babe, let’s go try this board out.”

She nods, and we both paddle in to where the swell is breaking, only having to wait a few moments for a wave to come in.

I let Sloane catch it first, watching as she paddles through the water, her eyes on the swell as she pops up on her brand-new board, her feet straddling the giant center hibiscus as she catches the wave and rides it in.

I follow behind her, never taking my eyes off her as she surfs the wave. Behind us, our friends start to catch their own waves, everyone hollering and cheering.

As we reach the shore, I hop off my board, throwing an arm around Sloane, who is laughing, her new board tucked under her arm, and her head falling to my shoulder as we both watch Flynn and Alana literally school everyone in how to surf.

“They really are good, aren’t they?” she says.

“Fuck yeah,” I say as they ride the wave in before walking over to join us, the four of us now watching as Nate and Sage catch a wave, followed by Kai and Matt, then Miles and Daisy.

It’s good to see Miles and Daisy together like this, both of them actually smiling, laughing even as they have fun surfing the same wave.

“Think those two will ever get back together?” I ask, watching them.

“I hope so,” Sloane says, as Alana adds, “She needs to get rid of that dickhead first.”

“They still on?” I ask, turning to Alana.

She nods, glancing over as she says, “Yeah, unfortunately. Won’t last, I’m sure. It never does.”

“What’s the story with all that?” Flynn asks as Miles and Daisy hit the shore.

“Long story, babe,” Alana starts. “I’ll fill you in later,” she adds, giving him a knowing look as she tips her head toward the ocean. “Another?”

Flynn grins, and he and Alana both paddle out, the rest of us following.

We all spend several hours surfing together, and it is honestly the best fun we’ve had in ages.

Everyone is laughing and having a ball, and every time I look over at Sloane, she is smiling so big and just looks so fucking happy. It makes my heart pound.

Eventually, we all call it done, grabbing our boards as we head over to our place to chill. Mochi loses his shit when he sees both Alana and Daisy following Sloane inside as I grab a bunch of beers for the guys, and we all sit out on the back deck.

“She doing okay?” Nate asks, knowing where Sloane went today and what she did.

“Yeah,” I reply with a nod. “Says she is. Says she did what she needed to do and is now moving on. Not giving her mom any more of her time.”

Nate nods, glancing inside to where Sloane is laughing with the girls, Daisy doing some kind of reenactment that has them all in hysterics.

We all turn to Miles, who is, of course, watching them, his eyes firmly locked on Daisy.

“Dude, seriously, you gonna step up or what?” Kai asks, kicking his brother’s leg.

Miles shoots him a death stare, glancing quickly at me before he turns back to the girls.

I can’t even begin to imagine how much this is killing Miles.

He and I have been best friends since school, and I basically watched him and Daze fall for each other.

Watched them get together and watched them become something way more than just a high school crush.

I watched them fall apart too, and all the shit that came after, and there are seriously times when I would love to just crack their heads together and tell them both to stop being so fucking stupid.

It’s so obvious they still love each other, and if it wasn’t for the third wheel that seems to float in and out of the picture, I actually think they might have gotten back together after Miles came back from the mainland.

“So when’s the next comp?” I ask Flynn, changing the subject and sparing Miles the interrogation from his brother.

Miles gives me a grateful smile as Flynn says, “Brazil next, which will be awesome, and then back here for a bit before we head to Australia.”

“Ohhhh, gonna introduce your girl to the family?” Kai teases.

Flynn laughs. “Sure am. I mean she’s already met them all on FaceTime, but yeah, we’re gonna spend some time hanging out with them.”

“Man, everyone’s getting all loved up,” Kai says, shaking his head. “First Nate, then you and Alana, and now Owen. Fuck if that’s ever gonna happen to me.”

“No shit,” Miles says. “Not sure anyone could stand you longer than the ten minutes it takes you to convince them to come home with you and actually have sex.”

Kai lets out a loud laugh, his head falling back. “Bro, please, you know I last way longer than ten minutes, and every girl leaves satisfied.”

“I know. I hear every attempt you make at it,” Miles adds with a grin. “And there are enough of them.”

His brother smirks, shaking his head as he says, “Don’t blame me for your self-imposed dry spell, little brother. All you gotta do is man up and win her back,” he adds, jerking a thumb at the window.

“Alright, leave the guy alone,” I say, cuffing the back of Kai’s head as I stand and grab us all another round of beers. “What do you guys wanna eat? I’m starving.”

“That was so much fun,” Sloane says, crawling into bed.

I pull her into my arms, wrapping them around her as she rests her head on my shoulder. “It was,” I confirm, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s good to see you smiling too. You looked like you were having a good time.”

Sloane lifts her head, giving me one of her smiles as she says, “I did. I’m happy, Owen, really happy. I just feel so...I don’t know, free.”

I grip the back of her neck, pulling her close so I can kiss her. “Good,” I whisper against her lips. “Also, I have something else for you.”

“Owen!” she says, pulling back, her brow narrowed.

Laughing, I reach over and open the top drawer of the nightstand, pulling out an envelope. I’d gotten this today, which is good because it meant it hadn’t been here when Sloane’s mom broke into our house.

“What?” I tease.

She huffs as she says, “You gotta stop getting me things.”

“Why?”

Sloane rolls her eyes now as she says, “Because you just do!”

I laugh, shaking my head as I say, “Sounds like a lame reason, babe. Anyway, this is technically yours. I’m just giving it back.” I hand her the envelope, smiling at the confused look on her face.

Sloane sits up, pulling the sheet up to her chest as she opens the flap and looks inside. “Um, what is this?” she asks, holding it out to me as though I might not realize what I’ve just given her.

“Looks like money,” I say, tucking an arm behind my head as I watch her adorable confusion.

“Why are you giving me money?”

“Because you’re not paying me rent, babe, and I’m giving back all the rent you’ve already paid me.”

“Why?”

Laughing, I pull her back into my arms, taking the envelope and dropping it on the nightstand before I grab her hips and pull her on top of me. “Because you are my girlfriend and this is your home, our home, and I don’t want you paying rent to stay here.”

“Owen, I can’t just live here for free.”

“Yeah, you can,” I say, smoothing my hands over her ass.

“I can’t.”

Grinning up at her, I run a finger up the crease of her ass, loving the way her eyes darken. “Yeah, babe, you can. You aren’t paying to live in your own home.”

“But—”

“But nothing,” I tell her. “This is our home, yours and mine.”

Sloane blinks at me, that adorable confusion morphing into something that looks like amazement. “But what about Eli? Surely, he’s gonna come back soon?”

I shake my head. “Eli’s staying on Oahu for a while, so it’s just you, me and the fluffball,” I tell her, moving my hands lower so they are splayed half on her ass and half on the top of her thighs.

“Oh,” she says, blinking as my words sink in.

“Yeah, oh,” I repeat, grinning up at her. “Now, enough about that,” I add. “How about you get up here and sit on my face? I wanna end the night with the best fun of all.”