Page 15

Fuck me. I don’t think I’ve ever been this turned on. Or this willing to say fuck it and just do whatever the hell I want, consequences be damned.

I don’t give a shit about Maui Pipe.

Don’t give a shit about Jade either.

I don’t even care that my hosts, Nate and Sage, are just inside and can probably see the sexual tension Alana and I are radiating from here.

It’s like the second she’s near me, I lose all control, every rational thought flying out the window, leaving me reckless and fucked.

Well and truly fucked.

I just can’t let this girl go, and I really don’t want to, either.

But I do care about Alana, and I especially care about her surfing Maui Pipe.

“I’m fucking trying,” I eventually get out, exhaling as I sit back in my chair, knowing it’s impossible not to look at her.

She raises a brow as she picks up one of her tacos. I watch as she bites into it, the sexy moan that falls from her mouth nearly undoing me.

“Fuck, Alana, not exactly helping,” I growl, just as Nate and Sage walk outside, potentially saving me from just fucking her right here on this balcony.

“No need to wait for the rest of us,” Nate says, nudging Alana on his way to a chair.

She rolls her eyes at him, and I laugh, taking the beer Sage now hands me. “Thanks for this. Looks great,” I say as they sit down at the table with us. This is a pretty sweet balcony, and they have an awesome view of the beach.

“So, Flynn, how are you liking Hawaii?” Sage asks, as she bites into her taco, shooting a quick look in Alana’s direction.

Chuckling, I reply, “I love it. It’s not my first time here, but yeah, always love coming back.”

Sage’s brows lift. “Oh, you’ve been coaching for a while?”

Now it’s Alana laughing as I say, “A couple of years, but I used to surf before that.”

“Used to surf,” Alana says with a snort. “He’s a five-time world champion.”

“Seriously?” Sage asks, at the same time as Nate smacks a hand against his forehead and says, “Holy shit, I thought I recognized the name!”

“See!” Alana shouts, pointing at me, a smirk on her face. “I’m not the only one who didn’t recognize you.”

“Fuck, sorry man, I can’t believe I didn’t put it together,” Nate says, shaking his head. “You’re a surfer, you’re Australian and your name is Flynn Roberts. What the fuck was I thinking?”

I burst out laughing, not actually giving a shit that none of them recognized me. I kind of like not getting the usual questions I get when someone does recognize me. “It’s cool, after what happened, it’s nice that people don’t remember who I am.

“What happened?” Sage asks, and I see from the corner of my eye Alana glance my way.

“Sage isn’t a surfer,” Nate starts, only for Sage to lean over and slap his arm.

“I am so!” she says, a look of indignation on her face. “You’ve been teaching me, and you said I had natural talent.”

Nate laughs. Leaning over, he wraps his hand around her neck, pulling her in for a kiss. “Sorry, babe,” he murmurs against her mouth. “You’re definitely learning to surf.”

Sage nods once as she pulls back. “Which makes me a surfer,” she says, once again nodding as though to confirm her point.

“Okay, if you say so,” Nate says, clearly teasing her.

She lets out a huff as she turns to me. “Obviously, I’m a beginner so I don’t know much, but can I ask what happened? Why’d you stop surfing?”

I blow out a breath, sitting back in my chair as I glance at Alana. She gives me a sympathetic look, and once again, I can’t help but wish our situation was different. But I need to get over it, need to accept that Alana and I can never be more than friends and even then, we probably need to be careful.

“During a big comp, I got knocked out on a huge wave by my board,” I say, turning back to Sage because I know Alana and probably Nate have heard this story. “I also dislocated my shoulder. Messed me up pretty bad and in the end, I stopped competing. That’s when I started to coach.”

Sage blinks at me before turning to Nate and then Alana and then back to me. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I say, waving away her concern, even if it’s nowhere near close to okay, even now. “It was a few years ago now, so?—”

“Don’t you miss it?”

Weirdly enough, that’s a question nobody ever asks me and it’s actually Alana who has asked me now. When I turn to her, she’s watching me, an expression on her face that I can’t read.

“Yeah, sometimes,” I admit, even though the reality is I miss it a hell of a lot. I’d give anything to be able to compete again, to be able to surf in Maui Pipe like she’s going to. I fucking hate standing on the beach watching.

She nods, licking that bottom lip of hers that I can’t stop staring at. “Maybe you should try again,” she says, her words soft. “I think someone once told me that even if you don’t do as well as you hope, it’s not a failure.”

I huff out a laugh, shaking my head slightly, even as under the table, my foot moves so it’s resting against hers. “Sounds like good advice,” I reply.

The next morning, I wake early, my alarm loud in the silence of the room. I blindly reach over to slap it off, barely awake on account of spending most of last night lying here thinking about Alana and all the ways I wish things could be different.

We’d ended up having a good time with Nate and Sage, the four of us hanging out for a few hours, drinking and telling surf stories as we schooled Sage on surf lingo and shit. She is adorably cute in her naivety on surfing, but it’s pretty obvious Nate loves how much she tries.

The two of them are super cool, and I got really lucky with getting this place for my stay here.

With a groan, I drag myself from the bed, pulling on some shorts and a T-shirt before grabbing my runners. I’d Googled this place last night and worked out when I’d need to leave if I wanted any chance of running into her.

Twenty minutes later, I am pulling up to the entrance to Waimoku Falls, grinning when I see Alana’s car parked on the shoulder. After parking the car, I turn onto the trail and see her all too familiar figure up ahead. Picking up the pace, I slowly get closer, eventually falling into step beside her.

“Fancy meeting you here.” She turns to me, hitting me with a look that might be a “what the fuck” look, but might also be an “of course you’re here” look. Either way, I can’t help but laugh as I add, “You just started, you seem kinda out of breath already.”

Alana stops, turning to me with her hands on her hips. I know I should be paying attention or whatever, but I can’t help myself, my gaze dropping to her chest, her gorgeous tits now contained in a skintight sports bra.

“I’ll have you know, this is my second lap,” she says, reaching up to tip my chin up so my gaze meets hers.

“Is that right?” I ask with a laugh. “So, you’re what, like 5k in? Actually, do you know what 5k is?”

Alana slow blinks. “Yes, of course I know what 5k is.”

I lift my arm, starting the app on my watch before I say, “Come on then, back to it,” before I start jogging down the trail.

Alana follows after me, the two of us falling into a steady rhythm side by side. The scenery around the trail is spectacular, tall bamboo and a river running along the track. It’s tough, though, with the rocks and the elevation changes, so we don’t talk much, both of us breathing hard.

Eventually, we come to an amazing waterfall, and I stop, hands on my hips as I take in the spot, the water crashing down the rocks into a pool.

“See, 5k,” Alana states, her chest heaving as she stands with her hands on her hips.

I glance at my watch. “Actually, a little more, but that’s good,” I say, giving her a wink.

“Good for me, I’ve done it twice,” she says with a smirk.

Laughing, I make my way over to the rock pool. “Good, you should be doing it at least twice if you wanna be competitive for Pipe.”

I stand at the edge of the pool, wondering how cold the water is. It actually looks incredibly refreshing, and even though I could keep running, I’m suddenly thinking a dip in the pool is a much better idea.

“Should you be telling me things like that?”

I glance over my shoulder to where Alana stands behind me. Her skin is glistening with sweat, and I suddenly have an intense urge to lick every inch of her. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” I say.

“No?”

I turn so we’re facing each other. Lifting my shirt, I wipe the sweat off my face, not missing the way Alana sneaks a glance at my bare stomach when I do. “How about this,” I start, lowering my shirt, even though I’m tempted to take it off, just to see what Alana does.

“What?”

“We agree that there is nothing sinister going on here,” I start. “I’m not trying to get inside knowledge on you to pass back to Jade, just like I’m not gonna do the same to you. I’m not trying to fuck you here, Alana.”

She smirks at my choice of words, crossing her arms over her chest, and I swear I hear her mutter, “Pity.”

Chuckling, I take a step toward her. “Trust me when I say I wish things could be different. That this,” I pause, moving a finger between us, “could be what I know we both want it to be.”

Alana takes a step toward me, that sexy smirk still on her face. “And what exactly is that?”

Smiling, I take another step toward her. “You really want me to spell it out?”

“Uh huh,” she says, nodding.

I take another step so there’s only a foot of space between us. I don’t know if it’s the heat and humidity in the air or the never-ending sexual tension that seems to be between us, but suddenly, everything feels hot as fuck.

I reach behind my head, pulling my shirt off in one quick move. Wiping the fabric across my face, I tuck it into the back of my shorts, grinning when I see the look on Alana’s face. Her eyes are wide, her mouth open in a tiny O shape as she blatantly stares at me. That’s the reaction I wanted.

“Me being able to touch you whenever I want,” I say as I slowly trail a finger along her collarbone. “And you being able to touch me,” I add, dragging my finger down her arm to her hand before lifting it and pressing it flat against my chest. “Being able to kiss you,” I whisper, closing the distance, my mouth hovering over hers, not touching, not kissing, but almost. I know if I start, if I do kiss her, I’m not going to be able to stop, especially out here with no one around.

“Flynn…” she moans, my name barely audible.

“I know,” I whisper, brushing my nose along hers, our lips still not touching. “I’m just telling you what I wish this could be.”

She smiles, huffing out a breath. “So that’s it, touching and kissing.”

With a laugh, I pull back slightly, dragging my hand back up her arm and curling it around the back of her neck. “No, that’s definitely not it.”

“So what else?” she asks, smiling up at me.

“Oh, there’d definitely be fucking involved too. Lots of fucking.”

“And?” she prompts.

“Eating you out.”

“And?”

“And,” I whisper, closing the distance as I lean in and put my mouth against her ear. “Anything you fucking wanted, Alana.”