Page 21

“Alone is when we both do things we shouldn’t,” she says, hitting me with a look.

Laughing, I take a sip of my drink. “Not always,” I tell her. “We were pretty good on our run this morning.”

Alana rolls her eyes, grabbing the iced coffee from my hand and taking a long suck from the straw, all of which causes my mouth to go dry and my dick to instantly harden.

“Fuck me, Alana,” I growl, adjusting myself as my eyes drop to her mouth. “Why do you have to make this so hard?”

She smirks, handing the drink back to me as her gaze drops to my crotch. Shaking her head a little, she licks her lips before saying, “So are you really staying to help?”

The one eighty makes my head spin and I blink, trying to remind myself that this is for the best because I need to keep my hands to myself, not fantasize about fucking her in the back room of this shop. “Yeah, of course,” I reply.

“What about Jade? Was that her calling before?”

I exhale. “I’m not working right now, and she knows that.”

Alana nods. “Does she know where you’re staying?”

“God no,” I say. “And I’d really like to keep it that way.”

Alana mimes zipping her lips and throwing away the key before she says, “Okay, so let’s put you to work then.”

As soon as the words leave her mouth, I’m already conjuring up ideas for exactly how she can put me to work, but before I can say anything dirty or inappropriate, the bell over the door sounds and we both turn to see Tanner walking in.

“Flynn, hey man,” he says, a huge smile on his face as he walks over to clap hands with me before turning to Alana. “Hey, Alana.”

She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling as she jerks a thumb in my direction. “So, he’s your favorite now, huh?”

Tanner just laughs, reaching over to ruffle Alana’s hair. “Don’t be an idiot. You scored big points when you pulled your head out of your ass and started training again.”

I let out a loud laugh as Alana leans over the counter to slap Tanner on the arm. “Oh, well, thanks,” she says sarcastically.

He grins, clapping his hands together once as he says, “Alright, I’ve got these customs in the back. Flynn you wanna give me a hand unloading?”

I turn to Alana, who just rolls her eyes again as she snatches the drink from my hand. “Yes, he can help you. He’s under my supervision today.”

Tanner laughs, giving her a thumbs up before turning and heading back outside. Before I leave, I can’t resist leaning over the counter, so we are only inches apart as I say, “I’d be happy to be under you any day.”

Her eyes widen as a smile pulls at her mouth. Shaking her head, she puts her hand on my chest, gently easing me back as she says, “Get out of here.”

I spend the rest of the day helping out in the shop. Alana and I manage to keep our hands to ourselves, mainly thanks to how busy it is. I’m all set to help her with the afternoon lesson too, but then Sloane shows up ready to help out, and I have no choice but to let the two of them go.

I get what feels like a million more phone calls and messages from Jade too, all of which I ignore because I am not on the clock with her right now. And by the time the evening rolls around, I’m actually glad Nate is having a get-together and has invited me. I suddenly have a strong urge to get drunk and try to forget about how much I want a woman I can’t have, while the one I have no interest in won’t leave me alone.

“Flynn!”

I pop my head out the front door of the place I’m staying in to find Nate, Miles and Kai outside. I’m not sure which one of them called my name, but it’s Kai holding out a beer to me as he says, “Come join us, dude.”

Chuckling, I walk out, taking the beer from Kai as I flop down into one of the chairs surrounding the firepit. Just as I do, Owen appears from around the side of the shop, a case of beer under his arm and a bag in the other.

“Dude!” Kai shouts, and I swear if I didn’t know this guy, I’d think he was permanently drunk or stoned or both. He isn’t. He’s just a laid-back goofball. And a cool one at that.

“Hey,” Owen says with a grin as he holds up the bag. “I bought stuff to eat.”

Nate stands and takes the bag from his hand, throwing a couple of bags of chips at Miles and me before walking over to the barbecue and pulling out the rest of the food.

“Dude, you should cook,” Kai says pointing at me with his beer. “Throw another shrimp on the bar-bee,” he adds, in what is quite possibly the worst Australian accent I have ever heard.

I burst out laughing. “Holy shit, what the hell was that?”

“Gidday, mate, it was me Aussie accent.”

“Um, no it was not,” I say, shaking my head. “That was just straight up fucking awful.”

“He’s right, dude. You kinda sounded mental just then,” Owen says with a laugh.

“Whatever,” Kai replies, grinning. “Give me a few more beers and I’ll nail it.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m gonna need a few more beers just to listen to it,” I say as I open one of the bags of chips.

Kai laughs, pushing up out of his chair as he heads toward the fridge. “Well, it’s a good thing we have that covered.”

Couple of hours later and not only have I been roped into cooking the barbecue, but we are all also kind of buzzed. Kai has been attempting to talk with an Aussie accent all night and maybe it’s because we are getting drunker, but it’s suddenly funny as hell listening to him yell out random catchphrases that no one in Australia actually ever says in real life.

Hanging with these guys has been really fun and definitely a good distraction from thinking about Alana.

“So, dude, what’s it like working with Jade Whitlock?” Kai asks as he hands me another beer.

I twist off the cap, flicking it toward the bin, clearly drunk enough that I say, “Hard fucking work.”

“Whoa!” they all shout, not expecting such an honest answer.

“What’s that about?” Kai now asks, propping his feet up on an overturned milk crate.

I groan, sliding down in my chair as my phone vibrates in my pocket. “Fuck, never mind. I shouldn’t have said that,” I say, half-laughing as I scrub a hand down my face.

“Nah, man, cone of silence around here,” Owen says twirling his finger around.

“Yeah, you’re good, Flynn. We aren’t going to say anything,” Nate adds as Miles nods his head beside him.

I take another swig of my beer, somehow knowing I can trust these guys even if I barely know them. I know Alana, though, and she trusts them. And I trust her. I might have only known her for a week or so, but it feels like longer, like this connection between us is more than just lust and sex and want. Way more.

“Okay, so she’s super demanding,” I start. “Like I’m out here for a holiday and she just fucking shows up early and expects me to hang out with her, when the whole point of me coming early was to have a break from her.” The words tumble out of me in a rush, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m a little drunk or because I’ve never really had anyone to talk to about any of this. “And yeah, she’s a good surfer, but it’s the other shit. The way she acts like the whole world revolves around her and how everyone should just stop and cater to whatever random need she thinks is important. Plus, she was a bitch to Alana, so...” I trail off when I realize what I’ve just said.

The guys are all silent, and as I lift my gaze, I can feel the weight of their stares on me. Owen is grinning as he takes a sip of his beer before saying, “That bothers you, huh?”

I roll my eyes at him, and he laughs because, of course, he’s worked out that I fancy her. Pretty sure none of them know that anything has happened between us though, and for Alana’s sake, I am definitely keeping that a secret.

“Of course,” I say.

“Alana can handle her,” Nate replies matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, I know,” I respond. “But it’s more that Jade just shouldn’t be like that. I don’t know. She seems to forget that once upon a time, she was a newbie surfer who had no fucking clue.”

The guys laugh at that as Owen now says, “It’s nice that you care about Alana, though.”

I hit him with a look that only makes him laugh harder, and this time the guys look at me and then him and then back to me again before Nate says, “What the fuck is this about?”

Owen chuckles, shaking his head a little. “Nothin’,” he replies, surprising me when he doesn’t tell them what he’s already worked out. “What do you think the girls are up to?” he now asks, and Nate lets out a groan.

“You mean, what is Sloane up to?” he asks, as my phone vibrates in my pocket again.

As the guys all start to give Owen shit about his very obvious crush on Sloane, I pull my phone from my pocket, smiling when I see the message.

Alana: Hey! How is your night? Are you having fun with the guys?

She’s added a bunch of surfing emojis and a volcano one.

Me: I am. How is your night with the girls? Also, are you drunk?

Alana: Good and yes, maybe...yes, I am.

Me: Mmmm...I think I’m kinda intrigued by drunk Alana...

Alana: Why?

I look up, realizing the guys are all still ribbing Owen about Sloane, even though he isn’t biting at their digs. None of them are paying me any attention as I turn back to my phone.

Me: Idk, I just think she’d be a lot of fun.

Alana: I’m fun when I’m sober too.

Me: Oh, I know!

Alana:

Alana: Are you drunk?

Me: Kinda, yeah.

Alana: I feel like drunk Flynn would be super hot.

The laughter bursts out of me before I can stop it, and the guys all turn to look at me. Owen smirks at me again. “Sorry, don’t mind me,” I say, waving my phone in dismissal as I take a sip of beer and go back to messaging.

Me: Do you think sober Flynn is super hot too?

Alana: YES!

Me: Wow, shouty caps and everything.

Alana: Ugh...EVERYTHING about you is hot, Flynn, everything.

Me: Everything is hot about you too, Alana.

The messages stop, even though I can see she has read the last one I sent her. I know we are both drunk, but I can’t help reading more into these messages, into the fact that she’s even sent them to me, when we both know we shouldn’t be doing this.

But drunk is when your inhibitions go, right? When you do the things you really want to do, but know you probably shouldn’t.

And I can’t help but wonder what drunk Alana and drunk Flynn would do given half a chance. I know what I want to do and apparently, I am drunk enough that I decide to just get that conversation started.

Me: Fuck, I wish you were here.

Alana: Me too...

Me: Wanna come over? Or I can come to you?

Alana: Girls’ sleepover...no can do

Me: Fuck.

Alana: I wish

Me: Me too...so bad.

The messages go silent again, and I finish my beer before getting up to get another one. Just as I grab one from the fridge, my phone vibrates again with a new message.

Alana: Would you be interested in phone sex?

I swallow hard as all the blood in my veins now rushes to my dick. Would I be interested? Hell fucking yes, I would.

Me: YES!!

Alana: Lol, ok...give me a few...I’ll message when I can get away from the girls. That ok?

Grinning, I type out another message as I make my way back to my chair, wondering how the fuck I can get away from the guys.

Me: When it comes to you, Alana, everything is ok.

Alana: