Page 31

I wake the next morning to my phone going berserk on the nightstand.

Not that I’ve actually gotten much sleep, having spent most of last night lying awake, staring at the ceiling as every possible scenario with Jade played out in my head.

It’s not like we’ve technically broken any rules because there is nothing about who you can date or whatever, but I know how it looks. Right now, I coach Jade Whitlock, world champion surfer who is competing in Maui Pipe.

I also happen to be sleeping with Alana Hale, amateur surfer who got a special entry into Maui Pipe off the back of her win here in Hawaii. Oh, and she currently doesn’t have a coach on account of her former one having passed away.

I know what will happen. People will question where my loyalties lie. They’ll think I’ve been helping Alana, possibly telling her secrets that could help her beat Jade. Maybe they’ll think I’ve been giving information back to Jade too.

But worst of all, they will doubt Alana. They’ll watch her surf, if she still gets to surf, and they’ll wonder if she’s there because she deserves to be or because I helped her. And that is the worst part about all of this, the part I hate the most.

“Fuck,” I murmur, the word muffled as I scrub a hand down my face.

“What’s wrong?” Alana asks, her voice husky from sleep.

She curls into my side, and I wrap my arms around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Nothing,” I breathe out.

She pokes me before resting her hand on my stomach. “Bullshit nothing,” she says, her face buried in the crook of my neck. “You barely slept last night and now you’re muttering to yourself.”

I huff out a laugh. “I’m not muttering to myself,” I say, dropping another kiss to her temple. “And I’m sorry I kept you awake all night.”

She shuffles closer, pressing a kiss to my neck. “It’s okay,” she murmurs, just as my phone vibrates on the nightstand again. “Maybe you should check your phone?”

Groaning, I reach over to grab it, not really wanting to, but knowing she’s right. I rest it on my chest for a minute, my eyes still closed as I soak in this moment for a little while longer, knowing that when I check my phone, all this shit is going to start up again.

Another vibration sounds from the nightstand, and I realize it isn’t my phone that’s blowing up because it’s still off from last night, but Alana’s. Reaching over, I grab hers as well, handing it to her before I bite the bullet and switch mine on to look at it.

“Shit,” I exhale when I see all of the messages and missed calls that fill my screen.

There are a million more from Jade, which is completely expected, and also one from her dad that I’m weirdly nervous about opening. But there are also messages from colleagues, from a reporter who’s always been super friendly with me, and one from the Director of Sports & Athlete Relations at the International Surfing Association.

“What the fuck?” I say, sitting up a little when I see that text.

“What? What’s wrong?” Alana asks, sitting up beside me as we both lean back against the headboard.

Mochi clearly takes us moving as a sign that we are awake and is immediately up from the blanket Alana put out on the floor for him, jumping around beside the bed. Pretty sure he’d be up here with us if he could make the jump, but the poor little thing’s legs are just too short.

“Jesus, hang on, let me just look through these,” I say, scrolling back to the top.

I bypass the messages from Jade, knowing they won’t tell me anything, and instead click first on the one from her dad.

Rob Whitlock: Hey Flynn, call me when you get a second. Jade rang last night in hysterics about you not coaching her anymore?

“Fuck my life, this fucking girl,” I say, moving to the message from the reporter.

Tim Rollins: Hey Flynn, long time no speak! Got a weird message today about something involving you and a competing surfer and a possible COI. You know I’ve always had your back with this stuff, so just wanted to give you a chance to get ahead of the story, control the narrative. Give me a buzz when you get this. I’m on your side.

I exhale at the last part, knowing that even though Tim has always been good to me, being the first to drop the incessant questions about my post-accident comeback, no reporter is ever truly on my side. All they want is to be the first to break the story, the first to post the clickbait that will see them at the top of the news feed.

I ignore his message too, scanning through a couple of others from friends and colleagues, all asking the same thing, or variations on it anyway.

What’s going on with you and Jade? You splitting?

When I finally get to the one from the ISA, my heart is pounding in my chest and when I open it, it’s short and to the point.

Danielle Thornton: Hi Flynn, it’s Danielle from ISA, just hoping to speak with you about a complaint that’s been filed. Give me a call, today, if possible. I’d like to sort this out before Maui Pipe gets underway. Thanks.

Groaning, I close my eyes as my head falls back against the wall with a thud. Alana sits beside me, and I can hear the gasps she lets out, presumably as she goes through her phone.

“Tell me how bad it is?” I ask, opening my eyes.

She’s staring down at her screen, her fingers pressed against her mouth, her eyes wide. Sitting up, I curl my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to me.

“Alana?” I prompt, my voice laced with concern.

She looks up, and I can see her eyes are filled with tears. It breaks my heart to see this, to know I am the cause of it. “Jade’s filed a complaint against me.”

“Yeah, me too,” I tell her.

“I got an email outlining the details,” she now says, waving her phone in front of me. “She’s accusing me of sabotaging her career, of misconduct and trying to poach her coach. Flynn, what the fuck am I gonna do?”

My eyes close as I pinch the bridge of my nose, sucking in a deep breath before letting it out. “Can I see?” I ask, taking her phone when she holds it out to me.

My eyes scan over the email, which I know is just a formality and not an accusation, but still. It’s a shock to get something like this, especially for Alana, who hasn’t been through this before and who’s only at the start of her career.

“I know this isn’t going to help,” I start, looking at her, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “But this is just the process, okay? This doesn’t necessarily mean they think you’ve done any of this stuff, nor does it mean anything is going to happen to you. But they take all complaints very seriously at ISA, so they are just following protocol.”

Alana nods, her bottom lip between her teeth as a tear escapes and slides slowly down her cheek. I brush it away with my thumb before leaning in to press a soft kiss to her lips.

“What did yours say?” she whispers.

I open my email app, wondering if Danielle has also sent me one of these. She and I have known each other for a while, not because of anything bad, but more to do with the fallout from my accident and the way the ISA wanted to handle that. I always thought we got on pretty well, but who the fuck knows.

My eyes find the email she’s sent through, scanning through the details.

“Fuck, okay, Jade is accusing me of breach of contract, of disclosure of confidential information and of ruining her career.” I let out a snort at the last one, knowing that if anyone is going to ruin Jade’s career, it’s Jade.

When I look up, Alana is watching me, tears still falling. “What are we going to do?” she whispers.

I try to smile, leaning in to kiss her, my hand cupping her jaw. “We’re going to fix this, beautiful, I promise. I’ll call Danielle, suss out what’s going on and explain. Tell her the truth and how there isn’t anything sinister happening.”

“Do you think she’s going to believe you?” Alana asks, her forehead resting against mine.

“She has to,” I say. “It’s the truth. We both know that.”

Alana lifts her head, her hand finding mine as she threads our fingers together. “I know, but I also know how all this looks, and it isn’t good.”

“I know,” I sigh. “Let me make some calls, okay? See if I can’t fix this.”

Alana nods, and with one last kiss, I slide out of bed, pulling on a pair of track pants as I make my way into the kitchen. Mochi follows after me, jumping at my heels as though he’s expecting food or something. I realize we don’t have anything to give him, but when I open the fridge, I see a bunch of leftover burger patties from the other night.

“Hope these are okay,” I say, holding them up as the dog jumps at my feet, apparently not giving a shit that it’s not dog food.

Grabbing a plate from the cupboard, I set the food down on the floor and then grab a bowl and fill it with water. I then put some coffee on to brew before taking a seat at one of the stools at the kitchen island. Blowing out a breath, I scroll through the numbers before landing on the one I’m looking for. Then, with a heavy feeling settling in my gut, I hit call.

“Flynn, hey,” Rob says in his distinctive South African accent.

“Hey, Rob,” I reply, resting my elbows on the bench. “Guessing you’re wondering what’s going on right now?”

He chuckles a little as he says, “Well, it’s not the first time Jade has called in hysterics, but it is the first time she’s mentioned you’ve left her.”

“I haven’t left her,” I immediately say. “I’m still her coach. She’s just...pissed because she saw me with someone, doing something she didn’t like.”

“Okay,” he replies, drawing the word out. “And who’s this someone and what is this something?”

I fucking hate that I have to tell him any of this. Not because I’m embarrassed or ashamed, far from it. I hate it because it feels like it’s demeaning and none of his business sharing everything that Alana and I have and are to each other. Like I’m spilling something private and sacred too.

“I’ve been seeing someone,” I start, my forehead resting in my hand. “Another surfer. Jade obviously isn’t happy about it and assumes I’m spilling all her secrets or worse still, helping this other surfer.”

“Are you?” Rob asks.

“Fuck no,” I state. “I wouldn’t do that, Rob. You know me, you’ve known me for a long time and while we both know your daughter can be difficult to work with, I would never do something like that.”

Rob exhales. “Yeah, I know, sorry, Flynn,” he replies. “So what’s going to happen now then?”

“I don’t know,” I reply, shaking my head. “I’ve gotta speak with someone at ISA and see if I can sort it all out before the media gets wind of it,” I tell him, knowing it’s probably already too late for that given Tim’s message.

I’m assuming Jade leaked the story to him, although why she picked Tim is beyond me. There are a million other reporters she could’ve gone to who would love nothing more than to report a story like this about me, a has-been surfer.

“Can I give you a call back when I know more?”

“Yeah of course,” Rob replies. “I’m sorry, Flynn, I know she’s a handful and that’s probably only gotten worse since I left.”

I let out a half laugh. “Yeah, you could say that,” I reply. “You know she bought herself a dog?”

“A dog?” her dad shouts. “What the hell?”

“Yeah,” I breathe out. “Pretty sure that was my response too.”

As I hang up with Jade’s dad, I feel Alana’s arms slide around me from behind as she rests her cheek against my back between my shoulder blades.

“You okay?”

I rest a hand over hers, turning to face her as I pull her between my legs. “I’m fine. How are you?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. I’m not really sure what to feel or even what I should be doing right now.”

I pull her closer, brushing my lips against hers in a soft, slow kiss. “Right now, you don’t need to do anything. I’m going to take care of it.”

“But I need to respond to this complaint,” she says, putting her phone on the bench. “I can’t just ignore it. What if they kick me out of Pipe? Oh my god, this could be over before?—”

“Alana,” I say, the word firm but soft as I take her face in my hands. I wait until she looks up at me, wishing I could take away all of the pain and fear and worry I can see in her beautiful blue eyes. “They aren’t going to kick you out of Pipe. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” she immediately says.

I give her a small smile. “I know we haven’t. This, us, has nothing to do with Jade, and deep down she knows that. She’s just...”

Alana nods, like she gets it. “Who were you speaking to just then?”

“Her dad.”

She makes a face, her eyes widening a little. “And what did he say?”

Chuckling, I drop a quick kiss on her lips before pulling her in so she’s half sitting on my lap. “He was pretty cool. I think he knows she can be a bit of a loose unit at times. This certainly isn’t the first time she’s called him. It’s just the first time...” I trail off, not needing to finish my sentence.

Alana slides her hand onto my cheek, turning me toward her. “Are you still her coach?”

I huff out a laugh, shaking my head. “Yeah, her dad would never get rid of me. I think he thought maybe I’d rub off on her. Not that that’s happened. I guess Jade could technically still fire me though.”

As soon as the words are out, a feeling of relief washes over me. At the idea of being free of Jade and all of her bullshit. At not having to hide my relationship with Alana.

At being able to stay.

“She’s not going to do that,” Alana now says. “She knows she’s onto a good thing with you, and this is just her lashing out because she’s jealous and hurt.”

“Dunno why she’s jealous,” I mutter. “I never, ever gave her the impression there was anything between us.”

She smirks now, pressing a kiss to my jaw. “Because you are hot as fuck, Flynn Roberts. You’d have to be blind not to be jealous.”

I grin, gripping her chin in my hand. “Hot as fuck, huh. Is that all I am to you?” I’m teasing her, and she knows it.

“It’s not all you are,” she replies playfully.

Laughing, I pull her close, kissing her hard, wishing we could forget about this shit and go back to bed. “I gotta call Danielle,” I mumble against her lips.

“Danielle?”

“From ISA,” I clarify. “I’m gonna sort this out, Alana, I promise you.”

She nods, and I grab my phone, scrolling through to Danielle’s number before putting it on speaker and then putting the phone down on the bench as we both listen to it ring.