Page 132 of Rival Hearts

But my emotions bugged me more. I missed Alex. Alot.There were times I thought of something or saw something funny that I wanted to tell him before I remembered we weren’t talking anymore.

I wanted to cuddle up with him, to let him tell me something so that I could listen to the soothing sound of his voice while I fell asleep.

A part of me wished we were back in that lighthouse together, with the rain pushing the rest of the world away. Our phones had been without signal, and it had been just me and him. Nothing had mattered but what we felt for each other and what we were when we were together.

Dynamite. That’s what we had been.

Electric.

Perfect.

With that night in my mind, Alex lying on the tarp next to me with his warm body against mine, I finally drifted off to sleep.

“Are you cold?” Alex asked, running his hands over my bare arms.

“A little,” I admitted.

“Come here,” Alex said and pulled me tighter against him, his naked skin warm against mine. Outside the storm raged on, and the ocean outside the lighthouse hammered relentlesslyagainst the rocks at its base, a reminder that we were stranded and alone out here.

But it wasn’t scary. The storm couldn’t get to us through the walls of the lighthouse—they were thick and well-built, with a fresh layer of paint and double-paned windows to keep the weather out.

Lightning snapped somewhere close by, and Alex and I both turned our heads toward the large windows that overlooked the whole bay below us in the lantern room.

“It’s beautiful,” I said.

“It’s incredible,” Alex murmured, and he pulled the thick covers on the bed closer to us.

The bed was king-sized and plush, with thick blankets against the cold, and the rain that drummed against the windows made the moment seem so much more romantic than scary.

“You are incredible,” Alex added, pressing his lips against my temple. “You have no idea how much I like being here with you.”

I looked at him. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Everything.” I looked down at my hands. “Being so hard on you. Jumping to conclusions. Accusing you of things my dad did because I was so mad at him, and I had to blame someone for my anger.”

Alex cupped my cheek. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I know how it goes.”

I warmed at him calling me his sweetheart, but my stomach twisted.

“It wasn’t fair of me to put all of that on you. You have enough trouble of your own without needing to have to deal with mine.”

Alex shook his head. “Never see it that way. Life isn’t about finding someone who doesn’t have a past. We all have baggage, you know. It’s about finding someone who will help you unpack.”

I giggled so that he wouldn’t know how emotional he made me. “You saw that on the internet somewhere.”

“I will never be the first person to say the words ‘I love you.’ But you will be the first person I say it to where I really, truly mean it.”

My breath caught in my throat, and Alex kissed me. His tongue slid into my mouth, and I gasped when he rolled his body onto mine, his muscles rippling under his skin as he moved on top of me.

With his body on mine, pinning me down, I felt safe. His weight was like an anchor, and his lips were warm on mine, his tongue erotic and delicious in my mouth.

I moaned when Alex moved his mouth to my neck. He kissed and licked a line along my jaw toward my ear before he sucked my earlobe into his mouth.

I gasped, and goosebumps stretched across my shoulder and arms at his hot breath against my ear.

Slowly, he kissed his way down my neck, over my collarbone, and onto my naked chest.