Page 75 of Broken Hearts

“I’ve got you,” I breathe out, resting my forehead against hers. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you out there, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispers, nodding.

I give her another quick kiss before grabbing her hand. The two of us walk out to join the others.

We surf for a couple of hours, all of us offering Sage tips on her technique as she continues to try and try. She still struggles, falling more than she stands, but she’s smiling, laughing at her mistakes and listening as Tanner or Alana or even Miles offer her advice on what she should do next time.

Every now and then she manages to surf a wave into the shore, and when she does, they all call out to her, “A ‘o ia!” Sage laughing when Alana tells her the meaning behind it.

“You look like you’re having fun out here,” I eventually say as we all paddle out beyond the swell to take a break.

Sage lets out a soft laugh, a gorgeous smile on her face as she moves her hands through the water. “I am. I mean I know I suck, but I really like it. I wish I’d learned years ago.”

Smiling, I reach over and grab her ankle, pulling her close. “He’d love that you’re learning now.”

Sage leans over and kisses me. “I think he’d love that you’re all teaching me,” she says, her lips against mine.

I slide my hand up her thigh before circling my fingers around her wrist, the cool silver bracelet she hasn’t taken off since the memorial yesterday resting against her skin. “You look like you belong here,” I say, threading our fingers together, the words falling from my mouth, dangerous. “You look like an islander.”

“Really?” she asks, her whole face lighting up.

Laughing, I lift our joined hands, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “I mean, sorta, yeah,” I say with a shrug.

Sage narrows her brow at me, her smile disappearing as she asks, “Sorta? What does sorta mean?”

“Well,” I start, my eyes dropping to her chest and the bikini she wears. “You don’t have the tan lines of a local yet,” I tease, swallowing hard at the view of her nipples, hard beneath the fabric of her top.

Sage scoffs, pulling her hand from mine before skimming her fingers along my stomach, right above the edge of my boardshorts. “You have some serious tan lines,” she whispers, smiling.

“Well, you would know. You have seen me naked,” I say, grinning as her fingers dip into the top of my shorts.

She smirks now, glancing over her shoulder quickly to where everyone else sits on their boards, far enough away that they are out of earshot. “I have,” she says, turning back to me. “Kinda want to see you naked right now.”

“Here?” I ask, my hands moving to the drawstring of my shorts. Sage’s eyes widen, her mouth dropping open into an O shape that makes me laugh. “Nah, maybe we should head back,” I suggest, taking her hand in mine as I lift it to my lips.

“Maybe,” Sage whispers, a smile tugging at her lips.

I tug her closer, our boards bumping as I lower my lips to hers, kissing her deep, not giving a single shit about where we are or who’s here with us.

Of course, they do, once again whistling and being assholes about it all. Reluctantly, I pull back, chuckling at the blush on Sage’s cheeks. “We’re gonna go,” I call out, not taking my eyes off her.

Kai lets out a loud laugh as he says, “Oh yeah, to do what exactly?”

I flip him off, ignoring all of them as I tip my head toward the shore, my eyes never leaving Sage. “You wanna?”

She nods, smiling at me before she turns to the others. “Thank you for today, for letting me be a part of it.”

Tanner smiles back at her, nodding once as he says, “Always, Sage, we’re ohana.”

She looks over at me because I know she doesn’t understand what the word means and honestly, I’m not sure if she asked me in this moment, I’d be able to tell her. It’s one word, just a single word, but it means fucking everything.

“Let’s go,” I say, the words catching in my throat as I lie on my board and paddle in to where the waves break.

Sage follows me, her eyes on me as she watches me wait for the right wave, mirroring my actions when I start to paddle. As it starts to crest, I push up off my board, the ocean spray hiding the tears I don’t want to shed, don’t want her to see, as I turn and ride the wave, hoping to fuck Sage is behind me.

Riding it with me.

When it reaches the shore, I jump off my board, scrubbing a hand down my face as I grab my board and turn to watch Sage. She’s actually ridden the wave, surfed it all the way into the shore like she was born to do it.

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