Page 74 of Hot Saltwater Kisses

No, this wasn’t me anymore. I didn’t put myself down like this, make myself smaller. And once Logan had stopped acting like a jerk to test us, he’d never treated me as anything less than his equal.‘It’s just us, yeah?’

“He’s got ideas,” Nia said into the thoughts washing up against the edges of my mind. “He won’t push, babe—not after you told him to stay away. But he’s thought about this, you know? You could hear him out.”

“Since when are you on Team Logan?” My protest was weak, distracted.

“I’m onyourteam, Milo. Always.” She paused. “I just think he might be, too.”

I blinked my eyes open and shook my head, but couldn’t find the words.

After a few moments, Nia continued. “He’s been good for you, you know? You’re... happier. More open. I’d hate for that to just disappear. Not if there’s a way you can keep him without twisting yourself into knots.”

“There isn’t.”

Was there?

“Talk to him,” Nia said.

“I’m still too fucking angry.” I clung to that, used it as a steady anchor, and she nodded.

“Of course you are. I’d expect no less.“ She raised her head for a smile. “He wouldn’t, either.”

The mere idea of facing him made my stomach twist inside out, ground slipping away beneath my feet. I’d never planned to make myself this vulnerable again, teetering on the brink of someone else’s affection.

“Talk to him,” Nia repeated, gentle but firm. “Scream and shout if you need to. But give him a chance to explain.”

My chest hurt as I forced a slow, deep breath. And another. “I’ll think about it.”

Silvery baitfish darted around me,gleaming with life. The sun filtered through the water in golden ribbons. I floated along the reef, capturing moments of serenity, the weight of the world receding further with each stroke of my fins. No longer drowning.

‘We’re not done.’

I exhaled bubbles that caught the light in their dance towards the surface. A lone barracuda slipped through the water, sharp and sleek like a blade waiting to strike—like my thoughts, zigzagging between light and shadow.

‘Do you think you’re still running?’

Maybe.

For a while, I drifted—just the ocean and me. I captured the fading day, framing each shot with care, my tangled emotions swaying with the gentle current. TheBlueberry Seas’propeller cut the last rays of sun into bright columns, slanting down like light through towering cathedral windows.

I broke the surface next to the boat and climbed the ladder, gravity settling back onto my shoulders. Still, I felt lighter than before, calmer, my chest no longer restricting me to shallow gasps.

The winding steps up to the dive shop were steeped in a soft, rosy glow, and I paused halfway up to take in the sprawling view. Threads of rippling gold wove across the horizon, the sun about to dissolve into the water. Green hills rolled inland, shadowed in deep greens that swallowed the remaining light. Above, the sky was smeared with bruised purples that faded into the gentle smudge of night.

This island had been good to me, had given me time and space to rebuild myself, to patch up my cracks. Now my future had been blown wide open once more, but the past had lost its hold.

This time, I wasn’t running. Not anymore.

It was time to call Katie.

Sleep slippedthrough my fingers like sand. The ceiling fan shoved pockets of muggy air from one corner of the room to another. Outside my open window, leaves rustled softly, nocturnal creatures going about their usual business.

Not me, though. Today had been a long fuckingyear, my mind still going a mile a minute, spinning like a hamster on its wheel, never getting anywhere. And hell—if I wasn’t getting any rest, why should Logan?

I grabbed my phone, momentarily blinded by the glowing screen. Past midnight. I unlocked it and pulled up his name in my contacts—Logan Fox. Anger sizzled through me, mind flashing back to when we’d traded numbers and harmless quips about booty calls.

Yeah. How fuckingfunny.

‘You awake?’I stared at the words for a second, then sent them.

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