Page 31 of Reckless Hearts

“Of course. I’m in. Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there,” Flynn replies, sounding genuinely excited. “You going to be there too?” he now adds, directing his question at me.

The good news is that Nate is so oblivious, a typical guy, that he has no idea that I’m about to piss myself with excitement at Flynn saying yes to Nate’s question.

“She will,” Nate replies for me when my brain fails to answer, too caught up in seeing Flynn out on the water again. Watching him move his board through the water, his cutback and his muscles tensing with each shift of his body.

Fuck my life.

“I gotta get back,” Nate now says, glancing back at the shop. “Oh, and we have Keiki Chaos this weekend too. You up for that?” He looks at Flynn, a confused look on Flynn’s face, and I let out a small giggle.

All of us here on the island know what he’s talking about, but if you’re not a local, it’s basically unknown.

“We do a surf competition for kids. It’s sponsored by The Pipe Dream. It’s something Mitch started a long time ago, almost like a little Maui Pipe,” I clarify. “It’s to get kids on the island involved, get them training and understanding what it’s like to compete. We always do it a couple of weekends or so before Pipe to get the locals excited about it.”

“Sounds sweet,” Flynn says. “You need help with that?”

It’s like music to Nate’s ears the second Flynn offers, and I can’t help but smile. I recruited Daisy and Sloane to help, and Sage and Nate will be there, along with Tanner, Kai and Miles, and a bunch of the guys who do our hotel surf lessons.

“Fuck yeah,” Nate says, a smile on his face. “I’ll chat with you about it later. I really gotta get back.”

He jogs toward the back door of The Pipe Dream, leaving Flynn and me alone, and as soon as Nate disappears behind the door, the tension returns.

I step toward Flynn, my heart racing, and I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, trying to control my need to reach out and touch him. I want to run my fingers over his bare skin, feel the warmth of his body pressed against mine.

“You gotta stop that, Alana,” Flynn growls, his blue eyes narrowed, his gaze harsh and wanting.

“Stop what?” My words are quiet and breathy, as my thighs squeeze together at just the hint of his accent, at the possessive bite I hear.

“Biting that lip,” he hisses, his hand reaching out to grab my hip, his fingers digging in, pulling me to him.

“Like this,” I murmur back, mimicking my actions from before. Flynn’s thumb reaches up, plucking my bottom lip from my teeth before running along it.

“Fuck my life,” he mutters, shaking his head, and I can’t help but laugh.

“I’ve been saying that all day today.”

With that comment,Alana turns and walks away, leaving me questioning both my sanity and pretty much every fucking decision I’ve made since I arrived on this island. I’m also so goddamned turned on right now that I’m tempted to just say fuck it, march into the shop, and demand she get her arse into my bed.

“Jesus christ, Flynn,” I mutter, turning back to the car, knowing I can’t do that, no matter how much I might want to.

With a sigh, I shove a hand through my hair, pushing it back before I lie down on the skateboard and slide back under the car in a desperate attempt to stop myself from potentially ruining not just my career but also Alana’s.

“You good to go?”

Something nudges my foot a couple of hours later, and I slide out to find Alana standing over me again, only this time she isn’tstraddling me like before, but instead standing to the side, her hands on her hips.

“I think I preferred the first way you got me out from under this car,” I say, grinning up at her, my hand up to shade my eyes from the sun.

She smiles, immediately biting her bottom lip as though she’s trying to hide it. “Is that so?”

I stand, pulling the dirty rag from my shorts and wiping my hands off, not missing the way her gaze drops to my stomach and back again. “Uh huh, yeah.”

She smirks now, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yeah, well, I thought you were someone else. Now I know, so…”

She trails off, her unspoken words still loud and clear. Now we do know. We know who I am and who she is and all the stupid fucking reasons she and I can never be anything more. No matter how much we might want to.

“Anyway, you still wanna help me with that lesson?” she now asks, shaking her head a little as though to clear it.

Chuckling, I reach over, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, not missing the way she leans into my touch or the way my own heart pounds out a hard tempo in my chest when she does. “Hell fucking yes, I do,” I reply. “You want me to drive us?”

---