Page 32 of Reckless Hearts

“Um,” Alana says, that bottom lip of hers between her teeth again. I’m not sure if she’s doing it on purpose because she knows it drives me insane or if it’s just a reflex thing, but fuck me, if I don’t want to bite that lip. “Yeah, sure,” she eventually says, blowing out a breath. “Leave in five?”

“I’ll be ready,” I say with a wink.

Alana walks back into the shop, and I head inside, washing my hands as I grab a T-shirt and my board before heading back outside. Alana is already waiting for me, a board that isn’t her custom Olsen, along with a demo one, tucked under her arm as she stands by my hire car.

I open the back and shove my board in before reaching for hers. Alana smiles, handing them to me before she walks around to the passenger seat. I head around to the driver’s side, suddenly wondering if I’m going to be able to cope with driving on the wrong side of the road with Alana sitting next to me. She’s enough of a distraction as it is, let alone when trying to navigate driving on the opposite side to what I’m used to.

“So, where to?” I ask.

She props her elbow on the window frame as she turns to me and says, “Head out and turn right. We’re going to Starfish Cove.”

I let out a laugh at the name, glancing over at her as I turn on the windscreen wipers, swearing softly, before I indicate to make the turn. “So, how old are these kids we’re giving a lesson to?”

Now it’s Alana laughing, her head propped in her hand as she watches me. “Fifteen.”

“Fifteen?” I repeat, brows raised.

“Yep, think you can handle that?”

Laughing, I reply, “Hell yeah, I can handle it. How the fuck do they handleyou?”

“What?” she asks, her brow narrowed in confusion.

I glance over, giving her a quick once-over as though to indicate what I’m talking about. The boys in this group must seriously walk around with non-stop boners with Alana as their teacher. Suddenly I’m really fucking glad I’m here with her.

“So what are we teaching them?”

She smiles. “They’re on boards, so we’re surfing, but they need a run down on better technique. Most of them are shit at trying to stand up. Also, turn here,” she adds, gesturing to the turnoff, a faded sign indicating Starfish Cove.

I make the turn, pulling into the small gravel carpark, a yellow school bus already waiting for us.

“Ready?” Alana asks, turning to me, a smile on her face.

“Let’s do it,” I say.

We grab our boards and head down to the beach where there are a bunch of kids fucking about in the water. Alana smiles, and I’m wondering how the hell she plans to get them sorted. But the second they see her, they all haul arse out of the ocean, congregating around her, boards tucked under their arms and a fair amount of trash talking going on.

“Alright,” Alana starts, her eyes moving over each of them. “We have a special guest with us today,” she adds, turning her attention to me. “Anyone know who this is?” she asks, waving a hand in my direction.

I feel the weight of a dozen sets of eyes on me, the whispered murmurs as they throw a few names out, none of which are correct.

“No?” Alana asks, looking over all of them. “Shame, you guys need to brush up on your surfing history.”

I snort out a laugh, leaning in as I murmur. “History? I’m not that fucking old!”

Alana turns to me, a smirk on her face as she looks up at me, her gorgeous blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “You are ten years older than them,” she says quietly.

Chuckling, I lean even closer. “Yeah, but if memory serves, you also didn’t know who I was.”

I intend for my words to be light and playful, but almost as soon as they are out of my mouth, the smile falls from Alana’s face, and I wish I could take them back as she turns back to the kids.

“Fuck,” I mutter. “Alana.” I curl my hand around her arm, her skin warm beneath my touch and practically setting my whole body on fire. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

She shoots me a quick glance. “It’s okay, Flynn,” she says, giving me a smile. “You’re right, I didn’t.” She nods once before turning back to the kids and explaining today’s lesson,which is apparently going to be a rundown on the pop-up and the two different stances. “Okay, we’re just gonna do a quick demonstration of them, and then we’ll get out on the water,” Alana says, before turning to me again, our earlier conversation now long gone. “You wanna be my model?” she asks, that smirk back as she once again bites her bottom lip.

Chuckling, I walk over to the demo board she’s gesturing to. “Sure. What do you need me to do?”

“So Flynn’s gonna lie down for us,” she starts, pausing as she waits for me to do exactly that. “And then he’s going to demonstrate the correct way to do a pop-up. And the difference between a regular stance and a goofy stance.”

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