Page 35 of Reckless Hearts

“We have tons, and I really don’t want to eat it for the next week. Please,” she begs with a sugary edge. She looks at Flynn, adding, “We’d love to have you for dinner and chat surfing. Nate’s a huge fan.”

“I’m in,” he replies without a second of hesitation.

“Yay! Head on up, or get cleaned up first, whatever you want,” she says, motioning to the stairs that lead to Mitch’s old apartment, the one she and Nate now share. “Alana?” Her question comes out with a pressing quality, and I’m starting to think she’s trying to set me up with Flynn.

Flynn follows the stairs, heading up to meet Nate, and it’s just Sage and I left standing out back. And here I am, wanting to admit everything, like it’s eating at me to keep it inside.

“Alana,” Sage squeals, grabbing my wrist. She shakes it with vigor, a huge smile on her face. “He’s so hot, and you should totally?—”

I cut her off with a disgruntled huff, and she eyes me suspiciously.

“I hear you, Sage, I do, but you have to understand that it can’t happen.”

“What? Why?” Her question is sharp and confused, and in an alternate reality, Flynn and I would be a scorching couple. In this one, we’re a forbidden fruit, something I’m having a hell of a time avoiding. Rightfully so because he’s a fucking dream come true in bed.

“He’s here for Maui Pipe,” I say, dragging a hand through my damp hair, the ends tangling when I reach them.

“Yeah, so.”

“He’s here as a coach for one of the girls. We can’t,” I say, cutting it off there, not needing to expand on it.

“Are there rules?” she asks, once again, confused and curious. “It’s not like you’re surfing against him.”

“Yeah, I know, but he’s Jade Whitlock’s coach, and it’s just…” I stop, letting things trail off. “It’s just not a good idea.” I don’t want to go into the specifics of it with her because as an outsider looking in, it seems harmless. It probably is harmless if we keep it hidden because it’s not like we could end up as anything more than a fling.

He’s from Australia, traveling the world with Jade, and the idea of us being something more just isn’t there. What’s he going to do? Leave his career behind? Dump Jade who pays him a ridiculous amount of money to be with me? I have nothing to offer him other than a person to surf with who happens to love a roll in the sack.

“Fine, fine. I get it. It’s like a whole conflict of interest or whatever, right?” Sage questions, but still probably doesn’t understand the seriousness. “That doesn’t mean you can’t have dinner with your friends and have some good conversation. He’s staying here.” She flits a hand over to the cute little blue cottage that sits behind The Pipe Dream. “It would be rude not to invite him”

She is right. It would be rude, and holy shit, she’s so convincing. Not that I would turn down a free meal, and fish tacos anyway.

“I’ll come,” I say, smiling, but it feels brittle, like it might fall apart any second. I hate this tension between Flynn and me, hating that I can’t just tell Sage what happened. “I’m going to take a quick shower and then I’ll be in,” I add, looking over at the outdoor shower that we all use after surfing.

“I could send Flynn down,” she teases, winking at me. “That shower is a great place to?—”

“Oh my god, Sage! No! Don’t say it! I don’t need to think about what you and Nate do in that shower!” I screech, laughing as she skips off toward the stairs.

“See you in a bit!” she calls out, tossing a hand up in a wave.

I stand under the stream of warm water, letting it wash over my skin, hoping to clear my head, but of course, now I’m just picturing Flynn in here with me.

Damn it, Sage.

Closing my eyes, I can feel his hands on my body, all exposed skin, my hands running over his taut chest, dipping lower to that perfect V of his stomach, all lean, pure muscle.

Fuck my life…again.

I dip my hand between my legs, the ache now taking over, and I know I can knock one out in just a few seconds in here alone, thinking about Flynn.

But as soon as I slide my fingers against my clit, I hear Nate’s booming voice, startling me like I was just caught watching porn. Not that he can see me, but still.

“Alana, what the fuck are you doing? We’re waiting for you!” he yells, pounding a hand along the wooden wall of the shower.

“I’m getting off!” I scream back, and he lets out a hard laugh.

“You better not be doing that in my shower,” he replies, disgust lacing his words, and I can almost picture his face all scrunched up and bothered.

“I’m not,” I lie, rolling my eyes, the ache between my thighs hating me for giving up so easily. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

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