Page 50 of Reckless Hearts

I laugh. “Right, but she doesn’t feel the same way?”

“Yet,” Owen clarifies with a grin. “Or maybe she does, who knows. Either way, I’m working on it. Just gotta be patient, Flynn. And eventually she’ll realize I’m worth a shot. Or the risk anyway.”

Owen’s words rumble around inside my brain, tempting me, pushing me to wonder if maybe I could find a way to make things work with Alana. Right now, I’m just being reckless and stupid, driven by my obsessive desire to be with her.

And while yeah, the sex between us is amazing, I know it’s way more than that.

But right now, to her, maybe it just feels like a holiday hook up. A holiday hook up that has the potential to ruin her dreams of surfing competitively.

So maybe I need to find a way to prove it’s more than that.

Sage walks into the shop,a smile on her now permanently tanned face, and she’s literally a constant reminder of her dad, Mitch, with those striking blue eyes. I love having her here, and if I’m being honest, seeing her on a daily basis is one of the reasons I decided to get back into training. Her glowing blue eyes hit home, like Mitch is still here, encouraging me on.

“Hey,” she calls out, hopping up onto the old surfboard counter her dad constructed when she reaches me. “You okay?” she narrows her eyes, scanning my face, and clearly all that crying I did last night is apparent.

“Just overwhelmed,” I reply with my same rehearsed response and while somewhat true, it isn’t the real reason.

“Yeah, Sloane told me you were feeling that way. Anything I can do to help? Maybe a girls’ night? Movies, wine, pizza, sleepover?” she suggests, beaming at the idea. We haven’t done one since she relocated here, and we said we would.

Nate can be kind of possessive over Sage, and not in that creepy, stalkerish, toxic way, but more in that way that he always wants her to himself. He’s attached to her, and I love it. Shemakes him feel safe and loved, something he’s sought for so long, finding it in Sage after Mitch’s death.

“Actually, that’s probably exactly what I need,” I tell her, thinking how I do just need to unplug and do something other than obsess over Flynn. “You wanna check with Nate and see if it’s cool?”

Sage hits me with the most ridiculous look and sends me into a fit of laughter, with her brow cocked and her lips curled up on one side like Elvis.

“I hope that was a joke,” she quips, shaking her head. “I’m not checking in with him. I’ll just tell him I’m spending the night with you and the girls. He doesn’t really get a say.” She lets out a huff, again with a head shake just as Nate walks in.

He’s carrying a board under each arm, his T-shirt covered in fiberglass and epoxy shavings, obviously from out back doing board repairs.

“Hey, Alana, mark down that Smith’s and Bennett’s board repairs are done, and give them a call, please,” he says, placing the boards on the rack at the back of the store. “Tanner is bringing in a few custom orders he finished up today too. I gotta go meet with a customer in a bit to get down some ideas for another custom board. You good here alone for a bit?”

“Sage is here,” I say, motioning to her as her legs swing, still sitting on the counter. “But yeah, I’m all good.”

Nate comes over, stepping between Sage’s legs. He wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her to him as he kisses her.

“She has class,” Nate says, his words muffled as he buries his face in her neck. Sometimes they are so stupidly affectionate that it makes me want to gag. But I guess in a way, they are super cute too.

Nate was never like this with anyone until he met Sage, and even though he was super pissed at me for calling her when her dad died, he has me to thank for them getting together. I remindhim of this every chance I get because it annoys him, and he’s fun to annoy.

“Get a room, you two,” I playfully grumble, and my mind flashes to Flynn, wishing like hell we could be like this. Out and not giving a shit who knows. “You’re making everyone uncomfortable.”

Nate looks around the shop; it’s quiet with only a couple of customers roaming around. We won’t get busy until after the morning rush of surfers comes pouring in from the water. Surfers are early risers, and all of them are out on the water right now.

“Whatever,” he grumbles, his typical grumpy persona coming through, and it always makes me smile. Sage brings out the best in him, and he can try his best to fight it, but she will always make him into the perfect guy.

“I do have class, but after that, I’m spending the night with Alana and the girls,” Sage mentions, and without missing a beat, without questioning it, Nate nods, kissing her cheek.

“Have fun. I’ll see what the guys are up to. Maybe they want to hang out without all your female hormones ruining our evening.”

He’s such a sarcastic dick, but I love him.

“Make sure you invite Flynn,” Sage says, as if she needs to remind Nate to be nice to their guest and disregarding his jab about female hormones.

I doubt she needs to remind him with this one. Nate seems to be enamored, caught up in the fact that he has a world champion surfer staying in his guest house. I have to admit, it’s easy to be star-struck when we’ve grown up surfing, obsessed with champion surfers like Flynn. And meeting one in person at an event or whatever is great, but having one staying here, locally, is epic.

“What about Flynn?” I hear a voice call, and there he is, coming through the door, a coffee cup in his hand, and my knees nearly buckle at the sight of him.

Why does he have to look like everything I want but I can’t have? He even carries a cup of iced coffee like a fucking god, the ice melting from the heat of his body. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself because it couldn’t possibly be the Hawaiian heat.

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