Page 64 of Reckless Hearts

“Whatever I want?” she asks, a playful tone in her voice.

Chuckling, I slip my hands to her arse, grabbing it hard as I pull her against me. “Whatever you want,” I repeat, just as my phone starts up again. “Fuck my life,” I groan.

She smiles, cupping my face in her hands and pulling me in for a kiss. “Go sort her out, I’ll see you tonight.”

She moves to pull away from me, but I tighten my grip, holding her close as I kiss her again, hard and deep this time. Alana smiles against my mouth, her fingers sliding into my hair.

“We might have unleashed a dragon giving into this,” she murmurs against my mouth.

“Don’t care,” I reply.

She laughs, gently easing me back. “Go! I’ll see you tonight.”

“Ugh,” I groan, smacking her arse. “Okay, I’m gone. Laters, babe.”

“Bye.”

As I walk outside, I fire off a text to Jade, knowing it’s going to piss her off, but not giving a shit anyway.

Me: Meet me at Pe’ahi in 15 mins. Bring your board.

Before I leave, I grab a coffee from the shop next door to The Pipe Dream, not bothering to get Jade her oat milk fucking latte because like I said, I am not her assistant before climbing into my hire car and heading to the beach.

On the drive over, my mind wanders back to last night, to Alana showing up at my house, to the hours we spent together between my sheets. I fucking loved falling asleep with her in my arms and then waking up to her still in my bed.

Jesus, how the fuck am I going to leave her after Pipe is over?

I’ve been so focused on all the reasons why I can’t be with Alana, struggling with the repercussions of us giving in to that and then just being with her anyway, that I haven’t stopped to think that in a few weeks, Pipe will have been won, and I’ll be expected to move on with Jade to the next competition.

“Fuck,” I mutter to myself as I pull into the small carpark by the beach, having no idea how to deal with that. Grabbing my coffee, I get out of the car, glancing at my board which is still in the back. I’d bet money that Jade isn’t here yet, and it would be the perfect time to catch a couple of waves.

A honk behind me kills that idea, and when I turn, I see Jade pulling in, a huge smile on her face as she waves at me.

“Aloha!” she calls out, and I lift my coffee to my mouth in an attempt to hide the eye roll. “Did you get my latte?” she now asks as she gets out of the car and walks toward me.

“No,” I reply, and she stops in her tracks, a confused look on her face. “Get your board. We’re training, not having coffee.”

I turn and head toward the beach, knowing I’m probably being a bit of a dick, but I don’t care. Jade hasn’t just shown up here on Maui early and ruined my holiday, she’s also ruined my morning with Alana, and she was a bitch to her the other day, so this is the Flynn she’s getting today.

Jade drags her feet down to the beach, a sour pout on her face that I know means she’s annoyed with me. It’s a look I’ve seen before and one her dad used to recognize too, telling her to snap out of it and pay attention anytime it crossed her face. I miss the days when he used to travel with us.

“Get started on your warm-up while I check the break,” I say, waving my hand in a vague gesture before I walk down to the water. I scan the horizon, my eyes taking in the huge swell, my whole body itching to get out there and surf it. This place is known as Jaws, and it’s not hard to see why.

“Ready,” Jade snaps a few minutes later, standing beside me in her swimmers and rashie, board tucked under her arm, a pissed off look on her face.

“I want you out there,” I say, gesturing just to the side of where we stand. “Look for thirds in each set, and I want you practicing both stances.”

She lets out a huff because she hates when I make her do this. Jade is very technical in her surfing, like she’s reading a textbook and following it to the letter. She lacks the natural talent and improvisation that Alana has, and because of that, she doesn’t like to try anything new, and she doesn’t ever surf unconventionally.

I turn to her, taking another sip of my coffee. “You need to do this if you want a shot at winning Pipe, Jade,” I say, my eyes meeting hers. “This isn’t an easy break, and you know it, and you need to be prepared to mix it up.”

She lets out another huff, pouting a little as she says, “Okay, I know.”

“Alright,” I say with a nod. “Then get out there and show me.”

After surfing, Jade and I grab lunch to go over her training schedule now she’s decided to show up here early. I know she probably thought she could have a holiday like I am, but I’m not giving her that. When we’re done with lunch, I send her back to her hotel with a reminder to hit up the gym later.

“I will,” she whines before smiling up at me. “You wanna grab dinner after? You can show me some of the cool places you’ve found.”

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