Page 93 of Reckless Hearts

Tanner, Miles and Kai all wrap her in a group hug next, with Alana caught in the middle before Sloane and Daisy barge through and pull her into their arms, laughing and crying and yelling with excitement. When Matt and Owen have also said their congrats, I pull her back to me, not giving a shit that I am now as soaked as she is. We all then turn to the scoreboard.

Alana is still buzzing in my arms, her back to my front, as we wait for the numbers to flash up. When they do, my heart practically crashes through my ribcage with pride. My arms tighten as we watch the ten, ten, nine, nine flash up on the screen.

“Oh my god,” she breathes out, turning to me.

My grin is huge as I say, “A near-perfect score.”

“Flynn, oh my god,” she says again, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Breathe, babe,” I whisper, dropping my forehead to hers. “You did it, you placed third.”

“I did it,” she repeats.

“You know what this means, right?” I ask, smiling when she shakes her head. “You’re in, Alana. You get to surf the comps, turn pro, all of it. You did it! You fucking did it, babe!”

She smiles, tears streaming down her cheeks again as she grabs my face and kisses me hard. “Thank you, Flynn. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Chuckling, I reply, “I didn’t do anything. This is all you.”

“No,” she says, shaking her head again. “You did everything. You stayed, you chose me.”

“Always.”

We all stay to watch the finals, cheering when Kristy Swanson, the Aussie girl, beats the Brazilian who knocked Alana out of the semis. For the first time in a long time, Jade doesn’t even place. She doesn’t stick around for the presentation either, and I don’t feel guilty about any of it.

When Alana’s name is called and she steps up to receive her bronze medal, I swear the cheers can probably be heard onOahu. The smile on her face is huge, and she scans the crowd, taking in all of the familiar faces, all those who have been with her, supported her this whole time. When her gaze lands on me, I wink, her smile changing to something that’s just for me as she touches her fingers to her lips before pointing them at me.

“Man, you two have it bad,” Owen teases, elbowing me in the side.

Laughing, I turn to him. “She was worth the risk,” I tell him, before tipping my head in Sloane’s direction. “Maybe she is too?”

Owen laughs, shaking his head as his gaze moves to where Sloane stands with Daisy, the two of them waving at Alana. “Oh, I already know she’s worth the risk,” he says, almost as though he’s talking to himself.

“You gonna take it then?” I ask, knowing every risk I took was worth it to get to this point.

He turns to me, a cheeky grin on his face. “I will, yeah. When the time is right, I will.”

“Don’t wait too long,” I tease, as the presentation starts to wrap up.

“Nah, I won’t,” Owen says, bumping his shoulder into mine as he moves over to where Sloane and Daisy stand.

Alana finally comes down, the medal now hanging around her neck and a huge bunch of flowers in her hand as she walks toward me. I sling an arm around her shoulders and pull her close, pressing a kiss to her temple. “So you wanna get out of here and go celebrate?” I ask.

“Celebrate you and me or celebrate everyone?” she asks, a huge smile on her face.

“Both?” I suggest with a laugh.

Alana grins, nodding in agreement, but as we turn to go, we’re stopped by one of the reps from Billabong.

“Flynn, hey, good to see you again,” he says, shaking my hand as he offers me a smile. Trent and I go way back. He’s a reallynice guy, was one of the last to let me go when my career started to tank.

“You too, Trent,” I reply. “Have you met Alana Hale?” I now ask, turning my attention toward my girlfriend. “She just placed third. As an amateur.”

Trent chuckles, shaking Alana’s hand. “I know, I saw. Congrats, it’s actually why I’m here,” he says to her.

“Oh?” she asks, swallowing hard, and I have to bite back the smile when I realize she’s actually nervous.

I swear, this girl can surf a double overhead no problem, but put a rep from one of the biggest surfing brands in the world in front of her, and this is what gets her nervous.

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