Page 29 of Poseidon's Island Flower

I fist pumped the air, jumping from the bed. My feet slapped the hard wooded floors, and I winced because my thigh jiggled in just the right spot for the bandage to rub against the massive strawberry.

I hissed at the same time my phone rang and tumbled back onto the bed to reach it. I fumbled, falling on my side, and flipped off the bed.

Woah, graceful much?

The phone continued to ring, mocking me while I pulled at the still made bed.

As I got my bearings, I saw Koma’s name flash across the screen. There was no disappointment that it wasn’t Cy, but there was a flash of red that had me seething.

My brother was supposed to call me last night to let me know he made it, and he was calling me now? Noon the next day?

Wow, I slept awhile.

I angrily pressed the green button and growled a heated hello.

“Lani are you okay!?” he yelled.

I pulled the phone away, making sure I was still talking to Koma. Koma never yelled, and he never panicked over anything. Mainly because I took care of everything, but that was beside the point.

“I’m fine, you okay?” I threw it on speaker, grabbing my keys and a protein drink from the fridge. “Do I need to come get you? Is everything alright? Did someone make fun of you? Take your lunch money? I’ll kill them!”

Koma sighed into the phone. “I’m fine, I’m checking on you, Nini. What the hell happened yesterday? Kal called me, saying you got sucked out into the ocean and some stranger had to save you. He doesn’t know how the little shrimp did it, but he did.”

I sighed, putting my keys on the counter. I guess Lani wasn’t coming to the rescue because now it seemed I was going to have to be rescued. “I’m fine, Koma. Yeah, I got swept out into a wicked undertow, but this guy saved me. His, uh, friend? I guess? Was a doctor, checked me over, and I came home last night, when you were supposed to call by the way.” I slammed the protein drink on the counter.

“Who the hell is Cy? What kind of name is that?”

I shook my head. “Excuse me? How did you know his name?”

“I heard you passed out. Did he cop a feel? Kal said there was another guy there, some roid eating goon that stared at Candice like he was fucking her with his eyes. What the hell is going on Lani?” Koma roared.

I don’t think I’ve ever had Koma yell at me in his life. This was a whole new Koma I’d never heard before, so I flipped it to the video mode, and he immediately accepted it.

His hair was a mess, his eyes were red, and his mouth was pursed into a thin line. “Koma?” I gasped. “Are you on drugs?” Because how else could he be acting like this? “Oh god, did they make you take steroids to bulk up?”

Koma rolled his eyes, a lip curling at the corner. “No, Lani, I’m fucking worried about you. I was gone a day and the whole island is a mess about this freak tsunami wave they can’t find the source of.”

“Language,” I chastised. “The entire island?”

“Yeah, it was on the news. They can’t find the source where the earthquake came from, and they are worried it will happen again. Sharks were thrown up on the beach, Lani. Where have you been?”

Wrapped up in some hot, red-haired merman’s arms with a thick beard, and hot muscles with a trickle of scales down his arms. And masturbating, there had been a lot of masturbating.

“I got swept under, Koma. I don’t remember much of anything until I woke up with a group of bystanders making sure I was okay. This vacationer, Cy, saved me, and his friends helped patched me up, so I didn’t go to the hospital.”

Koma heaved a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “I think you should go get checked out. You could have gotten a concussion. You were out for a while, weren’t you?”

“I can take care of myself. Why are you worrying all of a sudden?” I laughed.

Koma’s eyes shifted accusingly. “Because I’m not there! I’m gone for less than twenty-four hours, and you get sucked out into the ocean. I’m normally there to protect you and now you are home alone, aren’t you? Did Candice even stay to make sure you didn’t need help last night?”

“Koma,” I snapped. “You are not in charge of me. I can handle myself just fine. I am the one who should be angry. You didn’t call me last night! And maybe then you would have heard what had happened from me and not from Kal.”

Koma’s eyes softened, and he swore again.

“Language,” I muttered. Not that he cared.

Neither of us looked each other in the eye. I’d never thought Koma saw me as someone he needed to protect and look out for. I thought I was looking out for him. Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

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