Page 14 of Totally Wrecked
“WHOA!”
Killian grins and keeps thrusting. “Feel good?”
“Heaven, I’m on the ladder to heaven.” And then I really am, a new sensation builds inside me. It starts at my toes, or maybe my scalp, it’s hard to tell because my whole body is throbbing, building, pulsing, aching, and then…
I shatter into a million pieces. Killian shatters into a million pieces. Together our atoms swirl around the room in a dance of absolute ecstasy until finally they regroup into our individual forms and I'm left panting, breathless, on the king-size hotel bed with a beautiful, blissed-out Irishman flopped next to me.
I’m in a king-size hotel bed, with a beautiful Irishman, on an island in the middle of the south pacific.
I feel as if I've finally found where I’m meant to be.
REX
My cousin Nanda is waiting for me at the end of the dock when I arrive; it’s 6.30am. This can’t be good.
“Nanda?”
“Hey, Rex. It’s OK, Nikau is OK, it’s not that.” She saw the look on my face. “I need to ask you a favor.”
“Sure, anything, always.”
She smiles, obviously relieved. I’m glad to do whatever I can for Nanda; she has enough on her plate.
“Can Keyara spend the day with you? There’s a consultant on the island today, and he’s going to see Nikau, and I want to be there. Mama was going to have Keyara but…”
But.Yeah, no need to go further into that but. Mama? Not so reliable.
“Of course I’ll have her, but I have a charter today. Off to the southern atolls. We won’t be back until really late—is that OK?”
She pulls a strand of hair into her mouth and chews on it. I pull it away from her face and frown. Her trichorhizophagia gets out of hand when she’s stressed. And Nanda is stressed a lot of the time.
“How long will you be out?” she asks.
“Ten hours, give or take?” Ten hours at sea, and half of those are going to be spent with a load of LA douche-bags.
“That’ll be OK, I’ll pack her a lot of books. What time do you set sail?”
“Eight.”
She throws her arms around me, “Then I’ll run home and grab Key; you know she’ll be no problem. Rex, you are a lifesaver. What would have happened to us all if you hadn’t decided to take over from Nikau?”
“You’d have figured it out, like you always do,” I reply, kissing her on the top of her curly, thinning head.
I’m happy to help, of course I am. I love my cousin Nanda. I say cousin, but she is actually my second cousin. But whatever. Our grandmas were sisters. My gran left Samoa when she was eighteen, but her sister, Rina, stayed. I’ve met various Samoan relatives over the years, but Nanda, her husband Nikau, and their daughter Keyara are my favorites. When I heard Nikau had to go through chemo, it was an easy decision to come south and help out.
Shaking my head, I try to get my brain in order. So we now have four or maybe five people chartered—the TV production lady was a little unclear—and little Keyara.
I shoot Gray a text, telling him to pick up mango juice and cheese sticks. Keyara lives on that stuff. She’s a good kid; small for her age, and a shy bookworm, but me and the guys are always happy to have her around.
More than happy.
She reminds us we have something worth living for.
DAISY
“Daisy…Daisy…”
I flap my hand around but keep my eyes closed, all I can think about is sleep. I need more sleep.
