Page 16 of Paradise

six

LOGAN

Iend up sleeping for twelve hours, waking up at 8am to the sun rising and blinding me through the balcony doors that are still wide open. Carson is passed out next to me, the blankets wrapped around his waist and his chest bare. He’s radiating so much heat that I feel like I’m suffocating next to him, so I grab the arm he has thrown over my chest and set it down at his side before I toss the blankets off and step out of bed.

Coffee. I need coffee.

I yawn as I walk barefoot out onto the balcony to look out at the ocean, and lean against the railing while I let sleep fade from my mind.

It really is beautiful here; I’ve never seen anything like it. Vacations were few and far between growing up. The farthest I’ve gone is visiting my aunt in Texas, so it feels unreal that I’m actually this far from home for the first time.

This place is paradise, and I already find myself never wanting to leave. The beach is so different here as I look out at its landscape. The ocean is calmer, the sand is lighter, the greenery is brighter. I love the little slice of heaven Carson and I have made our spot out on the beach back home, but I think we could find the same peace and happiness on this beach too.

Carson always tells me to listen to the ocean, to let it calm me when things are crazy or my mind is too busy, so I close my eyes and do that now, listening intently as the waves crash against the sand in the distance. He’s made me love the feel of the beach almost as much as he does, and it’s become my home away from home.

I never thought I would be anyone but the girl from the hood, but with Carson at my side, I’ve grown stronger, prouder, just…more.

He tells me I’m his moon, shining bright and controlling his world. But if I’m his moon, then he’s my sun, and I wholly revolve around him.

I never wanted to be one of those girls who relies on a boy, who has a life that would feel incomplete without someone… But Carson? He’s my soul. He completes me, fitting into the missing pieces inside of me and making me whole.

Taking a deep breath in, I let the morning air fill my lungs until they may burst, and then I blow it out slowly.

Carson’s hands wrapping around my waist startle me, and my eyes pop open just as he’s pressing his bare chest to my back. His mouth lands in my hair as his gravelly morning voice greets me. “Good morning, beautiful.”

I lean my head back onto his. “Good morning.”

His hands wrap around my stomach, and he links his fingers together. “Sleep well?”

“Besides the fact it’s like sleeping with a furnace, I slept great.” I grin.

He laughs. “I didn’t even hear if Levi came knocking in the night, did you?”

“He came by around 2am, but I ignored him.”

Humming, he kisses my head before his hands release and slide around my hips to my thighs. He presses against my ass, showing me that he’s hard, which makes me laugh. I shuffle away from him, heading for the door, making him pout. “I’m going to take a shower, horndog. I’m sweaty and smell like the plane.”

He smirks. “Can I come with you?”

Rolling my eyes, I walk over the threshold into the room with him hot on my tail. “You can, but I’m going to shower and get ready for the day.”

“Logan,” he gripes, following me to the bathroom. “You don’t even have to do anything, just bend over and take it.”

“Wow.” I look at him with lifted brows, turning the water on for the shower. “That’sromantic.”

Laughing, he slips his shorts down his legs so his erection springs free. “Baby, look at him. He misses you.”

I slide open the glass door for the shower, pointing at the bench at the edge of the tile. “You can sit right there and jerk off while I shower.”

That gets me a dirty look. “You wanna talk tomeabout romance?”

I laugh, peeling my shirt over my head and then pulling my shorts down before I step under the water. “C’mon, caveman.”

* * *

There’s a knock at our hotel room door around 9, and when I open it, Sara is standing there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

“Good morning!”

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