Page 1 of Wild Hearts

CHAPTER ONE

Wren

JANUARY

BAD IDEA, WREN. This is a bad idea!

I shiver in the fading heat of the bonfire as Brady pulls me away, but the heat from the fire is nothing compared to the sparks shooting through where his fingers are laced in mine. Idon’twant it getting back to Ivy that I’ve taken off from the party with her brother. The last thing I need is for her to find out I’ve been sneaking around with him for the last two weeks. Although she’s likely too busy with her boyfriend to even notice I’m missing.

“Where are we going?” I ask, breathing in the salty sea air as we weave in and out of the maze that is the surf club parking lot.

Brady discovered some pretty life-altering news about his dad two weeks ago. Ever since he told me what happened, he’s refused to talk about it again, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m just a distraction to him. I want to ask him about it, but I think I’m terrified to hear the truth.

Brady turns, offering a swoon-worthy, dimpled grin that I’ve watched thousands of girls simp over this summer... and last summer... and the summer before that...

“It’s a surprise, Rookie.”

Rookie... the childhood nickname that only he calls me. The way it rolls off his tongue causes all thoughts of his dad to disappear from my head. I stumble slightly, my white Converse sneakers slipping on some loose gravel. Brady slows, putting his hand on my waist to support me, settling just above my denim cut-offs. His fingers brush under my loose white tank top, and my body ignites at his touch. I suck in my breath.

Fuck! Is this really happening?

I’ve been crushing on Brady since I was twelve and my family started coming to Blue Haven for our summer vacations. We bought a holiday house in a small beach town twenty minutes south of Ballina, New South Wales. It’s just across the road from the Willis home, and I’ll never forget the moment we pulled up in the driveway that first summer. My eyes locked on the ridiculously cute teenage boy waxing his surfboard in the front yard. It was like the whole world was suddenly bathed in technicolour. I didn’t even notice the blonde girl my age doing cartwheels and back handsprings behind him.

Ivy had raced across the street, and we’d become fast friends, so naturally she dragged me across the road to meet her big brother. My twelve-year-old heart almost beat right out of my chest when he blinked up at me with those beautiful sea green eyes and said, “Welcome to Blue Haven, Rookie.” I don’t even know how I managed to stutter out my name, but it didn’t matter because he only called me Rookie from then on.

Brady was a lanky fourteen-year-old with spiked-up hair who didn’t want his annoying younger sister hanging around him. For the next three summers my mouth would go dry and I would become a stuttering mess any time he entered a room. Ivy rolled her eyes and made fun of me, but it didn’t matter; Brady had no interest in a lovesick child.

However, something changed the summer I turned fifteen. Seventeen-year-old Brady no longer rolled his eyes when Ivy asked if we could tag along to the beach with him. He would shrug and fold his arms across his chest as he leaned up against the front door and waited for us to grab our beach bags.

When I returned the following summer, at sixteen, Ivy had started dating Lachy Rossi, the sexy younger brother of Brady’s best friend, Jordan. I would watch on wistfully as all the older girls vied for the boys’ attention, hoping Brady would notice me the way I noticed him.

So pathetic!

But now, I’m seventeen and it seems hehasnoticed me. I’m the one pressed up against his muscular chest, with his fingers sending shockwaves through my body that travel right down to my tightening thighs.

Holy shit!

Brady guides me across the quiet main street of Blue Haven, past the surf shop, Patty’s Shack, the bakery, and the café, all the while keeping one hand on my lower back. We keep walking until we come to a stop outside –

“The ice-cream store?” My eyebrows lift.

Brady chuckles. “Jordan gave me the keys.”

Jordan and Lachy’s parents opened What’s the Scoop?! ice-creamery when they moved from Italy ten years ago. Their home-made gelato has people flocking to Blue Haven to try it.

“Oh-kay...” I say slowly, my brows furrowing. I don’t know where I expected him to take me, but this was not it. “But what are we doing here? All of our friends are back at the beach enjoying the last weekend of the summer holidays.”

Tomorrow I’ll be getting in the car with my parents and driving eight hours back to Newcastle to complete my final year of high school. Brady lives in Blue Haven, so I won’t see him again until next summer when I move back here permanently to attend Blue Haven University with Ivy.

“I wanted to spend some time alone with you, and I know you’re worried about what Ivy might think of us.” Brady runs one hand through his thick, dark hair, the other comes up to rest on the back of his neck. I’ve never seen Brady Willis look unsure of himself before.

If only that was the only thing bothering me. I don’t know how Ivy will react if she finds out I’m alone with her brother. She’s never explicitly said he’s off limits... but I’m also terrified that hooking up with Brady will just end in heartbreak. I mean, surely he’s not in the right frame of mind...

“Brady?” I breathe out, placing my hand on his arm. “Have you spoken to your da–”

He silences me with a finger over my mouth and a shake of his head. “I just want to forget about him tonight, focus on us.”

A shiver of pleasure runs down my spine and for a moment we stand there, gazing into each other’s eyes until he steps away to unlock the door. I push away my fears, letting him pull me inside before he shuts and locks the door. The moon shines through the window behind me, lighting up the booths. The pastel colours give the ice-creamery a happy, tranquil feel. It’s kind of like being inside a scoop of rainbow ice-cream.

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