Page 41 of The Tides Between Us

Nico nodded, but he already knew most of this. He wasn’t an idiot. I didn’t need him to tell me he did whatever internet research he could to find out anything about me. It wasn’t like he would have had to look too hard. Although, none of it was anything about my personal life.

“What brings you to Orchid City?”

I pointed to my left shoulder. “At a tournament in Oahu, I lost my balance and dislocated my shoulder. I decided to come stay with my brother and do all of my rehab here with his friend who is a physical therapist.”

“Ah, yes. Your brother, Adrian. He’s a damn good doctor. We’re lucky to have him on the team.”

“He is,” I agreed, pausing for a moment. “You didn’t question him about me at all?”

Nico shook his head and smiled. “I didn’t want someone else’s thoughts on you. I wanted to meet you myself to be able to form my own opinion on you.”

“I like that,” I told him, smiling back. We fell into a moment of silence that stretched between us before Nico spoke again.

“I’ll be honest, I know enough about your professional career. It’s impressive as hell.” He turned to face me completely in a nonconfrontational manner. “I want to know your intentions with my sister. Giana is all I have besides Harper and those other fuckers over there. I’m not here to threaten you, but I need to know where this is going because the last thing I’m going to do is stand by and wait for my sister to get hurt.”

I stared back at him and spoke with no hesitation. “I have no intention of breaking your sister’s heart. The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt her.”

“She likes you, Declan. A lot.” He let out a ragged breath. “If you aren’t serious about this between you and her, you need to let her go now. I know my sister. I’ve never seen her like this with anyone before, and that’s exactly how I know she’s falling for you—if she hasn’t already. Her feelings for you are deep. You need to end it now if the feelings aren’t mutual.”

“I’m all in, Nico.” I paused for a moment, collecting my thoughts before I rambled a bunch of nonsense and poured all of my feelings for her to him. “Giana is the most amazing person I’ve ever met. She has completely captivated me. I have no intentions of ever breaking her heart, because I am in deeper than I even imagined to be possible. I’m all in with her. I just haven’t exactly told her yet.”

Nico studied me. “I’m glad to hear that. I just have one more question.” He turned his head to look back up to where Giana was sitting before looking back to me. “I imagine when your shoulder is healed, you will be going back to the West Coast.”

There it was. I had a feeling this would be coming from him. And it was something that had been lingering in the back of my mind, the farther Giana pulled me into her swell.

I let out a soft breath and nodded. “That was the plan. I was only supposed to be staying here until my shoulder was healed and I could go back to finish some of the tournaments I’m already registered for.”

“And what happens with Giana then? Will you ask her to go with you or will you leave her behind?”

I swallowed roughly, shaking my head. “I’ve been trying to not think about it. She has an entire life built here. The last thing I want to do is uproot her. I could travel back and forth.” I stopped and let out a sigh as my shoulders hung heavily in defeat. “I haven’t figured it out.”

Nico frowned slightly as he stared at me, but a knowing look took over his expression. “I get it. These damn professional sports… it’s what we’ve worked so hard for our entire lives, but priorities can change so easily when the heart gets involved.”

I was appreciative of his comment, of him letting me into his own thoughts for a moment. He played hockey professionally. There were many days and nights spent on the road, flying around the country for other games.

“Is it hard on Harper when you have to travel?”

Nico shook his head. “Not anymore. It was at first, but she’s grown used to the lifestyle. We make it work and she does travel with me sometimes.”

“I’m glad the two of you are able to make it work.”

“Me too,” he said softly and nodded. “Although, we’re not living on two opposite sides of the country. If things are really getting this serious between you and my sister, I think it’s a conversation worth having sooner than rather later. She needs to know what she’s getting into, especially if you plan on going back and staying there.”

He was right. I turned back to look at Giana who was watching the two of us. I smiled at her and her lips stretched into a warm smile as she lifted her hand to wave me over.

“I’m sure it’s killing her, not knowing what we’re talking about right now.” Nico chuckled as he turned to face the group. “Although, I’m sure she knows I’m questioning you on your intentions.”

“She’s definitely going to be asking me about it later.”

Nico looked back at me once more. “I like you, Declan. Don’t fuck this up and don’t break my sister’s fucking heart. I have no problem breaking every bone in your body if I have to.”

I smiled back at him and extended my hand to his. “I give you permission to do so if I do, but I can assure you that won’t be necessary.”

He took my hand and shook it. “I can deal with that.”

We released one another’s hands and began to walk back up the beach toward everyone. Giana’s gaze held mine and she smiled up at me as I stopped in front of her. Her ocean blue eyes explored mine with so many questions, but there was more lingering in her irises. She looked at me the way I loved. The way I wanted her to always look at me.

I wouldn’t be breaking her heart, so I needed to find a way to make this work. There had to be a solution to this and if it came down to choosing between Giana and surfing, my heart had already made its decision.

---