Page 31 of Fragile Hearts

“Find one that lets me be shirtless,” Owen replies like this is a possibility. “Sloane doesn’t seem to mind. Right, Sloane?”

I swallow hard. Fuck me, I don’t mind at all.

I head back up to the reception area after my last lesson of the day, grinning when I see Sloane still behind the counter. I know she must be close to finishing her shift, given how early she started.

“Hey,” I say, sauntering up, not missing the way her gaze drops to my bare chest before lifting to meet mine. Seriously, if this is what gets her looking at me, I will happily go shirtless for the rest of my life.

“Done with your lessons?” she asks.

“Yep,” I reply. “And now you and I are going surfing,” I tell her.

“We are?” she asks, narrowing her brow. “I don’t even have my board here.”

Grinning, I give her a wink as I say, “Yeah, you do. I brought it with me. You got a suit, or should we swing by the gift shop and grab you one?” I ask, jerking my thumb in the direction of the shop that stocks pretty much everything you could possibly need for a day by the pool or on the beach.

Sloane smirks. “I always have a suit on me.”

Chuckling, I hold out my hand to her. “Well, in that case, let’s go, gorgeous.”

Ten minutes later, we are down at the beach that’s in front of the hotel. It’s not a huge break, but it’s not a bad one either. Pretty much perfect for giving inexperienced hotel guests lessons, even if it’s the kind of break Sloane and I could surf in our sleep.

“How was the rest of your day?” I ask after we paddle out to where the swell is breaking.

Sloane looks over at me, a smile on her face. “Good, your mom gave me a heap of kalua pork to take home.”

“Yes!” I shout, fist-pumping the air just as the waves surge beneath us. “You ready?”

Sloane nods, her smile widening as we both lie down on our boards and get ready to catch the wave. Surfing is something I have been doing for as long as I can remember, having learned when I was a kid and then joining Mitch’s surf school later on when Miles joined up.

I’ve never wanted to do it professionally like Alana or Flynn though, but I can’t deny the rush I feel every time I catch a wave. And surfing with Sloane...fuck, that’s pretty much the best thing ever.

“You good?” I call out as she stands on her board, slicing through the wave in front of me.

Sloane turns back, looking at me over her shoulder, a huge smile on her face as she calls out, “Think you can keep up?”

Chuckling, I pop up on my board, following after her as the two of us ride the wave into shore. I don’t take my eyes off her, watching to keep enough space between us so I don’t drop in on her and watching because I just can’t look away.

“Not bad,” she says as we reach the shallow water and hop off our boards.

“Not bad yourself,” I say with a laugh. “Go again?”

Sloane grins. “For sure.”

We spend an hour or so surfing together, the two of us riding most of the waves together. It feels so easy and relaxed, just hanging out with her like this, and if nothing else, I am really glad her living with me has brought us closer as friends.

Even if every single part of me wants us to be more than that.

My attraction to Sloane is not something I can really describe because I can’t really remember a time when it wasn’t there. And it’s not just about how she looks either, even if she is undeniably gorgeous. It’s all the other things about her too: her loyalty to her friends, how hard she works and how much she wants to make something of herself.

Everything about her is attractive to me.

“You good?” I ask, forcing myself to stop fantasizing as I grab my board and tuck it under my arm.

She laughs, doing the same thing. “Yeah, I mean I could surf more, but I’m also starving.”

“Yes, and we have kalua pork to stuff ourselves on,” I say, loving Sundays at Orchid Bay because of the luau my mom and dad put on for the guests. The pork is always insanely good, and I know every employee fights to get leftovers to bring home.

It doesn’t surprise me that my mom gave some to Sloane, and I know it’s got nothing to do with the fact she’s living with me. My parents adore her. They have ever since she started working for them and long before they found out about my crush on her.

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