Page 71 of Beyond The Break

I frown and pull away from her, opening my mouth to ask her why, but my question is cut short when the pancake drops from the ceiling and lands on my shoulder. Eliana bursts into laughter again and this time I join in.

“These arethe best damn pancakes I’ve ever had in my life.” My words are muffled as I chew a mouth full of Eliana’s pancakes. “Can you teach me how to make them? I wasn’t paying attention earlier.”

She laughs. “One day.”

A groan from the staircase pulls our attention as Zale walks down the stairs wearing black sunglasses. He looks like shit as he slightly hunches over and wobbles over to us.

“Please, someone stop the loud banging in my head.” He drops his head to the cold counter as he takes a seat next to me.

“You should try a pancake, they’re magical.” I point at my plate with my fork, and he makes a disgusted face.

“Unless you want to help me clean my throw up, I suggest you stop talking about food.”

He buries his face into his arms just as Koa comes down the stairs and joins us. He looks like shit but nowhere near as bad as Zale.

“You guys are so lucky I know how to steer a boat,” he grumbles, walking over to the coffee machine and preparing a fresh pot of coffee, “I would’ve crashed into the dock if I was listening to any of the pointers Maliah was trying to give me.”

“Excuse you,” Maliah says, emerging from the staircase, “If it wasn’t for my pointers, you would have crashed into the dock.”

“That’s not true,” Koa counters.

“It’s true.” She pulls out a mug from the cabinet and places it next to his.

I stop chewing and stare at them both, my eyes about to pop out of my sockets. Eliana nudges me with her elbow and when I look over to her, her expression mirrors mine.

“Did you two fuck last night?” I ask, placing my fork down next to my plate. “This is the first time in a year that I’ve seen you two have a somewhat civil conversation.”

“Nothing happened,” Maliah stares at my shoulder, “why is there pancake batter on your shirt?”

Eliana snorts beside me. “It’s a long story, but don’t think I didn’t notice you change the subject.”

I narrow my eyes at Koa who is doing an amazing job at pretending to read the nutrition facts of the coffee beans he’s holding, though his eyes aren’t moving and a small smile tugs at his lips.

“Wait, was that moaning I heard last night you two?” Zale asks, lifting his head from his arms. “I thought it was them!” He points to me and Eliana.

Maliah swings her body to face him. “Zale Evans, how dare you say that?” she shouts.

He grabs his head into his hands and groans. “Please don’t yell. If it wasn’t you two then it was them.”

He points in our direction, Eliana shifting on her feet. “It wasn’t us,” I say, “we slept on my boat last night.”

“Well, who else could it have been?” He frowns.

“Morning,” Kairi’s gentle voice says from the stairs.

Everyone looks up and watches as she descends the stairs, Colton in tow. Zale’s jaw drops before he swings his head towards us, wincing in the process from his hangover. Koa raises his brows in surprise as he watches them approach, turning to busy himself with cleaning the coffee machine.

“What the fuck,” Zale exclaims, turning back around to pin Colton with a death stare, “why are you here?”

“I brought him here,” Kairi says simply.

“Yeah, but why?”

“Why not? This was his home a few months ago.”

“But it’s not his home anymore,” Zale argues.

“It will always be his home.” Her tone is final as she walks past him with a small frown.

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