Page 8 of A Crush in the Storm
SADIE
My skin is clammy, but I burn from the inside out as Kai stares at me like I’m one of Emery’s signature plum puddings he devoured yesterday. He’s always loved leftovers, one of the many things I remember about him.
One of the many things I love about him.
I know it’s crazy to yearn for a guy who I can never have, but the older I get, the harder it is to pretend I don’t still have feelings for Kai.
I’ve loved him forever.
It’s as simple as that.
It’s not logical. Because in no reality can we be together. I can’t leave the island, he can’t wait to leave the island, and it’s always been this way. You’d think it would’ve sunk into my thick skull after a decade, but nope, here I am, still pining, still wanting him with every cell in my body.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he mumbles, his expression tortured.
“Like what?”
I’m playing with fire. I know it. He knows it. But I’m done being Kai’s friend, if only for a few brief hours until the storm passes.
“I’m not spelling it out, Sadie.” His tone is deep, gravelly, rasping across my nerve endings like sandpaper. “If we cross this line, there’s no going back. Are you willing to risk our lifelong friendship over a quick fuck?”
He’s trying to shock me to stop this madness before it begins. But what he doesn’t know is that I made this decision the moment he landed on Ceto Island a week ago. There are rumours among the staff that the Spade brothers may sell the resort, and if that happens, I’ll never see Kai again.
So I’m taking what’s mine while I can.
“With that storm raging outside, we could be here a while, so who says it’ll be a quick fuck?” I unknot the towel between my breasts and let it fall to the floor, leaving him in little doubt what I want.
“Sadie,” he whispers on a sigh, his heated gaze travelling over my body like a physical caress.
My skin pebbles as he crosses the short distance between us, crushes me against his body, and devours me.
9
KAI
The storm doesn’t last long, two hours max, and I carefully roll off the sofa bed so as not to wake Sadie. She’s snoring, cute snuffly sounds that burst into the occasional rumble. She’ll hate it when I tell her, and I smile, remembering the time she punched me for calling her little starfish because of her obsession with them. We’d been kids, and I loved teasing her. Her eyes would glow with outrage, but she couldn’t maintain it, and we’d end up tussling and laughing.
Until we reached our teens and the awareness developed between us that there could be more than friendship binding us.
Now this.
I never should’ve had sex with Sadie.
But we’d been building towards this for a long time, and no matter what happens when she wakes, I can’t regret it.
She’s too special for that.
I pick up her wet dress and underwear and ease the door open. I drape them over the verandah railing in the blazing sun, now that the storm has passed. They’ll dry soon, she’ll get dressed, and we’ll return to reality.
Whatever that means.
Will she resent me for having sex and then leaving the island as I always do? Or will she want more than I can give?
I hear the door creak open further and turn to find her staring at me with wide eyes; the towel wrapped around her. Her smile is tentative as she takes a step towards me, another, and I forget every question pinging through my head. Hell, I forget my name as she reaches me, wraps her arms around me, and kisses me.
I’m glad she doesn’t want to talk, but as our lips ease apart and she takes hold of my hand to lead me back inside, I know one thing.
How the fuck will I get over Sadie when I leave?
