Page 3 of Cash (Big Hot Alphas 4)

Then, finally, she says, “I can’t believe it, either.”

She nestles her head against me and traces a finger over the letters on my shirt. Her touch vibrates through me and pain rises up in the back of my throat.

We continue to lie there for a while without speaking. The sun keeps shining down on us. The wispy clouds keep drifting overhead. Eventually, though, we have to leave. We get up, cross the field, and climb back up the slope. We pick up our bikes and wheel them out to the road.

“Call me later?” Dani says as she gets onto hers, like she does every time we part ways.

“I will,” I promise, like I always do.

But we both know everything’s about to change.

Chapter One

Cash

Present Day

“Thanks a lot, asshole,” my sister grumbles as she hauls herself back onto the jet ski. I grin over my shoulder at her.

“I told you to hold on,” I say.

“Yeah,rightbefore you turned!” she shoots back at me.

I can’t help but laugh at how grumpy she is about it. “Sorry, sis.”

Felicity and I may be adults now, and the three years between us may not feel nearly as significant anymore, but I’ll always think of her as my little sister. Even when we’re old and wrinkly, I’m still going to be doing shit like this.

Well, maybe not on a jet ski. But you get the idea.

“Apology rejected,” she says, settling back onto the seat behind me. She quickly wrings out her hair before grabbing ahold of the back of my life jacket. “Well? Are we just going to sit here or what?”

“Nope,” I say, and engage the throttle. Soon we’re flying again, skimming over the crystalline water. Spotting our parents on another tandem jet ski off in the distance, I steer ours toward them.

It’s day five of our ten-day-long family vacation in Hawaii. Our parents honeymooned here way back in the day, but we’ve never vacationed here together as a family. Between exploring the island, snorkeling, attending a luau, and just chilling out and spending time together, it’s been a pretty damn amazing vacation.

Flying past our parents’ jet ski, I yell out, “Hang on, Flea!” giving my sister more warning this time. Felicity tightens her grip and lets out a scream as I do another one-eighty spin.

“Atta girl,” I call over my shoulder.

“No more!” she protests.

“What’s that? You wantmore?” I call back.

“Damn it, Cash!” she hisses.

I laugh and ease up on the throttle as we meet up with our parents. We ride along with them for a while until my dad checks his watch and calls out that we need to return our rentals.

Back at the dock, we get off the jet skis, hand over our life jackets, and grab the stuff we previously stashed in the storage lockers.

“You guys have fun?” I ask our parents.

“We did,” our mom says, smiling as she slips on her flip-flops. “Looked likeyouwere having the most fun, though, son.”

“Ugh,” says Felicity. “There’s no way I’m getting on a jet ski with him again, Mom. Not unless I’m the one driving.”

“All right. Who’s ready for lunch?” says our dad.

After a brief debate, we agree on going back to a restaurant we had a great meal at a few days before. It’s only a few blocks from where we currently are. As we walk, I scan the beach, taking in the paradise around us.

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