Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Axel
I’m falling for Jade.
I’ve never been a “falls-hard-and-fast guy.” Certainly not until now.
My last relationship was a slow burn, friends-to-lovers situation.
I’ve always considered things carefully.
Apart from my shaping business. That was something I knew I wanted to do, the first time I ever went out on a surfboard and saw how it worked with the water, how the shape made a difference. Like a puzzle I was desperate to solve.
Falling for Jade feels the same way. It’s a complication I don’t really need, not with everything else I have going on.
But resisting it seems as futile as standing on the beach and telling the tide not to come in.
It feels like the most natural thing in the world, like she was the missing piece I’ve been waiting for, bringing light and colour back into my existence.
I came here to heal from what happened with Susie, but I’ve healed more in the past couple of weeks than I did in all the time I’ve been here. And it’s all thanks to Jade.
I put the bags of groceries into the rack on the back of the scooter.
I could have walked into town, but didn’t want to be apart from Jade for a moment longer than I needed to be.
It was only hunger that brought me out of the house, as apparently you cannot live on sex alone, no matter how you might try.
I’m about to put my helmet on when someone touches my arm. I turn, frowning, to see Mish. Her arms are folded, her head down, and she’s tapping one foot in the dirt.
“Mish?”
“Hey, Axel.” She sounds subdued. Shit. I realise I totally forgot to get back to her after our run-in at the shop, caught up as I’ve been with Jade.
“Hey. You okay?”
Her head comes up. She’s chewing her lip. Then she huffs, looking to the side. “Look. I’m sorry, okay? For being… For being a dick.” She mumbles the last part.
I blink. I have never heard Mish apologise to anyone, for anything. But I’m not letting her off easy, though.
“Okay. But you know it’s not really me you need to apologise to, right?” I’m gentle, not wanting to hurt her. But she needs to know that what she did to Jade isn’t okay.
She shrugs, still not looking at me. “Why haven’t you been at the workshop? Are you avoiding me?”
“I’m not avoiding you. I’ve just taken a few days off.”
“To go to the banks? Mum said you were trying to get funding to buy the cave.” Her voice lilts upwards, hope in every syllable.
I try not to sigh. I know Mish loves the cave and thinks it should be saved. Indah is harder to read. I regret, more than ever, telling her what I was trying to do after one too many beers at her bar. And it seems she’s also ignored my request to stop discussing my business with Mish.
“I’m working on it.” Which is true. Even though I’ve spent most of the past few days in bed with Jade, it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about the cave.
I’ve been in touch with the banks, with friends, with anyone I can think of to see about getting funding.
Jade has been doing the same, both of us sending emails and messages whenever the Wi-Fi kicked back in. So far, though, we’ve had no luck.
“What about that tour— I mean, your guest? She looks rich. Mum saw her buying a bunch of clothes the other day.”
“Jade is none of your business.”
“Jade?” Mish frowns, then a look of horror slowly unfurls across her expressive face. “Jade O’Connell! Fuck! I knew I fucking recognised her from somewhere!”
“Nobody knows she’s here. Nor should they.” I infuse my voice with a snarl of warning.
But Mish is backing away, shaking her head. “No, fuck that! I know why she’s here.” She points her finger at me, a stabbing motion. “You brought her here to drum up business for your parents! This is about the resort, isn’t it? You’ve been working against us all along!”
“I’m not working against you, and she has nothing to do with any of this! She hasn’t posted a damn thing about this place since she got here. Nor will she.”
“I don’t believe you!” Her voice gets more shrill. A couple of people look over.
“She’s here for a holiday, nothing more. She’ll be gone in a couple of weeks.” Strange how pain lances through me at the thought of her not being here any longer.
“Just after you and your family buy that land?”
“I am not involved with my family’s bid,” I hiss, my anger rising. “Nor am I going to argue with you in the street about it. You need to learn to trust people.”
“Oh yeah. People like my dad? Maybe you fucking Americans are all the same. Out for what you can get and screw the consequences.”
“Mish—”
“You could help me!” She sounds desperate, now. “You could use your connections to find my dad. But you won’t!”
Shit. I’ve known for a while this is what Mish wants, despite the fact I wouldn’t really know how to help her, but she’s never asked me outright.
My heart aches for her, despite how angry she’s making me.
I recognise that deep hurt, the family wound that won’t heal.
And the fear that comes with it. “Is that what you really want?” I say, trying to keep my tone gentle.
“What if he doesn’t want to know you? Family is complicated.
Are you sure you want to open this can of worms? ”
Mish is breathing hard, tears in her eyes. “I just want him to know I exist,” she says, her voice cracking. “So fuck you. And fuck your tourist friend. I’m not apologising to her for shit.”
She turns and walks away before I can say anything else.
Jade
It’s been ten days since Axel and I fell into bed together.
Ten horny, blissful days. We cannot get enough of each other.
But it hasn’t all been sex. We’ve talked, late into the night or early in the morning, wrapped around each other as light flares over the ocean.
I’ve told him more about my past, about Jasper and Dora, about my mom.
And Zach. Though I don’t like to talk about him much, he was a big part of my life for a long time.
Axel has told me about his family in New York.
His sister, married to a hedge fund millionaire, his parents with their multiple homes.
How different he seems to them, with his desire for simplicity, for freedom.
He’s also talked to me about his boards and the inspiration behind them, the people he made them for.
He hasn’t told me why he stopped shaping, though, and I haven’t pressed it. We have time. Whatever lies between us is deepening by the day. As the days click closer to my competition, I realise I don’t ever want to leave this place.
I don’t think he wants me to leave, either.
I went back to my cabin after a day or so, just to pick up some clothes.
When I came back, he was waiting, lifting me onto the dining table, his mouth on mine, my hands already reaching for his cock, guiding him home.
I’ve never known pleasure like it, never wanted anyone the way I want him.
It was the same when he went out for groceries a few days ago, a feeling as though part of me was missing. I leapt on him when he came back, barely letting him put the food away before I had him in my mouth, ending up with us doing it on the floor, too turned on to make it to the bedroom.
I think I’m falling for him. And that should scare me. It’s way too fast, for starters. But the heart knows what it wants. And I want Axel.
“Are you ready?”
We’re leaving the house together for the first time.
My leg is healing, but I’m staying out of the water, doctor’s orders.
I don’t even mind, really. I thought I needed to surf to heal myself, and I definitely do.
But I also need to heal my body and my heart after the years with Zach.
I know he was telling the truth when he said he loved me and I can’t even be angry with him now, because I never really expressed how I felt about the other girls.
In the end it was simply, as Axel said, that we weren’t compatible.
I just didn’t know enough about myself to understand that, blaming myself for something that wasn’t anyone’s fault.
Now I know myself, thanks to Axel. Exploring my body with him has brought me to a place where I feel safe, supported. Where I can figure out who I am, and what I want. Where I can heal. I sling my bag across my torso, pressing a kiss to Axel’s cheek.
“I’m ready.”