Chapter Thirty-One
He’d done it.
His body still hummed from the afterglow of the gala—every handshake, every congratulations, every stolen glance toward Rowan across that shimmering lobby layering into something that felt dangerously close to pride.
Real pride. Not the performative kind his father demanded, but something earned and seen and shared.
And now, best of all, he had a plan.
Kelsey was safe. He had a call set up with a different private school and had been clear about the previous bullying from her so-called friends.
Everett wanted to personally call every parent in her class, but he also knew that could make it worse for his daughter.
Moving schools might still not stop the online crap, but he’d do whatever he could to keep her safe.
And Rowan? He’d make sure she settled in. He’d help find her new friends, a new place, anything she wanted. Tonight, he’d drag her to bed, wring out endless orgasms, and ask her officially to be his partner and move with him. They’d be a true family.
He raced up her porch steps two at a time, loosened tie hanging around his neck, suit jacket slung over his arm. The cicadas droned in the distance. Soft yellow light spilled from her windows. The door was already open.
She stood there in bare feet and one of her soft tank tops, hair down and wild from the humidity. He’d been looking forward to stripping off that emerald dress, but this was how he loved her the most. Approachable and real.
He bent over and pressed a kiss to her lush lips. “Sorry I took so long. I had a few more things to wrap up after I got Kelsey settled. Hope you’re not too exhausted,” he murmured, reaching for her.
Her hands lay on his chest and she stepped back.
The small movement caught him off guard. His brow furrowed. “Sweetheart? Everything okay?”
She wrapped her arms around her middle—not defensive exactly, but bracing. “We need to talk.”
His heart thumped once, hard. He gave a shaky laugh. “I know this week has been a lot. Are you upset I mentioned the possibility of you moving with us to Kelsey? I’m sorry—I should’ve brought it up with you first, but I was excited. I want this to work. We’ll figure it out.”
Something flickered in her gaze that made a cold thread wind down his spine.
He tried again, softer. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Nothing in his life had prepared him for the stillness that slid between them. He felt something shifting, making him want to run and snatch it before the feeling slipped away. Her face closed up, but it was the agony in those green-gold eyes that speared him with pure fear.
“I can’t do this, Everett.” Her voice shook. “I can’t move to New York with you.”
Rowan had rehearsed the words on the drive home. She’d whispered them with the windows down so the night air could carry away the pieces she didn’t want Everett to hear.
The fear. The longing. The awful ache in her gut. But standing here now, with him watching her like she was everything he’d ever loved and wanted, she felt her chest cave in.
His voice scraped raw. “What do you mean?”
The few feet between them stretched with tension.
“I’m happy for you, Everett. God, I watched you tonight and finally saw everything so clearly.
How good you are at your job. How you love what you do and how everyone around views you with such respect.
And I thought I could be part of it because I love you, and the idea of not being with you?
” She shook her head hard. “It’s too much to imagine.
To finally find you and then have to let you go?
But I’ve realized something about myself. ”
The question dropped like a hard stone. “What?”
“I can’t go with you. I need to stay here, where I belong.”
The hope drained from his expression so quickly it hurt to watch. “What do you mean you can’t? Rowan, I’m asking for you to give it a chance. You’ll love New York. There’s energy and food and opportunities—”
“I don’t want opportunities.” Her voice rose, then broke. “I want my life. My home. My ocean.”
He stared at her, stunned. “Hawaii will always be here. We’ll come back, I promise.”
She flinched. “You still don’t hear me.”
She forced herself to keep going, each word a small betrayal of what she wanted most. “When I got back in the water with Lea, something clicked. I realized I’ve been hiding.
And I don’t want to hide anymore. This place .
. . it holds everything I lost. Everything I’m trying to rebuild.
” Her throat thickened. “I need to stay here to heal.”
He shook his head once, hard. “You can heal anywhere.”
“No,” she whispered. “Not anywhere. This isn’t just a place for me—it’s who I am. I’ll die in the city. I know it in my soul. And I won’t hurt Kelsey like that. I can’t start a life with you and leave. That would break her forever.”
His jaw worked. Anger gleamed in his dark eyes, but underneath was a desperation she understood. Because saying no to this man meant she’d lose a part of her heart forever. “So that’s it? You’re choosing the island over me?”
Her chest twisted. “No. I’m choosing myself.”
“And what about us?” He stepped toward her, voice low and furious and breaking. “You said we were building something. You told me—”
“I know what I told you!” she cried. “And I meant it. Every minute with you has been . . .” Her hand pressed over her heart as if to hold it in place. “More than I expected. More than I thought I could feel again.”
“Then why are you running?”
“Because loving you doesn’t fix the part of me that’s still broken,” she whispered. “Because you’re meant for New York. And I’m meant for here. Because I won’t ask you to give up your dreams when you finally got what you always wanted.”
“What if they’re not my dreams anymore?”
Her eyes closed, pain slicing clean. “You don’t mean that.”
“Rowan—” He moved forward.
“You’re overwhelmed and emotional and trying to solve a problem with another sacrifice.
” She stepped back, out of reach, because she knew if he touched her she’d crumble completely.
“But sacrifices breed resentment. I won’t be the reason you hate your life.
And you will, Everett, because I’ll slowly die in that pretty condo penthouse and take you with me. ”
“I could never hate my life with you in it.”
“You think that now,” she whispered. “But one day . . . you’d wake up in a place you never wanted, far from everything you built, and you’d look at me and wonder how you lost your line. And we can’t do that to Kelsey. I’d die before we hurt her because we refused to be real with each other.”
The silence seethed with raw emotion. Each second felt like a lifetime, moving toward the decision that would tear them apart.
He swallowed hard. “So that’s it? We’re done?”
Her vision blurred. “No, Everett. We’re not done. We’re just . . . changing direction.” She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. “I love you enough to give you back the life you earned.”
His gaze narrowed. He raised shaky hands to press into his temples, as if trying to ground himself. “What about what I want?” he asked hoarsely.
She broke then—felt it happen like a soft snap inside her ribs. “Believe it or not . . . this is me choosing you, too. Because you deserve a future you’re proud of. And that future is in New York.”
Everett jerked back. “That can be all of our futures, but you’re telling me you don’t want it. Unless you’re creating excuses because you don’t want to take this relationship further?”
She tried to breathe with lungs that had no air. “No. I have no doubt about you. You make me feel alive, Everett. When we’re together, it’s like riding the perfect wave. First Kelsey stole my heart, and then you did. I can see a life with you, but not the kind you carved out for yourself.”
He took a step forward. “You could try,” he said fiercely. “The city is amazing. Full of cultural experiences. We can vacation at the beach so you could chase waves and Kels can continue surfing. It can work if we try really hard. I can make it happen.”
Even though her heart was slowly shattering, she couldn’t help reaching out to touch his cheek.
“Don’t you see, Everett?” she whispered.
“Love isn’t supposed to be that hard. It’s not a job to control or make perfect.
If I leave my home and try to be someone I’m not, I’ll slowly wither away.
You’re dedicated to a life you envision with Kelsey and there’s nothing wrong with that.
We knew this from the beginning. We discussed the terms.”
“Fuck the terms!” he ripped out, reaching for her. “I fell in love with you. You said you loved me and we talked about this! I want us to be a family. But you’re standing here telling me it’s over because things can get messy?”
“I’m not afraid of messy, Everett. That’s you.”
He stared at her with shock. But his eyes held a flash of recognition before it was quickly smothered like a fire with ash. “This has nothing to do with my work. This is about us, and your sudden change of heart.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Really? Because I clearly remember when you pitched this idea for me to move back with you, there was no discussion. You were too excited to fit me into that neat box of yours, and you’ll do the same thing to me if I go to New York.
You’ll try to push me like you do Kelsey, with the logic that it’ll be good for me! ”
He sucked in a breath. Hurt reflected on his carved features, but it was time to tell her truth. “I’m sorry you see me that way,” he said stiffly. “I thought you’d be as excited as I am to be together.”
“Don’t you see, Everett? It can’t always be on your terms!
” Frustration bubbled over. “You need to listen to what I want! I’ve never pretended to be someone else.
I live in board shorts and bathing suits.
I rarely wear shoes. My days revolve around the tide, the sunset, and catching the perfect wave. I can’t be who you need.”
He shook his head in furious denial. “Fine. Want me to quit and move to Hawaii so my daughter can be a beach bum?”
Coldness seeped into her veins. Slowly, Rowan stepped away, trying to hide her hurt. “Is that what you think?”
He cursed and shoved his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I simply want to fix the problem.”
A wobbly smile ghosted her lips. “There’s no problem, Suit. It’s simply what is. We live in different worlds and neither of us can change.”
His jaw locked. “And that’s enough for you? Simply accept the ending and walk away? Forget the summer ever existed?”
“No.” She closed the distance, gripped his shoulders, and raised herself on tiptoes. Her breath rushed across his mouth as she whispered the words. “I could never forget you or Kelsey. You’re part of me now, and you helped heal me, made me stronger. I just love you enough to let you both go.”
Then she kissed him. She swallowed his groan as her hands tugged at his clothes, desperate to feel his skin against hers. She shook with the need to be a part of him, to imprint her memory so he’d never be able to kiss another woman without thinking of her.
He seemed to recognize the raw hunger and matched her.
He stripped her while his mouth devoured hers, tongue thrusting in a driving rhythm that made her crazed.
They fell on the couch, naked, limbs entangled.
He pressed her into the cushions, pushing her thighs apart while she arched and cried out for more.
His fingers dove deep, gathering her wetness, teasing her clit with an expertise that shoved her toward the edge, right before climax.
“Not yet. Not until I’m inside you. I’ll tell you when.”
His demand was arrogant, masculine—and impossible to fight. Mouths fused together, hands gripping her hips, he slowly pressed into her. The hot, thick length of him filled up every empty space inside. Each inch was a claiming, until Rowan could only hang on for the ride.
Buried to the hilt, Everett finally stopped and looked at her face. Seething dark eyes locked on hers. Her thighs trembled. A sob caught her lips and he kissed her with a tenderness that brought tears to her eyes.
“I love you.”
Then he pulled all the way out and drove back inside with a ferocity that shook her entire body.
Each hard stroke stole another part of her. He didn’t stop or slow, refusing to let up until his name was ripped from her lips, begging.
“Please, Everett!”
“Now, sweetheart. Come.”
She exploded, body shaking from the brutal pleasure.
Still, he refused to allow her only one—forcing her into a longer release with the swipe and press of his thumb on her clit and his teeth around her hard nipple.
Rowan broke apart. Was stitched back together.
And when they lay entangled, skin damp with sweat, his hand in her hair, her head to his chest, Rowan knew a peace she hadn’t felt since before her father; before her injury; before Everett Hale stole her heart and soul without apology.
He carried her to the bedroom. They didn’t talk. Just slept together for the next few hours, then allowed their bodies to speak.
When she woke up, he was gone.