Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Jade
Sleep has a wonderful way of sorting out the mind.
That is, if you’ve not spent half the night tossing and turning, thinking about the hot guy you’re not supposed to be thinking about, before finally drifting off to sleep in the early hours.
When my alarm goes off it takes me a moment to realise what’s happening, and I knock my phone to the floor by accident.
“Fuck.” I hang out of bed, reaching for it, wanting the noise to stop, then roll onto my back, clutching the offending phone in one hand as I stare at the ceiling and let the sounds of the island settle around me.
Waves breaking, palms rustling, birds chirping.
The pitter-patter of tiny feet on the porch outside.
I breathe it in, my heart rate slowing, and wonder what it would be like to wake up here every morning, to have nothing more pressing to do than surf or cook or work at a small business. How simple it would feel.
A short while later, showered and dressed, I take my breakfast smoothie outside and sit on the steps of the veranda, watching waves roll in, one perfect, deserted, curling barrel after another.
There’s an ache in my chest that I can’t surf them.
But I sit with it for a minute and wonder whether it’s because I feel I should surf them, or that I truly want to.
When I started surfing, I found healing in it, an escape from my tumultuous home life.
But as I’ve become more successful, that feeling seems harder to hold on to.
Perhaps that’s what my body was trying to tell me, when I woke up with Zach the day after my last competition and everything felt wrong.
Shit, I still love the water. Looking at it now, I would give anything to go out there.
I can almost taste the salt, feel the hiss and sting of the waves, the sheer freedom of riding a force more powerful than I am.
But seeing it from a distance yesterday, the ocean stretching like a glittering blue carpet into the distance, made me realise something.
I’ve spent so long pleasing everyone else that I’m not sure what I want anymore.
I used to think it was being a surfing star.
Now my face is on magazines and in stores around the globe.
I have hundreds of thousands of social media followers.
I win competitions more often than I lose, and I make good money, more than I could have ever dreamed of.
But I’ve lost something along the way. I want to reconnect with that younger version of me, the one who had nothing but a second-hand board and an old wetsuit that didn’t fit, who went out in the waves almost every day because she couldn’t do any different.
I feel closer to her here than I have anywhere else.
I head back inside to get dressed. A couple of emails have popped up on my phone so I guess the Wi-Fi has kicked in.
I grin, thinking of Axel yesterday, and why he doesn’t want to upgrade it.
I kind of feel like he wasn’t joking, to be honest. My smile slides away, though, when I see more messages coming through from Zach. I can’t look at those, not right now.
I check the emails instead. The first one is from Zara. I brace myself. Of all the sponsorships I have, Ocean’s Curl is the one I least want to lose.
Dear Jade,
Myles and I are so sorry to hear the news, and we hope you’re okay.
Of course we can still work together! You have a home with Ocean’s Curl as long as you want one.
And, if you’d like a change of scenery, Myles and I are sailing around Indonesia looking at a few places, if you fancy a few days on the yacht? Just let me know.
Love, Zara
Damn. My heart full, I hug my phone to my chest. That is so Zara.
She’s been a friend since I met her, when she art-directed a shoot with me and Zach just before she married Myles.
We hit it off immediately, and I’ve stayed at a few of their homes around the world.
I’m tempted by her offer, to be honest. Tempted to fall into the soft cushion I know she would be, to pour my heart out.
I open the next email. It’s from Sol, via Jared, and contains a list of sponsors they’re going to pitch my “brand” to once the news about me and Zach is official, as well as some highlighted posts and comments about us splitting, with a note saying how good it’s been for engagement.
My finger hovers over the delete button, a pit in my stomach.
But I know I have to reply, so I simply type a breezy “Looks great!” and press send before I can think about it too much.
I can’t turn away from this stuff. I have responsibilities, and this is part of what I have to do for now so I can do what I want later, once I figure out what that is.
But I’ve only been here for a week, even if it does feel like longer.
Which is why I’m going to decline Zara’s kind offer.
Going back to that world, to her world, means facing reality.
And I’m not sure I’m ready to do that yet.
Plus, there’s another reason I’m not keen to leave, but I stamp on that thought firmly as I get changed, putting on the cargo trousers from yesterday with another Ocean’s Curl T-shirt, this one with a blue design like shimmering water.
But I can’t deny I’m intrigued by Axel. For so many reasons.
I want to know his story, and why he chose to turn his back on everything.
That is, if he wants to share it. The fact I also want to get closer to him in other ways is something I need to sort out.
He is not my rebound, I tell myself for the umpteenth time as I braid my hair.
You’re just hanging out with a friend today. A really hot friend who smells amazing.
I head along the pathway to his house, anticipation curling in my stomach at the thought of wrapping myself around him on the scooter again. Axel is waiting outside, looking hot in dark trousers and a T-shirt fitted across his shoulders and chest, his sandy blond hair tousled.
“Morning,” he says, smiling. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Yes,” I lie, because he doesn’t need to know I spent half the night thinking about him.
“Come on, then.” He jerks his head and starts walking. “The place I want to take you isn’t far.” There’s a nervous sort of energy around him as he leads the way.
Disappointment flashes through me. Maybe I misunderstood him, and he’s just asked me out again because I seemed like such a sad sack yesterday and he feels bad, so he’s going to give me a tour of the town or something.
But he comes to a stop almost as soon as we walk through the timber archway at the edge of his property.
Deep jungle surrounds us on either side of the road.
“What are we doing?”
He turns his head, his strong profile sharp against the wall of dark green. “I told you I’d take you somewhere else, didn’t I? And here we are.”
“Just a short walk from home, too. Very thoughtful of you.” My leg is stinging a bit, but it feels better than it did.
He grins. “I aim to please. Follow me.”
I stamp on the filthy part of my mind that wonders how else he might please me as I follow Axel into the jungle.
I probably should be nervous, but for some reason I’m not.
I’ve surfed in plenty of places around the world, had to climb down to some pretty inhospitable beaches, so wandering through wild jungle doesn’t really bother me.
Plus, I feel safe with Axel. I tell myself it’s because he lives here and knows what he’s doing.
Sure, Jade.
He leads me through to another clearing, and my jaw drops. But there’s no temple here. We’re on the edge of a low cliff, looking out to sea. The view is magnificent, uninterrupted, the beach below golden and smooth, the land dropping away towards Axel’s compound.
“Wow. This is glorious. Although, I can see some pretty nice waves I know I can’t ride.” I screw my face into a mock-annoyed expression, folding my arms.
“Don’t look at them.” Axel grins at me, and those dimples pop out again, just to fucking taunt me. Zach who?
I know, that’s a shitty way to be. But the fact is, I think part of me detached from Zach a while ago. I had to do it in order to protect myself, no matter how I loved him. It just took me until now to realise. And, if he can move on so quickly, maybe I should too.
Still. Axel Black is not your rebound.
“Well, where am I supposed to look?” Apart from at you. And I can’t ride you either. The words are on the tip of my tongue. I bite them back.
“I’ll show you.” He goes to the edge of the cliff, then steps over it.
“Shit!” I rush after him, but he hasn’t fallen. He’s standing on wide rock steps, cut into the cliff face. Still, it’s a few metres down to the beach and I keep one hand on the rock as I follow him down. “I can still see those waves,” I say.
“Not for long. Just hold on.”
We reach the bottom of the cliff. The sandy beach is smooth and deserted, translucent turquoise water lapping at the shore. It’s like a travel agent’s wet dream.
“Another magical beach.” I’m not kidding. This place is crazy. “And it’s linked to yours?”
“The beach isn’t mine.” At my glance he continues, “Well, technically it is, but it’s not like I close it off.” His expression darkens.
“What is it?”
“This land is for sale. Between my place and the village.”
“It is? Are you going to buy it?”
He doesn’t answer me. “The beach is nice, I agree,” he says. “But this is what’s really magical about it.” He pulls aside a curtain of green vines hanging over the cliff, revealing a narrow opening in the rock face, a dark slash in the stone.
I glance at him, unsure.
He holds out his hand. “Trust me.”
Do I trust him? Or, and this might be the bigger question, do I trust myself? I hesitate, but only for a moment before I take his hand and let him pull me inside. It’s pitch dark at first, and I’m nervous. Then I see a faint gleam of light.
“Watch your step. I won’t let go, okay?” Axel keeps pulling me forwards.
I gasp.
Axel
Like I say, it’s a gamble, showing her this place.
I wasn’t being totally honest yesterday when I said I hadn’t taken anyone else to the temple. I was honest in that I’ve never gone there with any of my guests. It’s a private place, still used by the locals. Not really for visitors, though I’ve certainly told a couple of people about it.
But this place? I’ve never brought anyone here. Ever. But I’m desperate.
I also want to see her face when she sees what’s here.
Want to see those jade-green eyes fill with light, her lush mouth softening.
And maybe, when she sees it, she might be able to help me.