Chapter 8
Sofia
Ilay back on the sand, my stomach full, and Danger has passed out between us. The weirdness between Mack and me has disappeared over a lunch and shared laughter. He’s more confident that he used to be, but he’s still him.
“So, yeah, there is now a suitcase hidden in your room of my collectable action figures that are my pride and joy.”
“You better not let Danger near them,” I say with a groaning laugh. My stomach hurts from laughing.
Mack blinks. “That is a terrifying thought.”
“So, tell me, what made you come back to Sunshine Cove?”
“If I tell you the truth, are you going to run away from me?” Mack teases and lays down, turning on his side, with his hand holding his head up.
“No. I can’t run,” I whine.
“Good.” He leans closer, almost over me. “You are the reason I came back. The only reason I came back that matters.”
I blink. The drowsy feeling that had filled me has disappeared, and I just stare up at him.
“Me?”
“Yes, at first, I said it was because I needed to come say goodbye, but it was more along the lines of I was crazy about you and that feeling never went away.” He lets out a chuckle and rolls onto his back, looking up at the sky. “Do you know I missed you by a month?”
“Really?” I say, but I can’t get my head around it.
“Yeah, I wonder sometimes what would have happened if I’d been able to get back here before you left. Or if you’d waited. Would we have ended up together? Would we have been happy?”
“I guess we’ll never know.”
“Perhaps.”
I hold my breath and then let it out. Nerves make everything harder. “Things didn’t go how I wanted in the city. In fact, they didn’t go well at all.”
Mack sits up and stares at me.
“Just life stuff, my job sucked, my apartment was pretty basic. I didn’t have much savings, but I used it to come home,” I say quickly, tripping around the truth as carefully as I can.
“Do you think I care about any of that stuff? I am just so happy to see you.”
I shake my head. “You sound like we are a real match.”
When he doesn’t say anything, I open my eyes and stare at him. Nerves dance and twang.
“I can’t,” I whisper. “Mack, I don’t even have a job. I just came home. Things are weird.”
There’s Elijah and Devon. Plus, everyone here. I’m not in the right place to be really dating. He will understand when he spends more time with me.
“What do you want to do?” Mack asks quietly. “I can respect whatever line you want to draw.”
I open my mouth, but I stop, frozen, because I haven’t even asked myself that question. What do I want to do?
I shake my head helplessly. “Play it by ear?”
I pick up Danger and stand up, not surprised when he follows me. I aim directly for the surf, walking into the cold of the water. It’s bracing; it’s cleansing. It’s like reality returns, and I remember what is important.
I long to swim out until my feet can’t touch the bottom and the waves buffet me around, but now is not the time.
“I don’t want to leave,” I murmur.
“So stay.”
“I don’t fit in here. I never have.”
He starts laughing, huge belly rolls that amuse me as much as they annoy me.
“You’re my secret, the rebel wild child, Sofia Sol, one of the Sunshine Omegas. What do you mean you don’t fit in here?” he laughs as if what I’m saying is outrageous, but I’ve changed; everything has changed.
I can’t tell him why.
I stomp away from him, but he pulls me to a stop. I yank my arm free and turn away, but he cuts me off every time I try to go around him.
“Get out of my way,” I growl.
Mack and his stupid smile don’t go anywhere; he just leans in and suddenly kisses me.
I freeze, holding motionless because Mack is kissing me.
What is happening right now? His scent of warm concrete, rain, and cinnamon assaults me, and I lose my will to stop him; my anger seeps away as my fingers of my free hand curl into his shirt, pulling him closer.
I forget myself, lost in his taste, smell, touch. The way his tongue pushes into my mouth feels so right. He shuffles closer and murmurs something about mangoes. His fingers slip through my hair and cup the back of my head.
He pulls back, and his lips brush mine again, but that breaks me out of my frozen state. I moan and press my lips to his, leaning up into him as much as I can with the pup in my arms.
I can feel the Earth turning while we kiss. The sheer magnetic pull of him is impossible to resist. The surf sucks at our legs, splashing up to my knees, but I just shuffle closer to the huge alpha.
Mack pulls back with a smile. “It was worth the wait.”
I blink at him as he turns and starts walking. Leaving. Why is he leaving?
“The lighthouse is still there,” I say quickly, stalling for conversation as I hurry to catch up.
He looks at me with one eyebrow raised, like he’s laughing at me. “Yeah, it is.”
“Who owns it now?”
“HEY!”
Mack turns with a curse but lifts me up and spins us around. Cordie falls to her knees in the surf.
“Mack! You dick!”
My mouth gets dry as I stare at his profile. That was amazing. He moved so fast. Cordie would have had no problems slamming me into the surf.
Asher and Felix run on the beach towards us. Asher twirls around and around, a beer in her hand. I know that version of her.
“Come on!”
Mack sets me on my feet.
“Let’s go, Sunshine,” Cordie says and goes to where she dropped an enormous bag. “The crew is gathering.”
I take Mack’s hand with my free one and pull him along. “Come on, Mack. If I have to go, so do you.”
People are making their way down to the beach carrying coolers, chairs, towels, and booze. These random parties are for anyone in Sunshine. It’s just the beach, food, people, and a good time. All the shops shut so everyone can enjoy a break.
Asher and Felix set up beach chairs and get a fire pit started. A beer is put in my hand and music booms out of the speakers set up nearby. The familiar rituals sink in, and I lay towels down and laugh as Danger charges one person then another, hoping for scratches.
More and more people come down. Faces I recognise, so many saying hello, asking how I am. It’s overwhelming, but the warm feeling grows, turning solid. Mack stays at my side, quietly watching as I fall back into my old life.
“Have fun.”
“What?” I only just get the word out before I’m lifted over someone’s shoulder, but it only takes a second before I know it’s Devon.
He’s wearing board shorts, and all of that hot, naked, muscular back is under my fingertips. I get five seconds to try to get my thirsty self under control before he dumps me in the ocean.
I bounce up, shrieking.
He laughs and flops in, swimming around me like a damn otter.
“Devon! This dress was my favourite.”
He pauses, with the water hiding his nose. His eyes watch me, slowly tracking down my body and back up.
He stands up, and as he does, I feel the dress gather in his hands, rising up my thighs.
“You look amazing with or without the dress.”
Say what?
Devon Hart is staring at me in a way that I have fantasized over for years, telling me I look amazing.
“What’s wrong?” he asks as he moves closer.
“I think I crashed my car on the way to Sunshine and never made it. This is clearly a dream.” And if it’s a dream, I don’t have to face reality. I don’t have to worry about being less.
“It’s not a dream.” He surges towards me, lifting me up.
I wrap my arms and legs around him, holding on as he throws himself backwards, gliding us both under the waves.
I open my eyes, watching him through the water.
He’s so beautiful. Even muted underwater, the sheer depth of his alpha calls to me, and I want to give up everything to him.
He is my weakness.
He looks at me and then grips my head and seals our lips together.
My body turns to fire. It’s only fitting that this fantasy kiss would happen underwater. He drags us up, and I gasp for air, but before I can pull away, he’s there kissing me harder, his tongue in my mouth, his hand clenching my dress and dragging it higher so he can run his hand over my thigh.
My body heats, and I grind myself against him, desperately lost in him.
He falls back again until just our heads are above the water and kicks off. We float on the water; the kiss turning languid as he lets go of me and uses his powerful arms to keep us upright.
This is a dream.
There’s no way this is real.
“Devon!” A voice calls, and I stiffen as I register Sebastian’s angry demand.
“Ignore him,” Devon whispers and touches his lips to mine, chasing me as I turn away.
“We can’t.”
It is so tempting. I want more than anything to just throw it all away and fall into this intoxicating fantasy that’s somehow come to life.
“Devon!”
I pull back. “I don’t want to fight with him.”
Devon sighs. “Come with me tomorrow.”
“Where?” I say in a husky whisper.
“Out on the boat.”
I blink up at him. “You have a boat?”
“You remember my dream?” he teases. “Don’t tell me you forgot all about me?”
“Of course, I remember.” I remember everything about Devon. “You wanted to do fishing tours.”
He gives me a funny look.
“What?” I ask defensively.
He just shakes his head, his eyes soften, and the smile he gets makes my stomach flutter wildly.
“Yeah, that dream. I’m doing it, except diving and snorkeling, whale watching in winter. So, come with me. Let me show you my favourite spots.”
This is just for show. They don’t mean it. So, why does it feel real?
“Are you sure?”
He snorts. “Of course, I’m sure.”
“Okay.”
He grins, that disarming and completely adorable smile that had me at hello. Then, he sweeps me up into his arms and carries me out of the water.
I veer off when I see Sebastian stomping our way. I know it’s cowardly, but I don’t want to fight with him right now.
Sebastian and Devon get into an argument that I can’t hear, but I watch my brother throw a fit, right until Cordelia walks between them and stares up at him. He says something. She pokes him in the chest. He snarls. She snarls back. And then, to my utter amazement, my brother backs down.