Chapter 27 Heart Was Full
HEART WAS FULL
What a crazy day it’d been.
Rowan had been running nonstop, talking to people, and making his announcements.
The new line of surfboards with a young male pro. Koah was nineteen but looked more like thirteen. She could see where teen girls would have pictures of him on their phones and in their rooms, and the boys wanting to be just like him on the water.
Ava Leigh had her picture with Koah as the two big sponsors, then out surfing next to each other on their boards.
More pros were there, a ton of pictures, lots of surfing.
West was interviewed with Rowan, and she tried to stay back as much as she could after answering questions about the dress she was wearing.
After Rowan’s declaration of love, she felt freer than she had in her life.
Her nerves were less.
Her heart was full.
Nelson and Braylon were always close by and she wasn’t sure if that was by Rowan’s order or not. She didn’t let it bother her, as they were friendly faces and answered some questions she might have.
“How are you holding up?” Logan asked, as he moved over.
“Great. You haven’t slowed down once. I thought it’d be Rowan moving so much.”
Logan laughed. “He pays me the big bucks to have the headaches instead of him.”
“West taught Rowan well,” Braylon said.
“And Laken put me in my place more than I care to admit,” Logan said. “Your sister is tough, but I learned a ton from her.”
“That’s sweet,” Saylor said. “I didn’t realize you were so close to his siblings.”
“Not all of them,” Logan said. “But Rowan and I have been close for years. I went home with him a few times and met the family. He’s spent a lot of time with my family also.”
“I was the annoying younger brother that always wanted to hang out with Rowan and his friends when I visited,” Nelson said.
“And we let him tag along,” Logan said.
“I was the one getting them out of trouble,” Braylon said.
“Oh,” she said. “Do I want to know about those things?”
“No,” Logan and Nelson said together.
“I’m positive someone egged Rowan on most times,” Braylon said. “But I never get the details.”
“You know I need to know these things,” she said. “Has Rowan gotten in trouble with the law?”
Why hadn’t she thought of that? That money could buy many freedoms.
She’d hate to think there was a part of him she didn’t know.
“No,” Braylon said. “But Nelson is a slob and liked to dare Rowan to do stupid shit when they were all on spring break. There were normally accidental damages to deal with.”
“Got it,” she said. “I’ve never been on spring break before, but I’ve heard stories. I mean, where do you go on spring break when you’re in college around here?”
“Vegas,” Logan said. “And we’ll leave it at that.”
“West is waving me over,” Braylon said. “Come on, Nelson, Rowan wants you too.”
She stood there with Logan while Rowan’s brothers left to talk to him.
“Not too overwhelmed by this?” Logan asked.
“I thought I would be, but everyone is so nice and friendly.”
The pictures on the podium made her uneasy, but she was next to Rowan while he talked, West on the other side of Rowan, then Logan next to West. She’d seen pictures of other expos and Logan was normally next to Rowan. She hoped he wasn’t mad she was in his spot.
“It’s a friendly atmosphere. Rowan could never survive in New York. It’s not him.”
“I can see that. Even with all the people always around him and surfing at his house, he has his space. I can’t get over the number of people on his patio at any time.”
That had thrown her the first time it happened months ago.
She’d come home from work and was upstairs changing in their room, saw people close by the gate and then on the property.
She’d called Rowan right away, scared, and he laughed and apologized for not forewarning her. No one could get into the house. They didn’t know the security codes and he could see who was there.
It was his surfer friends coming to grab something to drink out of the outdoor fridge that he kept stocked with water and sports drinks.
Sometimes they’d sit in the shade and take a break, but everyone knew they were on camera and were respectful of Rowan’s property.
Logan was there more than anyone, but never alone since he was working the same times Rowan was.
“He has a following.”
“Do they do it for who he is? Like his name and the company or because they are friends?”
“I think it’s a combination of both,” Logan said. “He’s a giving person. He’d be out there surfing and gathering people regardless of the business he owned and those people would still be around. But his name draws more for sure.”
“Got it,” she said. “I didn’t know who he was. You know how we met, right?”
“I know it all,” Logan said, smirking. “He tells me pretty much everything.”
“Everything?” she asked. She wasn’t so sure she liked the sound of that.
“I know he lost his heart to you months ago and has been terrified of telling you.”
“Seriously? He told you he said he loved me before we came?”
Logan laughed and patted her shoulder. “He’s on cloud nine you feel the same way. I thought he had pounded a bunch of your candy before you two showed up together. He was all over the place.”
She rolled her eyes. He had been acting like a little kid who got the prized video game console under the tree for Christmas.
“And you asked him why?”
“I didn’t have to. It was all over his face. You’re good for him.”
“He’s better for me,” she said. “And thank you again for the other week. I appreciate everything you did. I hated to have that happen in front of everyone.”
“Hey,” Logan said. “Don’t apologize. We’ve seen that before with Damon. He didn’t have as good of control as you. Rowan knew more than the rest of us, but still. We saw changes back then.”
“I saw you after,” she said. “You took two shots.”
Saylor hated working other people up over her medical emergency. She should have had a better grasp of the situation. Logan blamed himself because he had her out there on the water.
“I’ll admit you had me scared for a minute. No offense, but I won’t try to teach you again. I’m too young for white hair and I found three of them the next day.”
She gave him a playful nudge with her arm. “Stop goofing off. That doesn’t happen that quickly.”
“Logan. What are you doing over here and not next to Rowan? You two are never apart.”
“Ava,” Logan said, his smile more forced. She didn’t know why and it was the first she’d seen it.
“You must be Rowan’s girlfriend. I’m Ava Leigh.”
She shook hands with the pro surfer in tight board shorts and a bikini top. Talk about a smoking body she’d never achieve.
Saylor wouldn’t complain about her figure, but it was more from always being on the run rather than doing that much activity.
Though she had to admit since she started to paddleboard her abs and upper body were more toned.
Even placing her CGM on her arm was hard with a little less fat there, forcing her to move it around some.
“Saylor Beach,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you. I know who you are from your picture and from Rowan.”
“Ah, I wasn’t sure if he’d tell you,” Ava said. “He doesn’t like upsetting people or causing issues.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you need to go over there?” Logan asked.
“No,” she said. “I want to know what Ava meant.”
Logan and Ava were staring at each other. “Go,” Ava said to Logan.
“I’d rather not,” Logan said, crossing his arms.
Ava sighed. “Rowan and I dated for a short period,” Ava said. “But when we worked on my line of boards it got complicated and we decided we were better off friends.”
“Oh,” Saylor said. She wouldn’t let anyone know this news bothered her. That her boyfriend, who just expressed his love for her, couldn’t give her a damn heads up that she would run into his ex. “How long ago was that?”
“So he didn’t tell you?” Ava asked, looking almost confused. She wasn’t sure she liked that either.
“It hasn’t come up,” she said. “Not a big deal.”
“It was about four years ago,” Ava said. “As I said, better off friends and work colleagues. I think really we were just friends having fun, so don’t think more than that. For work reasons, we kept it quiet, and it wasn’t widely known then.”
“That’s great you still can have that relationship,” she said.
Ava’s name was called and she dashed off.
“Rowan should have told you,” Logan said.
“Yep, he should have. I’m sure you know why he didn’t. Because he doesn’t like to upset people, right?”
It’s not that she hadn’t seen that trait already.
Hadn’t he almost buttered her up today and then dished out the bad news?
Since he’d found out about his brothers coming this morning and the dress had been bought with the purse prior, she knew it wasn’t planned, but he damn well piled them together to help ease the news.
It wasn’t bad news though that his family was here and she didn’t understand why he thought she’d be so upset over it. Nervous, sure, but that was normal meeting anyone new. She wanted his family to like her.
If there was one thing she hated in life, it was that anyone thought she wasn’t strong enough to handle something.
“That’s just in his nature. There was more to it though,” Logan said. “Ava was on the circuit and she was young. Rowan was building the company and she wanted him to keep leaving and flying to Hawaii with her to surf.”
“I’d think he’d enjoy that.”
“He did, once in a while. But he had an obligation and a focus here and she wanted to have fun.”
“Did you two not get along?” she asked.
“What, the tension in the air wasn’t just felt by me?” Logan asked.
“Nope.”
“It’s what she said. He was with me more than her and she didn’t like it. Don’t think more of their relationship. They should have only been friends and they are now. Nothing more than that. Then business came first and it was more important to say they were only friends.”
“You don’t need to make excuses for him.”
“I’m not,” Logan said. “He should have told you before and he’ll have to deal with that. But one thing about Rowan, he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”
She nodded. “Not that I’ve seen, but not purposely being mean doesn’t mean it doesn’t still happen.”