“Yeah! Itisa fucking lot. I killed it today.”
He chuckled, but there was no joy in the sound. It was actually scary, and I shivered despite the heat of the sun on my salt-slicked skin.
“Try two days, Finn.”
“Wh-what? Why would I need to be able to swim sprints fortwo days?”
“Kai Kalani. Ever heard of him?”
I shook my head, and he stroked his thumb over the jumping pulse point in my neck the same way he’d done yesterday. The way he did itwas strange. Like he was checking to make sure it was still there, and my heart was still beating.
“He was a buddy of mine. Kai had to tread water for nearly forty-eight hours in some of the roughest chop I’ve ever seen after we were stupid enough to ignore the warnings in Waimea. I thought for sure he was dead, but our pal, Jet, wouldn’t let us give up until we at least had a body to take back with us.”
My entire body rolled with goosebumps as he stroked his thumb over my pulse again. He didn’t even seem to notice he was doing it. His eyes were burning with intense heat as if he were reliving some horrible memory and couldn’t even see me standing right in front of him.
“We found him alive. It wasn’t amiraclelike the newspapers claimed. It was his dedication to his training mixed with puredumb fucking luck.”
The rage in his voice was like a drug. It skated over my flushed cheeks, and I could feel each thump of my heart like the beat of a drum.
“So… that was really a lesson? You were trying to teach me how to survive if I get stuck in a situation where I’ll need to swim that long to wait for help?”
“Everything I do to you will be a lesson, Finn.”
I bit my lip at the dark way he said that, trying as hard as I could not to get hard again.
“So you weren’t punishing me?”
His eyes dropped to my mouth, and his tender strokes on my neck came to an abrupt halt.
I held my breath as he leaned closer. I knew he was doing it to try and scare me, but honestly, it was just turning me the fuck on and confusing the shit out of me.
His lips wereright there.
Why did I have this overwhelming desire for him to kiss me?
“Of course I’m punishing you, Finn.”
He was angry.So, so angry.I searchedhis eyes, frowning.
“Why?”
He slid his hand up my neck and stroked his thumb over me one more time before letting me go. Only this time, he traced my jawline instead of my pulse, and I shuddered.
“You know why,” he rumbled, then pulled away.
I nearly whimpered out loud as he stepped away from me. Losing his touch and his presence felt like this cataclysmic thing, and I didn’t understand the sudden and very intense feelings that seemed to be consuming me.
“You’re done for the day, Finn. Make sure you eat. I’ll be back. Same time tomorrow. Rules still apply.”
Then he walked away, leaving me standing alone on the beach, shaking, hard, andso fucking confused.
Alexa Play: Vienna by Ben Platt
My shift ended at eight that night, and as much as I wanted to avoid anything that might get my dick evencloseto hard, I agreed to hang out with Turtle for a bit.
He assured me that Blake wouldn’t be coming over until her shift finished at 10, so I figured I could chill for a few hours without worrying about running into Quinn and those glossy lips of hers.
“How’s training going?” Turtle asked as he deep-throated a joint, coating the papers with his saliva. We were crammed next to each other on the tiny couch he’d installed inside Shelly.
