by Kate Hunt
“Bet you it’s haunted,” Cash says.
“Right?” I say, widening my eyes and sucking air between my teeth.
We share a laugh. Meanwhile, above us, a new song starts playing, a song that vaguely reminds me of a slow song from our high school days.
Or am I just imagining that?
“So how many hearts have you broken since we last saw each other?” I ask Cash.
The corner of his mouth lifts. “Not as many as you, I’m sure.”
“Way to avoid the question.”
“You seriously want an answer?” he says. “Okay. Truth is, I haven’t broken any hearts. Or had my heart broken. I’ve dated, sure, but I haven’t had any serious relationships.”
I’m surprised to hear him say that. Really surprised, actually.
“So you just go around sleeping with women, huh?” I say with a smirk.
His mouth flattens. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh,” I say, embarrassment washing over me. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that—you know—”
“That I’m a manwhore?”
We both start laughing. God, does it feel good. It feels just like the old days, when life felt so much more…I don’t know. So much more simple and sweet, I guess.
“Your turn, Dani,” he says. “Fess up.”
The past ten years of my love life swiftly shuffle by in my mind: all the mediocre dates I’ve been on, the couple of short relationships I’ve had that didn’t go anywhere.
“There’s not much to tell,” I say.
“Riiight,” he says, looking at me like he doesn’t believe me.
“There really isn’t!” I insist.
“All right,” he says, holding up his hands in surrender.
I take another sip of my drink, the tropical flavors delighting my taste buds. I’ve never tasted anything so delicious. In fact, everything about this moment feels pretty damn close to perfect: the relaxed, romantic mood of the bar, the feeling that this night could go on forever, the ease between Cash and myself.
I glance over at him and am struck, once again, by how attractive he is. Every inch of him is alluring. The next thought I have is unavoidable: I wonder what it would be like to sleep with him.
Oh, God. To feel Cash’s bare skin against mine…to be enveloped by him…to share that kind of raw intimacy with him…
…I have no doubt it would be incredible.
And yet, at the same time, I can’t help but think about the day he told me his family was moving, when I suggested that we sleep together. I’d been ready. For God’s sake, I’d been in love with him. But he didn’t want to—and that stung so damn much.
If he rejected me once, who’s to say he wouldn’t reject me again?
My train of thought is derailed by Cash’s foot nudging mine. When I look up at him, he’s smiling at me curiously.
“Where’d you just go?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Sorry. Just…the past.”
“Ah. The past.”
I playfully knock him on the arm. “Shut up.”
When Cash grins at me, flashing me a sexy smile, I reflexively bite down on the inside of my lip. I can’t believe he’s not married. Can’t believe he’s not taken.
“Hey,” says Cash, nudging my foot again. “You gone on a lava hike yet?”
“I haven’t.”
“Interested in going on one?”
I tilt my head. “Are you inviting me along to another family activity?”
“Nope. It’d just be you and me. I’ve been trying to talk those guys into it, but they’re not interested.”
“I see.” A mixture of emotions swirls in my stomach. I love the idea of spending more one-on-one time with Cash, and the whole lava thing does sound pretty interesting. But am I just torturing myself by being around him? “I mean, thanks for the invite, but…”
“But?”
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea for us to hang out.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “Really? Because I think it’s a great idea. Probably one of the best ideas there ever was, in fact.”
I laugh. And then I decide that I may as well just say yes. If hanging out with Cash makes me lust after him, so be it. It won’t be the end of the world.
Chapter Three
Cash
“Ready to get your hike on, Harlow?”
“Don’t I look ready?” Dani says, striking a pose in the hotel lobby. She might be sensibly dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, but she still looks so damn pretty.
I have half a mind to take her back upstairs to her hotel room and show her how I really feel about her.
Getting to catch up with Dani yesterday only deepened the attraction I already felt for her. After walking her back to her hotel and saying goodnight, I headed back to my own hotel room in an infatuated daze. For over an hour I laid awake in bed, unable to stop thinking about her.
When I woke up this morning, she was the first thing on my mind, too.
I know it’s been ten years. I know we’ve both changed in certain ways. But there’s one thing I know for sure after spending that time with her yesterday: she’s the same girl I fell in love with.
And I’m not going to lose her a second time.
“You look great,” I tell her.
Understatement of the fucking century.
“Thanks,” she says, flashing me a smile. “So. Where’s the tour start?”
“Tour?”
“Yeah. We’re going on a lava tour, right?”
“Nope,” I say. “No tour. Just exploring on our own.”
“Ah.” Her eyebrows lift. “Okay.”
“Is that okay?”
“Yeah, I just…” She twists her lips. “Isn’t it kind of dangerous?”
“Sure. If you get too close to the lava.” I grin. “I promise I’ll keep you safe, Dani.”
The faintest shade of blush tinges her cheeks.
“Gonna hold you to that,” she says.
Once we get to the park, it’s about an hour-long hike across the lava fields. The terrain is rough and uneven, and whenever we encounter a large crack in the bed, I offer a hand to Dani, who accepts the help with one of her sweet smiles.
Soon, we see smoke rising up out of the ground ahead of us, and the air suddenly grows warmer.
“Feel that?” I say, looking over at Dani.
She nods. “I do. Wow.”
A little further on, we spot the lava flow. It’s moving slowly, expanding and unfurling in a way that I can only describe as mesmerizing. Dani and I approach it carefully—you better believe I’m ready to catch her if she stumbles—and watch in awe as the glowing red liquid overtakes a small plant, singeing the leaves first before it crushes and consumes the whole thing.
“Damn,” says Dani.
We find a safe place to sit nearby, close enough to have a good view of the lava flow but staying out of its path. For the next couple hours, we just hang out there, watching the lava, talking, and observing the other small groups of people who show up. We watch couples take selfies of themselves in front of the lava flow and numerous kids prod the lava with long sticks.
When daylight starts to wane, I bump my knee against hers.
“Come on,” I say. “There’s something else we should check out, too.”
“Something cooler than this?” Dani says.
“From what I read online, yeah,” I say.
We get up and start walking again, talking about how wild it is that the whole island—the whole state—was formed by volcanos. How wild it is that it’s still growing.
And then we reach the edge of the cliff.
The sight that greets us is nothing short of spectacular: in the distance, neon-bright lava is spilling down the side of the cliff into the ocean, each crashing wave of water creating a cloud of red-orange steam.
“Oh…wow,” says Dani, pulling her eyes from the spectacle to look at me. “Cash. This is…I don’t even know how to describe it.”
“You don’t have to,” I say, knowing exactly how she feels.
It’s dark by the time we make it back. We meet up with my family for dinner—none of them bat an eye when I tell them Dani is joining us for the meal—and then I walk Dani back to her hotel. When we reach the palm tree-flanked entrance, Dani suggests we see what kind of nightcap we can make from the contents of her mini fridge, and I tell her I’m up for the challenge.
Upstairs, though, we forget about the nightcap and the mini fridge. We forget about everything except each other. Or at least that’s what it feels like as I press her up against the wall and we kiss for the first time in ten years.
The familiarity of her lips is so fucking sweet.
But then Dani presses her hand against my chest, stopping what’s igniting between us. I pull back to get a good look at her eyes.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Sorry, I just…” She chews on her bottom lip. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“It’s not obvious that I do?”
“Well, the last time I thought this was going to happen, you shot me down.”
I frown. “The last time? What are you talking about?”
“Ten years ago. The day you told me you were moving. I wanted to do this, and you rejected me.”
My chest aches as the memory of that day ripples through my mind. “Is that really how you felt? Fuck. I’m so sorry, baby. It was never my intention to make you feel like that. The timing just wasn’t right. If we’d had sex, it would have made it so much worse when I left. It was bad enough that I was losing you. But to share that with you and then lose you? That would have been a living hell.”
“Oh.” Dani shakes her head, suddenly understanding. “God. Of course.”
“You have no idea how badly I wanted to, though.”
The corner of her mouth lifts. “I think I have some idea.”
Fresh desire crackles between us. I lean in to kiss her again. But, once again, Dani presses her hand against my chest.
“Isn’t this kind of the same situation, though, Cash?” she says. “In a few days, we’re going to have to part ways again.”
“Only temporarily.”
She studies me. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I want to be with you.”
“How? We don’t even live in the same state.”
“I’ll move.”
“Cash. Come on.”
“I’m serious, Dani.” I cup her chin in my hands. “I lost you once. I’m not losing you again. I never worked up the courage to tell you this when we were kids, but I was in love with you back then. I fell in love with you ten years ago, and I’ve never fallen out.”
She gapes at me. “What?”
“I love you, Dani. I’m in love with you.”
As the words hang in the air between us, Dani’s eyes search my own.
“Oh my God,” she says, blinking. “I love you, too.”
This time, when I move in to kiss her, she pulls me toward her. One kiss flows into another, each one deepening, each one intensifying the heat between us. As my hands explore her body, my cock fights against my fly, the desire for her beyond anything I’ve ever felt.
I scoop Dani up into my arms. She laughs as I carry her over to the bed.
“I can’t believe how ripped you are now,” she murmurs as she lies back against the pillow. Her eyes drift over me. “I was so surprised when I first saw you on the beach.”
“You know what I thought when I saw you?” I say. “I thought I’d just fallen in love at first sight. Then I realized it was you, sweetness, and it all made sense.”
Dani lets out a little dreamy sigh. “Come here, Cash.”
I join her on the bed. I undress her, then myself. I kiss my way down her neck, continue through the valley between her magnificent tits, then work my way down her sexy, soft stomach. When I spread her thighs open, I find another kind of paradise waiting for me. I lower my mouth to her glistening wet cunt and taste her for the first time.
Fuck, she tastes like heaven.
My cock aches for her as I run my tongue over her clit again. Dani moans and pushes her hips up, straining for more. I slide my hands beneath her ass, grip her flesh, and dip my tongue into her wet heat, drawing a loud gasp from Dani’s lips.
A few minutes later, she comes against my mouth, arching her back as she cries out.
“Holy shit,” she groans as I draw my head up from between her legs. “I’ve never come that hard. I can’t even—”
Her eyes move down to the raging hard-on I’m sporting and she loses the ability to speak.
I move on top of her, enveloping her curves as I pull her arms above her head. Pinning her wrists in place with one hand, I reach down with the other, fist my cock, and nudge my throbbing head against her entrance.
“Tell me you’re mine, Dani.”
“I’m yours, Cash,” she whimpers. “I’ve always been yours.”
When I thrust into her, it finally becomes true.
Dani cries out and trembles against me as I sink all the way into her. My cock throbs inside of her. I draw out of her and drive into her again. And again. And again. Each thrust brings forth a moan from her lips.
“I love you, Cash,” she gasps between moans. “I love you so much.”
The orgasm hits us both at the same time. She screams out and I release something like a growl as I spill into her, claiming her once and for all.
As we catch our breath, I roll onto my back beside Dani and she rests her head against my chest. For a while, we just lie there quietly together in a post-orgasmic euphoria.
“Did you really mean that about moving?” Dani asks.
“Yes,” I say.
“But your whole life is in San Diego.”
“No, it’s not. You’re not there.”
She pinches me. “You know what I mean.”
I think about everything I’ll be leaving behind. My family. My friends. The city I’ve lived in for a decade.
It’s not going to be easy to leave. But I need to be with her. Besides, I can do my job anywhere. And we can always visit San Diego. Or people can come see us.
“We need to be together, Dani,” I say. “Not just together, but in the same place. Because it’s not just about being in a relationship. It’s about living with you. Starting a life with you.”
She looks up at me. Her eyes sparkle. “I want to start a life with you, too.”
Chapter Four
Dani
My body relaxes when I open my eyes and see Cash beside me in the bed. Thank God. He’s actually here. Our time together yesterday was so magical that I half expected it to all be a dream.
But no. Cash is here with me. Still asleep. Still naked.
And I’m in nothing but his shirt, which is huge on me.
I kiss Cash’s bare shoulder. His skin is warm against my lips. He stirs, then opens an eye just enough to peer over at me.
“Morning,” I whisper.
“Morning, beautiful.”
Warmth radiates through my chest. I think of his words from last night: I fell in love with you ten years ago, and I’ve never fallen out. It makes my heart ache to think of how much time we’ve spent apart. But there’s no point in longing for what could have been. What matters is that we found each other again.
What matters is that we’re going to be together now.
“What are you up to today?” I ask, snuggling closer to him.
He yawns. “I think my folks want to drive up over to the other side of the island. My mom wants to see the turtles.” He reaches over to lift my chin so he can give me a kiss. “You should come with us.”
I smile. “It’s really sweet of you to invite me. But let’s meet up later. I feel like I’m crashing your family vacation.”
“You’re not.”
“Well, still.”
“You trying to get rid of me already, Harlow?” Cash says, squinting at me.
I grin. “No. Promise.”
“Good. Because I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you.”
Cash’s hands slide down to my hips and he pulls me on top of him. I draw in a breath as I straddle his hard-on. He’s ready for me—and I’m ready for him.
“This needs to come off,” Cash grunts, pulling the shirt off me. Then he grabs my hips again and lowers me down onto him, filling me deeply with the first thrust.
Cash keeps me in bed for as long as he can, until finally he really does have to go. He gives me his number and I call him so he has mine. Standing in the doorway of my hotel room, we kiss each other goodbye—a kiss that is so damn hard to break from once we start—and then Cash leaves and I walk back into the room, practically floating from our time together.
I could probably lie in bed all day, just daydreaming about Cash. But I’m in Hawaii, for God’s sake. I’m not going to waste away the day in my hotel room. I change into my swimsuit, throw some loose clothes on top, and head out of the hotel.
Every day I’ve been here has been beautiful, but today is especially luminous.
As I head down to the beach, I can still feel Cash’s kisses on my lips, his hands on my body, his sex inside of me. Last night—and this morning—was mind-blowing. But there was so much more to it than just the physical pleasure. We belong to each other now. I don’t know how else to put it.
And nothing has ever felt so right.
When I make it down to the beach, I’m glad to see it isn’t too crowded. There are only a few dozen other people here, and even fewer out in the water. I find a spot to set my stuff, strip down to my swimsuit, and walk out to the ocean.
As I wade out into the water, my thoughts are still on Cash. I can’t help but daydream about what our life together is going to be like. Living together. Getting married. Having babies.
Growing old with the love of my life.
I immerse myself in the water, diving in and swimming for as long as I can beneath the surface before coming up for air. When I finally come up, I glance back at the beach and am amazed at how far I swam. I turn away again and continue swimming, savoring the feeling of the water around me.
