Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Oh, I’m up now.” I gestured at the gorgeous dawn enveloping us. “This is more than worth waking early for. And you.”
“And me.” The tips of Merry’s ears turned pink. “I love early morning trips. No traffic and anything feels possible.”
“Indeed.” I looked around us, deep blue ocean, shadows of palm trees, other foliage ruffled by a passing breeze. “And everything feels extra beautiful.”
“Exactly.” Merry kept going past several smaller and smaller and then downright teeny towns, and then—
“Oh my gosh, we just literally ran out of road.” I stared at the barrier in front of us before Merry turned into a small parking area.
“We did. This is the northernmost tip of the highway. No more road.” He parked the car. “And there’s something about this view in the morning.”
The sky was streaked with blue and pink, the world awakening, and all I could do was nod. The beach below us was rocky and deadly-looking, churning sea and jagged cliffs and all. Merry hopped out of the car, taking Barney and the coffee with him, leaving me to follow. The wind slapped me as soon as I opened my door, and it was so gusty I had to think about each step on the uneven earth.
“I should have brought a jacket. It’s so windy.”
“Here.” Merry fetched a plaid throw from the back of the car. He wrapped it along with himself around me. “I’ll keep you warm.”
“Okay.” I gave a happy wriggle against him. “I see now why you love it so much up on North Shore.”
“Yeah, I’ll never leave Oahu.” There was a warning in his tone not to ask or dream of such a thing.
“I know.” I matched his solemn tone, letting him hold me anyway. I was nothing if not reckless. He dropped a kiss against my neck, and it truly felt like we were the only two people on the island.
I could have stood there gazing at the ocean for hours, but eventually, Merry plied me with coffee and banana bread. We sat in the hatchback, and I couldn’t help my near-orgasmic noises at the sweet bread with a subtle tang.
“Oh, this bread is good,” I moaned.
“Told you it was worth getting up for.” Merry’s voice was smug before turning more thoughtful. “My mom made it fresh last night. She likes you.”
“Moms often do.” I shrugged. “I’ve had several short-term boyfriends whose mothers messaged me long after the guy moved on.”
“That’s both sweet and sad.” Merry pulled me closer. “I can’t take the role forever, but I like the only-for-the-holidays idea. I wanna do last night again.”
“Me too.” I leaned in for a kiss. It started light, almost chaste, but then he deepened it. Or maybe I did. It didn’t matter because we were kissing like the world might end any second. We kissed and kissed and watched the ocean until the sunrise turned into a bright morning and my heart was as full as I could remember.
“I don’t want to go back,” I said laughingly, but I was also serious. New York seemed like a distant memory and Merry the most important discovery I’d ever made.
“We have to. We’re almost out of coffee.” Merry chuckled along with me. “And I’ll get you real breakfast in Haleiwa, and then we can watch the morning surfers some before your real favorite activity.”
“More sex?” I asked hopefully.
“That too.” His cheeks were pink again. “But I meant shopping. Haleiwa is full of touristy shops. You’ll love all the kitsch, I’m betting.”
“I’m sure I will.” And I was also sure I was falling for him, fast and hard, and the rocks below our fling were even more treacherous than this strip of beach, but heck if I could stop it.
Thirteen
Welcome back, ohana! I trust you all had a good week off, and now comes our big December push to end the year. Yes, our holiday festival is forefront of our minds, but academics are also key as we strive to finish the year strong! No missing work!
MERRY
After the Thanksgiving weekend on North Shore, returning to school on Monday was painfully hard. And okay, that wasn’t all that was hard. Every private moment was now filled with flashbacks of Nolan and our time together. Surprisingly, I didn’t simply remember the sex, him blowing me or our couple of sneaky make-out sessions, hot as they had been. I also thought about the endless talking, the walking on the beach, the waking up early, the eating my mom’s pies, and the snuggling in bed. We’d said this thing was only for the holidays, but I had no idea what our little fling might look like back at work, with real-world responsibilities and deadlines bearing down on us.
Case in point: I was presently supervising eighth grade carpenters in set construction.
“Please watch the hammer.”
“Not so fast with the drill.”