THIRTEEN
Meadow
My bones rattle as the bass ricochets off the walls.
The sound waves roll through the floor and up my legs, heightening every nerve ending, my skin hypersensitive to the heat, lights, and press of bodies around me.
Neon colors flash and stutter across the dance floor, spotlighting sweaty silhouettes grinding to the music. It feels like the club is a living, breathing creature, as we all move in time to the same pulse.
It’s impossible to stand still.
My hips sway without thought, loose and effortless, caught in the rhythm as I hover by the edge of the crowd, gaze locked on the only man I have eyes for.
Across the smoky room, Owen steps away from the bar, weaving through the cluster of bodies with two plastic cups in his hands.Water—one for me, one for him.
God knows we need it.
The drunken haze from the rum tasting burned off hours ago, but I still feel pleasantly buzzed from the beachside cocktails we had before getting ready to go out.
Aside from the dehydration, I feel… good.Relaxed.Not drunk or out of control. Just weightless and floaty, like I’m swaying on a happy cloud. I can’t remember the last time my limbs felt this at ease.
I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t even had a second to think about the way I’ve acted around Owen today.
The incessant touching and teasing.
The way I keep drifting toward him is like a moth to a flame.
Maybe it’s the alcohol humming through my veins, unraveling all the rigid, careful parts of me. Or maybe I’m just tired of masking the way I feel around him.
Either way, I don’t care.
Today has been one of the best days of my life—touching Owen without pulling away, flirting with him without overthinking it, saying things I’d normally swallow down before they ever reached my lips.
Hell, maybe I feel this free because there’s a built-in excuse. If I embarrass myself, I can always blame it on the rum when I wake up.
But right now, I don’t care about tomorrow. I just want tonight.
God, it’s fun being this version of myself around him. Bold, playful, and a little reckless. And with how Owen’s been all over me, I would say he’s loving it too.
When Owen finally finds me, locking eyes with me through the crowd, we both smile instantly.
Thankfully, there’s a rail behind me to lean on to keep me from falling flat on my ass. At this rate, I’m going to need a double knee replacement by the time we leave this trip, with how they buckle every time Owen flashes me his slow, sexy smile.
Shit.
He looks unbelievable tonight.
A dark shirt clings to his shoulders and chest, the sleeves shoved up his corded forearms. His hair is still tousled and messy from the salt water, causing my hands to ache with the need to run my fingers through it. His skin is sun-kissed, deepening into a golden tan that makes his green eyes look like shiny emeralds.
I still have no idea how I’m even here right now—at a tropical resort that resembles aWhite Lotuslocation, in the middle of paradise with my co-worker turned friend, whom I’ve secretly been obsessed with for years.
I would say ‘pinch me’ but I don’t want to wake up from this dream. Not right now. Not when Owen looks like he just stepped straight out of a vacation rom-com, the kind where girls at home are glued to their screens, already imagining him as their make-believe boyfriend.
And yet, he’s walking towardme.
I glance down at my tiny black dress—the one I swore I wasn't going to wear but packed just in case—and laugh under my breath at my bare legs and strappy heels.
Who the hell are you today, Meadow?
