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“Okay, I’ll be at his place before two then,” I promise.
“I’ll go call him and tell him the good news. Thanks, Oakley!”
“No problem,” I lie.
We hang up a minute later, and I groan as I drag my hands down my face.
Good news?More like the biggest potential dumpster fire of my life.
How am I ever going to be around Kai and somehow keep my raging hormones and unrequited love hidden? Oh god, what if I make an absolute fool of myself and confess my crush, only to have him laugh in my face?
I’ll have to do some research about this island. I have to make sure I can swim to the mainland if necessary.
This might have been a huge mistake.
TWO
Kai
I don’t havemany regrets in life. I have just one, in fact.
Promising my sister that I would stay away from Oakley Clark.
She’s been Clara’s best friend since kindergarten, and I’ve been in love with her since I first laid eyes on her. I was so young then that I didn’t even know what love was. That connection only grew, though, and by the time we were teenagers, I knew that she was the one for me.
Oakley has the purest heart of anyone I’ve ever met, despite her shitty parents. She grew up in an uncaring home, yet she goes out of her way time and time again to be kind to others. Then there are her eyes. Light blue, almost clear every time she peers up at me and the sun streams across her face.
I tripped and fell right into her gaze one evening years ago, and I haven’t been the same since. Oakley’s eyes were filled with vulnerability, sorrow, and a pain so deep I’d do anything to take it away from her.
Unfortunately for me, when I was fifteen, Clara made me promise to stay away from her friends. One of her friends’ brothers dumped another friend, and it caused a ton of drama. I know that Clara was just worried about losing Oakley, so I had promised right away.
I’ve regretted it every day since.
The ache in my chest has only grown over the years. Some mornings I wake up gasping for air like I can’t breathe without my Oakley next to me. Other mornings I wake up with the last lingering remnants of my favorite dream - we’re married, and my girl is pregnant with our second child. She’s absolutely stunning, her midnight black hair glittering in the morning light, her pale blue eyes shining with love.
And then I roll over, ready to pull her into my arms and wake her up with kisses, only to find the other side of the bed empty.
Deep in my gut, I know that Oakley is the one for me, but I can’t do a damn thing about it. Not unless I want to piss off and hurt my little sister.
“Daydreaming about Oakley?” my brother, Griz, asks as he rides up on his horse.
Our other brother, Wyatt, is with him, and I shield my eyes from the setting sun as I glance up at them.
“He always is,” Wyatt adds. I flip them off.
“What are you doing over here?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“We were just riding the fence line and making sure that everything was still intact after that storm a few days ago,” Wyatt tells me.
“All good?” I ask, and they both nod.
“Yeah, we were just headed home, and saw you standing here staring into space.”
I wasn’t staring into space. I was staring at the Clark’s mansion. If I stand on top of this hill, then I can just see Oakley’s window. I used to come out here when I was a teenager and watch the house. It made me feel like I was protecting her somehow. Then when Oakley left for college, I came out here just to feel closer to her in some weird way.
Tonight, her light is on, and I’ve been wondering what she’s doing. I guess I must have gotten lost in thought because I didn’t even hear Griz and Wyatt coming.
“Sorry, just busy thinking.”
