Chapter 14

14

H umid afternoon pressed in through the cracks of my room. A suitcase sat open on my bed, dusty after years of neglect. I hadn’t bothered wiping it down, could barely even muster the energy to pack. Half an hour, and a few crumpled T-shirts and socks were all I had to show for my time.

When Nia walked in, I was jolted out of staring blankly at my wardrobe. She didn’t say a word, just wrapped her arms around me, everything about her warm and real, a familiar whiff of summer skin and floral sunscreen. I folded into her.

Fuck.

“Oh, honey .” Her voice was soft, threatening to make the heavy anger in my chest spill over into something worse.

“Stop it,” I muttered. “Or I’ll cry, and I really don’t want to.”

“Okay.” She didn’t stop rubbing circles into my back, though—like I was a child that needed soothing. “I canceled the afternoon dive, by the way.”

“Thanks.” I inhaled and disentangled myself. Clothes. I had clothes to pack, stuff to do. Ways to keep busy so I wouldn’t break down. Logan didn’t fucking deserve my tears .

“Hey. Look at me?” She huffed out a breath. “Also, stop packing.”

I kept my gaze on my hands, folding a pair of shorts that didn’t need it. “I’ve been fired.”

“You’ve been unfired,” she said as if that made a difference.

“Whatever.”

Thick silence stretched, broken by the squawk of a parrot and distant noises from the seaside bar. Paradise carried on, even if my own fantasies had burned out. Prescott Resorts—the escape you deserve!

Fuck everything.

“I can’t stay,” I told Nia. “You know I can’t.”

She sighed and reached for me again, grasping my shoulder. “Babe. Milo, stop .”

When I met her eyes and inhaled, the air scraped through my shriveled lungs. “Tom lied to you too. How can you...?”

I didn’t know how to finish, but then, I didn’t have to. This was Nia .

“Oh, I yelled at him. Quite a bit, in fact.” Her half-smile lingered. “But he was keeping a friend’s secret. That’s one reason for lying that I can accept. He knew that if he told me, I’d tell you—and then Logan wouldn’t get to do it himself.”

My stomach twisted sharply, acid burning on my tongue. “Like he cares.”

“Actually, he does.” Nia’s voice was steady. “Honey, I know he fucked up. But that boy is crazy about you.”

I turned away from her, ducked my head, and picked up my camera. Stripped of its underwater housing, it looked oddly exposed, and I realized that Logan... Oh, right. He already owned my heart. Why not my pictures, too?

“If he cared...” The treacherous words caught in my throat. “He wouldn’t have waited until five minutes to midnight.”

She was quiet for a beat, reaching into my suitcase for a T-shirt that she turned over in her hands. “He never tried?” she asked then, with a quick, searching glance at me. “Never tested the water?”

Instinctive denial reared its head. I shoved it back down because... fuck. This, now—this was the time for honesty. If I fled the scene, I didn’t want to look back later and wonder whether I’d missed something.

I dropped the camera and sat down on my bed, its lumpy mattress sagging under my weight. Small moments flickered at the edges of my mind, roundabout discussions about hierarchy and equal footing. Comments I’d dropped here and there, innocent at the time while hindsight packed a punch. ‘Look, it’s bad enough you’re a guest.’ And—oh.

Both of us in this very room, our conversation drifting aimlessly from my dreams of photography travels to management styles. Maybe not so aimless after all—his question about whether I’d want to run this place, both of us agreeing that Nia would be a great fit. Me joking about how I’d work for Logan, but not if we had a thing going on. Doubling down when he’d prodded for more.

‘Sleeping with the boss? Not my style.’

Oh. Yeah, I could see how that’d be... discouraging. Didn’t excuse it, no. But... I got it, just a little. Why he might have kept his mouth shut.

“Maybe he did try,” I admitted.

Nia joined me on the bed and wrapped an arm around my waist, silent as she rested her head on my shoulder.

“I…” The pattern of the bedspread danced in front of my eyes. “There were a few times, I guess. Just… idle chatter, you know? About resort hierarchies and stuff.” I cleared my throat. “I might’ve implied there’s no way I’d date him if he were my boss. Or—more than implied.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” She didn’t sound surprised. “Doesn’t exonerate him, but way to raise the stakes.”

“Exonerate?” I snorted, throat fluttering with something heavy and sick. “But, yeah. Show me a mouth, and I’ll put my foot in it.”

It didn’t excuse a damn thing, no. Still—if that had been me in his place… God, I didn’t know if I’d have spoken up any sooner. If I’d cared, if I’d wanted to keep him for as long as I could …

Did he care?

‘We’re not done. We’re not.’

He’d crossed a fucking line there. It’d been a shit move, trying to use my weakness for him to make me crack. Anger sparked in my gut, dizzy-hot, and I exhaled around it.

Shitty, yeah. But not the act of someone who didn’t care.

God .

“He would have told you.” The calm certainty in Nia’s voice clashed with the storm inside my mind. “He was just working up the courage.”

I struggled to focus on anything other than the rush of blood. “Because I’m so very scary.”

“You can be a little scary.” She gave my hip a gentle pinch. “You sure scare him. Or rather, losing you does.”

“He told you that?”

“Kind of. Just not in those exact words.”

I held on to that idea for a second before I asked, “Did you yell at him, too?”

“Just a little.”

“He’s the boss , Nia.”

“And you’re my friend. There’s no competition.”

God, I loved her. She was the best, the best , and I wasn’t quite sure what I had done to deserve her. I must have been a saint in a previous life. Maybe I’d saved a bunch of orphans or cured diseases.

I slung an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, babe. I know you’d do the same for me.”

“In a heartbeat.” I hesitated, my thoughts slippery and edged in uncertainty. “So, uh... Logan?”

She was quiet for a moment. “What if there was a way for you to stay?”

Dust danced in a thin beam of sunlight, sparkling like glitter. I closed my eyes against the brightness. “I can’t. Even if you’re right, even if he does… ”

“Love you?” she finished gently.

“Even if he loves me, yeah.” It tasted impossible on my tongue, heady and absurd. Logan was so far out of my league, I’d need a telescope just to see the field.

No.

No, this wasn’t me anymore. I didn’t put myself down like this, make myself smaller. And once Logan had stopped acting like a jerk to test us, he’d never treated me as anything less than his equal. ‘It’s just us, yeah?’

“He’s got ideas,” Nia said into the thoughts washing up against the edges of my mind. “He won’t push, babe—not after you told him to stay away. But he’s thought about this, you know? You could hear him out.”

“Since when are you on Team Logan?” My protest was weak, distracted.

“I’m on your team, Milo. Always.” She paused. “I just think he might be, too.”

I blinked my eyes open and shook my head, but couldn’t find the words.

After a few moments, Nia continued. “He’s been good for you, you know? You’re... happier. More open. I’d hate for that to just disappear. Not if there’s a way you can keep him without twisting yourself into knots.”

“There isn’t.”

Was there?

“Talk to him,” Nia said.

“I’m still too fucking angry.” I clung to that, used it as a steady anchor, and she nodded.

“Of course you are. I’d expect no less.“ She raised her head for a smile. “He wouldn’t, either.”

The mere idea of facing him made my stomach twist inside out, ground slipping away beneath my feet. I’d never planned to make myself this vulnerable again, teetering on the brink of someone else’s affection .

“Talk to him,” Nia repeated, gentle but firm. “Scream and shout if you need to. But give him a chance to explain.”

My chest hurt as I forced a slow, deep breath. And another. “I’ll think about it.”

Silvery baitfish darted around me, gleaming with life. The sun filtered through the water in golden ribbons. I floated along the reef, capturing moments of serenity, the weight of the world receding further with each stroke of my fins. No longer drowning.

‘We’re not done.’

I exhaled bubbles that caught the light in their dance towards the surface. A lone barracuda slipped through the water, sharp and sleek like a blade waiting to strike—like my thoughts, zigzagging between light and shadow.

‘Do you think you’re still running?’

Maybe.

For a while, I drifted—just the ocean and me. I captured the fading day, framing each shot with care, my tangled emotions swaying with the gentle current. The Blueberry Seas’ propeller cut the last rays of sun into bright columns, slanting down like light through towering cathedral windows.

I broke the surface next to the boat and climbed the ladder, gravity settling back onto my shoulders. Still, I felt lighter than before, calmer, my chest no longer restricting me to shallow gasps.

The winding steps up to the dive shop were steeped in a soft, rosy glow, and I paused halfway up to take in the sprawling view. Threads of rippling gold wove across the horizon, the sun about to dissolve into the water. Green hills rolled inland, shadowed in deep greens that swallowed the remaining light. Above, the sky was smeared with bruised purples that faded into the gentle smudge of night.

This island had been good to me, had given me time and space to rebuild myself, to patch up my cracks. Now my future had been blown wide open once more, but the past had lost its hold .

This time, I wasn’t running. Not anymore.

It was time to call Katie.

Sleep slipped through my fingers like sand. The ceiling fan shoved pockets of muggy air from one corner of the room to another. Outside my open window, leaves rustled softly, nocturnal creatures going about their usual business.

Not me, though. Today had been a long fucking year , my mind still going a mile a minute, spinning like a hamster on its wheel, never getting anywhere. And hell—if I wasn’t getting any rest, why should Logan?

I grabbed my phone, momentarily blinded by the glowing screen. Past midnight. I unlocked it and pulled up his name in my contacts— Logan Fox . Anger sizzled through me, mind flashing back to when we’d traded numbers and harmless quips about booty calls.

Yeah. How fucking funny .

‘You awake?’ I stared at the words for a second, then sent them.

His response took mere seconds. ‘Yes.’

Everything went static for a moment, the faintly brighter blur of the window an abstract frame for thoughts I couldn’t piece together. Then I tapped out another message. ‘Meet me on the pier.’

Fitting, wasn’t it? Full circle. Back to where I’d first seen him, years ago—just a laughing stranger, all boyish charm and golden skin.

‘5 minutes, ’ he replied.

All right. I dragged on a T-shirt, slipped into shorts, and stepped outside. Humidity weighed down the nighttime air and clung to my skin, the resort’s watering system gurgling softly. Subtle lighting illuminated paths and the stairs down to the shore while the moon hung low, its pale light swallowed by the inky water.

The pier stretched out into the sea, spotlights shining down to attract marine life. No sign of Logan yet. I kicked off my sandals, sat at the edge, and let my feet dangle into the warm water. Beneath me, schools of silvery needlefish darted in and out of view like flickering specters. Occasionally, a larger shadow snaked by—a tarpon, maybe, drawn in by the promise of an easy meal among the smaller fry. The sea’s heartbeat was steady, echoing in my bones.

Footsteps. I didn’t turn when Logan sat down beside me, a careful arm’s length between us. The air seemed to shift with his presence—quiet warmth, yet charged like a thunderstorm rolling in. I felt his eyes on me before he shifted his attention to the dark sky, silently waiting me out.

I liked that—liked that he didn’t push, gave me space and time rather than trying to dictate the rhythm of this. While it wasn’t quite enough to mute the hum of hurt and anger in my chest, it was a start.

After a minute, I glanced at him. The moon painted his profile in soft silvers and shadows. His shoulders were hunched slightly, hands loosely resting on his thighs, and when he turned his head to meet my gaze, something raw and real flickered in his eyes.

‘That boy is crazy about you.’

And I believed it. It might not change a thing, but I believed it.

“This is where we first met, you know?” My voice broke through the quiet like the ripple of a wave.

Slight confusion shadowed his features. “You mean figuratively? Because we did our first dive and I stopped acting like a jerk?”

“No.” I looked back at the water, reflected moonlight shattering into pieces as the waves lapped against the pier. “Years ago, when I first visited with my parents. It was my last night here, and I wanted to get some pictures. Was hoping for some bioluminescence.” I let one side of my mouth curl up, still watching the sea. “It didn’t happen, but I saw you laughing with a friend. Your cousin, I guess. Even took a picture.”

Logan moved sharply, drawing an audible breath. “I didn’t notice. You could have talked to me.”

Yeah, no. I shook my head. “I was shy.”

“Right. I knew that.” He paused, something like wonder woven into his tone. “Do you still have the picture?”

“No, it didn’t turn out well. Deleted it when I got home. ”

“So.” A smile played around the edges of Logan’s mouth, coated in a hint of disbelief. “Years ago, you took a picture of me. And then I saw one of you at Katie’s shop before… all this.”

I gave a small, dry laugh. “Yeah. I’d say fate’s not subtle, but it’s maybe less of a miracle when our parents run in the same social circle and we’re both divers.”

“Right.” He tilted his head, something soft woven into his next question. “When did you realize you’d seen me before?”

“Around the time we first hooked up. Or—a little before that.”

“Oh.” Logan’s brow furrowed, his features outlined by the underwater shine.

“That’s not why,” I told him. “I wasn’t suddenly like, ‘Oh, hey, must be fate! Better get an orgasm out of it.’ I was already attracted to you. The rest was just… a side note. Except, you know, that’s the moment I should have made the connection.” I didn’t fight the bitter twinge creeping into my tone. “Like, you being here for the christening of the Blueberry Seas , and your whole spiel about studying Hospitality Management, your supposed thesis...”

“It’s all true.” He straightened his spine and turned to face me fully. “Milo, please. I lied about my last name, yeah, and the whole...” For a beat, he faltered. “My aunt and uncle own this place, not me. But it’s family. And they’d received complaints about Richard. So the idea was for me to check it out, and if those complaints were valid, there’d be a chance for me to take over. I mean, I’d have to prove myself first, right? Come up with some good ideas for how to manage this place.” Another pause, underpinned by a vague, almost helpless half-wave of his hand. “It would have let me gain some first-hand experience, you know? For when I’ll eventually inherit my parents’ hotel in Miami. But... yeah. That was the general idea.”

Christ, that was a lot. I grabbed at the first question that didn’t slip from my grasp. “Your parents own a hotel?”

“Yeah. Just one, in Miami. It’s not part of the Prescott chain.” Again, he paused. “So, yeah. That’s, you know. That’s what I lied about. Everything else, though? It’s all true.”

I dropped my gaze to the water, the gentle lapping of waves almost maddening in their unbothered regularity. Thick silence stretched between us, and this... It came down to this, didn’t it?

“Please.” Logan’s voice slipped into a whisper. “I know you hate the idea of dating the boss, okay? And I’m... I get that. I do . So I’ve decided not to take over as manager here.”

He... What?

I twisted to look at him, my heart pulsing heavy in my throat. “You won’t?”

“No. Cleared it with my family just after our lunch—that’s the conversation I was worried about. Wasn’t sure how they’d take it.” His lips curved into a careful, half-formed smile, his entire focus on me as though the world had narrowed to just us. “Richard needs to go, though. He doesn’t embody the right values. So there’s some stuff to work out, maybe a bit of a transition phase while I work with his successor to make some changes I discussed with my aunt and uncle. Like hire a bit more staff, get some local collaborations going, that sort of thing.”

“You’re stepping down.” My mind spun, shards of reflected moonlight flickering through my vision. The pier seemed to sway beneath us. “For me?”

He opened his mouth, then hesitated, watching me closely. “Kind of?” It was edged in caution. “I mean, a little. Feels like Nia would be a better fit to run this place, though, and there might be another role I could play in the company. It’d be a new position, so I still need to sell my aunt and uncle on it.”

That was… big. Right? I grappled for a response. “So was that your idea from the start—to create a new role for yourself?”

Another hesitant second slid by before Logan shook his head. “No.”

Our eyes held as I asked, “What changed?”

“I met you.”

Simple and firm. Logan didn’t look away, and… God . Just like that, he’d moved us to even ground.

He could have asked me to uproot my life—work at some other dive center for a couple of years, say, and then move back to Miami with him, where he’d set me up with a nice little apartment that wouldn’t even register on his family credit card. Instead, he was the one trying to rearrange things.

He didn’t expect me to bend for him.

“You lied to me.” I sounded hoarse, shaken.

“Yeah. I did.” He fell silent for a beat, chin dipping. “I’m sorry about that, Milo. I am. But you made it plenty clear that if I told you who I was, you’d be gone in a second. I just didn’t think I stood a chance. Not until...”

“Kyle?” I suggested, my amusement distant, as if seen through a stained glass window.

“Yeah.” Logan’s mouth quirked. “Kyle. And then you told me about Michael, and that made me think that maybe, yeah—you cared. That this wasn’t just a fun little fling for you either.”

Me? I didn’t even do flings. There’d been Michael, and then a very limited number of hookups that never saw the light of another day. And then Logan.

“You’ve been with tons of guys.” I hated the uncertainty painting my tone. “You could have anyone.”

Gently, softly, he shook his head. The glow of underwater lights caught in his eyes. “I don’t want just anyone. I want you.”

“Logan…” I didn’t know how to continue. Felt like I’d been knocked sideways, split wide open. Everything up in the air, and I wasn’t sure where the pieces would land.

“Milo.” Logan leaned forward just slightly, not enough to impose on my space. His words tumbled out, quick, like he was afraid I’d cut him off. “Listen, I’m... When I arrived here, I treated this like some sort of game, you know? Play detective, prove myself. But you...” He made an aborted gesture, fingers fluttering like butterfly wings, before his hand dropped back down to his thigh. “You made me want to think bigger. Like, there’s purpose in trying to shape a place—a resort, or a hotel—that doesn’t only serve its guests. It should also be a great work environment, with ties to the local community and economy. What I mentioned before, about a new role? I want to become Sustainability Lead for the entire Prescott chain. You inspired that.”

A memory floated to the surface—his voice soft in the quiet of my room, his warm hands a contrast to the sweat cooling on my back. ‘Isn’t that what most people want? Find someone who gets it, but who’s different enough to challenge you. Who sees you, not the size of your wallet.’

I inhaled until my lungs felt ready to burst before I met his eyes. “I’m in love with you.”

Logan froze for a beat, staring at me. Then everything about him cracked open, a full smile breaking through, dimples carving deep craters into his cheeks. I lost my breath just looking at him.

He glanced down and back up with a newly mischievous tilt to his lips. “Yeah, I figured.”

Oh, you… I bit down on a half-formed laugh, feeling looser all of a sudden. This was us—still us. “You’re a dick.”

It sounded like an endearment, and Logan flashed me a bright look edged in caution. “Yeah. But I’m your dick.”

“So many puns—I just can’t choose.” Then I tipped up my chin, smile slipping. “But, Logan. Just so we’re clear.“ I paused as I fixed him with a hard look. “You lie to me again? You try to manipulate me like you did earlier? I’m walking.”

“I won’t. Milo. ” Reverence swung in the way he said my name. He reached out, fingers lightly skimming over the back of my hand, still hesitant as though any sudden move might spook me. “I’m stupid about you. You know that, right? Crazy, stupid, head over heels.”

Waves whispered beneath us, my heart as wide as the open sea. Liquid gold twined around my spine as I filled my lungs with what might be my first real breath all day, Logan the only thing that made sense.

Somehow, I made my voice work. Letters, syllables, words. “Hey. Logan?”

“Yeah?” He held himself very still.

Another breath, then a quiet laugh slipped through. “Shut up.”

I didn’t give him time to respond—just shifted into him and tangled my free hand in his hair, drew him in for a kiss. At first, it was soft and tentative, shared air and kitten licks, a hint of salt on his bottom lip. Then he cupped the back of my neck and tugged me closer. I got a hand fisted in his shirt and opened my mouth to his, push and pull like the steady beat of the sea.

There was more to say, things we’d need to figure out. But for now, this was enough.