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  “What a lovely name,” he said in a husky voice.

  I swallowed past the dryness in my throat and nodded. Was this man flirting with me? “Thank you,” I said.

  I didn’t know if it was appropriate for him to be kissing my hand like that, but I wasn’t exactly complaining either.

  “I trace an accent in your voice,” he said. “Where are you from?”

  “G-Germany,” I answered.

  “Ah. That explains the accent.”

  I frowned at hearing him say that. “Is that a bad thing?”

  He chuckled. His voice was deep and sounded beautiful, as he threw his head back in merriment. “Nah, it ain’t a bad thing babe.”

  Did I just heard a southern twang in his voice?

  “Are you from around here?” I asked.

  He shook his head again. “Nah. I’m American. I moved to New Zealand a few years ago.”

  Before I could say anything in reply, a man called out to him. Theo flashed me another smile before he said, “I look forward to seeing your windsurfing skills. Hopefully, you’ll learn quickly.”

  I blushed at his comment and nodded. I watched in a daze, as he ran back to the cottage and went to see what the man wanted. I was never one to know, whether a guy was trying to hit on me, and I wasn’t going to start asking around now.

  I shook the thought aside and went back to the bench. A half hour dragged by, as Theo went through the instructions and the basics of windsurfing. He demonstrated a few moves to show the right and wrong moves that a surfer should or should not make.

  Before I knew it, our one-hour lesson was up, and we were ready to go and put our new skills into action. We spent time setting up the sail, the mast, and the rest of the gear and launched the board into the water. I grabbed hold of the handle and used the moves Theo had shown us earlier, leaning back the sail and going along with the gust of the wind.

  Even though I swore I looked like a fool waving the sail around, Theo still praised me for being a natural. Natural my ass. I knew I sucked, but I appreciated his constant encouragement and listened to him for suggestions to improve.

  It was half-past twelve by the time we finished. A satisfied feeling settled in me as I packed up the gear, laughing when a co-student told me something.

  “Good job for today guys,” Theo praised. “Keep it up until y’all are rocking windsurfing.”

  We nodded and filed in to the bathroom. I stayed behind when someone called my name.

  “Yes?” I said.

  Theo ran over to me and flashed me a wolfish grin. “You did great today, Tina. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought you were born to surf.”

  I blushed at his appraisal. “Thanks Theo. You’re a good instructor.”

  “You’re sweet,” he said. “I’ll see you again next weekend?”

  I nodded. “You bet.”

  ***

  “How was the lesson?” Anthony asked the moment I walked into the house.

  I flashed him an exhausted smile and said, “It was good. I’ll just be in my room, if you need anything.”

  He nodded, as I walked past him into my room, closing the door behind me. I threw my bag on the floor and flopped down on my bed. A sigh left my lips, as I looked up at the ceiling. My body was slightly fatigued from the surfing lesson and all I wanted to do right now was go to sleep.

  I was planning to do just that when my phone vibrated inside my bag. I groaned and reached for it, my hand connecting with my iPhone. I pressed the middle button and scrolled through my new text messages; my heart pounded in my chest, when I saw an unknown number pop up on the screen. Could it be Wiremu?

  With my heart thumping loudly in my ears, I opened my new messages but didn’t see a particular one from him. I bit my lower lip, wondering how he was doing. My phone vibrated against my palm and I jolted forward. I stared down and saw the same unknown number and answered it quickly.

  “Hello?” I said.

  “Hey, it’s me. Wiremu,” Wiremu greeted.

  I sat up, clutching my phone in my hand, my heart still pounding in my chest. “Hi. I thought you would never call after the uh,—”

  “Are you busy?” he asked, cutting me off.

  “Uh, no. Why?”

  “Can we meet somewhere? I need to talk to you,” he said and hung up before I could even say anything in return.

  I looked down at my phone for a second before I went over to my closet. I grabbed a fresh outfit and was changing when I heard a quick beep from my iPhone. I bent down and retrieved it, reading the new message from Wiremu.

  Meet me at Café Lab downtown. I’ll be waiting.

  I stuffed my phone back to my jean’s pocket and rushed out the door. My host dad yelled after me, wondering where I was going.

  “I’m just going out to meet a friend. I won’t be long,” I said and closed the door behind me. A cold wind flew by and ruffled my hair as I descended the small flight of stairs. I called for a taxi and jumped in when it arrived ten minutes later. I wondered what Wiremu wanted to say to me. Would he even bring up our one-night stand? Or would he simply pretend it never happened and leave it at that?

  The car stopped, and I quickly paid the driver. I hopped out of the vehicle and pushed my way inside the busy café, catching a glimpse of Wiremu at the back. I pressed my lips in a tight line, my hands shaking slightly as I sauntered over to him.

  “Hey,” I said when I reached him.

  He looked up from his drink and said, “Hey.”

  I grabbed the back of the chair and seated myself across from him. I noticed he had his fingers wrapped around his cold drink, the reminder of having those thick digits inside of me making me blush. Clearly, I still wasn’t over that passionate night.

  “How are you?” I asked, suddenly nervous.

  “I’m good,” he said. “How are you?”

  “Not too bad.” I said, even though my nerves were all over the place. “So, what made you call me?”

  He played with his straw, his hazel eyes lowered and unwilling to meet mine. I was growing more and more uncomfortable as the silence stretched between us.

  “About that night...” he began. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  I nodded, understanding. “Me, too. I mean, I don’t know what came over me that night either. I guess we both just got caught up in the moment.”

  He didn’t nod like I expected him to. Instead, he looked up from his drink, his hazel eyes looking more green than brown. I gulped.

  “Is that what you thought it was? That we both got caught up in the moment?”

  “Yeah, definitely. I mean, what else, right?”

  I didn’t know what else to say or do, as Wiremu and I continued to stare at each other. I didn’t know what else he wanted me to say. Did he want me to say that it wasn’t a mistake after all? That things were just meant to happen that night and that we shouldn’t be blaming it on the alcohol we consumed?

  “I guess you’re right,” he said a moment later. “I guess it was a mistake.”

  Did I hear disappointment in his voice, or did I just imagine that?

  “And we drank alcohol that night. We should blame it on that,” I said, blabbering like an idiot now.

  His eyes narrowed into two slits. Which was never a good sign, as his lips moved. “What are you trying to imply? That just because we drank that night I forced you into having sex with me?”

  I opened my mouth and quickly reassured him. “Oh, no, no. I didn’t mean to make it sound like that. What I mean was—”

  I tried to explain but he was shaking his head already. “Never mind. There’s no point in talking about this now.”

  I felt a bubble of anger and I tried to keep my temper in check, but Wiremu seemed to be provoking me.

  “Will you shut up and listen to me?” I growled.

  Chapter Five

  He blinked at me several times, looking so clueless that it made me grin even though I was angry, no furious, for being cut off all the time
.

  “Thank you,” I said when he didn’t speak.

  “Now, as I was saying, I didn’t mean it to come out like that. I wasn’t trying to imply that you raped me, or forced me into having sex with you. That clearly not what happened, Wiremu.”

  “Then, what are you saying?” he asked, sounding pissed still.

  I took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. “What I meant was that I wanted to do it. I wanted to have sex with you that night because I was a horny dog and needed to have my itch scratched okay?”

  Shit, that didn’t exactly come out right. I clamped a hand over my mouth, cursing myself repeatedly for getting so worked-up that I revealed the most humiliating truth ever.

  “I can’t believe I just said that,” I said.

  “Well, I can,” he assured me, as I heard a smile in his voice.

  I peeled one eye open and saw him smirking at me. Shit, was he making fun of me now? My ears turned red at the thought.

  “Please don’t tell me you’re making fun of me,” I mumbled.

  “I wasn’t,” he said, though I didn’t believe him. He was laughing at me.

  A laugh erupted from his throat, and I couldn’t fight back the smile that broke out on my face. He had a great laugh and it was hard not to join in.

  “Are you done making of me?” I asked a little while later.

  He shook his head, sending a lock of hair flying. “You’re funny.”

  “Well, thanks.” I said, placing a hand over my heart. “So, are we good?”

  He regarded me with sober eyes. Gone was the playful Wiremu, as his hazel eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

  “You’re asking me if we’re good. Are you serious? I just had my dick jammed inside of you a few weeks ago and you’re asking me if we’re good?”

  I nibbled down on my lip and nodded.

  “Shit.” he muttered, running his palms over his face.

  “I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “I’ve just made things complicated for us. I shouldn’t have slept with you. Oh man, I wish we could take that night back.”

  “Don’t blame yourself too much. I’m part to blame too,” he said.

  “Look, can we just rewind and start over again?” I asked, still nibbling down on my lip. “I don’t want to lose you, I want to stay friends Wiremu.”

  “You want to be friends still after what happened?” he asked in disbelief.

  I nodded. “If you would have me as a friend that is.”

  I knew he was considering my proposition, because a line appeared on his forehead. His face scrunched up in thought. “Where do we go from here? I can’t exactly be friends with you. You know, after what happened.”

  I nodded as I thought over what he said. “Yes, that’s true.”

  “And I can’t look at you the same again, because to tell you the truth, I can’t stop imagining you in my bed. Under me. On top of me while you have your beautiful green eyes on me the whole time your pussy is clenching and unclenching my cock.”

  I felt a rush of wetness between my legs. I clamped my legs together, stopping my inner walls from convulsing as my lips parted. It was sinful and dirty to hear him say that to me, especially out in a public area. Luckily for us, we were seated at the back and not a single person could hear much of our conversation anyway. Even so, it didn’t help hearing him say those words to me.

  “Wiremu,” I began.

  But he just kept on going as if he didn’t hear me. “And you know what sucks too? That whenever I lay in my bed, alone with my dick straining against my boxers, it makes me think of you moaning and writhing when I ate your pussy. Your clit throbbing against my tongue while your juices leaked out.”

  A small gasp left my lips, breaking free and reaching his ears.

  “So, you see, I can’t exactly be friends with you. Not if you want to find yourself flat on your back, moaning and writing under me. Again.”

  My mouth opened and moved but no words came out. I was beyond shocked and I couldn’t form a single sentence together. He had me speechless with his words.

  “I...I don’t know what to say,” I said.

  “Just as I thought,” he replied. “This is why we can’t be friends. I don’t sleep with my friends, Tina.”

  I nodded. “I gathered that. But...I can’t be in a relationship right now.”

  “Who said anything about a relationship?” he asked.

  I ran my tongue over my dried lips. “No one. And I don’t have time for a relationship either.”

  “Oh, this is going great,” he muttered dryly.

  “I have a proposition to make,” I started. “Since we’re both not looking for a relationship, how about we just fool around?”

  “I don’t know if I’m going to like this,” said Wiremu, looking doubtful.

  I just hoped he would listen to me first before jumping to conclusions.

  ***

  I flicked my hair away from my neck and grabbed his wrist, holding on tightly as I saw him looked down to where my fingers were. “Please, just listen to me.”

  His eyes met mine again, and he didn’t look happy. “You want to be friends with benefits? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I thought you don’t want to be friends?” I asked, frowning.

  “I said I can’t be friends with someone I slept with. No, actually, scratch that. I can’t be friends with you and have sex.”

  His chair scraped against the floor, and the realization of him leaving had me calling out for him.

  “Wait!” I said, too loudly.

  A few heads turned toward my way, my cheeks heating up in embarrassment as I smiled faintly at them.

  “Can you come back here?” I asked Wiremu, who seemed to be pissing himself laughing.

  He shook his head and did as I told him. He sat back down and crossed his arms across his massive chest.

  “You don’t want to do this Tina. I don’t know about you but I have never had anyone come up to me offering me sex. Is this something you do often? Come up to men and ask them to have sex with you?”

  I shook my head. “No Wiremu. I’ve been in a relationship before, too, you know. Before I came here.”

  That seemed to pique his interest, because he asked, “What happened?”

  “We broke up before I came here,” I repeated.

  “Why did you break up?”

  “He wasn’t the one for me,” I answered.

  “Was there a reason why you broke up with him?”

  I looked at him in surprise. “How do you know I broke up with him?”

  He tilted his head to the side, studying me with intense eyes. “You don’t sound that upset. So, I gather you were the one who broke things off. Was there a reason why?”

  “He was a cheating bastard is all,” I said and lowered my gaze.

  Talking about my ex-boyfriend didn’t thrill me at all. It wasn’t because I was hurt by his cheating on me—okay, maybe I was a little stung at first, but I quickly moved on. However, his lying to me wasn’t exactly my favorite topic of conversation.

  “Did you love him?” he asked quietly, so quietly that I thought I misheard him.

  “Did I love him?” I repeated, sounding stupid.

  He nodded.

  I pondered that thought. “I guess I did. I mean, when you get in a relationship you tend to love that other person, right?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t do relationships.”

  My eyebrows shot up in astonishment. He didn’t? Then a past conversation with Chelsea bubbled up to the surface, reminding me that he had never brought a girl into his apartment before.

  “You don’t?”

  He shook his head. “Nah. Relationships are too much to handle. I’m a very busy person and I don’t have time for it.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “I’m sure you’ve had a girlfriend before.”

  “Most of them are just flings. They know I’m not the commitment type. Besides, I have rugby to t
hink about. I play for the school and I’m busy most of the time. I’m training to be a professional rugby player, babe.”

  Babe. That was the second time he called me that. The first had been when we were having sex, his mouth pressed to my ear when he had called me babe.

  “Is that why you don’t bring girls to your apartment?” I asked.

  His face darkened and a shadow of emotion flickered in his eyes. “Who told you that?”

  Shit.

  “Just someone I know,” I said.

  He shook his head and muttered something under his breath. “I’m guessing Chelsea told you that?”

  I shook my head, hoping that he wouldn’t confront her about it.

  “No, not her. Just someone I know,” I said.

  “Well, whoever told you that, tell them stay out of my business and mind their own.”

  I figured that he wasn’t willing to talk about it now, so I changed the subject.

  “So, you’ll do it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I frowned at him. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

  “I said, I don’t know, Tina. I’m not sure if this will work out. Give me some time to think about it, okay?”

  He turned and left before I could say anything.

  Chapter Six

  “So, you signed up for a windsurfing lesson and you met an incredibly hot instructor? Tell me more,” Chelsea said.

  I laughed at the last part of her words and threw a fry at her, which she quickly dodged. “You’re unbelievable,” I said.

  “No, really. I want to know,” she insisted.

  I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my burger. We were in the cafeteria, having lunch and discussing the latest gossip in my life.

  “He’s pretty good-looking, yeah. He’s got this beach look. Blonde hair, blue eyes, tan skin. I think he’s lived by the beach his whole life.”

  “Yum,” Chelsea commented.

  “And he’s American, too.” I said.

  “For reals?” she asked, nearly choking on her smoothie.

  I patted her back and nodded. “Yeah, he said so himself,”

  “Are you planning on going out with him, then?”