It was almost dinnertime when Emmett suggested we try a restaurant he’d heard about called Hammerhead Fred’s. The hostess seated us at a booth, and we ordered oysters as an appetizer, we were excited to see it was served on a slab of driftwood nearly as long as the table. As we ate, he told me about a trip his family had taken to the beach when he was ten.

“My little brother, Alby, was eight years old and had a bad ear infection, so he was cranky most of the drive here. I remember feeling so bad I couldn’t help him feel better. I stayed in the room with him though, and didn’t go to the beach until two days later when he was finally feeling better. We were really close, like best friends. He’s my half-brother. My biological father died a couple months after I was born. Mom remarried, and had my brother a couple years later. It sucks not ever having the chance to know my birth father, but our dad was awesome and loved us very much. I’m thankful to have had him raise me, and ended up with the best little brother.”

“Oh, Emmett, that sounds awful for him to have been so sick,” I said, reaching for his hand.

“I always remembered that trip, and wanted to come back to the beach, but Dad’s work was hectic and life was too busy. Then we lost our parents just a few years ago. I just never felt at ease about coming back here.”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine losing my parents. I wondered why you never brought them up.”

“Anyway, one morning I was lying in bed, playing with your hair, and the idea hit me. So I booked the trip.”

“I’m happy you did. It means so much to me that you’re willing to share this special place with me.”

After we finished with dinner, we walked behind the resort along the beach, watched in awe as the sky began to fill with beautiful shades of yellow, red, and orange.

That night, the balcony door stood open, letting the lightly salted air breeze through the condo. I stood at the railing looking out over the horizon as the sun kissed the water’s edge. He walked up behind me and wrapped me in his arms.

I rested my head back against his chest with a sigh. “It feels so good out here.”

He ran his hands up and down my arms as his lips left a trail of kisses on my neck.

“Yes,” he whispered in my ear. “It does.”

As I turned around to face him, he dropped his arm down beneath me, picking me up in his strong embrace. He kissed me slowly, methodically, as he cradled me to his chest and walked us into the bedroom.

“You’re so beautiful, my Peach. I want to make love to you all night,” he said, then pulled at my bottom lip with his teeth.

I felt the heat in my cheeks, as he looked deep into my eyes.

He reached down and slowly lifted my shirt off. His hands brushing against my skin left a heated trail of tingles.

“Me, too,” I breathed out while he gently laid me on the bed.

He unbuttoned the top of my denim skirt, pulling it down over my hips. As his fingers traced the contours of my leg to the back of my knee, a giggle slipped out.

My hands flew to my mouth as we both chuckled.

“I’m sorry. I know how ticklish you are, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to feel your soft skin.”

“It’s ok.” I whispered, running my fingers underneath the waistband of his shorts and tugging at them.

He lowered and stepped out of his shorts, and I smiled in anticipation at the sight of his tanned, muscular body.

He lay down next to me and kissed me softly, pulling me into his arms. But it soon turned heated and hungry as our passion consumed us. We were like an inferno setting our love ablaze in the night. Afterwards, I snuggled into him and rested my head on his chest.

“I love you, Emmett.”

“I love you, too, Peach,” he replied, kissing the top of my head.

“Thank you for brining me here. It’s beautiful.”

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t wait to get you here and all to myself. I’m a greedy bastard and got sick of sharing your time with the girls.” He laughed.

I smacked his shoulder. “You are not a bastard! Greedy with my time, maybe, but I love that, too.”

We spent the weekend switching between drinks at the tiki-bar by the two Olympic-sized pools and hot tubs to the blue-shaded lounges on the beach. We body surfed and swam to cool off from the hot sun. Every night, we walked along the beach, picking up shells for me to use as charms.

As we lay in bed on the last night of our weekend getaway, wrapped in each other’s arms, Emmett kissed the top of my head and twined his fingers with mine.

“I’m so happy you’re in my life. I’ve never needed anyone this way before. I can’t imagine going back to my cold existence before you,” he whispered.

“Me, too. It scares me sometimes. I feel like I need you as much as my next breath.”

“Don’t worry, Peach. We’ll always have each other.”

I had a flash of pain at those last words. A deep-rooted fear surfaced, a remnant of my days with Alec when he had promised me the same thing, and that had ended in the worst pain of my life. Again, I pushed those thoughts and fears away. I had to live in the now, not the past. I refused to let his actions diminish the happiness I had in my life.

After returning home, we finished out the fall semester, and everything seemed to fall into step, until one morning, when I woke to caresses along my spine. Emmett was watching me sleep again. I tried to be still. I didn’t want him to stop. The gentle care he took with me was mesmerizing, and the tingle his hands left behind prickled up the back of my neck.

Then a buzz sounded before the ringtone. I didn’t want to move, but as soon as “Uptown Girl” sprang from the phone in my discarded jeans pocket, I knew Emmett would race to get it before it woke me up.

I shifted and reached to grab it, but he beat me to it. Oh God! I squeezed my eyes closed at the thought of him reading “My Lover” with Alec’s contact picture. I really didn’t want my boyfriend seeing my ex-boyfriend’s face. I’d never had it in me to delete his contact information, or even look at it to change the name. Seeing his picture always threw me into a hard sadness and flashes of pain at that last memory of him. Why was Alec calling me? Why now, when everything with Emmett was so perfect?

“No fucking way this is happening.”

I popped my eyes back open and froze at the pale expression on Emmett’s face. He wasn’t angry. No . . . it was . . . hurt. Utter disappointment and pain.

He turned the phone and showed me the picture.

“I’m so sorry, Emmett. I didn’t think to take his number out of my phone.”

He spiked his fingers through his hair on a heavy exhale. His hurtful expression morphed into resignation. He looked from my phone then across his bedroom at me with an awareness I knew wasn’t good.

“Do you . . . know Alec?”

He nodded, slowly handing me my cell phone as it continued to play Alec’s ringtone. I felt my world crashing in on me.

“Hello?” I answered, my voice hesitant and uncertain. I heard a sigh on the other end of the phone.

“Samone. I wasn’t sure if you would answer.”

“Yeah. I almost didn’t.”

“Well, I’m relieved you did. I want . . . no, wait, I need to see you. To talk to you. Please say you’ll see me. I know I don’t deserve it, that I hurt you. I’m so sorry for that.”

I sat in silence and looked up to Emmett standing at the foot of his bed with a blank stare on his beautiful face.

“I’m sorry, Alec, but I’m with someone now. I’ve . . . I’ve moved on.”