[Complete || 7x featured]
Some summers are meant to burn.
April O'Brien is a firefly-bright, restless, and done living under anyone else's rules. Fresh out of high school, she knows college isn't part of her story, no matter how hard her father pushes. So when a summer getaway to Hawaii offers her the freedom to breathe, she takes it, determined to leave expectations behind and soak up every bit of sunlight.
But paradise comes with a twist. Javier-the boy who once had her heart and shattered it-is here too, and he's no longer just a memory. He's older. Sharper. Still heartbreakingly familiar.
What was supposed to be a peaceful escape quickly spirals into late-night tension, unfinished conversations, and a pull April swore she'd outgrown. She's built walls since Javier. She's learned how to pretend she doesn't care. But under the stars and crashing waves, pretending starts to feel impossible.
Just when it seems like they might find their way back to each other, April discovers Javier hasn't come back empty-handed-he's carrying secrets that could upend everything. And as truth and betrayal collide, she has to decide whether this summer will be the start of something real... or the final goodbye she never got.
Cover Designed by Kylie Krcel (Krcel04)
Started: 21/5/2021
Completed: 28/10/2021
Word count: 62,000 approx.
Featured by:
YA under 'Love, Actually'.
NA under 'ongoing stories'.
Newadultreads under 'Last Kiss'.
StoriesUndiscovered 'Tales of the heart'.
TeenFiction under 'Head over Heels'.
Girlboss inc under 'Swipe Right'.
General fiction under 'Finding love'.
When Beth wins two tickets to Hawaii, she accidentally invites the office hottie to join her for what's to become the most sizzling adventure of her life!
*****
Fresh off the heels of a heart-wrenching breakup, Beth is looking to pick herself up and get back on the horse. In a stroke of delicious luck, she wins a beautiful vacation to Hawaii! Cue in the sunny beach, yummy cocktails and the chance to completely let her hair down. What Beth doesn't expect is for her boss, Jerry, to turn her relaxing vacay into an opportunity to save her job that's on the line. With all of this going on, Beth drunkenly makes a deal with the office hottie, Russell, to get him to go on this trip with her! What comes next is the most tantalizing adventure of Beth's life. Russell has a hard and fast rule about not dating anyone from the office but Beth drives him to the brink of insanity. And even though they are both healing from past demons, the pull towards each other is so electric and it's a recipe for the most mouth-watering 'work' vacation yet.
[[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]
*Wattpad Featured Story
*Seen in Cosmopolitan.com on April 6, 2016! http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/bedroom-blog/a56380/wattpad-on-cosmo-skinny-dipping/
Cover design by April Alforque.