Chapter Five

The world was a beautiful shade of blue, like a robin's egg, but with swirls of white that made me think of cotton candy. I heard Tyler's voice, full of panic and fear, but it was very far away. Pain rushed through me, but it was as if I had never experienced it before and wasn't sure what pain was. My thoughts were dull and foreign as I slowly came back to myself.

“Olivia, can you hear me?” A deep, masculine voice asked. I knew that voice. I loved that voice. No, I hated that voice. That voice belonged to Logan Hayes.

I quickly righted myself so I was no longer looking up at the sky to find myself bobbing in the ocean. Logan had been holding my shoulders to keep me floating above the waves since I didn't have my life jacket on and had been out cold. As I sat up, he released me and I had to remember to tread water to keep my head from going under again. There was a splash as Tyler tossed me my life jacket and I clung to it so I wouldn't have to swim. My head was pounding.

“Of course I can hear you,” I answered. I meant to sound cross, but my tongue was sluggish so I just sounded sleepy. “What happened?”

“You hit a wave and flipped,” Tyler answered. He was sitting up on our jet-ski, his freckles dark against pale skin. He looked like he might be sick. “It knocked you out.”

That would definitely explain the headache. Tyler shifted in his seat, eyes as big as saucers. Maddy would never forgive me when she found out about this. “Are you okay, Tyler?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” he said with a small nod. “Are you okay?”

I did my best to smile up at him, but my whole head was pounding. “I'll be all right. My head just hurts.”

“You are pretty damn lucky,” Logan admonished. I had almost forgotten that he was there. His jet ski floated peacefully in the water behind him. “Tyler got to you and flipped you onto your back so you wouldn’t drown. You're lucky he's a good swimmer and has a good head on his shoulders.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked Logan, turning to face him. His blonde curls were plastered to his head from swimming in the water. He looked pissed.

“Tyler was screaming for help. You're lucky to be alive. Why the hell weren't you wearing your life jacket?” Logan glared at me like I had been an idiot. To be fair, I was, but I wasn't about to let him know that I agreed with him.

“I wasn't going that fast. It's not like this was my first time on a jet-ski.” I wished I could cross my arms, but that would mean letting go of the life jacket. Logan's frown deepened as his eyes went to my cheek.

Water was dripping from my hair down my face, so I wiped my hand across my cheek to stop the tickling sensation…only it wasn't water. Blood was trickling down my cheek from a cut in my scalp. It wasn't much, but I suddenly had a very strong desire to get out of the water.

“We need to get you back to shore,” Logan said with an air of authority. I hated that I immediately wanted to do what he said. “You need to have someone look at your head. You probably have a concussion.”

“Thank you, Dr. Hayes,” I said as sarcastically as possible. Logan didn't even bat an eyelash. I kicked my feet, propelling myself toward Tyler and the jet-ski.

“Where do you think you're going?” Logan asked, grabbing the life jacket and halting me easily in place.

“To get on my jet-ski and go get my head looked at,” I said as calmly as possible. “Are you sure that you're not the one with a head injury?”

“You are not driving. Tyler will take that jet-ski back by himself. You are riding with me.”

“Like hell I am!” I pulled at the life jacket to free it from his hands, but his grasp didn't budge an inch. He didn't even sway in the water.

Logan looked at me as though I might be clinically insane. “You're head is bleeding and you were out for a good couple of minutes. You need someone else to drive.”

“I'll ride with Tyler. He can do it,” I said stubbornly. The last thing I wanted was to be so close to Logan.

“No,” Logan explained patiently, still holding onto my life jacket. “Tyler will be able to handle the jet-ski on his own, but you won't be doing him any favors being off balance. You're riding with me.”

“It'll be okay, Aunt Liv. I'll be right behind you. Logan's good on a jet-ski. I saw him. You'll be fine.” I looked up at Tyler. He was so pale against the orange of his life jacket that I thought he might pass out at any moment, but he stayed sitting and did his best to smile encouragingly at me. Bless that kid's heart, he was trying to comfort me. He thought I was scared of Logan's jet-ski abilities and of falling again. If that were my only problem with Logan, life would be easy.

“Fine.” I glared at Logan. He kicked his legs and effortlessly pulled me and my life jacket over to his jet-ski. He helped me get up and into position, handing me up the life jacket. I quickly put it on and waited for him to get up. A drop of blood spilled down my cheek and onto the bright orange fabric. I wondered if the resort was going to charge me to clean it.

Logan looked back to make sure I was ready and frowned. He bit the sleeve of his shirt and started to tear. With a sharp tug and a ripping sound, he removed the sleeve and handed it to me. “Here,” he said. I stared at him for a moment until he added, “for your head.”

“Thanks,” I said grudgingly, pressing the dark fabric against the cut. He nodded and looked over at Tyler, who flashed him a weak grin and gave the thumbs-up signifying he was ready to go. Logan waited until Tyler was moving, and then carefully followed behind him.

I wrapped my arms around Logan's waist so I wouldn’t be jostled off by the waves. Even through his life jacket, he was incredibly solid and warm beneath my palms. If he wasn't such a jerk, I would have enjoyed being this close to such a nice specimen of masculinity. My body was responding a little too nicely to being pressed up against him, and I had to stop myself from snuggling up further. He's an ass, I reminded myself as my heartbeat started to race. A muscled, handsome ass who is going to use this to his advantage. I just knew once we got to shore that he would take all the glory for rescuing me.