GAGE The sound of my alarm barely registered this morning as I woke up. I had spent most of the night surfing the internet, determined to make my girlfriend proud this year. With a couple of hours before the others woke up, I decided to go for a run. As I jogged, I suddenly heard a whiny voice beside me. It was Harlan, trying to get my attention. Irritated, I asked her what she wanted. She attempted to flirt with me, but I quickly rejected her advances. Harlan stormed off, and a few minutes later, I noticed her friends coming out of the woods, putting their phones away. It was clear that Harlan was trying to gather some information on me to cause trouble with Dakoda. I continued my run, eventually reaching the beach where Dakoda and Mac were surfing. Dakoda was doing well, but Mac seemed to be struggling to stay balanced on her board. I decided to head back home after a few more minutes. Once I returned to the house, I quickly showered and got dressed. As I made my way to the kitc
DAKODA I wake up to Gage running his hands up and down my stomach, his lips trailing from my neck to my collarbone. As I stir, he looks up at me and greets me with a "Good morning, beautiful." I respond with a sleepy "Good morning." Gage asks me, "Can I kiss you or do you not like morning breath?" I playfully reply, "Well, it depends on whose morning breath it is. So, to answer your question, you better kiss me." He smirks and kisses me sweetly, causing me to melt under him. He then asks, "Can I make love to you again this morning?" I look into his eyes and say, "Yes, please." Gage lowers his face for another kiss and tells me, "I love you, Dakoda." “I love you too," I say before our lips meet. Gage positions himself between my legs and we make love. Afterward, we lie beside each other and I whisper, "God, morning sex is the best." Gage agrees, calling me "princess" and knowing he might earn a playful slap for it. He apologizes, but I tease him, calling him an ass, and annou
GAGE "I plead with Dakoda to wake up," It has been two weeks since she was admitted to this frustrating hospital, and there has been no sign of her responding to any of the treatments the doctors and nurses have tried. Despite her parents promising to keep us updated, the guys and I have refused to leave the hospital. This weekend is the pros, and Stella is trying to convince us that Dakoda would be angry if she knew we didn't go and kick ass. And she's right, because that's exactly how our girl would react. I glance at Korey and Kasey to gauge their thoughts, and I can tell that Stella's words are getting to them. I might as well go ride my waves. We need to make money to keep up with the bills. Luckily, Kasey made it to the money round as the third best, so he gets to compete with us. If the three of us stay in the top three, we'll earn a decent amount, but I can't seem to focus on anything other than Dakoda. “I promise I'll update you every half hour when Stella's parents
KOREY "Lord, why is she still not waking up? It has been more than two weeks now, and there are no signs of her coming back to us. Please, bring her back in God's name. Amen," I utter, my voice echoing through the chapel at the hospital. “I've never prayed before, so I'm not sure if I did it correctly," I confess aloud, sitting alone in the chapel. “Korey, I hear someone calling my name," I exclaim, momentarily thinking it might be God speaking to me. However, I quickly realize it's just someone behind me as Kasey rushes towards me. "Oh, what's wrong?" I ask, standing up from the pew. “She's awake, Korey!" Kasey shouts. “What?" I gasp in disbelief. “She's awake, man," Kasey says, a wide smile spreading across his face. We sprint out of the chapel and make our way to Dakoda's room. “Thank goodness," I whisper under my breath, and Dakoda looks at me as if I'm a stranger. The three of us exchange bewildered glances. "This isn't good," I whisper. “Nope," Kasey whispers back. “W
DAKODA "Where am I?" I wonder as I wake up to the sight of lights all around me. The last thing I remember is saying goodbye to my friends back home before boarding a plane to Hawaii for my dad's job. We needed a break from all the chaos our family had been going through since my twin sister got hurt at a party during summer break. "Oh God! Did we crash? Are my parents okay?" "NURSE!" I call out, and a nurse along with three guys rush into my room. "You're awake," the nurse smiles at me. "Thank goodness," I hear one of the boys whisper. Who are these guys? Were they on the plane with us when it crashed? Is that why they seem so concerned about me? "Where are my parents?" I ask the nurse. "Your parents went out to grab a bite to eat," one of the boys speaks up. Okay, so my parents are safe. But who are these guys? And why are they in my room? "So, they're okay after the accident?" Before the nurse can respond, the door opens and my parents and sister walk in. What on earth
DAKODA "Koda Bear, are you prepared for school?" Stella rouses me from a terrible dream. "No, go away." "What are you afraid of?" "What if I hate it there? What do I do then, Stella? I can't just give up and go home." "First of all, you've never quit anything in your life, so that's not an option. And secondly, you'll see that most people love you. Even though you don't know these amazing guys yet, they won't let anything happen to you." "Promise?" "Promise." "Okay, let's get going then." Our parents left a note apologizing for not being here on my first day back at school. "Do they do this often?" I ask Stella. "Yes!" "Does it have to do with what happened back there?" "Yes," Stella responds with a sad expression. "I'm sorry, sis. I didn't mean to upset you." "You didn't. I just wish it was over, that's all," she says. Ugh, I feel like the biggest jerk on the planet. I'm lucky that my injuries and memory loss were minor, and yet I'm crying over insignificant things. My
DAKODA I glance over to see what he finds amusing, only to regret it as he locks eyes with me. "You're mine," he whispers, and in response, I definitely flip him off. He mouths the words "when, where, what time," but I simply shake my head, unsure of how else to react. Stella laughs and remarks to Mac, "This is going to be fun to watch." "You guys aren't helping me at all," I complain before storming off to my next class. Finally, school is over, and we make our way to Stella's car. As I reach the curb, someone shoves me, causing me to fall onto my knees by Stella's car. "Damn it," I growl. The baby-faced guy is there again, offering to help me up, but I push him away. "Just leave me alone," I whisper through gritted teeth. "I've told you three times that I need time and I don't want to play your stupid game. Now back off." He raises his hands and starts backing away. "Okay, I'll leave you alone," he says, but I don't believe a word he says. "Move along. Nothing to see here," Ma
GAGE "Well, damn, that went smoothly." "I'd say it went about as well as last time," Kasey says, glancing at Dakoda as she walks away towards her locker after our argument in the classroom. "Yep." "What's our plan with her?" I ask Kasey. "We'll do what we did when she first moved here," he replies. "Make her fall for us." "We were jerks to her when she first arrived, bro." "We were, but we also got her attention. Remember the first day we brought her into the classroom? We made her furious, but she was also attracted to us." "Alright, what's your idea, man, and should we involve Korey at this point?" "Don't involve him and let's see what happens," Korey says from behind us. "How did you manage to escape from your clingy girlfriend?" "Told her I needed to use the bathroom and to go to class and save our seats." "How long do we have to keep this up with her, man? I'm already feeling uncomfortable, and it's only been a week." "As long as it takes to get her to open up and