Filed to story: The Alpha’s Pen Pal Book
HAVEN
As much as I hated giving in to Wesley’s bossy requests, my body couldn’t help but listen to him when he told me to rest. I wanted to protest, to fight back against his stupid request.
But the exhaustion I still felt from the two weekends of performances and rehearsals in between finally caught up to me, and before I knew it, I was snoozing in the front seat of his truck, my legs curled up under me and my hand in his.
When I opened my eyes again, we were no longer in the mountains surrounded by redwoods. I sat up straighter, blinking, disoriented, as I took in our surroundings.
Rolling hills. Small, colorful houses. Beautiful cypress trees I had only ever seen pictures of when researching California when we wrote to each other as kids.
And beyond it all, white sand and the blue ocean stretched out as far as I could see, until it connected with the sky and you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
The beach. He had brought me to the beach.
I barely held in my squeal of excitement and leaned closer to the window to get a better look, letting go of Wesley’s hand.
“So, is this a good surprise?” Wes asked as I gaped out the window, pressing my nose to the glass to look towards the long pier extending out over the water.
“Good? Wes, this is amazing! It’s beautiful, and perfect, and—” I shook my head and glanced at him.
His focus was on the road, but he had the biggest grin on his face, and his eyes kept sliding over to me, watching me and taking in my reaction as best he could while driving.
“Thank you,” I told him, leaning over the armrest to kiss his cheek.
I sat back in my seat and looked back out my window, absorbing it all and committing all of it to memory. The view, the sounds, the smells, and Wesley.
He kept spoiling me. The Nutcracker tickets back when we were kids. The adoption, even though it didn’t work out. Jack and Shirley. Seeing all of my ballet performances. The flowers. The bracelet.
But he didn’t do it as bribery. He did it because he could.
He gave and gave and gave, and I had nothing to give back to him except my heart. And while I wasn’t sure I was ready to give it to him fully, he was slowly getting it, piece by piece, with every little thing he did for me and with every little thing I learned about him.
He pulled off the highway and then turned onto a narrow, shaded road, following the signs that read “campgrounds” until we reached a small guardhouse. The man inside poked his head out and, after seeing Wesley in the driver’s seat, smiled and waved us through.
“Don’t we have to pay?” I asked.
“I called ahead to let them know we were coming while you were asleep,” he said. “And my family owns the campgrounds,” he added, mumbling.
I forced myself to not roll my eyes at that comment and instead focused out of the window, looking at the trees and trying to see through them to the beach.
He parked, and we both got out, me stretching my legs while he rummaged around in his back seat, pulling out what I could only guess was camping gear.
“I hope you’re not expecting me to help you,” I said. “I literally have no idea how to do any of this,” I reminded him, gesturing around at the campgrounds.
“Lucky for you, I’m used to setting it all up by myself. Our dads made sure we all could by the time we were preteens.”
He lowered the tailgate on his truck and patted it, gesturing for me to have a seat while he set everything up.
“I somehow pictured you as an RV or trailer camping type of family,” I confessed as I hopped up.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Nope,” he said with a shrug and a kiss to my nose. “My dad wanted us to learn survival skills, especially because of where we live. Plus, we just really like being outdoors. Being one with nature.”
I nodded and sat quietly while he worked, watching him with my legs swinging over the edge of the tailgate. The way his clothing stretched and strained against the muscles of his body while he set up the tent had my mind spiraling with delicious, dirty thoughts.
More than once, I found myself almost drooling when he bent down, and his jeans hugged his ass and thighs until I finally had to pull my phone out of my pocket to distract myself from ogling him.
I swear, though, somehow he knew exactly what I was thinking about, exactly what he was doing to me, because I kept catching him glancing at me with a self-satisfied glint in his eye every time.
He had the tent up faster than I expected and wiped his hands on his jeans as he walked over to me. I set my phone down, and on instinct, my legs parted so he could stand between them.
I wanted him to put his hands on me, to slide them up my bare thighs to my hips, but he put them on either side of me on the tailgate instead, leaning down to say, “Are you ready?” in a low voice.
“Ready for what?” I breathed back, scooting forward until I was right on the edge of the gate, my arms wrapping around his middle.
“To go to the beach.” He chuckled as I tilted my head up to look at him, my chin resting on his chest and my hair tumbling down my back with the movement.
I smiled at him, but my mouth froze when it was halfway to a full grin. “Um, Wes?” I asked.
“Hmm?”
“I don’t have a swimsuit. Or anything else, like extra clothes or—“
He just laughed again. “There are stores that sell swimsuits near the beach,” he said. “We’ll grab a quick lunch, then I’ll buy us some swimsuits and whatever else we need before we head down to the water.”
I bit back my refusal. I didn’t want him to spend that much money on me, but I knew it was futile to argue with him about it. He wouldn’t take my money, and he wouldn’t listen to reason if I told him he didn’t need to do any of that. That just being here with him was enough.
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay?” Wes asked, and I nodded. “Just like that? No fighting? No arguing?” I shook my head. “Hold on, let me document this momentous occasion—the day Haven Kenway didn’t try to argue about me doing something nice for her.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
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