“I would just prefer that you don’t pass out on me again.” He strips out of his gym shorts, steps into the shower and closes the door.

Feeling guilty that I’m ruining our morning and the only day we’re going to be here, I contemplate joining him in the shower. I know it’s not my fault for how he’s acting this morning. If I’m enough for him, I should be able to snap him out of it and make him happy.

Chewing my lip, I lift my shirt, but stop before it even grazes my belly button. I don’t want Kohen to see me naked for the first time pissed at me. Deciding to let him calm down, I change into a bikini and a pair of shorts, despite the chill in the air. I’ll make us breakfast and call my brother while waiting for everything to cook. Perfect game plan. I steal Kohen’s phone and head down the stairs.

In the kitchen, I press the home screen on Kohen’s phone. I frown. It’s password-protected. He’s never had one before. I know the easiest thing would be to ask for the password, or to at least wait for him to come down here. I do neither. The easiest way is always the most boring. Hmm . . . My finger hovers over the screen. I can’t think of anything to guess. I doubt it’s his birthday . . . which I don’t even know. I try mine instead. I’m not surprised when it vibrates in my hand, informing me that I didn’t crack the code.

I set his phone on the counter and start making pancakes. There’s a lot that I don’t know about Kohen. That isn’t soothing since I’m trapped here with him until tomorrow when we go back to the city. I need to make a point of getting to know him before we return. This is our make-it-or-break-it vacation.

I’m not tip-toeing around someone I’m in a relationship with, I’ve done enough of that with Jax. If I continue to have this sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach, I have to end it. Kohen isn’t the type of guy to use as a rebound. He’s the plan-your-future-with, marrying type of man. I can’t even say who I see in my future. Before I always saw Jax, but now it’s just me. Alone.

I jump a good three feet in the air when Kohen startles me. “Why is my phone down here?”

“Breakfast is almost ready.” I ignore his question.

His sandy brown hair is still wet from the shower. A few drops drizzle down his wet hair and onto on his white pull-over. I start to feel hot. My reaction to the sight of him takes me by surprise. My mouth waters, imagining what he’ll taste like if I lick up the water. I swallow loudly.

Kohen walks towards me and grabs plates from the cupboard. “Why is my phone down here?” he asks again while he hands me the plates.

And just like that, I’m back to being nervous around him, and not because I’m attracted to him. “Thanks,” I say timidly. I put pancakes on both of our plates, add syrup, and fruit on the side. “Can you grab us orange juice?”

Kohen is already pouring juice in two glasses. I carry our plates to the patio table outside to enjoy the nice weather before the storm comes in. It’s still sunny, but dark clouds roll in and the waves crash violently into each other. I love storms.

“Are you going to answer my question?” Kohen snaps my attention back to him.

I sit beside him in the beige fabric-covered patio chair. “Sorry. I didn’t think it was a big deal. I was going to call my brother to see how his flight was.”

Kohen doesn’t touch his food. I can hear his teeth grinding. He takes a deep breath to calm himself. A move that I’m familiar with.

“Next time can you just ask? I don’t like my things out of place.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

Wow. I had no idea he would make such a big deal out of this. He’s acting like I destroyed his house while he was in the shower, not grabbing his phone from the charger and bringing it to the kitchen. Besides he’s one to talk. I don’t recall asking him to unpack my stuff.

“It’s fine. Next time just ask.”

I don’t see us lasting past this weekend. As much as I want to end things with him, it’s better to wait until we return home. I’m trapped here. No phone, no car. Besides, I’m hoping that we can turn this morning around. He’s having a rough morning, I need to stop reading into something that’s not there. Everything will be fine once I get him out of his funk.

“I didn’t even call him. You have a password now so I couldn’t get into your phone.”

Kohen nods but doesn’t explain. I’m not surprised that he doesn’t want to share why he has a password on his phone. However, I did think he would unlock his phone for me and hand it over so I could call Logan. Whatever, I’ll call him before we leave. We both eat our food in silence. It’s not a comfortable silence either; tension swims in the air.

Once we’re both done eating and have packed lunch for the boat, we’re ready to go.

“Can I use your phone please?” I ask to Kohen’s back.

“For what?” he asks.

Deep breaths. It shouldn’t matter, I want to shout at him, but I find the calm that I’m not feeling and say as nicely as possible, “I want to check on my brother.”

My earlier pep talk is flying off towards the horizon. I have to end things with him. I open my mouth to demand that he take me home, but nothing comes out. I need to break up with him in a crowd, not when I have no escape if he loses control over his rage.

Kohen doesn’t answer me. So I’m forced to wait . . . and wait. Finally, he turns around to face me. “How about you call him when we get back? We need to get going or we won’t be able to enjoy our day because of the storm.”

Forcing myself not to groan, I smile at him and pick up our towels. “Sure. Let’s go.” I don’t wait for him to respond. I stomp out of the house and walk over to the dock, and to the waiting sailboat.

Our day has yet to begin and I’m already wishing that I never got out of bed . . . or came. Kohen is acting strange. He isn’t being mean or anything, but something’s off. I can’t explain it. I don’t know why, but I’m nervous. Not nervous in a scared way, but in a way that I fear that I’m about to lose him. I can’t find it in me to care. I wonder if it’s because everything that happened with Jax is fresh in my mind, or if deep down I know I don’t belong with Kohen. I’ve been trying to push myself towards him while I’m still in love with Jax. Even though Jax and I are through, I need time to myself before jumping into anything.

Two long, dreadfully painful hours later, I jump off the white sailboat and march toward the house. I’m fuming. I don’t think I’ve ever been so upset in my life. And I can’t even get out of here because he stole my charger! I don’t care what he says, I know I packed it. It didn’t just disappear. For some reason, Kohen thought having me all to himself meant that I couldn’t communicate with the outside world. He needs to take a class on how to be a boyfriend, because nobody wants a controlling man in their lives, overstepping at every turn.

“Calm down, Adalynn,” Kohen says, racing behind me.

I ignore him and pick up my pace. Our “romantic” boat ride was anything but pleasant. It started off fine. I left everything that happened on the beach and tried to enjoy the rest of the day with him. Wishful thinking on my part.

Kohen freaked out when a group of guys on another boat were watching me. I can feel a headache coming on just thinking about it. He pulled me into the cabin and practically forced me into one of my dresses that he packed in our bags. Apparently I look like a slut in just a bikini top, shorts, and a cardigan. Yeah, cause the girls on the other boats were dressed ready to go to church. They didn’t care that it’s cold out. Most didn’t bother with a top and their bottoms were swallowed up by their asses, leaving everything on full display. But I’m the slut. Yeah.

I just laugh as I stomp up the stairs to the house. Kohen reaches me before I’m inside. My hands shake at my sides. I want to smack him, that’s how upset I am. That was so embarrassing! He treated me like an errant child. I force my arms to stay at my sides, even though I’m itching to take the control Kohen has stolen from me.