A Forever Kind of Love (Kinds of Love 1)

“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.

Chapter 6

Logan carefully followed Tyler to the dock where the attendant quickly took our keys and called the resort infirmary and told them to be expecting us. Logan lifted me from the seat to the dock, where my knees threatened to buckle as soon as I landed. He had his arm around me before I even had a chance to sag. I didn't want to, but I held onto his muscled arm. Just for balance, I told myself, not because it's so nice to hold on to.

Tyler came to my other side and wrapped my other arm over his shoulder. He was still too short for the action to work as intended, but it was such a sweet gesture, I didn't say anything. He puffed out his chest and helped carry me to the employee golf cart, even though it was Logan who was doing most of the work.

Together, the two of them got me settled as the jet-ski attendant hopped in the driver's seat and sped us all to the infirmary. It was only a short drive, but Tyler held onto me like I might go flying out of the cart at any moment. When we stopped, he made sure to help me inside as much as his small frame would allow. The nurse was waiting for us and quickly shuffled me off into an exam room as soon as we walked through the door.

“You two stay out here. I'll stay with her until the doctor comes in,” she told a very worried-looking Tyler. “She'll be just fine. The room's too small for all of you to fit.”

The exam room looked like every other doctor's office I had ever been to, only slightly smaller and decorated with stenciled seashells on the wall. The resort had a full-time doctor on staff as part of the resort package. I hadn't intended to use this service, but I was glad it was here.

The nurse took the now-soaked shirtsleeve and handed me some clean, white gauze to hold against the cut on my head as I sat down on the exam table. Now that some of the adrenaline was wearing off, the cut was starting to ache and throb, but at least I didn't appear to be bleeding anymore.

“Hello there,” said a warm, baritone voice as the door opened. A tall, older gentleman with graying blonde hair walked into the room. He wore a resort polo but had on dark blue board shorts. He looked like he would be equally comfortable in a clinical setting or out surfing the waves. “I'm Dr. James.”

“Olivia,” I introduced myself. The nurse stepped out and closed the door behind her as the doctor shook my hand.

“The men outside say you fell off your jet-ski, hit your head, and were unconscious for at least two minutes.” He leaned against the small counter, his eyes assessing my injuries and cataloging everything.

“That's what they tell me. I don't remember much.” I did my best to smile, but my head was now pounding. I really just wanted to lay down and take a nap.

“How are you feeling?” Dr. James asked, turning to wash his hands in the sink.

“Stupid.”

Dr. James chuckled as he reached for the paper towels. “Anything else? Any nausea, balance issues? Seeing spots?”

“I have a pretty terrible headache. When I first got out of the water, I was a little dizzy, but I feel better now.” I sighed and looked up at him. “Other than the stupid and headache part.”

“Good.” Dr. James pulled out a penlight an

d shined it in my eyes. “Tell me your full name, age, and birthday.”

“Olivia Michelle Statler. I'm twenty-seven and my birthday is October twenty-fifth.” I blinked as he moved the light away. He proceeded to hit my knees with the strange triangle hammer from my childhood. Both knees popped up just as expected.

“Excellent. What is the current month? Date if you know it, but I know it's hard to keep track on vacation.” Dr. James smiled as he put his hands on my neck and shoulders and checked for any injuries. Out of habit, I started to raise my wrist to check my watch for the date, but he caught my arm before I could see it.

“November. It's two weeks until Thanksgiving and a Tuesday, but that's all I got,” I said with a rueful grin at my watch.

He released my arm and smiled. “You got me beat. I forgot Thanksgiving was coming up. Do you know where you are right now?”

“Island Oasis Resort, in the medical center.” I knew these silly questions were just meant to check on my mental status, so I didn't mind answering the obvious. The idea that people often forgot this stuff after a head injury was rather sobering.

“Excellent. Follow my finger with your eyes and tell me what the last thing you remember is,” the doctor said, holding one finger up and moving it from side to side.

“Turning on the engine to go see something Tyler was excited about. Then thinking, 'Oh crap!' as the wave hit. Then I was suddenly staring up at the sky.”