Below the Barrel (Saltwater Springs #2)

17. Koa | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

SEVENTEEN

KOA | RIO DE JANEIRO, brAZIL

I wake up to something warm and soft pressed against me, the steady rise and fall of her breathing against my chest. For a second, I almost don’t believe it’s real. I blink my eyes open, adjusting to the dim light, and there she is—Maliah, naked and tangled in the sheets beside me. Her body draped across mine like she belongs here.

Because she does belong here.

Last night plays back in my head like a dream I don’t want to wake up from. The way she looked—her skin glowing in the moonlight, the fireworks lighting up the sky, the water splashing around us in the pool while we fucked. The way she felt. I can still feel her soft gasps, the way her body trembled and tightened around me when she came. It was…breathtaking. More than that, it was everything.

She’s everything.

I gently brush a strand of hair from her face, careful not to wake her. Watching her now, so peaceful, it hits me like a punch to the chest—she’s the one. I’ve always known it deep down, but after last night, it’s like everything snapped into focus. I’ve been an idiot, letting her slip away, letting her think I didn’t want her. But now…now I’m so close to getting her back. It feels within reach, like one more step and we could be together again, for real.

I shift slightly, trying to grab my phone from the nightstand without waking her. It’s early, barely dawn, but I can’t stop thinking about her. About us. I open my phone and start searching for things we can do in Rio today. We were given a free day from the tour to explore, and I want to make it perfect for her. I want to show her that I’m not just playing games—that when I say I want her, I mean all of her.

I scroll through a few places—Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain, some beaches—and start planning it all out. A full day for just the two of us. No distractions, no cameras, just…us.

Maliah stirs beside me, and I look down just as her eyes flutter open. For a moment, she looks at me, sleepy and a little confused, and then jumps back, pulling the sheet up to cover her naked body. I can’t help but smirk at the sight.

“Really?” I say, raising an eyebrow. “There’s no point in covering yourself up. I saw it all last night.”

Her cheeks flush bright pink, and she glares at me like she’s trying to be mad, but I can see the smile she’s trying to hide. That’s the thing about her—no matter how much she tries to act tough, I can always tell when she’s flustered.

“Shut up,” she mutters, clutching the sheet tighter.

I chuckle, leaning back against the pillows, my eyes tracing the curve of her shoulder, her back. “I’m serious, Mal. You don’t need to hide from me.”

She glances at me, then looks away quickly, still holding the sheet to her chest like a shield. I reach out and take her hand, gently tugging the fabric down just a bit, enough to see her skin. She doesn’t stop me.

“Last night,” I start, my voice low, “was perfect.”

She bites her lip, looking like she’s not sure what to say, but I don’t push her. Not yet. I’ll wait. I’ll give her time. But in my head, one thing is clear—there’s no going back now. I’m not letting her slip through my fingers again.

I reach out again and gently push her back onto the bed. Her eyes widen slightly, and I can see the conflict there—she wants to push me away, but I can tell she’s torn.

“Koa…” she starts, her voice soft but edged with protest, “I need to shower.”

I shake my head and spread her thighs apart, my hands gliding down her legs as I settle between them. Her breath hitches as I look her dead in the eyes, my voice low and steady. “The shower can wait. I’m feeling hungry.”

She opens her mouth to argue, but I don’t give her a chance. I lower my head, and the second my mouth touches her soft pussy, her body arches off the bed. I feel her hands press against my shoulders, half-heartedly trying to push me away, but it doesn’t last. Her fingers tangle in my hair instead, and the only sounds left are her breathy moans filling the quiet room.

I lose myself in the sweet taste of her, every shiver, every gasp pushing me further. I can feel the tension in her body build as she tugs on my hair and her thighs squeeze around my head, as if she’s trying to pull me deeper. It doesn’t take long for her to come, and it’s like the world pauses for a second, her body trembling against me.

I pull back, a satisfied smile stretching across my face. Her chest is rising and falling rapidly, her face flushed, and I know I’ve done my job when she grabs the nearest pillow and chucks it at my head. I laugh, dodging it easily.

Before she can get too in her head, I reach for her hand and give it a playful squeeze. “Go shower and get dressed. We’ve got plans.”

She looks at me with a raised brow, not fully trusting me. “Plans? What kind of plans?”

I shrug. “Gabriel’s idea. Team building sessions. You know how he gets.” I keep my face as straight as possible, selling the lie, though I can see she’s still skeptical.

“Uh-huh,” she mutters, clearly not convinced but going along with it anyway. “Fine, but if this is some stupid prank, you’re dead.”

I watch her get out of bed and trot out of my room; my eyes glued to the way her ass jiggles as she walks.

That girl is going to be the death of me.

The city van pulls up to the Christ the Redeemer statue, and I can feel Maliah’s excitement radiating through the car. Her eyes light up as she looks around, taking in the massive monument towering above us. I keep my hand on her thigh the whole time, a quiet connection that I don’t want to break. She doesn’t move it away either.

I follow her as she steps out of the van, her eyes wide while she soaks in the view. I lean back against the side of the van, watching her in awe. There’s something about the way she lights up in moments like this that gets to me every time. Without thinking, I take out my phone and snap a picture of her. She looks over her shoulder at me, catching me mid-snap, and rolls her eyes playfully.

“Really?” she says.

“Gotta capture the moment,” I say, pocketing the phone. “It’s not every day you’re standing in front of something like this.”

I glance up at the iconic statue, feeling small—like, really small. The statue towers over us, arms outstretched like it’s embracing the entirety of Rio. It’s way bigger than I expected. I follow her as she gets closer to examine the statue and I’m amazed at the details, from the folds in the robe to the serene expression on the face—it’s all so still, yet powerful. I glance at Maliah next to me and a feeling of pride fills my chest at pulling this off. She had always said she wanted to check off the seven wonders of the world and she definitely hadn’t checked this off yet.

It's peaceful up here, despite all the tourists snapping pictures and whispering. You can see the whole city, stretching out under a blanket of blue sky, but it’s the statue that holds all the attention. There’s something about the way it stands, overlooking everything—like it’s watching over us, reminding us of how small our problems really are in the grand scheme of things. It’s humbling.

We spend some time exploring the area, learning about the statue’s history, but my focus keeps drifting back to her—how she moves, the way her lips curve when she smiles, the sound of her laughter mixing with the murmurs of the crowd. I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to bring her here again in the future, to share moments like this without the weight of everything hanging over us.

After a while, the city van returns to take us back down to our car. We climb in, the only two leaving at this time, and begin the drive down Corcovado Mountain.

“Thank you,” she says, her voice low but clear, breaking the comfortable silence.

I turn toward her, eyebrows raised. “For what?”

Her lips curve into a small smile, and she shrugs. “Gabriel would never plan something like today as a team building event,” she says, turning knowing eyes towards me. “So, thank you…for today. For planning it. It was…nice.”

Nice? That’s an understatement. But I get it. I nod, feeling a strange mix of relief and embarrassment at being caught. I wanted to give her a perfect day, to take her mind off everything—to show her something more than the usual chaos we’re stuck in on this tour, to remind her how easy it is between us. I wanted to give her something real, something she could remember that wasn’t tied to all the messy stuff between us.

She leans her head back against the seat, her eyes still on the view, but I catch the way her body relaxes, just slightly. She’s finally letting herself breathe a little easier around me. I want to hold onto this moment. Hell, I want to hold on to her, to everything we have.

The van hits a curve, and I rest my hand on her thigh. Just a light touch, like an anchor, reminding her that I’m here. She glances down at my hand, then back up at me, and for a split second, there’s that spark again. But just as quickly, her body tenses beneath my hand and the spark dims. I see it in the way she shifts her gaze, closing herself off again, putting those damn walls back up.

She clears her throat softly, eyes still on the window. “Koa…”

I know that tone. It’s the kind of tone that comes right before something I don’t want to hear.

She sighs, finally turning to face me. “About last night…and this morning.” Her fingers fidget in her lap, like she’s trying to gather the right words. “I think we might be moving too fast.”

My stomach drops. The high I’ve been riding all day crashes down hard. I try to keep my face neutral, but inside, it’s like a punch to the gut.

“What do you mean?” I ask, though I already know where this is headed.

She lets out a shaky breath. “I mean, maybe we should take a step back. Try rebuilding the trust between us…as friends first.”

Friends.

The word feels like ice, chilling me from the inside out. It’s not what I expected. Not after last night, not after how she looked at me this morning. It’s like I was so damn close to getting her back, and now she’s pulling away again.

I swallow hard, trying to keep my voice steady. “I don’t think I can go back to being just friends, Maliah. Not after everything.”

Her eyes meet mine, and I can see the uncertainty, the way my words freak her out. But it’s the truth. “You’ve always been the one for me,” I say, my voice lower, almost pleading. “I don’t think I could ever see you as just a friend.”

Her eyes flash with something sharp, and before I can say anything more, she snaps.

“I’ve always been the one for you?” Her voice rises, frustration spilling out. “You’re the one who broke up with me, Koa. You’re the one who stood there and told me you didn’t love me anymore—remember? So how can you sit here and say I’ve always been the one for you?”

Her words hit me like a slap to the face, and I feel my chest tighten. She’s right, and I know she has every reason to be angry. But I can’t tell her the real reason why I did it. I can’t let her know it wasn’t about not loving her anymore. It was about protecting her—even if she’ll never understand it that way.

“Maliah…” I start, but my voice catches. I run my hand through my hair, struggling to find the right words. “I…I never wanted to hurt you.”

Her eyes are blazing now, and it’s like every bit of hurt I caused is coming to the surface. “But you did,” she says, her voice trembling. “You broke me, Koa. And now you’re sitting here saying I’ve always been the one? How am I supposed to believe that?”

I want to tell her everything, but I can’t. Not here, not now. It would only make things worse. So instead, I bite my tongue, keeping the truth locked up where it’s been since the day I ended things. “I know what I said, but…it’s complicated.”

She shakes her head, letting out a bitter laugh. “Complicated. Right.”

By the time we pull into the parking lot, the tension between us is suffocating. We climb out of the van and into the car, but the silence between us speaks louder than any words. I grip the steering wheel, overthinking every damn thing I said, wondering if I’ve already ruined whatever chance we had.

She doesn’t say a word on the drive back to the penthouse, and I feel like I’m losing her all over again.

We pull up to the building, and as soon as I park the car, I see a group of surfers, including Charles and Reese, gathered outside the entrance. They’re all laughing and talking loudly, clearly in the middle of planning or debating something. As Maliah and I step out of the car, they spot us and wave us over.

“Yo, Koa! Mal!” Reese calls out with a grin. “We’re heading to a samba show and pub crawl for our last night in Rio. You two coming with us?”

I’m just about to decline, not even remotely in the mood for partying after everything that just went down between me and Maliah, but before I can say a word, Maliah speaks up.

“Yea, sounds fun!” she says, her voice a little too enthusiastic, like she’s trying to drown out the tension that’s still hanging between us.

I blink, caught off guard by her sudden shift. My instinct is to still turn them down, maybe just head back upstairs and keep stewing in my thoughts. But one look at the smirk that spreads along Charles’ face is enough to convince me otherwise.

“Sure. I’m in,” I say, forcing a small smile.

The group cheers, hyped up for the night, while I follow Maliah inside with the feeling that this night is going to be a lot longer than I expected.