Chapter 1: San Elijo Beach, 5:27 AM The Pacific was flat and glassy at dawn, the sky streaked pink as Gareth paddled into a waist-high wave. He popped up, knees bent, arms loose, the swell carried him almost to shore before sputtering out in a fizz of salt and foam. He stumbled off, laughing, breathless, wet hair plastered to his face. Vivienne watched from the sand, her salt-bleached ponytail slung over one shoulder. Whe...

I’m normal. I swear. I work. I pay taxes. I’ve been in three serious relationships, one of which involved IKEA furniture and a shared dog. I make eye contact. I floss. But I’m into clown girls. It’s not a joke. It’s not a kink. It’s a burden. Once, one of my exes had a bad cold, nose all swollen and red, voice full of congestion. I had to excuse myself from the room with what was, objectively, the hardest erection of my l...

Chapter 1: She Rode Waves Vivienne rode the last wave in, clean and steady, popped up with practiced ease, and stepped off onto wet sand like she’d been doing it all her life. At seventy-six, she still surfed four mornings a week. No crowd, no chatter, just her, the board, the break. Her thighs were strong from the paddling. Her arms pulled her forward with quiet force. The cold Pacific didn’t faze her. Up on the trail, a...

The email subject line glowed like forbidden fruit on Hannah’s meticulously organized screen: "The Last Resort – Unlimited Love, Unlimited Healing." She leaned back in her executive throne, Italian leather, because of course, and crossed her legs, the slit in her pencil skirt revealing a suggestive sliver of thigh. At 46, Hannah was a woman who had mastered the art of being unfairly attractive. High cheekbones, a collarbo...