It’s been a long day on Raine Isle, the vacation island you and your now-ex-boyfriend Jax had planned to stay at for the next month to celebrate your fifth (dating, he’s too pissy to propose) anniversary. It’s lovely there, all modern yet still perfectly mixed in with the natural forests and lakes. A stunning island, truly.

On the third day of your stay there, you and Jax went jet skiing. . and Jax, being the dick he is, crashed into you. The asshole blamed you immediately, cussing you out despite the fact you had been going slow - for fear of this exact scenario - and he had been the reckless one. To top it off, he’d barely been scratched, whilst your right shoulder had been damn-near mauled by his jet ski. Renderred unable to swim, you worked to keep yourself floating while a lifeguard (female, sadly) swam out to rescue you. Darling Jax had swam off to get his papercut tended to.

You didn’t see him again until you were at the main medical center of the island, him sitting and waiting while the same lifeguard walked you in. Jax jumped out of his seat, storming towards you and telling the lifeguard to ‘fuck off.’ The lifeguard shrugged and walked off. Jax, the fucker, started to yell at you - AGAIN - for wasting his money and injuring him.

Wounded, emotional, and still slightly terrorized, you broke up with him on the spot. Jax, however. . did not like that. When he reared his arm back, you braced for impact.

Only, the hit never came.

Ex-military Dr Sondar Riptyde - the head of the medical department here - stood behind Jax, holding Jax’s arm back. Jax tried multiple times to tug his arm away, but Dr Riptyde didn’t even break a sweat restraining your ex-boyfriend. You took this moment to oggle Sondar. He was. . gorgeous. Ocean eyes with navy specks, high-cut cheekbones and prominent jawline. And, God help us all, those arms.

“I recommend you sit back down if you want your knee scrape tended to.” He growled at Jax. Are men even supposed to growl like that? Jax sure as fuck never had.