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Brian was waiting by himself when we arrived downstairs.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Yes, ma’am, just waiting for your friend.”
I noticed Brian’s girlfriend standing by the door. “Oh. Morning, Kat, didn’t see you there.”
“Hi.”
“Are you getting a lesson too?”
“No,” she said. “I burn easily.”
“Oh.”
David’s face brightened as if that reminded him of something. He grabbed a bottle of sunscreen from the counter and passed it to me. “Don’t argue,” he said.
I didn’t and was just finishing rubbing it in when Gretchen appeared. She was all shiny again with her hair and makeup fixed and her contacts in. “Let’s hit the beach,” she said cheerily.
David and Brian stuck longboards under their arms as the four of us made the short walk to the water. “The waves are small right now,” David observed. “We can just practice in the whitewater.”
I shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s go.”
“Not so fast,” he said. “First you have to practice on land.”
I crinkled my nose. “Why? Can’t we just do it?”
“No.” He set his board on the sand next to Brian’s. “On your belly.”
“Oh, yes, sir,” I teased, but his expression was serious.
“And these have to go,” he said, sliding my sunglasses off and tossing them with our stuff. “You need to be alert out there, Olivia. No messing around. You could get hurt.”
I saluted him. Gretchen and I giggled, but his jaw hardened. We stopped laughing immediately and dropped onto the boards. He demonstrated how we should paddle and pop up. We both imitated what he’d done and held our poses as instructed. He and Brian squatted next to us, fixing our stances by adjusting our legs. I tried in vain to flirt with David as he corrected my back foot.
“What is all this?” I heard Brian ask Gretchen. When I looked over, he was waving his hand near her face.
“What?”
“All this hair and makeup just to get in the water. It’s ridiculous.”
She shrugged. “Who cares?”
“I do. You don’t need all this. You looked prettier this morning. Bed hair, no makeup and pajamas.”
Her lips drew into a line. “Shut up, Brian. Why do you have to be such a dick?”
His brows knit. “I’m being serious.”
“Well, then, I don’t need your pity.”
“No need to get defensive,” Brian said. “All I asked was what the point is. It’s going to get ruined anyway.”
“It’s waterproof makeup,” she pointed out as if it was obvious.
“Oh, is it?” he retorted. Suddenly he scooped her up, and she screamed as he ran her to the ocean.
I cringed as he tossed her in easily. “He is so dead,” I muttered, but she came up laughing.
“See?” David said. “They like each other.”
~
Gretchen and I were splayed out on our towels, wrecked after two hours in the water.
“I think I could be really good at surfing,” I said. “I mean, I stood up almost every time. You only got up, like, twice, right? And you’ve had lessons before? David said I was a natural.”
“Whatever,” she said. “It’s not a contest.”
“So, um, you and Brian were sort of chummy out there.”
“We were chummy? I’m pretty sure small children had to be removed from the beach because of you and David.”
“Oh, please. A little making out never hurt anyone. I mean, have you seen David without a shirt?”
“Good point.”
“So? You and Brian?”
“Ugh, what? I don’t like him. He’s been actually tolerable today, but that doesn’t mean anything. Right now I’m just trying not to think about Greg.”
I nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just that David thinks he likes you.”
She got up on an elbow and lowered her sunglasses at me. “He said that?”
“Yup.”
Her answering laugh sounded forced. “That’s crazy.”
“Is it?”
“Look, I never told you this, but after the one date we had, I kissed Brian.”
“I know. He told me.”
“Oh. Well . . . he turned me down.”
“So? That was a long time ago.”
“So, clearly he’s not into me. Not that I’m into him, but, anyway, he’s not into me.”
“Okay,” I said, offering up my palms. “But either way, maybe you should take a break from Greg. Be single for a while.”
“Or forever.”
“Don’t say that. Greg sucks. Not all guys are like him.”
She squinted out at the water. “Jesus, they are smokin’ fuckin’ hot, though. Look at them.”
I followed her gaze to where David and Brian sat in the line-up. They were opposites; David dark and sexy, Brian blond and goofy. Both looked drop-dead gorgeous shirtless, though. “Brian is pretty ripped, huh?” I asked.
“Would you stop?”
“Okay. Sorry. They are extremely hot. Those girls over there are checking them out.”
We laughed and reclined back again. I closed my eyes to soak in the warmth of the sun and was almost asleep when I heard the base of David’s voice.
Gretchen was already up on her elbows and yawning. “Look,” she said, jutting her chin at the water. “They’re talking to the girls.”
I frowned and squinted through my sunglasses at the shoreline. Three girls in bikinis were ankle deep in the water, their hands shading their eyes as they looked up at Brian and David. I sat up all the way, and David waved. Something warm came over me, and I smiled at him. There was so much love for him in my body that there was no room for jealousy, even as I watched the girls flirt.
David broke away, ran up the sand and dropped his surfboard next to me. He fell over me gracefully, propping himself on outstretched arms and dripping water onto me. “Sorry, honey, hope you don’t mind getting a little wet,” he said with a wink.
“Let’s see a push-up,” Gretchen demanded.
He lowered, kissed me on the lips and pushed himself back up.
“One,” I said. He repeated the motion, this time kissing the curve of my neck. “Two.”
“Okay, that’s good,” Gretchen said. “I don’t want to know what happens when you get to ten.”
He laughed and rolled over onto the sand. “God, I love the beach.”
“Word,” Gretchen agreed as Brian strolled up and plopped down next to her. “How was the surf?” she asked.
“Shit,” Brian said. “But it’s okay because we had longboards.”
“Dude, did you see that kid ripping out there?” David asked.
“He was like ten years old,” Brian told us, “but he trounced the rest of us.”
“I would seriously start my kid surfing the second he could walk,” David continued. “Boy or girl, I wouldn’t care. Snowboarding too.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I rubbed my nose. From behind my sunglasses, I saw Gretchen glance at me.
“Same here,” Brian said. “We could move out to Florida and raise a professional surf team.”
“I’m in,” David said. “I don’t know if your lady friend would be up for that though. She doesn’t seem to like the beach.”
Brian laughed. “No, definitely not. Sadly, I think our time together is coming to an end.”
“She doesn’t seem like your type,” Gretchen noted.
“Oh, yeah, why not?” he asked.
“For one, she doesn’t ride a broom.”
He laughed loudly and fell back on the sand. “Gretchen,” he groaned, covering his face with his arm. “Quit bustin’ my balls, would you?”
I looked from Brian to David, who was grinning. Florida looked good on him. I took a mental picture of his profile, wanting to remember this carefree, in-his-element David forever. His gaze shifted down to me, and he winked.
CHAPTER 26
COMPLETELY TANGLED IN DAVID was how I awoke, with my arms around his neck, my hands in his hair, and his arms circled around my waist. Our legs entwined like vines attempting to merge. There was a grey hue about the room, and I heard the light drumming of rain outside. He sighed and pulled me closer. His hair was jet black against the stark white pillow, and he looked peaceful but still severe, even in repose. I bit my lip to keep from waking him with a kiss.
