Connor groaned again. He rolled onto his back, rubbed his face, and brushed his fingertips over the bite mark on his shoulder. It had become a habit to touch the marks. Especially since a spark of warmth spread over his skin whenever he did. A pleasant feeling radiated along his shoulder as he rubbed it now.
“Okay, I’m getting up now,” Connor said, his mood suddenly lifted.
“Yes!” Laurence said happily. “I’ll wait downstairs while you change.”
Connor dragged himself out of bed, examining the dark sea outside. There was only dim light in the sky, but soon enough, maybe thirty minutes, they should be able to see. Connor took the time to brush his teeth before going down the stairs. He found Laurence and Trevor both in the kitchen.
Trevor cast Connor an apologetic look as he walked into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, Connor. I tried to stop him. He snuck up while I was in the bathroom.”
“Brat,” Connor said.
Laurence beamed a smile his way.
“If you two need anything, call me,” Trevor said.
Laurence approached Connor, handing him a takeaway mug. Connor sipped the hot tea.
“And Laurence, remember, you’re to do everything Connor tells you, okay?”
Laurence nodded.
Connor yawned as he got into the driver’s seat. Laurence practically skipped around to the passenger door. Once he got in, he cast Connor an embarrassed look. “I’m sorry for getting you up so early.”
“No, you’re not,” Connor said. He started the engine and drove slowly down the muddy driveway.
“Um… I’m sorry that you’re nothappyabout getting up early?” Laurence tried again.
Connor tried unsuccessfully not to smile. “Look,” he said, trying to cover up his amusement. “I will forgive you this once, but we’re not going to stay friends if you make a habit of waking me up at five a.m. Alright?”
“Okay. Just this once,” Laurence agreed.
Connor wouldn’t admit that he found Laurence cute. He suspected Laurence would repeat this type of behaviour if he knew that Connor wouldn’t stay mad at him for it. “You mentioned this is the first time you’ve been surfing?”
Laurence nodded.
“How about swimming?”
“I can… float. I mean, I can swim, just it’s not proper swimming strokes or anything. I’ve never learned with an instructor or had lessons.”
Connor nodded. “We won’t be going out past our depth, anyway.”
“How did you learn to surf? Did you do lessons?”
“Trial and error,” Connor said. “Dad bought me the surfing boards when I was twelve; the smaller one is the beginner one, it has a lot of foam in it, and it’s soft, so… even if you wipe out, it won’t hurt too much to get hit by it.”
The sky was bright when they got to the beach. Shockingly, at half five in the morning, the beach was deserted. Connor surveyed the waves, watching the size of the breaks as they came in. They were small, with the occasional big one thrown in, but that was fine. It would help Laurence learn and get used to it.
“Just so you know, it took me weeks to stand up for more than a few seconds,” Connor said to Laurence as they untied the boards from the roof of the car. “Don’t be disappointed if you can’t do it right away. And don’t expect miracles.”
“Can we come out again?” Laurence asked.
“Not at five a.m. But yeah, if you like it,” Connor said. He took the heavier board and walked down the sand path to the beach. It took two trips to get everything carried down. When they changed into their wetsuits, Connor moved quickly, turning away from Laurence so he wouldn’t spot any bite marks on his skin.
Connor demonstrated catching a wave and the pop-up several times on the sand with Laurence before they headed into the water. Laurence took several minutes to get past his knees, freezing up whenever a wave washed over him.
“How are you not cold?” Laurence demanded as Connor walked in normally.
“You’ll get used to it.” Connor shrugged. He was cold, but he knew going in slowly made it worse. Connor set his board into the water and paddled out. Once deep enough, he turned his board around and waited for one of the bigger waves. He caught it without difficulties, muscle memory taking over as he rode the wave inland.
