Callum laughed, and she followed him. Somehow, being around Callum made her entire mood shift. Maybe because he was the only one there not reminding her who she was. He was just there—for her and Lamina—but there, present. And she couldn’t be more grateful for it.
“That last wave Amira got was great. She nailed a perfect tube. She’s off to a great start this season, don’t you think, Ale?” Mick Turner leaned against the railing beside her, grinning as he kept his eyes fixed on the beach where Amira had just secured her pass to the semifinal.
Alejandra’s mood shifted instantly.
She forced a smile onto her face and nodded. “Yeah. If she playsher cards right, she can win the event. She still has room to grow, though.”
“Maybe this is her chance to win the Championship without you in the way,” Mick joked, laughing lightly as if the comment meant nothing.
The words lodged somewhere beneath Alejandra’s ribs. Her stomach tightened. For a second, the noise from the beach blurred into a dull buzz inside her head.
Without you in the way.
She swallowed hard and kept the smile glued to her face out of pure muscle memory.
“I don’t think I’ve had the chance to introduce myself yet, mate,” Callum interjected smoothly, extending his hand toward Mick, who finally turned away from the ocean. He slid his sunglasses up onto his head and smiled politely.
“Mick Turner, mate. Nice to meet you.”
“Callum Evans.”
Mick blinked. Once. Twice. The color drained slightly from his face as his expression tightened with surprise. Alejandra frowned immediately. It was such an odd reaction.
Mick cleared his throat and shook his head quickly. “Right. Uh…” His eyes darted somewhere over Callum’s shoulder toward the crowd. “I think someone’s calling me. I should go.”
Before either of them could answer, he gave them a quick wave and disappeared into the crowd. Alejandra watched him weave between people, confusion prickling at the back of her neck. That had been weird. Not just awkward weird. Weird weird. Mick was one of the most laid-back guys on tour. He flirted with everyone, talked to everyone, and could hold a conversation with a brick wall if necessary. She had never seen him look genuinely unsettled before.
And she was almost certain nobody had called him.
“The guy’s a bit weird, isn’t he?” Callum scoffed, taking a sip of his beer.
“Yeah…” Alejandra kept staring at the crowd, trying to spot Mick again, but he had already vanished. “That was… strange.”
She replayed the interaction in her head again.
The second Callum had introduced himself, Mick had looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Do you know him?” she asked carefully.
“Mick? No. Never met the guy before. Why?”
Alejandra shrugged. “I don’t know. He reacted weirdly.”
Callum didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. He leaned casually against the railing, beer bottle hanging loosely from his fingers.
“He was saying things that made you uncomfortable,” he said simply. “I’m glad he left.”
Alejandra looked down at the sand below them, watching the white foam dissolve against the shoreline.
Maybe this is her chance to win the Championshipwithout youin the way.
The comment kept echoing in her head no matter how hard she tried to shake it off.
Callum’s voice softened. “How do you feel?”
Usually, she would have probably hid everything behind a smile but with Callum, by the way that she looked at her, she wanted to somehow be able to share the weight pressing on her shoulder with someone else.
“Do you know Inside Out?”
