Page 12 of Love You Like This

“Good. The sun will be intense on the water today.”

“I’m so glad you told me.” She smiles at me and pats my chest. “I never would have known.”

“Don’t get sassy.”

“I was born sassy.” She walks past me and around to the passenger side door. “Besides, it’s part of my charm.”

I’d never agree out loud, but fuck if she isn’t right. As I pull out of the driveway, I break down what we’ll mainly be doing today, working on pop-ups first on the beach and then on the water. She’s adorably giddy as she listens intently while I drive.

We left early, so we’re one of the first to the beach and finding parking is a breeze. Had we waited an hour or two, it’d be a totally different story. I pull my wetsuit half on and open the back of the truck.

She grabs the old wetsuit I threw in the backseat and unbuttons her shorts, letting them drop to the sandy pavement. I watch as she bends over to retrieve them, the pale skin of her round ass is just barely covered by the tiniest bikini bottoms. She steps into one leg of the wetsuit, then the other.

I should turn around.

I should definitely turn around.

Focus on getting my shit together.

Fuck my life, she starts jumping to get into the suit. All her perfect curves bounce as she wiggles into the tight neoprene. She leaves it loose around her waist just like I have.

I pull the boards out of the truck bed and tuck one under each arm. She locks our phones in the glove compartment.

“Do you want me to carry my board?” she asks as she falls in step beside me.

“Nah, I got it.”

We find a place close to the water, and I drop the boards to the sand. I pull my shirt over my head and look out to assess the water. There are perfect rolling swells with the smallest waves. I couldn’t have asked for better conditions to teach her in.

“Could you get my back?”

I look over, startled out of my thoughts by the sight of her beside me holding out a bottle of sunscreen. “Sure, of course.”

She pulls her hair over her shoulder, and the herbal scent of her shampoo washes over me. I squeeze lotion onto my hand and rub it between my fingers to warm it a bit. Her skin is warm and so fucking soft I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop touching now that I’ve started. My dick rouses from its slumber at the contact between us, but I do everything short of running into the cold Pacific to distract myself.

“That feels so good,” she moans when I run my fingers along her shoulder blade.

Don’t fucking fixate on that moan, I tell myself over and over again. I can feel a ball of tension under my fingers though, and while I itch to massage it into submission, I know that would be a slippery slope.

Slippery.

Fuck. My. Life.

Every thought I have holds a sexual undertone. Time to fight them off. Chord progressions. Fret boards. Cookiecutter sharks. That one does it. Now I’m just completely grossed out thinking about them and their weirdly perfect bites.

You can do this, Xander. She’s your sister, and you won’t have dirty thoughts about your sister. You’ve taught so many people how to surf, it’s just another person. Shake it the fuck off.

Six

JADE

Fifteen years earlier

When I turn around to smile and thank Xander again, he has his jaw clenched and is looking out at the water. Is he mad at me? I freeze, heat turning my neck red as I realize he’s probably annoyed to be out here with nearly flat conditions when he could be somewhere else catching bigger waves.

“You don’t have to teach me if you’d rather be surfing somewhere else.” I force a lightness into my voice that I don’t feel. There’s nothing worse than realizing you aren’t wanted.

“What?” He shakes his head, clearing his eyes and settling them on me. “No way. I love that you want to learn.”