Page 46 of The Chef

So, I went for a surf with my cousin, Cove.

* * *

“So, just a friendly surf today?” Cove asks, tapping on my car window. I’ve just pulled into the beach parking lot. It’s midday and the sun’s out. The ocean is a cool light blue and the sand’s glistening white. A perfect day at the beach. “No competition then?”

“What, you’re scared of my surfing skills?” I jump out of my Lamborghini, ripping off my shirt to reveal the skin-tight wetsuit underneath. Cove’s already dressed for the occasion, with his professional wetsuit and carrying two surfboards under his muscular arms. One for him and one for me.

“You’re forgetting who’s the pro-surfer here, cousin.”

“Just because you have a few shiny trophies doesn’t mean you can out-surf me, Cove.”

He laughs. “We’ll see about that.”

Fully dressed for the waves, I take my board off my cousin and we rush down the stairs and onto the sand. We dash across the beach into the chilling water and start paddling out. In some kind of dick-measuring contest, we speed past the other surfers in the water so that we are far out at sea. Content with where we are, Cove and I sit on top of our boards and wait for a good wave.

I feel comfortable out here. There’s no pressure, the stress of the restaurant is gone. It’s just us two men, stripped back to only our wetsuits, and wild nature. It’s primal, and I love it.

But I still can’t stop thinking about Bay, about how I practically sprinted out of the shopping mall when I spotted her.

And I can’t stop thinking about her and that kid I saw back there. Surely, it’s not hers? No way.

I don’t know anymore. I don’t know what to think about her anymore?

I’m confused.

And I’m never normally confused.

“How’s the restaurant going?” Cove asks me, absentmindedly splashing the surface of the ocean with the palm of his hand.

“Let’s not talk about that.”

“So, really bad, then?”

“I was at the bank the other day, that’s how bad it was.”

“You know you can always ask your parents for help with money.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s not the point. I don’t want the family’s money anywhere near this place. I want it to succeed on its own.”

“Fair enough,” Cove shrugs. He turns to me, flicking his wet blonde hair away from his eyes. “And what about that cute girl that works there?”

I snort. “Who? What cute girl?”

Cove chuckles. “You know what cute girl I mean, the same girl you couldn’t take your eyes off for the entire time we were there the other night. That girl.”

I shake my head in denial, but I know my cheeks are inflaming. I’m flushing. Jesus. Is this what the thought of Bay does to me now? “She’s on a whole other level.”

“What do you mean?” Cove asks.

Should I tell him about my feelings? I do trust him. He is my cousin, after all.

“I just don’t know what to think about her. One moment she has me angry, then the next she has my heart pounding. I don’t know what to think about her.”

“Was it the same with Cleo?”

I sigh. “Cleo and I were a good match.”

“Yeah,” Cove replies, frowning. “But does that mean you actually fancied each other or were you just a good couple on paper?”