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We sit, then place our drink and food orders.
“Catch me up with school,” Tatum says.
"It's going pretty well. I hit a creative block a few months ago, but it's starting to come back. I have one year of grad classes left, so no getting married before then."
“Oakley!” Tatum hisses, kicking her underneath the table.
"I'm just saying! I want to help plan and stuff since I'll obviously be your maid of honor, but it'd be best for my schedule if you waited until after I graduated. Just in case anyone was wondering."
I hold back my thoughts as I drink my beer and think about how much I want Tatum to be my wife. There's no doubt that she's the one. Not only have we gone through a lot in a short amount of time, but I'm fucking crazy about her and can't imagine life without her.
“Sucks I can't meet you two for surfing tomorrow morning,” Oakley says.
Tatum snorts, dipping a chip in salsa. “Yeah, I'm sure you are.”
"Sorry I didn't have a personal tutor." Oakley shoots her gaze to me with a smirk. "I'd probably be a pro, too, if I had."
“I'm not a pro,” Tatum counters.
“Not yet. Pretty close, though." I flash her a wink.
She shakes her head. “I'm only doing it for fun, nothing else,” she confirms.
We stick around the restaurant for two hours, drinking, eating, and catching up. The longer I listen to them, the more similarities I see. Even though they're different in almost every way, their personalities and mannerisms resemble each other.
“Okay, so we'll see each other again after your classes tomorrow night?” Tatum confirms as they hug goodbye.
"Yep, should be ready by five. I'm going to take you guys to the most amazing Hibachi. Just don't get too close, or it'll burn your eyebrows off."
We chuckle and say goodbye, then Tatum and I take an Uber back to the hotel.
“I love California so far,” Tatum says as we walk hand in hand down the sidewalk.
I chuckle because we’ve been here less than twelve hours.
“Maybe it needs a Belvedere surf shop right on the boardwalk.”
“You trying to find ways to get rid of me already?”
She squeezes my fingers. "Nope, never. It was just a thought. I haven't traveled much, obviously, so any new place you take me, I'll probably want to stay."
“Remind me to never take you to New York. The moment you see Tristan and Piper's penthouse, you'd never want to leave.”
She bursts out laughing. “I'm not that level of high maintenance.”
"Oh really? Do I need to bring up the cabinet's debate again?" I arch a brow, and she immediately rolls her eyes.
"Shush your mouth, or you aren't getting laid tonight."
A person walking in the other direction gives her the side-eye, and I beam at the way Tatum shrugs it off. She no longer gets easily embarrassed or cares who overhears her. She's found her self-confidence, and I love seeing her this way. Not only is she much happier than before, but so am I.
The following morning, we're up by six to rent our boards. We brought our surfing gear, and once we had everything we needed, we walked to the beach.
“I'm so excited!” she gushes as we walk through the sand barefoot.
"Me too, babe. Gonna be so fun." It's just after seven when the sun starts to rise. Some others are here already, but we manage to find a decent spot.
“Wow, it's beautiful.” Tatum beams at the view, and I wrap my arms around her waist from behind.
“You sure are,” I murmur.
She snickers, but I'll never stop telling her that.
“Well, you ready to get in?”
“Yes! Oh my God, it's gonna be so cold.”
“Let's get it over with,” I suggest.
We stick our boards in the sand and race in. As soon as my knees collide with the water, I dive in.
“That'll wake you right up,” I say, slicking back my wet hair.
“More than coffee,” Tatum adds with a laugh.
We grab our boards and attach our ankle straps, then head in. Once we're waist-deep, we paddle a little further out, then sit on top. As we float and wait for the perfect swell, I turn to her. She's about twenty feet away from me, but I speak loud so she can hear me.
“So I was thinking about what Oakley said last night.”
She furrows her brows. “About what?”
"Us getting married," I remind her, looking in the distance, seeing a swell building. Tatum's gotten so good she can catch the wave before it fully breaks and stay steady through the white water.
“Ignore her, seriously. She speaks before she thinks.”
“So you don't want to?”
“What?”
I lick my lips and grin. “Get married!” I shout.
“You wanna get married?”
On cue, we position ourselves in the middle of our boards, then start paddling.
“I wanna marry you,” I confirm as the wave catches us.
“Are you being serious?”
