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“I’m not a nark,” Conrad interrupts me, taking a step towards Brady. I put my hand out to stop him.
“Forget it.” Brady shakes his head as he jogs down to the water, board tucked under his arm. Tears sting the corners of my eyes, and I blink them away. This is exactly why I was trying to stay away from Conrad.
“Ivy–”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
Before Ican think twice about it, two children come bouncing over with a harried mother in tow. I force a smile and greet our first surfers.
From the corner of my eye, I see Conrad clench his fists. He’s still staring after Brady. I don’t think Brady will ever forgive Conrad for what happened to Tom. Something niggles in the back of my mind though. Conrad’s reaction to being called a narc. He’s never denied it before, but something in the hard edge of his voice has me wondering. That coupled with what I overheard Ellie say to Harley on Christmas. Why do I feel like everyone’s keeping some dirty secret?
I don’t have any more time to dwell as three more families show up for the lesson. Besides, it’s not like I care or anything. Regardless of Conrad’s involvement with Tom’s arrest, he still beat up Harley and treated Jordan and Brady like shit. There’s no chance of us being friends, let alone anything more. I need to just get through this week and then avoid him altogether…
THIRTEEN
IVY
“OKAY, SO FIRST we’re going to start with a warm-up!” The grommets all looking up at me and Conrad, excitement glowing in their eyes. It’s our first beginner group, ranging from eight to ten years old.
“Just like any other sport, it’s important to make sure all the muscles you’re going to be using are warm so you don’t hurt yourself,” Conrad adds. He demonstrates a bicep stretch by interlocking his fingers at the base of his spine, straightening his arms and raising his hands as high as he can.
“Good,” he says, going around and fixing the kids’ techniques as they copy his moves. “Try and keep your back straight, you don’t have to lift your arms too high, just high enough to feel a slight stretch.”
“It’s important to shake out your arms after each stretch,” I say, shrugging my shoulders up and down a few times. “Then we’re going to move into forward windmills.”
“Nice and slow,” Conrad tells one of the older boys. He steps up behind him and takes hold of his arms to slow him down. “You don’t want to pull something or tire yourself out. All of your warm-ups should be controlled. It’s not a race.”
I press my lips into a thin line, trying to ignore the fluttering sensation in my stomach. Watching Conrad with the kids is a complete 180 to the cocky, arrogant asshole I know him to be.
The boy in front of him looks up at him in awe. “Are you the prop for the BHU Raiders?”
Conrad chuckles, and the sound has me squeezing my thighs together. He scruffs the boy’s hair. “Sure am, mate. You follow league?”
The kid, Ashton, nods so fast he reminds me of one of those Einstein bobbleheads from theNight at the Museummovies. “My older brother takes me to the games! He goes to BHU, too.”
“That’s cool,” Conrad says. “Tell you what; tell your brother to get in touch with me when the season starts and I’ll organise for you to come down to the locker rooms after one of the games.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks!”
I clear my throat, desperate to get back to the task at hand. “Right, change direction and rotate your arms backwards.”
Conrad catches my eye and grins, but I turn away from him, distracting myself by helping a little blonde girl with pigtails. I can’t trust this version of Conrad. This is just some sort of act, and I’m not going to fall for it.
Once we’ve completed a few more arm stretches, I instruct the kids to lay down on their boards. “It’s important to make sure that you’re balanced on your board,” I say, going around and adjusting some of the kids’ positioning. The boards already have chalk marks indicating the middle point which will help them find their footing when they get out on the water. As they lie on their boards, I mark out where their eyeline is. “If you’re too far up or too far down, you’re not going to get a proper paddling glide. When you’re paddling, you always want to keep your knees and feet together. This ensures that the tail of your board doesn’t lift too much. Otherwise the nose will go under.”
Alannah, the one with the pigtails, looks up with wide eyes. “Am I going to drown?”
Conrad’s laugh is gentle, reassuring. “Not on Ivy’s watch. You’ve got the best surf coach around. You’re safe, promise.” He winks at Alannah and I roll my eyes as she practically swoons.
“No one’s going to drown,” I agree dryly. “Let’s practise paddling.”
“On the sand?” Ashton calls out.
“On the sand,” I confirm. I place my board on the ground so I’m sideways in front of them and they can see my technique. “When your hands enter the water, you want your palms facing away from you. Your pointer fingers should always hit the water first. Once your hand is in the water, turn your hand and scoop the water. Your stroke goes all the way through to the back of the board. Let’s see it.”
