After almost thirty minutes of lessons on the beach, Nick led me out to the water.
“We’ll paddle out and then try to get some small waves.” He called out to me as he paddled further out to sea.
The butterflies in my stomach felt like stones pulling me further down into the water. I was lying flat on my stomach and paddling with my arms the way he’d taught me, but didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Finally, after what felt like hours, I was close enough that I could see him grinning at me.
“What?” I asked defensively.
“Took you long enough,” he said with a wide grin and hint of a laugh.
I stuck my tongue out at him and pulled myself upright. I straddled the board and let my feet hang off either side, mimicking his pose.
He smiled at me then looked behind him at the waves coming in.
I followed his gaze and felt the butterflies take off again. “Those waves look kind of big for a first timer, don’t you think?”
He laughed and turned back around. “Actually, I was thinking that they seemed kind of tame.” He must have seen the panic on my face, because his own look softened. “They aren’t as big as they seem from way out here. Trust me?”
It was a strange question. Twelve hours ago, I didn’t even know this man existed. I had only had one real conversation with him, yet everything in me knew that I could trust him with my life. Perhaps it was something in the way he was looking at me, or maybe it was just something about him. Either way, I knew there was no doubt that I could trust him. Before I even had time to process my thoughts, I could feel my head nodding.
A genuine smile broke across his face, and then he sprang into action. “Follow me!”
I pressed myself back down on the board and paddled hard to catch up to him. We were much closer to the waves and I could feel the water rising and falling beneath me. I didn’t dare look back to see how far from the beach we were. My arms felt like they were on fire, but I kept paddling, anxious to find out where he would lead me. I rode the last crest and came back down, my board just a few feet from his.
“Did I do better this time?” I asked as I pulled myself back up into the sitting position.
“Like a pro,” he answered confidently. “Remember what I told you about changing your position?”
I nodded; too excited by the newfound faith I had in this handsome stranger to be nervous anymore.
“I’m going after that one.” He pointed at a wave building up behind us. “Watch me carefully. If you think you’re up for one after that, give it a try.”
Again, I nodded obediently. He paddled off furiously, ready to attack the wall of water quickly rushing towards him. I watched the muscles on his back ripple and flex as he paddled. He’d timed it perfectly, and I watched as he seamlessly pulled himself up onto his feet. Within seconds, he was up and had disappeared behind the curl. Then, just as quickly as he’d disappeared, he emerged from the end of the wave still standing and looking even more like a god.
Years of teaching six-year olds who liked to be celebrated for every minor accomplishment took over and I instinctively clapped excitedly at his success. He turned towards me and bowed in acceptance of the applause then did a flip off his board and into the water. When his head reappeared above the water, he shook the water off and pointed at me. When he was sure I was looking, he pointed behind me at the wave building.
He had made it look so easy. It looked as if he’d put very little effort into it at all, actually. Caught up in the excitement of it all, I stupidly paddled towards the wave and ran through what he’d taught me on the beach.
Surely, it couldn’t be that hard! He’d shown me the basics, plus he said the waves weren’t that big.
When I’d reached the perfect spot, he shouted at me to stand. And I did! I actually stood up on the board and stayed balanced! For at least three seconds, before the wall of water hit me in the side and knocked me off the board. The expression, ‘hit me like a ton of bricks’ must have been invented for just that occasion. Struggling to find the surface of the water, and not gasp for air, I waved my arms and legs furiously. A hand came out of nowhere and pulled me up just as I ran out of air. With a loud gulp of air, I grabbed onto the board and held on for dear life.
When I’d gulped air, I’d also taken in at least half a gallon of seawater, and it was pouring out of me as I struggled to breathe. The hand that had pulled me out of the water was now pounding me on the back as I coughed and gagged against the board.
“You alright?” Nick asked with concern.
“What happened?” I choked out between coughs.
“You wiped out,” he said with a laugh, “big time!” Apparently, the concern for my safety was gone and he’d moved on to mocking me. “It was quite entertaining, really.”
“What happened to my board?” I asked. I’d noticed that the one I was now clinging to was not the same one I’d fallen from just seconds before.
“Don’t worry, that kid’s bringing it over for you.” He gave me a goofy grin and pointed at the adolescent surfer who was now pushing my board towards us.
“That was an epic fail, man! Totally awesome!” the kid shouted excitedly when he reached us. “My buddy got it all on camera, too! Is it okay if we put that up on YouTube?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” I said and grabbed the board from him.
He shrugged and shook his head. “Too bad, that totally could have made you famous!” He gave Nick a head nod and paddled back towards the waves.
“Was it really that bad?” I asked as I tried to pull myself up onto the board again. I could already feel how sore my ribs were going to be.
Nick shook his head, but looked away trying to hide the grin on his face.
“It’s okay. You can tell me it was bad. I’m kind of known for epic fails, especially the kind that involve me getting injured.”
He turned back and smiled so wide I could see all of his perfect white teeth. “It was pretty bad, but I’ve seen worse.”
Exhausted, I laid flat with my back on the board. “I did tell you this was a bad idea.”
He laughed, “Yes, you did. I should have listened to you.”
“Thanks for saving my life, by the way.” I was suddenly too tired even to open my eyes. The adrenaline I’d felt earlier had all vanished, and now I was drained of all energy.
“I thought maybe your drowning would put a damper on our vacation,” his voice was full of false modesty and I could tell he was grinning.
He let me lay still for a few minutes, still coughing up water, before he spoke again.
“What’s this from?” he asked. He grabbed my leg and pulled me towards him. His hand touched the scar on my inner thigh.
Despite being exhausted, I still felt the zing of electricity as his skin touched mine. My eyes flew open and I sat upright. He pulled his hand away from my thigh and smiled at me, waiting patiently for an answer.
“Another epic fail,” I answered timidly and looked down at the scar.
“What sport were you attempting that time?”
“Riding a bike.”
“Like dirt bike riding?”
I huffed lightly, “No, just regular bike riding.”
He chuckled then asked, “I have to hear this story.”
“It was the summer I turned ten. My parents got me a bike for my birthday and I had an accident, or two.”
His eyebrow rose in suspicion. “What kind of accident left that scar?”
I rolled my eyes, “I rode my bike into a barbed wire fence.”
He let out a quick roar of a laugh, but pulled himself together quickly.
I continued, “I also destroyed Mrs. O’Grady’s petunias, ran over my sister’s little toe, and dented my dad’s car door.”
He threw his head back and laughed loudly at the sky. His laugh was infectious and I found myself laughing at him.
“The fence was the last straw. On the way back from the Emergency Room my dad said to my mom, ‘Clearly we should have thought harder on a middle name for this child.’” I added between chuckles.
“Wait! What’s your middle name?” he asked with a huge grin.
“Grace.”
He threw his head back again and I laughed along with him.
After a minute or two, the laughter died down but the smiles stayed put. We both watched silently as the boy who had returned my board expertly rode a few waves close to the shore.
I watched Nick’s face as he followed the boy’s progress. He looked as if he was longing to be out there with him.
“You don’t have to stay here with me. I think I can safely paddle myself back to shore, if you want to surf some more.”
He turned to me and looked into my eyes. “I’m okay just hanging here with you.”
I smiled timidly at him.
He leaned back and put his hands under his head, “Tell me more about your epic fails.”
I spent the rest of the afternoon telling him all about my feeble attempts at sports. As it turned out, running was the only thing I was ever good at. To be fair, I wasn’t even good at that, but at least I was less likely to injure myself doing it. He watched me intently as I told him about the time I cracked my front tooth with a field hockey stick, the time I’d broken my pinky in gym class trying to shoot a basket, and even the day in college when I’d fractured my wrist bowling.
I watched his face as he listened to me. I watched how his eyes seemed to smile just as wide as his mouth when he liked what I said. He looked at me like I was the most interesting person in the world, and he watched me intently. He actually listened when I talked, and when he interrupted to ask me a question, he’d reach out and touch my arm or my leg to get my attention.
I felt like I could stay out on the water for another few hours, just talking to him and watching him listen to me, but the sun was setting and my stomach was starting to growl. We paddled back to shore, and carried the boards on our heads back to the beach house. Only, the quiet, calm beach house we’d left that morning was now littered with unfamiliar faces and pulsating with the pounding beats of music.
“What’s going on?” Nick asked me when we got under the house. I handed him the boards and he put them back in the storage closet.
“I don’t know. It kind of looks and sounds like a party.” I shrugged.
“Chrissy?” he asked me with a suspicious look.
I shook my head at him. “No, she told me she was going out on the boat with the guy she met this morning.”
He sighed loudly, “Darren.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Is this the kind of thing he does?”
He nodded.
“Is this why you two needed to get out of LA for a while?” I asked with a smile.
Nick rolled his eyes.
“Well, as long as I can take a shower, get something to eat, and then be left alone in my room, I don’t care what’s going on in the rest of the house.” I smiled and started up the stairs.