Crashing Waves (16 page)

"Hell yeah!" Austin jumped up. It had been a couple of years since she'd been on a snowboard, but everything had started coming back to her. She looked over at Rory who was standing stiffly with her eyes bugging out of her head.

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Rory said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
You can do this. Relax.
 

Nikki showed Rory how to attach her boots to the bindings and snap them in place as Austin moved around on her board, getting used to the feeling again.

When everyone was ready, Austin led the way down the little bunny hill with Rory behind her. Nikki rode close to Rory, allowing her to mimic the instructor's movements.

Snowboarding had come back to Austin pretty rapidly. She was carving back and forth until she leaned too far and fell backwards. She stood up laughing, brushed the snow off, and kept going down the small hill. She leaned back on her left foot, riding a few tail-wheelies and midways down the hill she tried to rotate and ride fakie, wiping out twice before finally completing the trick.

Rory was surprised at herself and amazed to see how similar snowboarding was to surfing. She carved back and forth down the hill, doing tail-wheelies and riding fakie with no problem. She fell a few times, but after the initial shock of the first fall and realizing she was okay, she'd gotten back up and kept going.

"It looks like you have it down. Let's take the lift up and see how you do on a trail," Nikki said.

Rory and Austin followed her over to the ski lift. As the chair came around, all three women squished in with Rory in the middle. The bone-chilling wind was like nothing Rory had ever experienced. She huddled into her jacket like a turtle in a shell as the chair moved further and further up the mountain.

They finally arrived at their destination, hoping off and riding their boards out of the way.

"This trail over here to the left is sort of a beginner and intermediate trail, so you won't have any obstacles to go around like trees or rocks. You two go in front of me and remember to watch your lines and to look back before turning. Sometimes skiers come by and they will crash into you. I'll go behind you both," Nikki exclaimed, pulling her goggles over her eyes.

Austin went first, followed by Rory. They carved back and forth down the mountain doing the simple tricks here and there. Both women's exceptional balance and surfing skills showed as they maneuvered down the mountain. As she became more comfortable with the board, Rory began ducking down, carving fast to the right and dragging her left hand in the snow as she turned quickly back to the left. Then, she spun around to ride fakie and do the same trick over again with the opposite hand in the snow.

Nikki watched the former surf champion as she rode back and forth with the agility of an athlete.

At the base of the mountain, Austin was stoked and ready to go again and Rory was shocked to see how she'd immediately taken to the board. She hadn't surfed in over four years, yet her balance and skills had easily come back to her.

"Shall we go again, ladies?" Nikki asked.

~ ~ ~

Austin and Rory spent the rest of the day riding different courses and learning new tricks. When the sun finally went down, they headed over to the lodge to sit by the fire in the lobby and warm up.

"Rory, I had no idea you could ride a snowboard like that. You impressed me today." Austin smiled.

"I guess it comes naturally. I had a great time," Rory replied, smiling back.

"You both looked good out there on the mountain today. I wish the other slope had been groomed. I'd like to see what you can do on the lift-off," Nikki teased, talking about the large jump on the other course that had been closed due to the Olympic Games.

"Oh no! I don't think I want to go flying through the air," Rory said, shaking her head.

Nikki reached over, placing her hand on Rory's knee.

"There's no need to get nervous." Nikki winked.

Austin wanted to killer her when she saw Nikki put her hand on Rory. She envisioned herself literally strangling the exotic woman, making her choke on her own accent.

Nikki wasn't sure what was going on between Austin and Rory, but she could see the possessive look Austin was giving her.
So, you think she's yours, do you? We'll see about that.
 

"I'm heading over to the local tavern for a drink. Rory, would you like to join me? I'm sure some of the locals would like to meet you."

"Uh…I probably shouldn't. I have some work to catch up on. Maybe another time."
Nonchalant, no-strings sex is probably not what I need right now. At least not with you.
 

"Suit yourself. Here's my cell number if you change your mind." She kissed Rory on the cheek and handed her a business card. "Goodnight, Miss Tinsley." Nikki grinned at her as she walked by.

Rory and Austin stepped into the elevator. Austin pressed the number for their floor, smacking the panel when the number didn't light up.

"Easy, mate. What's gotten your feathers all ruffled?" Rory asked, reaching around her and pressing the button for their floor.

"You tell me?!" Austin growled.

Rory stared at her as the elevator ascended, wondering what she was talking about. She'd never seen Austin angry and she wasn't even sure this was anger. Austin looked more like she was ready to bolt as soon as doors opened. "I'm not sure what's bothering you, but…are you ready to go home? Is that what it is?"

Austin wanted to smack her upside her cute head. "Seriously?" she huffed, shaking her head, then crossing and uncrossing her arms. Finally, she turned to face Rory head on. "What does she have that I don’t, besides big boobs and a ridiculous accent?"

"What? Who?" Rory asked, confused.

"Nikki or Nikola or whatever the fuck her name was," Austin spat as the doors opened. "Never mind, I'm going to bed," she said as she walked away.

"Wait." Rory bolted out of the elevator, stopping at Austin's door. "I'm not sure what's going on here, but we need to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about, Rory." Austin put her keycard in the door, pushing the handle as it unlocked. "Nothing at all," she whispered as she went inside, closing the heavy door behind her.

"Shit!" Rory growled to the empty hallway.

This had been the last thing Rory had expected. Knowing she'd developed feelings for Austin was one thing. She could easily hide the growing attraction, but the fact that Austin was possibly feeling the same way was not good. Not good at all. She couldn't handle being that close to Austin, separated by a thin wall, and not talking to each other. She walked back to the elevator, pushing the button for the lobby. She felt the business card Nikki had given her when she slipped her hands into her pockets. It would be so easy to spend the night using her to forget about the blond upstairs, but nothing in the world would permanently remove Austin from her mind or her heart and that scared Rory. It scared her more than the idea of surfing again.

"You want to know what she has that you don't, Austin? Nothing. She has nothing and you have everything," she whispered as the elevator stopped.

 Rory thought about calling Martie as she sat down at the bar, ordering a whiskey on the rocks, but thought better of it. If Martie knew about her feelings for Austin, she'd flip out. Hell, she barely knew about the feelings herself. How the hell would she explain them to anyone else? She'd only ever loved one other person in her life and Martie had turned out to be more like a sister and a best friend than a girlfriend. She'd spent most of her life chasing pipe dreams and double over-head waves. Those two things had left very little room for anything else and Martie had always filled the companionship void. Austin had somehow found the tiny crack in Rory's perfectly molded life and squeezed herself through it, into the little space that made Rory's pulse race and her heart skip a beat.

Rory drank a long sip of the stiff drink.
Austin doesn't need the baggage of a washed up, old sock that's afraid of the water. She deserves so much more.
 

~ ~ ~

"It's a shame we're leaving today. I was beginning to really enjoy this place," Austin said as she took her seat on the plane.
I was getting used to being around you all day, every day. Maybe going home is a good thing. I think I need some time away from you to clear my head.
 

"Yeah, it's beautiful here, but personally I'm freezing my ass off and I'm ready to go home." Rory smiled. She was glad Austin hadn't mentioned the events of the night before. She just wanted to get back to California where they would have a lot more distance between them than a paper thin wall and an unlocked door. She still wasn't sure how to talk about what was going on between them and she was glad Austin hadn't brought it up either.

"What's on your schedule when you get back?"

"Uh…I believe the Gold Coast Pro in Australia is the next thing on the calendar. It's the first stop on the Championship Tour for this year."

"Oh wow, so you get to see your family…"

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, I haven't decided if I'm going. This is just the next event on the calendar."

"I see."

"When we get back, I want you in the water the next day. I'll try to come watch you once or twice this week if I can."

"No problem, Lori's already talking about going down to Redondo."

"Make sure you don't overdo it. I'm sure you'll be tired."

"Yes ma'am," Austin teased.

~ ~ ~

Rory awoke to her cell phone ringing on her night stand. "Noon! Holy shit!" she screeched, looking at the alarm clock. She was glad she had taken the day off to rest before going back to the office.

"I'm glad to see you're back on U.S. soil. Want to join me for dinner tonight?" Martie asked when she answered.

"Nah. Hey, Martie, on second thought, why don't you come here for dinner? You can bring me a six pack."

"Alright, I'll be by around seven."

"Is Martina Cruz working late? No way!" Rory teased.

"Cut the shit, you know someone has to run this place while you're out gallivanting all over the world."

"Gallivanting for a good cause, mate!"

"Ha-ha, yeah, I'll be there shortly."

~ ~ ~

Rory sat back in the wooden Adirondack chair on the deck, listening to the waves crashing against the shore. Martie was next to her, doing her best to keep up with Rory, who was already on her fourth bottle of beer.

"I can't believe you still drink this shit."

"What shit?"

"Beer," Martie grimaced.

"Mate, you know I have liquor. Go look in the bar. I didn't tell you that you
had
to drink beer. I just figured you could supply it." Rory smiled.

"You're hopeless." Martie laughed and went inside. She returned a few minutes later with a Margarita.

"You look much better with that, or a Corona. I always thought you looked sexy drinking Corona when we were younger in La Jolla
.
"
I must be drunk.
Rory thought.
 

Martie laughed. "Yeah and I remember how much you bitched about ruining the beer when we made you put a lime in it."

"Yeah, well that just doesn't make any sense to me. We wound up drinking Tequila, anyway. Man, those were crazy days." Rory laughed, shaking her head.

"I might as well get it out while I can. Happy Birthday, Rory."

"Oh, mate, you know I hate my birthday."

"We need to celebrate."

"What's there to celebrate? So I'm another year older, my God can you believe I'm thirty? I'll be forty before you know it and I'm already a washed-up old sock!"

"Give me a break. I'm only a year younger than you!" Martie walked into the house, returning with two small boxes.

"What's this?"

"This one is from the office, and the other one's from me."

"You guys really shouldn't have done this."

"Just open the damn boxes, Rory." Martie growled at her best friend.

Rory opened the box from her staff first. It contained a two inch long Swarovski Crystal snowboard.

"Wow, this is beautiful." Rory already knew right where she'd put it.

She opened the other box which was similar in size and found a matching crystal surfboard. She was speechless as a small tear escaped her eye. Martie was the only person who really knew what surfing had meant to her. "I…God, Martie, thank you…this…"

"I know," Martie said, taking a deep breath and wrapping her arms around her friend. The past four years had been turmoil for her too, watching her best friend almost die, and then watching the agony in Rory's light blue eyes every single day had torn her apart.

Rory wiped her face and walked into the house. She put both figurines in the corner curio in her study. She'd started a small crystal collection over the past year and had already had three pieces in the case.

"Okay, enough birthday drama. So what's going on, Rory? You still haven't told me about Sweden," Martie said as Rory walked back out onto the deck.

Rory looked at her oddly, knowing damn good and well what she was talking about. "Nothing happened. We watched the games, spent some time with Adler and I signed autographs and went through a hundred interviews."

"Uh huh…"

"We went snowboarding."

"Snowboarding!" Martie practically yelled.

"Yeah."

"You, the person who won't go anywhere near any kind of board at all? It's bad enough that after all of this time, three God damn years, Rory, you decide to go back to the ocean, for her, with her, and now you're been snowboarding too! What's gotten into you?"

"Calm down, Martie. It's not what you think it is."

"The fucking hell it isn't! What are you doing with her, Rory?"

"Nothing. That's just it. I swear, Martie. I haven't been surfing and have no desire to ever go back in the water. I go and watch her and give her pointers. Snowboarding was, well…I don't…all I know is, you can't crack your head on a reef or drown in the God damn snow! I was scared, but I felt safe, so I did it! Bloody hell, I wish you'd just let it go and trust me."