It had been radical.
He didn’t even need to know the score to know how he’d done.
He’d sat outside, waiting, everything still around him, watching the rolling water swell all the way to the horizon, and then he’d felt it move beneath him and he was ready. He’d latched onto that wave, sensing the movement of the water, anticipating where he was going, surefooted and steady. He’d felt like he was flying out there, like he was one with the waves, like he could do no wrong. Inside a wave, he’d experienced that strange effect of being perfectly still on the water even as he was tearing across it, an oxymoron of speeding stasis.
When his score was announced, easily qualifying him for the next round, another broad grin broke out across his face and he waved to the cheering crowd. Cheering for
him
.
More adrenaline rushed through him, his heart pumping, his muscles twitching, and he found himself searching through the sea of faces for Brooke. Where was she? He’d only caught a glimpse of her earlier, but he knew she was there somewhere.
There were Matt and Corey, and he gave a wave to them, watching them lift their arms above their head to applaud, smiles stretched across their faces too.
Dylan hugged Brett and Elroy, and began the trudge through the sand. He needed to find Brooke. But before he could get very far, a microphone was thrust in front of his face and he found himself being interviewed by half a dozen reporters.
He pushed back his impatience to see Brooke and flashed smiles, threw out some lines about his run. “Yeah, it was fun out there, today,” he said, shoving his wet hair back off his face. “The waves are fun, it’s pretty consistent. I saw some barrels before my heat so I wanted to find some, and find some air. The wind is perfect for the airs.”
It seemed to take forever, even though he never minded talking to the media. Hey, what was more fun to talk about than surfing, especially when it was going well? But he found his attention drifting, his gaze sliding away to search for Brooke, and he had to give himself a mental slap on the back of the head and focus.
When he finally managed to break free of the reporters, he was surrounded by girls, gorgeous, half-naked, tanned girls in bikinis and sunglasses. Jesus.
He almost laughed at himself, at how uninterested he was in them when only a month ago he would have been in heaven surrounded by a bevy of sexy chicks. When he spied Matt and Corey making their way across the sand toward him, he excused himself to the girls. “I gotta go talk to my friends, ladies. Catch you later.”
“Hey dude,” Matt said. “Great run.”
“Thanks. Hey, you guys seen Brooke?”
Corey grinned. “Looking for your girl already?”
Dylan grimaced. “Yeah. She’s here somewhere. I’m gonna get out of this wet suit and then check out the VIP Lounge.”
“Okay. When’s your next heat?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. Five o’clock.”
“We’ll be back to cheer you on.”
Dylan paused. Emotion tightened his chest. He slapped a hand onto Matt’s shoulder and squeezed. “Thanks, man. That means a lot to me.”
“I’m sure you have tons of people cheering for you everywhere you go,” Corey said, glancing at the girls who’d ambushed him moments ago.
“Well, yeah.” They laughed and he grinned too. “I’m not bragging, it’s the truth. But seriously, it means a lot more when it’s your friends here for you.” Christ, he was getting all sappy.
“And Brooke,” Corey added.
“Yeah,” he admitted.
“Go find her,” she said. “We’ll talk to you later.”
“Come up to the VIP Lounge,” Dylan said. “I’ll get you in.”
“I have a pass,” Matt said. “We’re one of the sponsors. They’re stocked up with our beer.”
“Well shit, yeah, I should’ve known that. Okay, I’ll see you up there.”
He quickly changed into his usual baggy knee-length shorts and a loose Hawaiian print shirt and headed to the VIP lounge constructed on the second level of the massive tent on the beach. When he walked in, he scanned the room for Brooke. He did a double take at seeing the Beckhams there, schmoozing with Adam Levine and a blonde girl…hey, wasn’t that Wayne Gretzky’s daughter?
He spotted executives from the big sponsors and then Matt and Corey and—yes!—Brooke stood there talking to them too, along with the bigwigs from ICON, the big entertainment company that put on the event. He made his way through the crowd, but people kept stopping him to say hi and congratulate him. Hell, he hadn’t won yet. This was early in the competition, but he accepted the good wishes with smiles and handshakes and paused to say a few words to the people he knew he should.
“Hey Dylan.” Jancy Barnes stepped in front of him and laid a hand on his arm, her smile wide and friendly. “Haven’t seen you since Fiji.”
He smiled. Jancy was a good kid, a talented surfer with a promising future. They’d hung out a few times on the tour. He gave her a hug. “Hey yourself. How’re you doing, babe?”
“Great.” They chatted about their heats and Jancy introduced him to her friend Tiffany, another cute tanned blonde.
“It’s so awesome to meet you!” Tiffany gushed, shaking his hand and beaming up at him.
Then he paused to talk to Heath Marlow, his main rival in this competition, the man he was determined to beat. But Heath was a good guy and they could shoot the shit and hang out with each other and still be competitors. Deuce and Jimmy, both from Australia, joined them as they talked.
Finally he made it to the group where Brooke stood, and he positioned himself beside her. The others greeted him immediately and included him in the conversation. Brooke glanced up at him with a professional smile and said, “Congratulations, Dylan.”
“Thanks.” He smiled into her eyes, but she immediately looked away. Hell. He’d been hoping for a bit more reaction from her than that. Maybe he needed to get her alone.
“I was just telling Matt and Corey how lovely their wedding was,” she said.
Why did her voice sound funny, kind of strained?
“Yeah, it was nice,” he agreed. “Lots of fun.”
“Thanks,” Corey said. “That’s what we wanted.”
They continued to make small talk about the event, and when he had the opportunity Dylan looked back at Brooke. “I’m gonna get something to eat and drink. Would you like something?”
“I’m okay, thanks.”
He tightened his jaw. “Oh come on. Come with me and see what there is.” And he firmly drew her away from the crowd.
“I already ate,” she said in a low voice, still smiling that tight smile.
“I just want to talk to you for a few minutes,” he said. “Without everyone else there.”
“Talk about what?”
He paused. “Um. I thought…well, never mind.” He thought she might have more to say than just “congratulations” but, okay, whatever. “I wanted to see you. Did you watch the heat?”
“Yes, I watched from here. Great view.”
“True that.” He paused. “So what’ve they got to eat here?” He steered her toward the long table laden with food.
“All kinds of things.”
“I’m starving.” He always ate light before he competed. “And I’ll grab myself a bottle of Gatorade.”
“I’ll get it for you.” She moved away from him toward the bar where all kinds of drinks, both alcoholic and non-, were being served by sexy bartenders.
He watched her, something settling inside him like a stone in his gut. She was so pretty, her long brown hair loose and shiny down her back, wearing a yellow sundress with tiny straps that showed off a lot of her smooth gold skin. But she didn’t seem very pleased to see him or very excited by how well he’d done.
He started loading a plate up with shrimp and chicken fingers and raw veggies, and she returned with his bottled drink. “Thanks,” he said. “Sure you don’t want something?”
“I’m sure.” She flashed another smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“I thought you might sit with Corey and Matt to watch.”
Her eyes flickered and the corners of her mouth tightened. “I had to come up here and act as hostess on behalf of Jackson Cole.”
“Huh. Yeah. You look really nice.” His gaze moved over her nearly bare shoulders.
“Thanks.”
Matt and Corey approached them then, and at Corey’s knowing smile, watching them, he remembered that they thought he and Brooke were really a couple.
He
felt like they were really a couple. Weren’t they? After Sunday night at her place, how could they not be?
So he slid a free arm around Brooke’s waist and did what he’d wanted to do earlier
–
he kissed her. She blinked at him in surprise, then her eyes shuttered and her smile went crooked.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said in a low voice, but loud enough for Corey and Matt to hear. And he meant it.
“Of course I’m here,” she said through that brittle smile.
“What are you up to this afternoon?” Matt asked him.
Brooke answered. “This afternoon you’ve got an autograph session down on the beach, and a bunch of kids from Daytrippers are coming.”
“Awesome.”
“Sounds cool,” Matt said.
“And then another TV interview,” Brooke said. “For a film being put together for Extreme Sports.”
“And then another dinner,” Dylan remembered with a grimace. He released Brooke so he could eat. He picked up a shrimp. “There’s a party at Aura tonight. Wanna come with me?”
Her eyes narrowed. “A party?”
“Yeah.” He met her eyes and smiled, lifting one shoulder. “You know…a bunch of people get together and eat and drink and talk and dance and generally have fun.” There were endless parties going on at these events, all night long if you wanted.
“Should be a good time,” Matt said. “We’re going to stop by there later.”
Brooke’s mouth tightened. Jesus, what was with her? Was she worried about his behavior again? He hadn’t done anything wrong in…weeks. But these events were supposed to be fun.
“You have a heat tomorrow,” she reminded him.
“I know.” Now his own eyes narrowed. He might like to party and have fun, but when it came to competing, he took that very seriously. He knew what he had to do to be in prime shape and he’d do it. “But it’s not until later in the day. What—you’re telling me I can’t go to the party?” His voice went low and hard.
Corey and Matt exchanged glances.
Shit.
Brooke gave a light laugh. “I can’t tell you what to do!” she said, smiling.
“Coulda fooled me,” he muttered. He handed his plate to a passing waiter with a tray, half the food still on it. He opened the bottle of Gatorade and drank deeply.
Brooke bit her lip, glanced at Corey and Matt then said, “If you want to go to the party, we can go. Sure.”
“Great,” Corey said. “We’ll see you there. We’ll be there around nine, nine thirty.”
“Awesome.” Brooke glanced at her watch. “I have to go talk to a few people and then it’ll be time for your autograph session. You know where it’s being held?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, I’ll see you there.” And she disappeared into the throng of people.
Dylan glanced at Matt and Corey, who seemed to have sensed the tension between him and Brooke.
“Everything okay, Dylan?” Corey asked.
“Um. Yeah. Great.”
More people joined them then, once again shaking his hand, and he accepted more congratulations and good luck wishes, and entertained everyone with his surfing stories until it was time to get to that autograph session.
As he trudged through the soft sand back on the beach, irritation rubbed inside him, but he wasn’t sure what that was about. Maybe because he wasn’t used to having his time so structured, all these things planned out for him, when he usually liked to just hang out and cruise around town and have some fun.
And that reminded him of why Brooke had come to Tahiti to bring him back and why they were doing all these things. His sponsorship had been in jeopardy and he needed to clean up his act if he wanted to keep it.
And he’d been doing it. Truthfully, while he liked having more freedom, it hadn’t been that hard. Yeah, he’d had to fit all these meetings and events in around everything else he had to do, but he’d actually enjoyed much of it. And before a competition, he was focused on the things he needed to be
–
eating right, getting enough sleep, working out, shaping his boards, going over things with Brett and most important of all, time in the water practicing. Despite what Brooke thought of him, it was only
after
a competition that he liked to let loose. And what the hell was wrong with that anyway?
His mood dipped when he arrived at the tent where the signing was being held and he had to force a smile and act all relaxed and happy, all the while casting glances at Brooke who appeared to be doing the same.
“We need to talk,” he muttered to her at one point during a break in the action.
“Sure,” she said. “But I’m really busy. How about later?”
He frowned. He didn’t want to wait until then. “I’ll come to your place when I’m done with dinner. Then we can go the party with Matt and Corey.”
Her lips tightened and she cast her eyes down but nodded. “Okay.”
Chapter Nineteen
Brooke focused on her work for the rest of the day, ending up back in the VIP tent networking with local business people, a couple of clients and members of the media. The party atmosphere and beautiful sunny weather put everyone in a good mood. The waves were great for the surfers and some terrific scores were being posted.
Matt and Corey had left earlier to get back to their businesses. No doubt Laguna Dorada was packed all day with all the tourists in town for the Pro, and Corey was probably busy too, as people explored all the little shops and restaurants along Shore Drive. It had been so awkward earlier, seeing them now that she knew about them and Dylan.
Thinking about that made her stomach pitch. But then Dylan had showed up and wanted to be all friendly and she remembered that Corey and Matt thought they were actually a couple, and even though she’d only agreed to attend the wedding to help him out, she couldn’t just abandon him now. They were stuck with this act for the rest of the week until Dylan left town. So she’d agreed to go to that damn party.