She took another sip of her coffee and studied the ocean. 揌annah is a very sweet girl.?
I thought about the way Hannah had ground herself against me last night. Not that sweet.
揝he hasn抰 had it easy, since Claire passed. It抯 been hard on her and Frank, just the two of them.?
Irritation prickled at the back of my neck. 揧ou know she runs the bookstore basically on her own??
She paused. 揘o. I thought Frank and her ran it together.?
揌e抯 stepped back in the past few years. She runs the entire business by herself.?I gestured at the water. 揝he got up on her board last week. She surfed. She抯 terrible at surfing. She has zero balance.?I shook my head. 揃ut she kept trying and got up on her board and caught a wave.?My words rushed out with an edge to them. 揝he抯 not this wimpy little flower.?
My mom抯 head reared back. 揑 didn抰 say she was.?
揝he works hard and she doesn抰 give up. People don抰 give her enough credit.?
She watched me, a little knowing grin growing on her face.
Busted.
I rolled my eyes, but a grin grew on my face too. 揇on抰 look at me like that. We抮e friends.?
It tasted wrong, saying it.
揌mm.?She leaned back on her hands, studying the sparkling ocean. 揊riends.?
揧ep.?
We were quiet for a few moments.
揑 don抰 know what抯 going on in that brain of yours, Wy.?She gave me a sidelong glance. 揑 never have. You抮e like the water in that way, it抯 hard to see under the surface.?She pressed her mouth into a line, nodding. 揧ou were always so fearless.?She laughed and rubbed her forehead. 揝weetheart, the years you have taken off my life with your stunts out there.?
A smile lifted on my face.
She shook her head. 揑 don抰 know what I抦 trying to say. I just hope you apply that same fearlessness to all aspects of your life.?
I frowned. 揙kay.?What?
揥hat time is it??She checked her phone and hopped up. 揂very抯 mother and I are going to visit Katherine and do some gardening.?Katherine Waters owned an inn, The Water抯 Edge, and the past few years, she had been sick. People in town helped her out around the inn, fixing leaking taps and weeding the garden. Holden had worked there for a few summers as a teenager and still dropped by often.
My mom stood and dusted off her pants. 揊amily dinner on Sunday. Bring Hannah. I want more women around.?I opened my mouth梩o say what?梑ut she was already down the walkway and out of my front yard. 揃ye, honey!?
揃ye, Mom.?
I sat there a few minutes, staring at the water, before getting up and heading inside. I had a missed call and a voicemail on my phone.
揌ey Wyatt, this is Emilio Sanchez with Billabong. Saw you compete in Australia last year and loved what I saw. It抯 obvious that you have a presence in the surfing world, seeing how your social media has taken off. I抎 like to speak to you about being part of the Billabong team. We抣l be out in Queen抯 Cove for the Pacific Rim Worlds. Call me back.?
I listened to the message a couple times, sitting on the step and staring at my phone.
Whatever Hannah was doing on social media, it was working. It was happening.
Surfing the best spots in the world. Surfing every day. The rush of catching powerful, crashing waves. I blew a shaky breath out. This was what I always wanted.
So why was my chest tight and weird like this?
13
Hannah
Nerves rolled through my stomach as I stepped through the back door of the surf shop to grab a wetsuit. I had been to the surf shop enough times now to feel comfortable walking right in, even at six in the morning, so I headed straight to where the wetsuits in my size hung on the rack.
揘ot that one,?Wyatt said behind me. His voice was still gravely with sleep.
The nerves pitched in my stomach and that gravelly voice traveled right down to my toes. The last time I had heard that tone, his mouth had pressed against mine and he was taking it, claiming my mouth like it belonged to him.
You抮e going to come home, crawl into bed, and touch yourself until you come.
His low words echoed in my head. I shivered and turned.
God damn, he was hot. Even when he was still sleepy, and his hair was a bit messy. His eyes shone bright, his skin glowed with a tan, his mouth was fascinating, and the sight of him set off a series of sparks in me.
I totally had the hots for Wyatt Rhodes.
I swallowed and lifted my eyebrows. 揥hat do you mean??
He gestured to the back room, where they kept extra inventory. 揋ot you your own.?
Until now, I had been using one of the suits the shop rented to tourists taking surf lessons. The fit wasn抰 great. It was too long in the arms and legs, so I rolled the cuffs up. The mid-section was bulky and the zipper always snagged, but I didn抰 know any different, and I didn抰 want to complain, so I made do.