Oh my god.
That merman was Wyatt. I was positive. It was his shaggy blonde hair slicked back and painted silver, his lean muscle, his lazy, confident, panty-melting grin.
I watched the video six times to be sure, alternating between cringing and snickering.
There was no way Avery knew about this. She knew I loved Europop, and she hadn抰 mentioned this to me, which meant she didn抰 know. Which meant Emmett didn抰 know.
Which meant no one knew.
Huh.
My eyes narrowed at the screen. Wyatt twirled his trident around in the air, and I snorted.
It was no secret in town that surfing was Wyatt抯 whole life, his whole existence. He was out on the water on his board almost every day, no matter how cold or choppy the water was. Everyone knew about his dreams of going pro, and Avery had mentioned he was trying to get a sponsorship deal with some of the big surf brands.
My skin prickled with anticipation and danger. Wyatt had all the hot girl knowledge I wanted, and now I had dirt on him.
I could ask Avery to help me become a hot girl, but she wasn抰 like me. She was confident. She wouldn抰 understand. She had never wanted to fall in love before Emmett. She actively avoided it. Besides, she would tell me to be myself.
Being myself wasted a decade of my life and got me nowhere. No, I wasn抰 going to ask Avery for help.
Wyatt, though, he was perfect. He had all the qualities I needed. I had a little crush on him, but he was the last guy in the world who I would ever fall for. The guy of my dreams was sweet, chivalrous, friendly, and above all, loved books. Wyatt was leaving town as soon as he got a sponsorship.
Despite my little crush on him, Wyatt wasn抰 even close to being the guy of my dreams. And he抎 never go for someone like me.
Most importantly, I had something in my back pocket that Wyatt didn抰 want getting out.
Making the store profitable, I could figure out on my own. The true love thing would fall into place once I became a hot girl like Th閞鑣e. She had said it herself in the store, I抳e been in love many, many times.
My pulse beat in my ears and I sucked in a breath, chewing my lip. I didn抰 want to stop him from getting a sponsorship, so I抎 never show a soul the video, I抎 just use it to convince him to help me.
Wyatt Rhodes was going to teach me to be a hot girl.
3
Wyatt
Just after dawn, I stepped out onto the sand, carrying my surfboard, and stared up at the indigo sky. The sun rose and the sky washed with more blue by the minute.
Fuck yeah.
A light breeze pushed my hair back, and I waded into the water. Like every morning, the water抯 cold bite woke me up and reminded me I was alive.
I waded further out, dropped my board onto the surface and began to paddle. Water made its way into my wetsuit as my arms moved. Something inside me clicked into place. The sky was still brightening, splashing colors across, and once I was deep enough, I sat on my board with my legs on either side, staring up, floating along with the water. Emerald forests rose out of the ocean, towering trees which had seen thousands of sunrises like this one. I took a deep breath.
Every day, I got out here as fast as I could, waking at dawn and hustling out the door of my tiny bungalow on the beach. Every day, I marveled at the fucking beauty of this place, this tiny town I had grown up in.
Queen抯 Cove was popular around the world for surfing. We were one of the only places in Canada to catch waves, and despite the cold water, we attracted world-class surfers every summer, as well as a million tourists. Ocean, mountains, forests梬hat else could someone want?
Every day, the ocean reminded me how insignificant I was. If I let it, the ocean would eat me up and spit me out.
Sitting on the board for a few minutes every morning before surfing was my salutation to Mother Nature.
Thank you for letting me experience this. Thank you for not eating me.
A grin hitched at my mouth, and I rolled off my board into the water and paddled further out behind the break, where the good waves would be. Like usual, I was the only person out on the ocean at this time. You know that feeling of running through fresh, untouched snow? That satisfaction of crunching into the smooth white surface before anyone else? That抯 how I felt every morning. The ocean was mine for a couple hours.
During these morning hours, it was like I was the only person on the planet.
I spotted the wave as I swam into the cove, propped myself up on my board, and paddled hard, aligning myself with it. The wave approached and as I crested it, I hopped up on my board, using every muscle in my body to stay upright as the fluid power beneath my feet propelled me forward.
A rush of adrenaline hit my bloodstream.
This surfing thing never got old. If I worked hard enough, if I stayed focused, I would qualify to go pro and I could do this for the rest of my life.