Page 63

Jaw flexing, I gripped her door tighter. “Lost count.”

Her eyes hadn’t strayed from my bottom lip since she discovered I only had in bottoms today. I focused my attention on the messy bun sitting at the top of her head. I couldn’t look at her looking at me. I would lose my shit. Matter of fact, I knew I already had.

And if her hand came anywhere near my mouth again, my self control would snap and the kiss I’d dreamed up in my head too many times would be painted across those perfect fucking lips.

“Get in the car, Goldy.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being bossy or chivalrous,” she mumbled, climbing in. When I heard her seatbelt click, I shut the door and jogged to my car.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

We’d been on the water for two hours already and Goldy still hadn’t stood up on the board. Every time she got close, she panicked and asked one of us to pull her out of the water.

And we did, every single time.

She’d watched me and Sincere get up out of the water and ride over and over again. And when she said she was ready, one of us made sure her bindings were tied right, gave her the handle, and dropped her in the water while Lorenzo idled the boat.

When Sin rode, I explained everything he was doing and how to mimic him when she got back in. Every time, she nodded and said she could do it. Until it was time to do it and she froze.

I fell into a squat at the back of the boat, squinting against the sun. “All you have to do is get up, Goldy. It’s all in your head.”

“I feel like I’m going to fall.”

“You’re attached to the board. Where you going, G?”

She huffed out a quiet laugh and looked at the water. Sincere and Lorenzo were at the front of the boat, talking about something we couldn’t hear.

“I’m wasting everybody’s time. We should just go home. I know y’all are tire?—”

“We aren’t tired of anything,” I interrupted and her eyes flickered to mine. “We all started as beginners at some point. Nobody is rushing you. Take your time and it’ll come.”

“What if I don’t get it?”

“Then we’ll try again tomorrow. If you don’t get it tomorrow, we’ll try again next weekend.”

Goldyn blinked against some of the water still clinging to her lashes. Tucking her bottom lip into her mouth, she looked at me. “Okay. I wanna try again.”

“Sin!” I called over my shoulder.

We got her back in the water and stood there waiting for her to do her thing.

“Remember to hold the handle still,” I coached.

Sin chimed in beside me. “Wait until you feel tension and keep it right in the middle of the board, love.”

She nodded, her body disappearing under the water as she brought her knees to her chest.

“That’s it, keep your knees just like that until the boat is moving away from you. Then let your body roll forward.”

Goldyn absorbed everything we said, nervous concentration furrowing her brow before we gave Lorenzo the go ahead to speed up.

My eyes didn’t leave her. I stood in place, where she could see me and waited for the ripple of blue water around her to expand.

She held tight to the handle but didn’t pull it to her and I smiled at the determination lining her face. She wasn’t fucking around and something told me this time would be the time she got it right. Sincere was at my side, biting his thumb nail and crossing his arms across his chest. She got farther and farther away, growing smaller until the line connected to her handle was straight instead of sagging in the water.

“Come on, Goldy. This shit is cake, you got this.” She couldn’t hear me, but it didn’t stop me from hyping her up either. I knew she could do this shit, and I couldn’t wait to see her face when she did it.

Time moved in slow motion when Goldy followed the tension and let her body roll forward. Her eyes were fixed on the handle in front of her. The water rippled in an expanding circle aroundher and the board slowly appeared from its resting place under the water.