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W hen Blake showed up, she offered to drive me back home since I needed to call it an early night.

“So, Turtle tells me you’re officially training for your suicide mission,” she deadpanned as she drove.

I shot her a devilish smirk and shrugged.

“Sure am, babe.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I’ve seen you surf, Finn. You’re good, but you’re not that good.”

“I’m not that good yet,” I corrected her, and she let out a little annoyed huff.

She didn’t respond, and it took me a moment to put together that she was a little angry at me for not listening to her.

“Listen, I’m not that Jake guy, okay?”

“No, you’re not,” she snapped, and I frowned.

“You know, I looked him up and couldn’t really find anything. Not even an obituary. Do you know why that is?”

She glanced at me as she pulled onto the dirt road that led to my shack.

“Kai and Jet worked really hard to keep the accident from being sensationalized,” she explained, and I nodded, recognizing the names from Riddick’s story earlier.

“They were all friends then?”

“More than friends. They were basically brothers. They discovered Leviathans almost ten years ago now. They spent some time in Hawaii to get some experience on more well-known big wave beaches before tackling Leviathans since no one had surfed it before.

“While they were there, Kai almost died, and Riddick got cold feet. They almost didn’t end up surfing Leviathans, but the boys talked him into it after a while. Now I’m sure they all wish they listened to him.”

Fuck. I bet.

I frowned at her. “Where are the others now?”

“They did everything they could to keep Leviathans out of the media after the accident. They were hoping to prevent anyone else from finding the beach and losing their lives. After they were sure nothing about the accident was going to be printed, they left. I think Kai went back to Hawaii; I’m not sure. ”

We were in front of my shack now, and I moved to get out, but she stopped me, laying a dainty hand on my arm.

“I can see that your mind’s made up, so this is the last time I’ll say anything about it, Finn. But you being here is exactly what those guys were trying so hard to avoid.”

I met her earnest, sapphire blue eyes and felt a flash of guilt. This girl was really worried about me. I felt a little bad about how much my decision seemed to be stressing her out.

Laying my hand over hers, I gave her fingers a comforting squeeze.

“I know. But I also need to do this. This is just who I am. Once I decide to go for something, I can’t back down. Besides, even if Leviathans does kill me, at least I’ll die doing something I love. ”

Her mouth twitched, and she shook her head and sighed.

“Spoken like a true adrenaline junkie.”

I laughed and shrugged, popping the passenger door open.

“Hey. I’m here for a good time, not a long time, babe.” I winked at her, noticing the way her cheeks blushed a light pink as I flashed her my dimples.

Softening slightly, I paused for a second before stepping out of the car.

“For what it’s worth, Blake, I heard your warning. I’m just choosing to ignore it, and that’s on me. If anything happens to me, it’s not on you, okay? You did your best.”

She gave me a sad chuckle and shook her head again as if she didn’t know what to do with me.

“Goodnight, Finn,” she said before throwing the car in reverse.

I waved as she drove off back to town and smiled.

She was wrong about me.

I was good enough to tame Leviathans. I would prove to everyone I could do it. Especially Riddick.

No wonder he was so against me training for this. He had been the one to try to talk his friends out of it in the first place.