Page 5

Alexa Play: Hanginaround by Counting Crows

I ’d intentionally left the curtains in my new bedroom open, so when the coral and tangerine glow of the morning sun filtered in, I was up and ready to get started.

Before crashing, I spent about an hour cruising online trying to find anything I could on Leviathans, but I came up empty.

Resolving to worry about finding a coach, once I had managed to get the townsfolk to warm up to me more, I decided to spend the day working on the physical part of my training.

There was a lean-to on the side of the shack that had a bench press with a bar and two 45-lb plates. There was also a free weight rack with dumbbells, which was more than enough for the strength training part of the regiment I had sketched out over a cup of coffee and a bowl of plain oatmeal.

Also, to be clear, yes, I agree oatmeal is disgusting. But it’s cheap, and it has the carbs I need for energy. So, mushy and bland as it is, I forced that shit down.

I was stretching out my quads, getting ready for some barefoot sprints in the sand (running in sand is insanely hard; you should try it!), when a man I’d never seen before strode right past me.

He was shirtless and in black swim trunks with a teal shortboard tucked under his arm.

He was older than me. I couldn’t tell how much older, but if I had to guess, I would say he was in his late thirties.

His shoulders were broad, and he was at least two heads taller than I was, with biceps the size of cantaloupes.

He had a chiseled jaw covered in coarse but well-groomed stubble, and his hair was shoulder length like Turtle’s, though this man’s hair was a swirl of golds and browns.

Like me, he had some pieces that had clearly been bleached by the sun and the salt water.

The man looked exactly like every other old-timer I had seen during my beach bum career while also giving me the sense that he was completely different from anyone I had ever met.

Something about him tickled my brain, like a strange sense of familiarity. I felt like I knew him, or was supposed to know him, in some weird way.

The sensation was similar to the feeling of deja vu, and I found myself wondering if I had seen his face in my dreams because I couldn’t for the life of me think of a place where I could have met this man before.

I mean, I’d surfed a lot of beaches, and the way this guy was heading for my private shoreline like the ocean owed him something told me he wasn’t a kook. So maybe I’ve seen him around..?

Wait.

That’s right… This was MY private shoreline!

What the shiz? This dude just walked right by me without even looking in my direction!

This was my property !

Not that I had a problem having people come surf my beach, but maybe at least ask? That was reasonable? Right?

I’d never owned property before, but I was almost positive it wasn’t cool to just roll up onto someone else’s land and use their shit without permission.

Remembering what Blake had said about the people of Stars Cove likely having a problem with me buying this shack, I wondered if this was some sort of weird power play.

Like this dude was rolling up here to show me that it didn’t matter if I bought this place, it still belonged to the town, and they could come and go as they pleased.

I wouldn’t necessarily classify myself as a hot head, but between the T man and me, I was definitely the more… uhhh, spunky of the two. That’s the word my mom used, at least.

So when the initial shock of seeing the man passed and my temper flared, I didn’t really think of the consequences as I stormed after him.

“Hey!” I shouted, kicking sand up as I bulldozed toward him. His back was now toward me, and he didn’t respond or even look at me.

Dick.

“HEY! Douchebag! I’m talking to you!” I barked. This made the man pause. He glanced back at me, his stern brows drawing together in a sharp frown. I was struck suddenly by just how blue the man’s eyes were.

They were so strikingly blue, like the color of the ocean in those over-edited travel magazines.

They were even more blue than Blake’s eyes, and that was saying something.

Those two swirling shards of pure aquamarine locked onto my face, and I watched as his frown line smoothed out into a look of surprise.

His mouth parted slightly, and I watched him trace the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip as I approached, my temper still flaring hot beneath my skin.

“Yeah, you! This is private property, buddy. You can’t just use my beach without asking me if it’s ok! ”

I was right in front of him now, standing less than a foot away, and I needed to tilt my head back to look him in the face.

A chill rolled through me as I realized how much bigger than me the man was. Maybe confronting him head-on hadn’t been the smartest move I’d ever made, but still.

The man looked me up and down, then glanced back at my beach shack before cocking his head to the side in curiosity.

“ You bought the shack?” he asked. I don’t know what I expected his voice to sound like, but I wasn’t prepared for the deep rumble that felt like a physical thing as it rolled over me. All the hairs on my arms stood on end, and I suddenly felt very young and small standing next to him.

His entire body was corded in thick, lean muscle. He looked like a brick fucking wall, all hard lines and sharp edges. His skin was a deep, golden brown, and his chest was covered in groomed but coarse hair, framing his dark nipples, which stood out in stark contrast against his honey-gold skin.

I blinked, feeling weird that I was looking at this dude’s nipples when I should be kicking him off my property.

“Yeah. You got a problem with that?” I snapped. He didn’t react to the obvious venom in my tone. Instead, he just stared at me like I was some big, complicated puzzle he couldn’t seem to figure out.

He glanced over his shoulder as if checking to see if we were alone, and then he dragged his gaze back to meet mine.

It literally felt like he removed a weight from my chest when he looked away, then slammed the weight back into me when our eyes met again.

My breath caught in my throat.

What was up with this guy? Why was I having such a strong reaction to him?

I shook off the strange sensation, chalking it up to the fact that I was just on edge because he was so boldly trespassing without any signs of remorse.

“Why would I have a problem with that?” he asked, his tone even and dry. It didn’t sound like he actually cared about my answer.

“I don’t know. A lot of people seem to have an issue with the fact that I bought Jake Whittling’s old place.”

The second I said the name, I regretted it. The man’s face crumbled like I had physically struck him.

There was a heavy, pregnant moment of silence, then finally, he seemed to recover and spoke again, his voice an octave lower than it had been before.

“Jake Whittling is dead. What does it matter who buys his place?”

My anger was quickly disappearing. The heat in my veins was being replaced with a sense of remorse. This man had clearly known Jake Whittling. The pain in his eyes when I mentioned his name was so raw I felt myself swallow.

“Uhm. Some people in town yesterday already made a big deal about it. I thought you were here to, I dunno, make some sort of a statement against me,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly while the strange dude continued to stare at me like I was the one trespassing on his property and not the other way around.

“I don’t give a fuck if you bought the shack, kid. I’m just here to surf.”

“Well, this is my beach. If you want to surf here, you need to ask permission.”

Suddenly, the sadness in the man’s eyes disappeared and was replaced with a steely sort of dominance.

On reflex, I took a step back and cursed myself internally.

Way to stand your ground, Finn.

“You want me to ask permission?” he challenged. That low, rumbly voice sent a shot of something that felt very similar to an adrenaline high through me. Something low in my gut tightened, and there was a confusing moment when my mouth flooded with saliva.

What the fuck ?

He stepped toward me, and I forced myself not to back away as he hovered inches from my face.

“I’ve been surfing this beach since you were in diapers, kid. I’m not asking you for shit.”

He turned to walk away, and suddenly, my temper was back.

I reached out without thinking and grabbed his arm, my fingers flexing over his warm, solid flesh. His skin was soft and hot from the steady beat of the early morning sun. Despite the heat, I shivered as he turned those icy blue eyes on me again.

He glanced down at where my fingers were wrapped around his forearm, clearly shocked that I had the balls to touch him.

Hell.

I was shocked that I had the balls to touch him.

We stood there, frozen for a moment, before I realized what I was doing and ripped my hand away. He continued staring at the place I had touched him for a long moment, and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“Uhm, sorry. It’s just?—”

He slowly locked his gaze on mine again, and I shook my head, beating back the strange submissiveness his presence seemed to be drawing out of me.

Forcing myself to straighten, I met his insanely intimidating gaze head-on.

I had an idea. If he really had been surfing here for over twenty years, then he definitely knew about Leviathans.

Even if he hadn’t ridden the waves himself, he had to know some local lore he could share with me.

I shot him one of my most charming grins.

It was the smile I used to get girls out of their panties and free shit from surf shops.

I hadn’t met anyone yet who was immune to this particular grin, and I was willing to bet this dude was no exception.

“How about we work out a deal?”

He narrowed his eyes.

“What sort of deal?”

“I’m looking for someone to coach me.”

“Coach you? ”

“Yeah, coach me.”

“Coach you on what?”

“I need someone to coach me on the best way to tackle Leviathans. I’m shredding that beach this winter, and I need help getting ready. If you agree to help me out, I’ll let you surf my beach as much as you want, no questions asked.”

If I thought I’d made this dude angry before, it was nothing compared to the pure rage that ripped through his features at my offer.

Suddenly, he was in my face again, his lip curling up in a snarl, flashing perfect, straight teeth.

“I’m not in the habit of leading little boys to their deaths, kiddo. Now get the fuck out of my hair and go back to whatever pussy ass workout you were about to attempt before you decided to so rudely interrupt me.”

Then, before I could respond, he was gone.

I watched him sprint full tilt for the beach and leap onto his teal shortboard, paddling like a bonafide expert out into the surf.