Page 48 of Fighting With Light

“Oh yeah, don’t worry about me.”

“I do,” he says under his breath. I barely heard it.

“Well, right now, worry about your feet on that board. I’ll be sitting on the beach watching you. So don’t mess it up,” I tell him, grinning.

He chuckles and hops out. “Yes, ma’am.”

I wait by the side of the car while he unhooks his surfboard and gets his backpack over his shoulders. He’s already in his baseball hat, standard board shorts, and competition jersey he has to wear. Sunglasses cover his eyes and I slip mine on, following Liam onto the sand.

He drops his bag, but keeps his surfboard in his hand. “Alright, I’m going to get ready.”

I start to walk away and he leans forward grabbing my chin. “Kiss for good luck?” he asks, dipping down to my height.

I lean back avoiding his lips and shake my head. He frowns, waiting for me to explain. “Nope, consider it your motivation, you earn one when you place.”

He chuckles. “You drive a hard bargain, princess.”

I purse my lips and take a step back. “Well you have to make it worth it,” I tell him, throwing my hands out.

“Oh, it will be worth it,” he says. I can’t see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses, but I wish I could. Liam chuckles and stares at me a moment longer before grabbing his bag and walking through the sand to the tent labeled check-in.

I spot a few people with towels and chairs sitting in the sand. They look like spectators, so I make my way over there and get comfortable in the sand. The horizon is dark, almost as if a storm is on its way in. The waves look crazy, but I don’t know what a proper surfing wave looks like.

Everyone sits there for what feels like forever. I should have brought a book. Instead, I spend my time daydreaming about me and Liam. Last night, aside from the ridiculous car chase, we had an amazing evening and I enjoyed myself. I was hoping our night would proceed to something even better than dinner seeing as it started out with aDirty Dancingreenactment.

It was a recipe for nothing but success. Only it didn’t end that way, and I feel bad for Ben, but I can’t lie; it feels nice not to have his annoying presence around. He wasn’t ever directly mean to me, but he treated me like an unruly teenager. I’ve always just dealt with it because the alternative would have been my father locking me up at home, which wasn’t an option.

Liam’s family is interesting to me, and I’m interested in meeting Liam’s brother, Emerson. He’s attractive, but out of the three of them, there is a darkness around him in the picture I saw. He was standing in a boxing ring, and it could have been because he wasgoing to battle,so to speak, but it felt like more to me.

The dark sky has come closer to shore and the wind speed has picked up, but behind me, the sun and clouds are still floating around. A horn blows and then the people who were out on the water paddle in.

People around me start packing up and I’m not sure what’s going on, so I gather my things and go back to where I left Liam. I wait again for another twenty minutes until I see his dirty blonde head walking towards me with his hat turned backward. I don’t understand why that’s so hot, but itis.He walks up to me with his surfboard and bag in his hand.

“They called off the comp because the waves aren’t good.”

“Oh, so what does that mean?”I ask him.

“It means we try again tomorrow.”

“But what if it’s bad again tomorrow?”

He grins and tilts his head. “Bored already, princess?”

I look down at my feet and shift my bag over my shoulder. “I should have brought a book, but I’m curious. What happens?”

He laughs and starts walking back to the Bronco. “We would try again the next day. That’s why the comps are nine or ten days. We’re working with Mother Nature and she gets to decide when we surf.”

“That makes sense. So what’s the plan for the rest of the day?” I ask him. He sets his stuff down and remote starts the Bronco.

“Watch recorded footage and get Ben to Emerson.”

I sigh, frustrated. “Sounds like a blast,” I mutter, deadpan.

“Sorry, princess, I can’t be your jester today.”

I roll my eyes and jump into the Bronco, rolling down the window to wait for him to get everything hooked up again.

While we’re on our way back from the beach, I grab his hand this time. “You’re not a jester to me, Liam, that’s not what I meant.”