Page 65 of Fighting With Light

I glance behind me as it comes up and start paddling as hard as I can, sensing it’s not going to be as big as my last two, but I’ll make it work.

Trying to catch my breath as I paddle my arms as hard as I can, at the last second I leap to my feet and carve into the wave with a cutback. Righting myself, I lean in and sense that the wave is draining faster than I can surf it. So I spot a break in the water and squat down further, gaining speed. My hair flies back and I grab as many back turns as I can, smiling as the wave comes to an end and I bail out.

The wave crashes around me and I swim back to the surface, stoked that I was able to pull it off. It was either go big or go home. The end of the heat is signaled just in time, and I hop on my board to paddle back.

I brush my wet hair out of my face as my feet hit the shore and out of the corner of my eye see red. Dropping my board, I catch Aelia as she throws herself into my arms. I barely catch her as she loops her arms around my neck and legs around my waist. “I don’t know if that was good, but it lookedamazingto me. You did so good, Tarzan.”

I grin and kiss her cheek. “Thank you,” I tell her.

Aelia smiles and keeps hugging me. We stand there for a second because it feels good to have someone tell you good job. I might be a professional and good at what I do, but her acknowledgment feels…I don’t know how to put it into words, but my chest feels light and I can’t stop smiling.

“You’re not supposed to be over here,” I tell her in her ear.

She lifts her shoulder, unbothered by the rules, and while holding her, I lean down and grab my board. She kisses my cheek again and then my lips. Once I hit dry sand, she unlocks her ankles and slides down my wet body to her feet.

“Proud of you,” she says and pats my cheek, then walks back down the beach.

“Is that your girl?” Jordan asks, meeting my stride on the sand. I glance back at Aelia walking back to her side of the beach and then look at Jordan.

“Yeah, it is,” I tell him.

He smiles, fist-bumping me. “I’d surf harder if I had her watching me, too.” He grins.

I chuckle. Maybe that’s it. Aelia being here made me surf better. It sounds stupid, but if it’s true, then I’ll have to keep her, right? We get to the tents and see the scores. The Australian scored almost a perfect ten thousand points. I came in at second with seven thousand eight hundred, and Jordan unfortunately scored below that, ejecting him from the championship. It’s not the score I wanted, but I advanced to El Salvador and that’s all that matters. I still have a chance at the title. I’ll just have to score a ten, which will bring me to the final. All in all, not a bad way to end our stay in Portugal. Aelia and I got what we needed to build this case and we’re headed to El Salvador.

***

We have five days to get to El Salvador, so Aelia and I decide to stay one more day in Portugal. We’re in the pool, which we haven’t been able to enjoy much, and she’s floating around on her back.

“What’s the plan for Colombia? I’ve done a lot of reckless things, but I’m a little worried now,” she mutters into the sky.

I grab her ankle and float her over to me, then put my palms on her back, turning us in circles.

She lifts her head. “Did you hear a word I said?” she asks.

I nod and move us in a circle. I haven’t been able to do a whole lot of deep diving into Colombia because I was focused on what we needed here and then my largest, best distraction—Aelia.

When we got back yesterday after a full day, the chef came in, made us dinner, and I crashed. I woke up this morning to Aelia plastered to my body and I’ve never felt so good the day after a competition. We had a huge breakfast andwe’ve been in the pool ever since. She leans her head back and closes her eyes as her hair floats around her head in the water and I stare at the tiniest purple bikini I’ve seen. It’s just straight indecent. No wonder she didn’t wear it in public.

“What is the point of this bikini?” I ask her and finger the strap at her waist. She lifts her head again, and the corner of her mouth is tipped up.

“Why? Do you like it?” she asks.

I hum and spin us again.

“I bought it when I was home. I thought I might need it when I got here.”

I chuckle and lean forward, kissing her sternum. “I don’t know why you even bother. You’re verging on naked as it is.”

She pouts and then lifts out of my arms. Aelia’s so small the four-and-a-half-foot shallow end still reaches her collarbone. She looks at me and lifts her arms to the top of her neck and her back. The top straps fall forward and the back ones float out to the sides. She grabs the bikini top and tosses it to the side. Then her hands disappear under the water and she throws the stringy bottoms at me.“There, how is that?” she says with a sassy tone.

I grin and throw myself in the water towards her and she shrieks, trying to swim away from me.

“No, no, you can look, but you can’t touch, Tarzan,” she taunts.

Lunging for her again, she slips through my fingers and swims over to the deep end of the large, rectangular pool. She lifts up out of the water, resting her elbows on the edge of the pool. My breath catches in my throat. She’s so beautifully wild, I love it.

I grab the waistband of my trunks, shove them over my hips, and toss them at her. She giggles, dodging them and tilts her head up into the sun, exposing her neck. I groan at the sight because she knows exactly what she’s doing.