Page 86 of This Could be Love

Eighty-seven feet, I remembered, and broke out in goose bumps.

“Sleeping giants,” Pili mumbled.

“Is he out there?” Laurie asked, trying to sound casual.

Pili shook her head. “He’s meeting his bro. He might show up later.”

Disappointment flickered across Laurie’s face.

“Chip’s got a brother?” I asked.

Pili nodded. “Tristan. He’s a lifeguard.”

“Like Chip’s father,” I said.

“Yeah, the Chipmans are kinda like the Buchannons of Oahu.” She chuckled.

“Buchannons?” Laurie and I asked simultaneously.

“‘Baywatch’?” Pili looked at us. “Mitch and his son, Hobie. Both of them are lifeguards…?”

“Ah, true.” Laurie nodded whereas I still had no idea what she was referring to.

“Yeah, well, in any event, Chip’s father and brother love being lifeguards.” Suddenly, something out on the water drew her attention. “Not bad, Greenfield,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

I followed her glance to Vince in bright-colored shorts sailing up into the air. In a matter of seconds, he turned the board 180 degrees and then rode back down the wave. White spray splashed up, and Pili jumped up euphorically and yelled, “Yeah!” A fewother people around us also cheered. I was far too shocked to do anything but stare. I hadn’t realized Vince could do something like that. Couldsurflike that.God, that’s hot!I thought as he continued to ride the wave, gliding through the water like an arrow. A warm, tingling sensation took hold of me, all the way to my guts. Was I getting hot? Did seeing him surf so well excite me? No. It was something else, I realized with a touch of horror. It was pride. I was proud of the guy. And that he belonged to me. Somehow.

Chapter 36

Vince cooly surfed another ten waves. Though he messed up a few and fell off his board, for the most part, he cut a damn good figure.

“I’ve rarely seen him surf so well,” Pili said as he came out of the water with Milo and Brody. The three looked ridiculously good with their tanned surfer bods and beach hair. “It must have to do with you.”

I spun to face her. “With me?”

She tilted her head. “Your presence seems to motivate him.”

“He doesn’t know that I’m here.” My voice shook suspiciously. “I mean, he didn’t see us arrive.”

“Oh, believe me, he did,” she said in a tone I couldn’t quite decipher.

“Well, at least he does now,” Laurie said.

Vince was only a few feet away and shining at me like athousand-watt bulb. Though I put it down to the dopamine, I secretly feared that there was another reason. And that reason was beautiful. Heart-stoppingly beautiful. But it was also dangerous. And tricky. And wrong. As wrong as the pride I had felt earlier when watching him surf.

“Hey,” he said, flashing his finest dimpled smile. As if trying to dissuade me from my negative thoughts. It worked. My heart filled with comforting warmth. He sank to his knees in front of me and kissed me so fiercely that we sank together backward onto the sand. His body was wet and cold and gave me some much-needed cooling off.

One of the guys grunted suggestively, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Vince give him the finger. But without breaking our kiss.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he whispered, his lips tasting of salt water.

We stood up again and didn’t even bother to clean our sand-covered bodies. Pili and the guys were ravenous. They hit the snacks while Laurie and I contented ourselves with some water. Then came the expert assessments. As there were so many terms that we just didn’t know—airdrop and tube and kick-out and aerial—we soon lost interest and started talking about other things.

“How was training?” Vince asked at some point, hugging me from behind and putting his chin on my shoulder.

“It was awesome!” Laurie replied in my place. “No shit, you should have seen her. The way she just slams balls over the net.” She imitated me with an energetic hand movement, and managedto whack Vince in the face. “Oh, sorry.”

Flattered and a little embarrassed, I lowered my eyes.