Page 5 of Mouth to Mouth

“If you need someone to talk to, then I would happy to hear it. Don’t feel obligated to share anything you don’t want or aren’t ready for,” Josh said.

Brad wasn’t ready. Not for this. He couldn’t deal with the memories. The failure.

“I didn’t think so.” Josh stepped closer, across the boat, to clasp Brad on the shoulder. “When and if you’re ready, I’ll be there to listen. And it will stay between the two of us.”

“I appreciate it,” Brad said sincerely.

“I can’t stop Luca from tearing you a new one every time he sees you. That, my friend, is all on you,” Josh told him.

Brad laughed. “I know.”

“He can be a vicious little thing. Maybe try bribing him with something sweet. He loves fruity candy.” Josh winced. “Just don’t tell him that I revealed that secret.”

Patting Josh’s chest, Brad nodded. “I promise.” Even though he hadn’t managed to actually talk to Josh to get any real advice, Brad felt better. His secret was still safe, Josh was still his friend, and he’d found out something new about Luca. Maybe he could use that.

“Now,” Josh drawled, “let’s get to work.”

“Does it really get as crazy as the stories I’ve heard?” Brad asked as he sat to begin pulling on his wet suit.

“Crazy doesn’t begin to describe how next weekend will be. Memorial weekend starts everything. It begins with a huge surfing tournament. Surfers, advertisers, and fans come from all over the world. Every hotel, rental, and campsite’s been booked for months. There’ll be booze and water. Never a good combination,” Josh explained.

“That doesn’t sound good at all.” Alcohol and water? It would be dangerous. No wonder the Surf City Fire and Rescue Department had every crew member on the schedule from Thursday to Tuesday. No requests off. Every man and woman on duty. In addition to calling in help from neighboring departments.

“Last year we made over fifty water rescues, answered sixteen calls for fires on the beach unattended, thirty-five vehicle accidents, and numerous arrests for public intoxication, minor in possession, or driving while under the influence. This year will be even bigger.”

“Is there a reason for that?” Brad questioned.

Josh smiled. “Luca.”

“Luca?”

“Luca’s the best surfer that we have. He’s going for a three-peat. This competition is big in the surfing world. The winner usually gets all kinds of offers from advertisers.”

“And Luca didn’t?” Why not? A three-peat meant that Luca had already won the last two years.

“Oh, he got the offers. Luca just turns them down,” Josh said.

“But why?” Brad questioned.

Josh shrugged. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Brad pushed. This seemed…important. And did not make sense to Brad at all. He’d heard about the amount of money the surfing competition brought in.

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know,” Josh answered.

“Hmm.” Okay. It wasn’t really any of his business, yet Brad wanted to know more about Luca. Even when he knew he shouldn’t. If he was smart, Brad would avoid Luca at all costs. He wasn’t that smart.

“Just know that this weekend will be busy. It’ll calm down until the Fourth of July. We just have to get through three days of chaos,” Josh said.

“Got it.” Brad finished pulling on his wet suit and zipped it up.

“We’ll mostly be on the boat. The lifeguards have doubled their own shifts although we’ll do a few hours of beach patrol to fill in for them when needed.”

Standing on the edge of the boat, Brad stared out at the blue ocean in front of him. The gorgeous dark blue water shimmered under the early morning sun. It was almost magical. Had he ever just stared out at the water before? Brad kept himself busy on purpose. Not only was he determined to keep on track, he also didn’t want to give himself too much time to get lost in his past. That was over and done with. He’d moved to this small coastal town for a reason.

Staring at the water, regret started to creep in.

Was Brad doing what was really right for himself or was his brother Ben correct when he accused Brad of running away? It didn’t feel like running away when Brad pushed himself so hard. Times like this…when he had a moment to think. Yeah, maybe he had run. Who could blame him?