Page 12 of Riptide

“I, uh, couldn’t sleep either.” Though tempted, he struggled not to let his eyes wander and focused on her face. With trouble brewing in her eyes, he fought the urge to sit closer and settled on a chaise lounge.

She didn’t respond and glanced to his bowl.

“Ice cream.” He nodded and scooped some with his spoon. “You want some?”

She shook her head no. “I’m good.”

“You sure? Hmm,” Seth moaned as he slid the creamy goodness into his mouth.

Her eyes lit with amusement, but her lips stayed firmly pursed together.

“Don’t get me wrong, because a good, shaved ice is probably my fav when it comes to desserts, but homemade ice cream? Whoever made this knew what they were doing.”

Keeping her breasts submerged within the water, Kaimana closed the distance between them. “Chef makes it from scratch. It was Evan’s favorite too.”

“Ah, well,” he held his spoon in the air. “You are correct that Evan did like ice cream, but chocolate was his favorite flavor.”

“He only said he liked chocolate because he knew you guys liked that better. When he met me, I converted him to mint chocolate chip.” Her eyes followed the trajectory of the spoon as Seth ate another bite. “I talked him into buying an ice cream maker. It was the best I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Evan was a mentor to me, you know? He taught me how to sky dive.” Emotion rolled through him as he recalled the memories. “I met him in South Africa. I was surfing Dungeons.”

Seth moved from the sofa onto the edge of the jacuzzi and dipped his feet into the water. The heat immediately permeated his skin, easing his tight muscles. “This feels so good.”

Seth set his spoon inside his bowl and extended the ice cream to Kaimana, who silently accepted it and dug the spoon into the softened treat.

“I had a good first run. Surfed a sixty-footer that day,” Seth continued his story. “Next run, I hit a bigger wave. Things got a little rough on the third one though and I decided to wrap it up. I was riding high and ended up in this little hotel bar. Long story short, we met right there. Drank way too much beer but hit it off like we’d known each other our whole lives. I taught Ev to surf. He taught me to skydive.” Seth stared into the bubbling water. “He never made mistakes. Or if he did no one saw them.” He sighed. “He’s the one who introduced me to Garrett. Brought me into Emerson. I had already started my own company and had a few government contracts of my own. I was exploring all parts of the ocean. Looking for environmentally sound solutions. Evan was right. Emerson turned out to be a natural fit.” Seth smiled at her, unsure about how much she truly knew about Evan. “We’ve got this club…”

“Altura.”

“He told you?”

“Yeah, sounds like a party. But to be honest, I don’t think he wanted me there. After what happened…it’s not something I would have been up to anyway. Besides, I was spending a lot of time in Hawaiʻi not California.”

“Yeah, I guess Altura isn’t for everyone. Not I guess…I know it’s not. I mean you’ve got a bunch of crazy ass people, doing some wild shit. Some of it’s dangerous, but it is most definitely awesome. There’re things we do that push the edge. Evan liked that though.”

“You’ve got a death wish?”

Seth laughed. “Hell no, but there’s something about that sweet spot. You’re jumping into the sky in a free fall, testing your limits. Same with riding the biggest waves in the ocean. It’s all a calculated risk.”

“Why though?”

“That rush. That pure adrenaline. Pushing yourself, your body, and your mind to achieve something. Seeing the world from thousands of feet in the air. Or climbing a cliff…it’s just you and the rocks in the middle of nowhere.” Seth caught her gaze. “It’s pure ecstasy.”

“I can think of better ways to achieve ecstasy. Just sayin’.” Kaimana closed her eyes and rested her head back onto a folded towel on the side of the tub. She abruptly changed the subject. “They took him because they want classified information. And he has plenty of it. You can’t imagine what these people are capable of. It’s all about secrets and money.”

“Secrets and money. They’re up there on the world’s greatest hits of motives,” he agreed, but still not ready to believe her. The implications of even entertaining her fantasy were monumental.

“I’m not lying.” Kaimana brushed her hands over her hair.

Seth hesitated and chose his words carefully. “If, and this is a big if, I go down this rabbit hole with you…let’s just say what you are saying is true, and I’m not necessarily buying into that. Why hasn’t he communicated at all? Word on the street was he was special ops. Surely the government would be looking for him.” Not that Evan would ever admit it.

“Maybe he did communicate with someone,” she whispered.

Her words smacked him like a wipeout. There was no fucking way. But as he studied her face, he detected no deception in her eyes. Her lips quivered as her mouth parted.

“Kaimana…” Don’t do it. Don’t say it. Ah, fuck. “I’ll help you.”

“You will?” Her eyes widened with hope, surprise in her voice.