“Are you ready?” he asks, and I nod as I open my eyes.
He points at the waves as he tells me what to do. I try to repeat all his instructions in my head as I lie down on the board. Push the nose down… lean into the direction of the wave…. Let the momentum of the water carry you.
He shoves my board forward and shouts, “Start paddling!”
My first lesson is a disaster so as soon as the sun starts to set behind us, I breathe a sigh of relief and make my way back to solid ground. My jelly legs give out beneath me and I fall to my knees next to my beach bag. I wipe the saltwater from my face with a towel, lay the towel out on the sand, and collapse facedown.
“Hey, you didn’t do too bad,” Adam says as he pulls a bottle of water out of my beach bag and hands it to me.
I take the water and turn onto my side so I can guzzle it down. “Yeah, not so bad. I never once stood up.”
“That’s okay for your first time out. In fact, it’s expected. Trust me, I’ll have you riding in the curl soon.”
“Are you going to take that weekend job on Shell Island?”
“Are you going to be my first student?”
“I can’t afford surf lessons.”
“I’m sure Jason won’t mind me donating some lessons to a few hopeless cases every now and then.”
I roll my eyes as I turn over onto my back. “I don’t have the energy to be outraged by that comment.”
We’re both silent for a moment before I realize that the sun is about to set. I sit up and the intense look in his eyes tells me his mind is far away from this beach right now. He grabs my hand and the sand rubs between our wrinkled palms as he laces his fingers through mine.
“Claire, I asked you to go with me this weekend for more than one reason.” He pauses for a moment before he peels his gaze away from the dazzling pink sunset to look at me. “I’m falling in love with you.” I open my mouth to respond and he presses his finger against my lips to stop me. “I don’t want you to say anything. I just want you to know that. I love you.”
He waits a moment before he removes his finger from my lips.
I want to say it back because I think he deserves to hear it and because I do feel something strong like love growing inside of me. But I’m not certain yet. I scoot forward a little on my towel so our sides are touching and lean my head on his shoulder. He kisses my forehead as he wraps his towel around me. We watch the sunset in silence as I think to myself, Adam loves the sunset and me.
Chapter Thirteen
Relentless Bickering
“ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T need any more help packing?” I ask as I slip my feet into some strappy wedge sandals.
“If you ask me that one more time I’m going to hide your keys and lock you out of this apartment,” Senia says, pushing me out of the bedroom. “Get out of here. Go ride some horses on your cowboy’s ranch. And while you’re at it, ride your cowboy.”
“It’s not his ranch.”
“Don’t sass me, Claire, just do as you’re told.”
She pushes me all the way to the front door, still managing to grab my purse off the breakfast bar along the way. She pushes the purse into my chest and I pull her into a bone-crushing hug.
“I’m going to miss having you here,” I blubber into her hair. “Who am I going to watch Toni Collette movies with on my birthday.”
“Girl, I’m taking August 9th off whether my dad likes it or not. We will be dancing and sobbing to Muriel’s Wedding together. Now go.”
I gave her one last squeeze before I release her. I bite my lip as I scurry out of the apartment, trying really hard to convince myself that being separated by a hundred miles is not going to change our friendship. When I moved out of Senia’s house in May, I did it knowing she had promised to spend the summer with me. Now that she’s leaving four weeks early, I have to fight the sinking feeling that our friendship is going to wither like the flowers on my nightstand.
I climb the stairs to Adam’s apartment and knock softly. I’m beyond nervous about meeting his family, but the thought of spending an entire weekend with them is enough to make me want to confess my secret to Adam and go back to school—anything to get out of it. I’ve never done well meeting new people, especially when I feel like they’re scrutinizing me.
I knock again, a little harder this time, and he answers the door quickly. He’s dressed, but his hair is still damp and sticking out in every direction. And he smells heavenly.
“Hey, babydoll,” he says, planting a quick kiss on my lips. “Go ahead and sit down. I’m almost done.”