Chapter 19

Kat pulled up in her little commuter car, the boards strapped to the roof with bungee cords. They looked absurdly long in comparison to the car. Jason pried himself out of the tiny car like a clown at the circus. Honestly, Scooter didn’t know how the man stuffed his whole leg into that footwell.

The door opened again to reveal Andy in dark blue swim trunks, with Trick on his leash. “We really had to wake up early for—” He stopped, staring at Scooter’s board. “Oh. Surfing. I, um. Never did that before.”

“It’s not too hard—you can swim, right? The waves are pretty gentle, even with surge. You can ride with Kat, if you want. She’s got enough balance for six normal people,” Scooter said. Oh, God, it was hard not to stare; Andy was compact and fucking fit.The muscles in his arms stood out, practically lined in golden morning light.

“I can keep myself from drowning, anyway,” Andy said. He looked past Scooter at the dark, frothy surf, and took a breath as if steeling himself. “Okay, sure. Why not. What’s the worst that could happen?” Trick was already trying to pull him down the stairs toward the beach.

The inlet just beyond the S-turn was the best place for local surfing. A small group of kids was already there, taking turns with two battered boards, one green, one purple. As soon as the Dockside crew hit the beach, the kids turned. “Kat, it’s Ekaterina,” one of the girls squealed, excited.

Kat’s board was a custom job, bright yellow with a tribal-style cat on it. She tugged on a pair of neoprene foot covers, showing off her matching ankle tattoo.

“Go on, babe,” Jason said, admiring her in her tight black tankini. “Show Andy how it’s done.”

Kat was an expert surfer. She didn’t talk about it much, but she’d grown up with it on the shores of the Black Sea. She didlike to talk about the first time she’d gone surfing in the States—her fellow grad students had been assholes who’d assumed she couldn’t possibly know how and had practically tried to drown her to prove their superiority—and she’d pretty much showed them all up. She flashed the cheering teens a grin and paddled out with quick strokes.

Scooter came up behind Andy, and oh, God, he almost lost the thread there, because he’d seen Andy’s nicely formed backside in baggy jeans and loose, worn sweat pants, but the way the trunks clung to that perfectly round bubble butt was just…Nnnngh. Stop it, stop it.Scooter bit his thumb, hard, using the pain to ground himself, and then took a few more steps forward so he wasn’t tempted to just stand there and gawk like an idiot. Or worse, touch, because his hand itched to run down Andy’s back.

He made himself focus on the water. Kat got herself angled to the wave, pushed up and then she was riding, clean, knees bent, practically dancing along the barrel.

“Huh,” Andy said. “This is going to be one of those things that someone else makes look easy and it turns out to be incredibly hard, isn’t it?” But he started gamely, if slowly, walking toward the water.

Jason cheered for his girl, whooping and jumping around like an idiot. Trick danced around in the sand, excited by Jason’s enthusiasm, barking wildly and snapping at the tossed-up sand. Scooter envied the hell out of Jason some days. What Jason and Kat had…Scooter would kill for it. Or, well, maybe maim for it. Someone he didn’t like. Just a little bit.

He caught up with Andy. “Here, ride with me the first time. Kat’ll go on for a while, she’s a wave hog.” He pushed the board out and climbed on. He held out a hand to help Andy climb up and get situated in front of him. “Paddle, that way.” He scooped a great handful of seawater, pushing them out into the surging waves.

Andy wobbled a little as they paddled, getting a feel for the board’s balance, no worse than any other beginner. He didn’t seem particularly nervous, at least.

They moved toward the swell and Scooter leaned forward to talk into Andy’s ear. “You can sit, if you want. Hold onto the sides of the board and I’ll take you through the barrel a few times. Like Lilo & Stitch.”

If Andy said anything, Scooter didn’t hear it, but Andy’s shoulders shook against Scooter’s chest as he laughed. He nodded, and took hold of the board. He wriggled in place, getting himself seated.

Scooter tried not to think about the way Andy was pressed back against him, warm and trustingFocus on the waves, he reminded himself.

The next good wave that approached, Scooter popped into a squat, hands down on the board. The position had him hovering even closer to Andy’s back and shoulders, close enough that he could watch individual rivulets of sea water dripping down Andy’s back. Fuck. He was not going to be able to surf well if he sprung wood. Not to mention it’d be obvious as all get out under his swim trunks. Shit shit shi—And there came the wave, no time to think now.