Page 41 of Catch a Wave

“Mav … Kalaine. Wait.”

Kai gives me one of his overbearing brother looks. I tuck the urge to run after his sister into my pocket and turn so he can’t read me like a book.His sister. Why did fate lure me into falling for my best friend’s sister? As if our situation isn’t hard enough with the massive load of baggage from our past.

I text Jammer and then shove my phone back in my pocket.

Bodhi:She’s not my girl. Not anymore.

BODHI

(THE THIRD TIME WE SAW ONE ANOTHER …)

If you keep looking at me like that,

I’ll have no choice but to ask you on a date.

~ Unknown

She’s here.Kalaine. I saw her at a distance, and it felt like one of those optical illusions where the whole world narrows so you’re looking through a tunnel. She’s here with that friend of hers, Leilani. Only, Leilani’s here for the surfers. Kalaine is here for the surf. I’ve been watching her stats for a while now, and she’s been making a name for herself.

It’s only our second day here, and I’m riding the high of catching some massive waves this morning. A bunch of us will hit the evening glass-off later. But between now and then, I have a mission: finding the girl who captures my interest enough to make me think of her even when we’re on opposite sides of the globe from one another.

A knock at my door disrupts my thoughts. I open it and take in my best friend, Kai. He’s wearing a huge smile and board shorts.

“Let’s hit the pool before lunch.” He tips his chin toward the door at the back of my room leading out to the resort property.

“Because we’re not getting enough time in the water here.”

“Because we’re in Bali, man! Bali!”

Kai is usually pretty laid-back, but he’s right. This trip is amazing. Out of all the surfers in the world, we’re the ones who were selected to come here. It’s the trip of a lifetime.

I’m already in my trunks, so I shuck my T-shirt and grab a pool towel from my bathroom and follow my best friend out the sliders at the back of my room. We meander down a path that leads straight to the pools. They have the kind of pool that edges right up to the cliff, giving the illusion that the water is nearly a part of the ocean below.

Kai’s sister is stretched out on her stomach on a chaise lounge at the other side of the pool. Her head turns, and her mouth spreads into a soft grin when she sees me.That’s what I’m saying. I smile back and wink. She pulls her sunglasses down off the top of her head, places them over those honey-gold eyes of hers, and turns toward her bestie.

“Nope,” Kai says in a less cheery voice than when I let him in my room. “Off limits, bro.”

“What?” I’m so taken aback I don’t even register what he’s saying.

“My sister. She’s not available.”

“She has a boyfriend?”

I’m confused. All the signals I’ve gotten anytime Kalaine and I have been within a football field’s distance of one another tell me we’re flirting and enjoying the possibility of entertaining pursuing more with one another.

“No. Of course not. She’s single and she’s going to stay that way for a while.”

Kai sounds so overprotective now, I almost tease him. What happened to my easy-going friend? And who is this caveman who took his place? I’ve never seen this side of Kai before.

“What do you mean, of course not? She’s over eighteen. She’s not allowed to have a boyfriend?”

“Eventually. I guess.” Now he’s broody and disgruntled.

“Man. You can’t just keep your siblings from having relationships.”

“Do you have a younger sister?”

Sore subject and he knows it. My parents divorced when I was seven. My mom got custody and my dad moved in with his girlfriend, now wife. They got pregnant less than a year later. I do have a younger sister. But she’s eight years younger than me, and we didn’t grow up together. I don’t know what it’s like to really be the older brother to someone—not like Kai is to Kalaine.

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