Page 7 of Catch a Wave

I shrug at Kai as if I have no clue that he was warning me off Bodhi. Kai has no business telling me which guys to stare at … or tattoo with my phone number. I’m a young woman. I’m goingpro. I’ve got a life of adventure and freedom ahead of me. I’m going to surf the world. And, maybe I’ll find a man to share my adventures with. Maybe not. The ocean is, and always will be, my first love. Men are merely pretty—and fun. The most fun is flirting with them, especially when they know we’re flirting. Like that one does.

Bodhi’s watching Kai speak to me. He nearly rolls his eyes. I stifle a giggle, while holding his gaze. My brother keeps his serious look locked and loaded for my benefit. He should know by now his bossy big-brother stance has no impact on me—well, very little impact. I’d do anything for Kai, but at the end of the day, I’m my own person.

Leilani approaches my brother. Her crush on Kai is so obvious it’s nearly embarrassing. I don’t know why she’s so into the serious, older-guy type. The idea of her and him … just ew. She could do better. I love my brother. He’s been my best friend ever since childhood. He’s even the one who talked Mom and Dad into letting me pursue surfing as more than a hobby. And, Kai’s the reason Mom ended up letting me finish my coursework for high school online so I could travel with him while he competed. But I don’t love thinking of him kissing anyone.

“I thought Bodhi was a good friend of yours.” Leilani practically bats her lashes off, looking up at Kai like he’s beyond special.

“He’s a good friend.” Kai says. “We’re getting closer the more we travel together. Why?”

“You’d think you’d want your sister to flirt with him instead of someone you barely know.”

“I don’t want my sister to flirt with anyone.” He says it like it’s so obvious.

“Good luck with that.” Leilani giggles, and Kai smiles a little back at her. Huh.

Kai eventually wanders off, leaving me and Lei to boy-watch and chat here on the side of the road facing the path that leads to the cliffs of Mavericks. We’re a safe distance from shore. Any closer and we’d be forced to turn around by the law enforcement they require to stand guard out here on days like these. The surfers will be allowed through, looky-loos aren’t allowed on the cliffs since some spectators have been seriously injured by rogue waves in recent years. So, we’ll wait for the guys to go out, and then we’ll pack it up and swarm some restaurant where everyone who braved the waves will eat and drink their weight in healthy food and coffee while we all talk over one another about the rides they took.

Bodhi stands and stretches, preparing his body and mind for what he’s about to endure. I watch him bend and extend his arms down to the ground. Then he reaches overhead in a stretch I know all too well. I’m shameless in my perusal. He looks over and I can make out his wink at me from a distance.

“Surfers are so beautiful,” Leilani says softly from beside me.

She’s not wrong. Surfers are beautiful—especiallythatone.

4

BODHI

If I had a flower for every time I thought of you …

I could walk through my garden forever.

~ Alfred Tennyson

Costa Rica, Kalaine says.

She’s been living in Costa Rica.

“Nah. I’ve never been,” I tell her. I shift a little on my feet. I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of her showing up with a duffle and one crutch, but Mavs is relaxing on our couch, and the story will come. It’s beyond surreal to see her here, in my space.

“I always wanted to check out Costa Rica. Pura vida, right?”

Mavs smiles and nods when I quote the unofficial motto of that country. Sayingpura vidais nearly the same as sayingalohain Hawaii. It’s a greeting, a farewell, and a way of life.

“I surfed Brazil. Some breaks in Peru. A bunch of guys and I took a trip before I went pro. We traveled down the coast of Peru, hitting Máncora, Cabo Blanco … Lobitos, Chicama, and Huanchaco.”

“I’ve never surfed Peru,” she says.

Her voice is wistful like she never did, and she never will.

“Hashtag goals, right?”

“Did you seriously just say ‘hashtag’?”

I chuckle. “I was trying to make you laugh.”

She shakes her head lightly, her smile is dim. There’s a weariness to her—one I recognize. She had the wind knocked out of her in more than one way.

“You look like you were in the middle of something,” she says, eyeing me from head to toe.

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