Page 133 of Champagne Nights

“Thank you. Are you ready?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Okay. Watch the wave line. When I say ‘go,’ start paddling towards it. Remember to keep your back arched as much as possible to avoid the board's nose dipping down. You want to keep that up.”

“Okay. I’ll remember.”

“Let’s go.” I smiled as we both paddled out to the wave. As the wave was about to break, I yelled at Ben.

“Pop up, now!”

He did and then stood up and was able to ride the wave for a couple of seconds before falling over. I couldn’t help but laugh because I was having flashbacks of Keaton.

“It takes a lot of practice,” I said as I paddled over to him.

Ben

The water was cold, but I didn’t care. Watching Paisley surf was exciting. And I mean in more ways than one. I had never known a girl that surfed before, and it was quite a turn-on. As the wave crashed down on me and I lost my balance, I didn’t care because, for a few seconds, the adrenaline that shot through my body was incredible. It was a rush I’d never felt before.

“I want to keep going.” I smiled.

She smiled back, and we continued to catch waves for the next hour. I was learning, and Paisley said I was doing great for someone who’d never surfed before. We paddled back to shore and dried off with our towels. Paisley stripped out of her wetsuit, and I couldn’t help but stare at her bikini-clad body. Damn, she was hot. She threw on a hoodie over her bikini top and wore yoga pants because the air was cool.

“Thank you, Paisley, for asking me to go surfing today. I really enjoyed it.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for coming along.” She smiled.

I pulled my phone from my bag and saw that it was ten thirty. “Are you hungry? We could go grab some breakfast.”

“Actually, I’m starving. That sounds great.”

We grabbed our bags and the surfboards and headed to our cars. As we were walking through the sand, I saw Finn and Olivia staring at me from a few feet away. “Great,” I said.

“What?”

“That’s my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law staring at us.”

“Oh. Busted by your family now.” She smiled.

“Ben?” Finn said as he looked at me strangely and then over at Paisley. “Did you go surfing?”

“Hey, Finn. Hi, Olivia,” I said as I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Yes, I did. This is Paisley, and she was kind enough to teach me to surf today. Or at least attempt to teach me.”

“He did great.” She laughed as she shook Finn’s and Olivia’s hands.

“Well, we need to go. I’ll call you later,” I said as I began to walk away.

“You better!” Finn pointed at me.

I sighed and looked over at Paisley as she smirked at me.

“I know what you’re thinking right now. It’s like we’re having some secret affair and we just got caught. But I get it,” she said, nudging my shoulder with hers. “I will be the topic of your family’s conversation until you make up some lie to shut them down.”

“True. Just like I’ll be the topic of your family’s conversation until you shut them down.”

“You’re right. Would you like to come to dinner at my parents’ house tonight? If I’m going to shut them down, I can’t think of a better way to do it.”

I couldn’t believe she asked me to dinner. It excited me, something I hadn’t felt in a very long time. “I would love to help you shut your family down, but only if you promise to help shut mine down next week.”

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