Page 49 of Try Easy

The Surf Lesson

Keoni

Everybody who knewKeoni knew that he never let anyone touch his surfboard. Other than his guitar, Keoni's surfboard was his most-prized possession. The 10-foot-long big wave gun had been specially crafted to handle the monster waves of the North Shore. It was called "the Himalaya" in honor of the 14,000-meter mountain. Of all the boards Keoni had ridden in his life, the Himalaya was his favorite. Once the Himalaya was on a wave, it sang over the surface of the water. The board responded to him like an extension of his body. He only had to think where he wanted to go and the board read his mind.

"You ready?" Keoni asked Lou.

She was still dripping wet. Her hair clung to her shoulders and back in thick snaking tendrils. Her golden skin was covered with a layer of chills. She wet her lips and nodded at him.

Keoni wanted to fold Lou in his arms and keep her safe, but it was better that she get back in the ocean as soon as possible. She needed to face her fears. It was the only way to get rid of them. There was no disease more debilitating than fear.

Keoni laid his board down on the sand and told Lou to lie on top of it. He stepped back and held his breath as she lowered herself onto the Himalaya. Keoni had never allowed anyone to get this close to his board before. Lou lay on top of it with her belly flush to the slick surface and Keoni felt his heart stop.

She looked perfect.

Lou pushed up on her elbows and looked at him over her shoulder.

"Is this right?" she asked.

Keoni nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"I feel funny doing this in the sand," she said. "Shouldn't we be in the water?"

Hiking up his shorts, Keoni squatted down beside her. “Try listen,” he said. "This is the best way to learn."

He'd given hundreds of surf lessons over the years, and he always started everyone off the same way. They learned the mechanics of paddling and popping up on the sand first. When they had that down, they graduated to the water.

Keoni showed Lou how to paddle. "This is the most important part," Keoni said. "You have to pull through the water with the right amount of caress and force."

Lou looked over her shoulder at Keoni, her eyebrows drawn together in concentration. She was giving it her all, taking the lesson seriously. When she could paddle to satisfaction, Keoni told her to stand aside so he could demonstrate popping up.

Lou's eyes went wide. "I'm never going to be able to do that," she said. "I told you I'm horrible at anything that requires coordination. I almost drowned just walking on the beach."

"That's because you turned your back on the ocean. You never turn your back on the ocean," he said.

"You were watching me?" Lou asked.

Keoni nodded. He always kept one eye out for a dangerous situation, but he'd been watching Lou because she was wearing the smallest bikini he'd ever seen. As soon as she'd peeled off her dress, Keoni had spotted her and decided it was time to take a break from surfing.

Keoni showed her how to pop up again, this time breaking it into four motions. After a few tries, Lou got the hang of it. She was proving to be a quick learner.

"You said you weren't athletic," Keoni teased.

She shook her head. "I'm not."

Keoni lifted the Himalaya up from the sand, and tucked it under his arm. “You look like a dancer when you take pictures,” he said.

Lou stopped walking and stared up at him. “What?”

“You look like a dancer,” he said. “The way you move. It’s like a sensual dance.”

Lou’s cheeks turned red. “You think so?”

Keoni swallowed and nodded. She couldn’t have been more beautiful than she was right now. He wanted to grab her again and kiss her, but he restrained himself.

“Time to see if you can do that on the water,” he said.

He led her into the waves. Her teeth chattered as they waded into the water. The waves were calm, but both of them knew how quickly that could change.

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