Page 28 of Sparks Like Ours

Naked, andkissing, and it was really good.

Surely she hadn’t actually said those mortifying words to Gia inreal life. This was just something she imagined, or dreamt, notexperienced.Except shehad experienced it! She placed both hands on the wall of the shower to steadyherself as panic and dread threatened to drown her right in her spot.

“Mayday,” she said, as soon as Holly answered.

“Well, look who’s alive!” Holly said gleefully into the phone.“Was just about to call you. Wanna go to breakfast? Pancakes, butter, bacon.”

Elle swallowed the nausea. “You’re a cruel woman.”

“Among other things. But as your bestie, it’s my job in life tomake fun of you, and that opportunity comes about so rarely. Let me have this.”

“This might be your lucky day, because I did something reallystupid last night.”

“Oh, you did a lot of really stupid things last night. You’regoing to have to be more specific.” She could hear the smile coming through thephone. It wasn’t helping.

“I told Gia Malone I had a sex dream about her. I used the wordnakedand told her itwas really good.”

A pause. “I am so goddamn impressed with you right now.”

“Really? Because I want to hurl myself against the rocks in theocean. I’m mortified.”

“Why? She’s probably flattered. I would be.”

“We didn’t get along a couple weeks ago and now I’m announcing I’mdreaming of her naked?”

“Tell me you really used the wordnaked.”

“I did!” Elle yelled as she walked circles around her living room,wincing against the throbbing headache. “And honestly, who knows what else Imay have said? I should just never leave my house again at this point. I can’tbe trusted.”

“Or maybe just fewer margaritas.”

“Yes. Yes! I blame them, and whoever invented them.”

“That seems a little extreme. They were just trying to give theworld the gift of tequila in a sugary glass.” Elle could hear Holly shut offthe music that played quietly in the background, which meant she was ready forthe day and leaving her bedroom. “Want me to come over?”

“No,” Elle said, softening. It was nice to know that she would,though, that she could always count on Holly when things were tough.

“Gonna rest, try not to think about what I’ve done, and salvagewhat’s left of the day. Maybe I can get it together enough to train this afternoon,at least.”

“See?” Holly said. “All is not lost.”

“Not so sure about that.”

Elle played it low key the rest of the morning, poring over theinternet to read about the various bloggers’ speculation about the nexttournament on the tour, Swatch Pro at Trestles, which was just a few weeks outat this point. Luckily, she wouldn’t have to travel any farther than SanClemente, which took some of the headache out of the whole thing. While sheloved seeing new places, time on the road wasn’t as much fun as it once was.Maybe she was just getting old.

Because she couldn’t seem to stop herself, and she was honestlycurious, she clicked through to the gossip section and checked out the storiesfrom the week prior, the ones about her and Gia. The write-up about theirrivalry had scored quite a few views, but that paled in comparison to the oneabout “their flirtatious day out.” While it went against everything shebelieved in, Elle broke her own rule and scrolled to the bottom of the articlefor the comments, blinking in surprise at what she saw.

Please tellme this is true—SurfJunkie89

Hottest.Hookup. Ever.—BobbiBoBobbi

Okay, myhead just exploded. Can someone confirm this?—WavesToBurn6

It just gotwayyyyyy too sexy in here. Can I watch?—YoMammasShred

Wow. People were latching onto their fictitious coupling, whichwas insane. But apparently, Elle hadn’t been the only one to have a strongreaction to the article. Hers had just been a little less deliberate. Still,reading those comments back now had her stomach tightening in an uncomfortable(okay, but not entirely) sort of way. Her cheeks flashed hot and a commandingshiver moved through her as she remembered, for the briefest of moments, thedetails of her dream. Slamming her laptop closed and moving away from it withpurpose, Elle had yet another reason to never read the comments section again.

Christopher checked in on her that afternoon, and they made plansfor dinner later that week. She managed to recover enough to spend ninetyminutes on the beach with her coach and trainer, Bruce, who was not thrilledabout their canceled morning session. All the while, she remembered Gia at thebar that night. Flashed on it every few minutes or so. She’d seemed carefreeand…happy. Elle had stolen glimpses here and there, merely out of curiosityabout a girl who’d mystified her (and continued to do so).

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