Page 2 of Sparks Like Ours

Over the next few days, she watched one competitor after anotherfall from the tournament, as the excitement about her chances grew. The furthershe went at Outerknown, the more points she’d be awarded toward her ranking.This was an important tournament to Gia, who didn’t relax until she was thelast one on her side of the board—right across from Elle Britton. Wouldn’t youknow it? While it would have been nice for Elle to go down early and not pullin the points, if Gia pulled out a tournament win, she would still take homemore, moving her up a spot on the tour’s leaderboard to number two. She closedher eyes and imagined how amazing that would feel. To win. She’d pulled in ahandful of finals showings before, but it was the whole tournament she wanted.

Ousting every other competitor she’d come up against, and havingthe best year of her career, Gia still knew how hard it would be to take downBritton. The woman was a surf machine and had the kind of shred and tenacitythat made legends. Even Gia couldn’t deny her that, Barbie Doll smile or not.

The crowd was a vocal one that Saturday morning of the finals. Thebeach was packed and Gia could hear their cheers of support (mainly for Elle)all the way out in the water. She was the underdog in this matchup and everyoneknew it. The waves weren’t as generous as they’d been earlier in the week, soselection would be key. Elle had drawn first priority and would go first. Shesnagged a high arc and rode the front, carving into the pocket, taking it tothe inside corner and ripping hard off the top for a fantastic first time out.

Shit.

That ride would pull in a big number from the panel of five judgeswho would score it on a scale of one through ten. Each competitor’s top twowaves from the heat would be added together to come up with their final score.Gia could take on as many waves as she could get in in the heat’s allottedtwenty-five minutes, but two of them better be awesome.

Gia’s turn. She paddled forward. Her first wave fizzled early andwould score low. Not something she could control, so she shrugged it off andwiped her eyes, clearing them of the salt bath they’d just received. But hersecond time out yielded quality. She set up a front side wrap in the pocket andcame away feeling good, adrenaline surging. Her exit had been masterful. Yes!She’d just killed it on that one. Exactly what she’d needed. That would pushher into the lead. She and Elle exchanged a nod across the water; that contactonly made Gia want the win more. She cleared her head and prepped herself forthe remaining minutes in the heat as the crowd screamed louder. Elle had groundto make up and struggled to find any real foothold on her next few attempts. Onwhat would be one of the last waves in the heat, Elle didn’t fully takeadvantage, playing it safe. Her timing was off. Gia couldn’t take it anymoreand followed Elle out to her wave, once she’d failed to capitalize. She stuckto the rules, however, and stayed out of Elle’s way, honoring her priority. Giamade a meal out of the killer crest, shredding her way down with S turns to thebottom like a champ.

The heat concluded, and with a total score of sixteen to Elle’sfourteen, Gia Malone took the whole damn thing.Holy hell.

The tournament win would contribute 10,000 points toward herranking, moving her into the number two spot on the leaderboard. She cried outwhen the scores came down and smiled at the crowd screaming along with her.Elle, a few yards down the beach, nodded Gia’s way and sent her acongratulatory smile. Love lost or not, Gia nodded back, because as a surfer,she had mad respect for Elle, and that’s what today had been about, the work.

Now…it was time to celebrate.

* * *

Two days later, at exactly seven a.m., Gia’s alarm went off. Well,her version of alarm, the morning surf report. Happy to be back in her own bed,she stretched and blinked against the hint of sunlight that slid in from thenearby window as she listened to Joker Johnny outline the conditions on thelocal beaches. God, it was good to be home.

“It’s gonna be a gnarly one out there today, folks. Buckle up.Lots of morning sickness on the horizon.”

“Perfect,” she mumbled, and pushed herself out of bed.

“Check it, agros. You may be amped to hit the waves, but take iteasy. Heavy winds and killer swells should dominate through the afternoon.Choppy stuff, so don’t be a Barney. Stay safe, make good choices, and live tosurf another rad day. Tide is peaking at a 5.29 feet at 6:30 a.m., then dropsto a 2.03 feet at 12:38 p.m. If you’re looking for clean waves, sit today out.Later this week has you covered. In the meantime, bumps ahead with thirteen- tofifteen-footers on tap.”

“Well, that’s what I’m here for,” Gia said to herself in themirror, with a smile. “Bring it, California. Game on.”

Already dressed for the waves in trunks and her jersey, Gia pushedopen the door to the Cat’s Pajamas, the funky little coffee shop next door tothe Seven Shores apartment complex. She lived on the second floor of thetwelve-unit building and made daily trips to Pajamas for the best coffee intown. Hands down. The fact that her best friend owned the place, and herroutine trips were just as social as they were functional, certainly didn’thurt.

“Wait,” Isabel said, holding up a hand. “Is that number two in thesurf world walking toward us?”

Hadley grabbed Isabel’s wrist. “I think it is. She looks a lotlike number three did, but somehow this woman comes with more championshipswagger. I’m a little swoony to be in the presence of such a mega-athlete.”

“All hail, number two!” Autumn called, and her friends broke intoapplause, followed by the morning patrons, most of whom were regulars.

“Knock it off,” Gia said, though the attention gave her a boost,and the corners of her mouth tugged into a grin. She accepted the coffee fromAutumn, cream no sugar, her usual order, and took a seat with her friends forBreakfast Club, their daily morning meet-up session. In just a short while,Isabel would head off to the television studio where she worked alongside hergirlfriend, Taylor, writing one of the most kick-ass shows on television.Hadley would head to Rodeo Drive and open Silhouette, the posh boutique sheassistant managed. Autumn would prepare her afternoon roast and dazzlecustomers with her warm and welcoming personality. And Gia would head to thebeach. While Venice didn’t yield the kind of waves Fiji did, practice waspractice, and she was not about to let up when her momentum was so strong. Butfor now, and most every morning, the four of them started their days togetherchatting about anything under the sun before dashing off in differentdirections. She missed these mornings when she was on the road and had grown tosavor them when she was on break from the tour.

“So, what did it feel like to go head-to-head with your archrivaland win?” Autumn asked. “I mean, that had to be like a delicious cherry on thebeach sundae.”

Isabel frowned. “Now I’m picturing sand in a dish.”

“Not as sweet as you probably think,” Gia said. “It felt good,yeah, but it’s almost like I can’t revel for too long, as there’s still so muchwork ahead.” She pointed at Autumn. “What I’m more interested in is if they’rekicking yet.”

Autumn placed a hand over her swollen tummy and took a seat. Shewas four months along and already starting to show. “Flutters only at thispoint. Kate’s obsessed, however. Stares at my stomach just waiting for thatfirst little foot to give us a hello.” Kate and Autumn had married less than ayear ago and still existed in the happy honeymoon haven, grinning whenever theycaught the other’s eye. Gia was happy for them.

“I just need to know if these are little tiny boy babies or tinygirl babies or one of each,” Hadley said with wide eyes and a sigh. “I mean, Ican plan a variety of unisex outfits in the meantime, but the lack of directionis keeping me up at night. Do you think they like hats?” she asked Autumn.“Have they indicated at all?”

“Hard to say. But another week and you shall have your genderanswer. In the meantime, I just pray these two don’t turn me into the size of aMack truck. At least not yet.”

“You’re gorgeous,” Gia said. “I thought so as soon as I walkedin.”

Autumn offered a watery smile. “You’re going to make me cry,Gia-pet. My hormones are on the attack and I have the weepies. No sincerecompliments. None.”

Hadley kissed Autumn’s cheek with a smack and turned to Isabel.“Speaking of gorgeous people, Taylor isn’t joining us today?”

“Nope. We spent the night apart because she has an early morning.”

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