Page 95 of Finding Us

“Because I could tell you were freaking out when the water separated us and then I could see that the wave was getting ready to slam you into the sand.”

“How did you see all that?”

“You think I’d ever take my eyes off you? I told you I’d keep you safe. You’re my number one priority, remember?”

“But you hurt yourself.”

“It’s just part of the job.” He smiles. “I knew keeping you safe wouldn’t be easy. I mean, shit, I already took a bullet for you. This was nothing.”

“So not funny.” I stand up, holding my hand out. “Come on. Let’s go home so I can put something on that.”

“We don’t need to go home. There’s a first aid kit in the tent.”

“Then let’s go inside.”

We walk back to the tent. He gets the first aid kit from his bag and we sit down. The blood is dried now but his back still has a big red patch where he landed on the sand.

“This looks really sore. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I get scraped up all the time when I’m out there.” He flips around as I’m putting antiseptic cream over the scrape. “You know what we should do?”

“I’m trying to fix your back here. Would you turn around?”

He doesn’t. “We should go bodyboarding. It’s kind of like surfing but not as extreme. And you still get the feeling of riding the waves.”

“Do I need a surfboard?”

“No, you need a bodyboard. You’ve seen them before. They kind of look like a mini surfboard.”

“Aren’t those just for kids?”

“Adults use them, too. I’m going to get us some. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.”

“Because I told you I wouldn’t go past my waist in the water.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it. But now you’ve conquered your fears of the water so we’re going to try this. We’ll try it next week on our extended honeymoon.”

I smile. “I see what you’re doing. You can’t go a week without surfing and this is your way of kind of surfing, even though it’s really not.”

He rolls his eyes. “No, that’s not what I’m doing. If you don’t want to try it, we don’t have to. But I saw how much fun you had out there just now and I think if you tried the bodyboard, you’d like it.”

“Okay, I’ll try it.” I kiss him. “Now will you turn around so I can finish taking care of your back?”

He flips around just as his phone rings. He reaches for it, causing the cream I was carefully dabbing on one of his cuts to spread all over his back. “Garret, stop moving.”

“Hey, Harper.” He puts the phone on speaker. “Jade’s here. You’re on speaker.”

“Hi, Jade. How’s everything going?”

“Good. Except my husband just scraped his back on the sand and now I’m playing nurse.”

“That sounds fun,” she says, as if I meant it a different way.

“No, not like that.”

Garret laughs. “Thatdoessound fun.”

“I know where you can get one of those sexy nurse costumes,” Harper says.

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