Page 31 of Double Trouble

If Demi is truly worried about me, and that’s the only reason she wants to move back home, then I’ll do everything in my power to prove that she’s not taking anything from me. That I can live my dream and still provide for her. That sponsorship will be mine, and in just a few short months, they’ll all be singing a different tune.

I’m gonna do it today.

I mean, Ikindadid it already.

But Brink has no clue that I’m in love with her, and this boarding competition might be the perfect chance to put it all out there. My heart, my soul… and hopefully not my guts, because I’m feeling a lot of nausea right about now.

The last few days have gone by in a blur of taping, boarding, and kissing, and I can’t complain. My brain’s been on a high, and I find myself whistling all the time. Never been a whistler. Funny what love will do to a person.

I roll over the gravel in the parking lot at Mad’s apartment. It’s my first time here, and I’ll be honest… I’m shocked at how big the place is. With how she or Pete described it, I thought it would be a hole. They moved just over a year ago from a two bedroom to a three, and I guess these apartments are two levels. As I board toward her number, I see the upstairs light on through the blinds. The rest of the place seems quiet and asleep, it being near six in the morning.

I kick my board into my hand when I hit the curb, tucking my fingers under the wheels. My left hand is ice cold from carrying the Gatorade I picked up for Mad. She’s not a coffee person, but every early morning road trip needs some sort of drink.

A bird chirps from a nearby tree, and my shoes hit the pavement with heavy slaps in the quiet air. Instead of ringing the doorbell or knocking, I stick the Gatorade into my pocket and shoot Brink a text.

I’m here.?

I’ve also become an emoji guy. Damn love.

There’s movement just behind the door, muffled but rushed, and my heart picks up. Maybe, just maybe, she’s as excited as I am to spend an entire day together.

I adjust my camera bag and my board, tucking my phone away and pulling the Gatorade back out. I’m a killer boyfriend—if that’s what I am—having the drink ready for her the second she opens the door.

A creak cuts through the early morning, and Mad’s hazel eyes peek out from the crack as she slides through. I take her in as she eases the door shut behind her—the excitement in her eyes and the bounce in her step. Her fingers curl around her board, and there’s a Dr. Pepper tucked in the crook of her elbow.

“Aww,” I tease, nodding to the drink. “Were you thinking of m—oof!”

My voice disappears as she flings her entire body on mine. I drop the Gatorade, and it thunks and rolls off to no man’s land. Mad’s lips crash against mine, and a surprise laugh interrupts our kissing for a second before I catch up to her.

I adjust her on my hips so my camera isn’t digging into my rib, then take two steps forward, trapping her against the door. She tastes like spearmint toothpaste, and even though we’re in the last week of August, it feels like a fog of breath would puff out between us the moment we break apart.

I use the door to hold her weight and slither a hand up to her jaw. My tongue dips into her mouth and she lets me, tangling hers with mine. She kisses like she handles a board—in effortless talent.

Not even in my most elaborate fantasies did I picture something like this. I was always told passion like this was supposed to wait. It was too fast, too much, but those thoughts make little sense right now. How could anyone get kissed like this and think it was too much? If anything, I can’t get enough.

Knowing my brain is starting to wander into panic zone, I bow out of our kiss as gracefully as I can, breathing hard as she continues to pepper kisses across my cheeks and nose and down my neck.

I chuckle at her enthusiasm, her lips tumbling over my Adam’s apple. “Hi.”

“Hi.” A grin takes over her face before she presses a brief kiss to my lips.

“I brought you a Gatorade. It’s around here somewhere.”

“Yeah… probably with the very shaken up Dr. Pepper I got you.”

She slowly drops from my hips, and I take a few steps back to give her room. Her fingers pull at her red Kylo Ren tee that bunched up during our greeting.

“Well, don’t open it for a while,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ears, her bright eyes on something just behind me. The Dr. Pepper is all foam, the bottle banged up from tumbling down the few steps leading up to Mad’s door.

I scan the ground but can’t find her Gatorade. “I’d say you could open yours if I could find it.”

She waves her hand and then smoothly lets it land in mine. “I’ve got a whole pack in the car. Let’s get to Indy!”

A chuckle rumbles my chest as she tugs me toward her car. “Someone’s excited.”

“I’m so ready to get out of here.”

She says it playfully, but there’s something hiding in her tone. More family drama, I’m guessing. We’ve got a few hours of road time if she wants to talk about it.

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