Page 115 of Ride the Wave

‘You grew up on these waves, Leo; you know what to look for. No one reads them like you,’ Adriano tells him sternly. ‘Remember how far you’ve come.’

Leo cranes his neck to look over our shoulders at the rest of the crowd mingling around the area and making their way down to the sand. ‘Have you seen Mum yet?’

Adriano’s smile falters, but he does well to haul it back into place before Leo notices anything amiss. ‘Not yet, but I will look out for her.’

‘I don’t want her to miss my heat, that’s all. I did message her publicist yesterday with a rough schedule of the day.’ He winks at me. ‘You’d have been proud of my organisation skills, London.’

‘She’ll make it in time,’ Adriano assures him, his eyes flickering to me.

‘Yeah, course,’ I chip in. ‘If she said she’ll be here, I’m sure she will.’

He nods, still intent on looking out for her, his eyes scanning the sea of faces. ‘Yeah, you’re right, I’m being—’

He stops, his whole body tensing. His eyes widen and his jaw ticks. Thinking it must be his mother to prompt such a reaction, I spin round. But it’s not Michelle Martin standing just metres away, it’s Ethan Anderson. He is shorter than I expected. I think, knowing nothing about them, I assumed all pro surfers to be as tall as Leo, but he looks like he’s just under six foot. He also looks younger than he is, a fair-haired, baby-faced man with piercing blue eyes that are fixed on his famed rival.

The sudden tension is palpable. Others have noticed the face-off and are slowing down as they pass by, gaping at the two of them. Leo’s hand twitches before balling into a fist. His forehead furrowed, he parts his lips as though he might speak. But then he closes his mouth into a hard, straight line. His eyes dropping to the ground, Ethan turns away and moves along, striding towards the famous stairs that lead to the beach.

Adriano sighs.

‘Don’t say it, Dad,’ Leo snaps, a dark cloud shadowing his expression.

Holding up his hands, Adriano shrugs. ‘I wasn’t going to say a thing.’

‘I’ll talk to him when I’m ready.’

‘Okay, okay. I know, son.’

Leo looks so troubled that I reach out to take his hand in mine. He turns his attention to me, his frown softening as I gaze up at him.

‘When you’re out on that water, nothing else matters,’ I remind him, smiling encouragingly. ‘Forget him, forget your mum, forget us, forget everything else. Like your dad says, read the water and go where it tells you.’

He takes a deep breath, leaning forwards to kiss me gently on the lips.

‘I’ll see you afterwards,’ he says softly, before turning away to grab his surfboard where he left it propped up and make his way down the steps to the Red Bull Athletes Zone.

Adriano follows him, raising his eyebrows at me, and I realise that we both got a bit caught up in the moment there. We’ve never kissed in front of anyone before. I blush furiously, quickly checking around to make sure Michelle Martin and her camera crew definitely aren’t there. I’m glad they’re not for my sake.

But for Leo’s, I hope they show up soon.

*

A wave comes and Leo goes for it.

My breath catches. I’ve already had to watch the other two in his heat surf a couple of waves and, as far as I could tell, they did very well. I thought he might be facing Ethan this round, but Adriano explained they were in different heats. All being well for both of them, they would face each other much further down the line.

The action is being projected on a big screen, or spectators can watch from one of the many vantage points high up on the cliffs, but I’ve opted to sit amongst the crowd on the beach, peering out at the three tiny dots bobbing on the water. Adriano is watching from a viewing platform where he can spot the rhythm of the sets coming in easier, but I wanted to be as close as possible, on the sand ready for when he comes out of the water.

Plus, the atmosphere down here is amazing. When AC/DC’s ‘Hells Bells’ started playing through the speakers at the beginning of the first heat, I thought someone had sabotaged the sound system, but it turns out that it’s tradition at Bells Beach for the song to play at the beginning of the first heat of each day to pump up the competitors and the crowd.

All I can say is, it works a bloody treat.

I felt so excited and empowered by the end of the song, I could have grabbed a surfboard and raced out there to shred some waves myself.

Thankfully for everyone, I found the willpower to resist.

And now that it’s Leo’s turn, I’m a bit more subdued. I’m too nervous to speak or cheer, my heart thudding hard against my chest. The other two surfers hold back as Leo has priority, watching him paddle forwards before he pops up and takes off. I’m unable to take my eyes off him, my chest squeezing so tight, I can’t breathe.

He glides so fast, so effortlessly, sopowerfully.

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