Page 51 of Ride the Wave

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He makes it look so easy.

When I’ve seen him out in the water surfing, Leo paddles gracefully with the swell of the wave, pushes his chest up with his hands and pops up onto his feet, hovering steadily on his board as he glides forwards. The whole process is one fluid motion. It can’t take that long to master, right?

Wrong.

I’ve been practising how to ‘pop up’ on a surfboard for almost half the lesson and I still don’t feel like I’ve got the hang of it. We haven’t even got close to the water yet.

‘That was good,’ Leo says, as I step off the board after my latest attempt. ‘You’re getting it. Remember to look forwards, not down at the board.’

‘There are too many things to think about,’ I groan, throwing my hands up in exasperation. ‘I’m trying to remember to only push up with my shoulders and chest and that my thighs remain in contact with the board. Then I have to think about bringing my front foot forward, letting my body twist, making sure my feet are the right width apart, keeping my knees bent low, and having my arms out to balance. And, of course, making sure my eyes are looking forwards.’ I pause for breath. ‘I need to write this all down.’

Leo hits me with yet another of his amused smiles. I’ve had to endure a barrage of them during our lesson.

‘I know it seems like an overload of information, but that’s always going to be how it goes when you’re mastering a new technique,’ he says with a shrug. ‘When you get it, you won’t have to think about it. All of that happens naturally.’

‘I have a photographic memory so I really work best with bullet-point instructions.’

‘I’m not letting you take notes, London.’

I put my hands on my hips stubbornly, but he remains unfazed.

Despite the challenges of the lesson and the fear of what’s to come, I maintain that this is a good idea. Already, I’ve got a fresh angle of his character for the piece: Leo, the surf teacher. And it’s a good one. He’s patient, encouraging, funny. He knows what he’s doing – he’s comfortable and relaxed in this role, so self-assured and dedicated. There’s something very sexy about him taking control of this lesson.

I probably won’t put that last bit in the feature, though.

His passion for surfing is obvious through the infectious enthusiasm of his teaching style. He wants his student to be good, but only so that they’ll be safe in the water and have the right technique and ability to enjoy the sport more. He hasn’t made me feel stupid even though Idofeel stupid. I felt stupid the moment I pulled on the wetsuit over my yellow halterneck bikini, like I was completely out of place. Which I am.

‘All the gear and no idea,’ I muttered when I stepped out from behind his truck in the wetsuit he loaned me. ‘Can you help zip it up all the way at the back?’

After he complied, I turned round, ready for him to take one look at me in this get-up and laugh at me for looking so… unlike me. But he didn’t laugh. He was looking at me in such a captivating way, it made me smile shyly.

‘Sorry you had to wait so long for me to get into this thing,’ I said, forcing a laugh as I tried to break the tension.

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said, a warm glint in his eyes. ‘It’s easier to take off.’

I blinked at him, stunned. What was I supposed to say tothat? His words were so fuckingsuggestive, but I wasn’t sure if he’d done that on purpose, so I stood there, shocked into silence until he jerked his head in the direction of the beach and went, ‘Shall we?’ as though he hadn’t just caused goosebumps to cover every inch of my skin.

I knew then that this scenario was probably not going to be healthy for the ever-so-tiny crush I seem to be developing for Leo Silva. A private lesson on a near-empty beach with him demonstrating how to go from lying on a surfboard to standing on one was almost certainly a recipe for disaster. Popping up on a surfboard is essentially a glorified press up.

‘Watch the positioning of my hands and my arms,’ he had instructed at one point as his hands pressed flat on the deck of his board before the muscles in his arms flexed as he extended them, pushing his upper body from the board.

He was telling me to watch him. I had no choice. Not just once either, I had to observe him perform this art over and over and over…

My mouth was so dry, I had to lick my lips when he wasn’t looking.

‘You want to try again?’ Leo asks now, as I stare at the surfboard in front of me, willing myself to be magically good at it. ‘I know it might not feel like it, but you’re getting better every time.’

‘I’m exhausted.’

‘Nah, you’re fine,’ he says with an easy grin. ‘I’ve seen you practise yoga. You’ve got what it takes to pop up on a board. Come on, give it a crack. Get back down there.’

I swear it takes all my will power not to say,Make mewith a seductive smile.

Argh, this is wrong. This issowrong.

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