Page 60 of Ride the Wave

‘Has he?’

‘Is that okay? I should have really been shadowing several of your training sessions by now, so please don’t say no.’

‘Sure, no dramas,’ he assures me. ‘You do know that my training sessions are just me surfing, right? There’s nothing special about it.’

‘I’ll be the one to judge what’s special.’

He gives me a wry smile. ‘You can tell me afterwards whether my doubts are justified or if you think I have what it takes.’

‘I don’t need tomorrow to make up my mind on that.’

It’s bold and it’s potentially a little inappropriate, but it’s also true. And the foolish part of me wants him to know that.

His brow creases and he looks unsure.

Then he leans towards me and my breath catches in my throat as for one crazy moment, I think he might be about to kiss me. But he goes to kiss me on the cheek, the warmth of his skin brushing against mine sending shivers down my spine.

I clear my throat.

‘Night, Leo,’ I say in a clipped tone as he pulls back, desperately trying to maintain an air of professionalism after letting my thoughts run riot. I hope my expression hasn’t given any of them away.

‘Night, London,’ he murmurs.

I could be looking for something that isn’t there, but I think I hear a note of regret in his voice.

He waits until I’m safely inside before he leaves.

16

Standing on the beach of Sagres early the next morning, I watch as Leo waits patiently in the water to choose his wave. When he eventually makes a decision, he begins to paddle forwards before popping up, gracefully etching lines across the curve of the wave with his board. My mouth hangs open in awe at such skilled, confident surfing.

‘How does heknow?’ I find myself asking hoarsely.

‘Know what?’ Adriano asks next to me, eyes locked on his son’s performance.

‘Thatthatwas the wave to choose,’ I explain, gesturing out at Leo. ‘There were loads of waves before that one that looked good to me, so I didn’t understand what he was waiting for. But he was right to wait – that was the best wave so far.’

Adriano chuckles. ‘It’s like everything, Iris: practice. In a set of waves, you have to find the best one. Leo has learnt to look at the waves and know what they are going to do.’

‘So, when he’s bobbing on his board out there, he’s studying the waves coming in?’

‘Studying is maybe the wrong word,’ Adriano muses. ‘When you’re as good as Leo at surfing, when you’ve spent as much time in the water as he has, it’s intuition. He doesn’t study the waves, he… understands them.’

‘That makes sense,’ I say quietly, as Leo dismounts and makes his way out of the ocean. I try to ignore how I instinctively straighten and my heart rate quickens at the sight of him approaching. ‘Two things that are always important to an athlete: practice and intuition.’

Adriano nods. ‘And for thebestathletes, you must add one more: courage.’ He waits for me to turn to look at him, his eyes glinting in the early morning sunshine. ‘The courage to go after what you want.’

*

I’m going to pop up on a surfboard today.

The sureness doesn’t come from me, but from Leo. He keeps telling me that it’s going to happen as if he knows, as if there’s not a hint of doubt in his mind that I can do this.

And I believe him.

‘Falling is part of it,’ he warns, as we stand on the beach, preparing to paddle out. ‘And timing is absolutely crucial. You’re not going to get it the first time, but that’s a good thing, because you learn how to read the waves.’

‘You’re preparing me for failure.’

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