Page 18 of The Other Brother
“Relax, you’re just starting. You’ll get the hang of it.”
“I just want to get it right,” he mutters, holding on to his board as another wave comes through.
“Dude, you need to chill. You’re stressing about surfing. It’s like an oxymoron or something.”
“Oxymoron?” Cody raises his eyebrow. “You’re secretly really smart, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m Einstein’s clone. Or maybe I just remember anything that has the word moron in it, because it’s bound to be useful in life.”
He tips his head back and laughs. It’s so unexpected, the chuckle reverberating through his body, that I can’t help joining in. If anyone was on the shore, we’d look like idiots, standing in waist deep water with our surfboards bobbing around us, laughing together.
After his laughter dies away, his gaze on me is so warm that I have to glance away.
When I look back, he’s jutted out his jaw. “Right, let’s try this again.”
He gets on his board and paddles purposefully through the waves.
He doesn’t make it to his feet on the next wave, but the one after that he pops up perfectly and stays on his feet all the way to where the wave dies out in the shallow water.
I give him the thumbs-up, and he grins widely.
Cody continues to practice. I can see some of the traits that make him such a talented musician. Concentration. Perseverance. The willingness to ask for help when he needs it. He really is the perfect student.
The sun is just starting to have some heat in it when we finally head back onto the beach. By unspoken mutual agreement, we don’t head straight back to the house but spread ourselves on the sand to warm up in the sun.
The beach is filling up now. A group of girls have set up camp twenty feet away from us and are providing some awesome scenery by stripping down to itsy-bitsy bikinis.
But Cody ignores them as he props himself up on an elbow and looks at me.
“Tell me what you love about surfing,” he says. The intensity in which he looks at me is typical Cody. When he’s staring at you, he really focuses, like no one else in the world exists.
“It’s cool,” I say.
Cody raises an eyebrow, his expression unsatisfied. “Cool?”
He continues to watch me, waiting. I don’t know what he wants, but when I open my mouth, the words tumble out without me thinking.
“I don’t know. I just love being out there on the ocean. Everything is simple, you know? Like, it all boils down to whether or not you catch the wave, so all the other crap disappears. And it’s so peaceful. Like, there’s this big adrenaline surge when you catch a good wave, but most of the time it’s incredibly chill. And you’re so close to the ocean, it’s like you’re part of it.”
My voice curls up in embarrassment near the end. I feel naked, like I’ve just exposed too much of myself. Actually, screw that, because I’m way more comfortable flashing people my junk than I am being under the scrutiny of Cody’s blue eyes as he stares at me now.
“That’s kind of… beautiful,” he says finally.
“Beautiful?” The scorn in my voice is heaped high.
Cody blushes, but his gaze doesn’t waver from mine. “Yeah, it’s beautiful.”
I stare back at him, and his amazing eyes capture mine. We stare at each other for a good twenty seconds before Cody looks away. I blink. What the hell?
Cody gets to his feet. “We better head back. And after lunch, it’s my turn to be the expert and your turn to be the beginner.”
“I don’t think beginner is the right term for my music skills, actually. I’m more like pre-beginner. Before novice.” I say as I jump up.
“I like a challenge,” Cody replies.
Mel’sin the kitchen unloading the dishwasher when we arrive back in the house.
“What have you guys been up to?” she asks.
