Page 24 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

Chapter 17

Olivia

How the hell did Josh convince me to do this again? I thought as I trudged down the sandy path with my board under my arm. Firstly, the water was going to be cold, and secondly, I was so going to make a fool out of myself.

It didn’t help that his friends were sitting on the beach, obviously ready to catch the entertainment. This was going to be so embarrassing. I had to tell him no.

Josh smiled when he caught sight of me, and my arguments went straight out the window. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t say no to this guy, no matter how much I wanted to avoid surfing.

His grin widened when I reached him, and he stepped a little closer to me, taking my board from me.

“Olivia, I’d like you to meet my friends. This is Corey, Lance, Cain, and you’ve met Daniel.”

I smiled at each of them and shyly muttered a hi to them as a whole. The looks they gave me ranged from friendly and welcoming, to suspicious and cool. It kind of confused me, especially the one he’d called Lance. He didn’t look friendly at all.

Josh let his gaze roam over my wet suit. “You know it’s not really that cold, don’t you?”

I looked down at my summer wet suit. It was only lightweight. It had little capped sleeves, and the legs finished just above my knees. “Yeah, you don’t know how easily I feel the cold. Especially Californian water. My lips will be blue before we’re done.”

He laughed before looking down at my board and turning it around, inspecting it. “This is a good board. It’s yours?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s the one I used to use before we left.”

Josh looked back over the board, running his hands over it, checking for God knew what. I looked out at the ocean. I knew the sets weren’t that big, but I was still worried.

Putting my hands over my face, I groaned. “This is going to be bad.”

I heard a couple of the guys laugh behind me. I wanted to turn and glare at them, but I thought it was best if I just ignored them as much as possible.

Through my fingers, I saw Josh pass my board to someone, asking them to wax it for me, then I felt him circle my wrists with his hands and gently pull them away from my face. “It won’t be bad. I promise.”

I groaned again at his enthusiastic expression, earning a few more chuckles from behind.

“Come on.” He grabbed the now-waxed board and handed it back to me before picking up his own and leading the way to the water’s edge.

The second the water rushed over my feet, I gasped. “Oh my God! It’s freezing!”

Josh laughed, and, of course, so did the other guys. Yeah, I was happy to be the entertainment for the morning. “You’ll get used to it. It’s best to do it at a run. Come on.”

I watched him dart off, somehow appearing graceful as he skipped over the small waves, before throwing the board down and then himself on top of it.

Not giving myself time to fret, I followed, nowhere near as fast or graceful, but there wasn’t much I could do about it now.

The duck diving thing was something I’d never gotten, even when I was surfing almost every day, so, of course, I completely sucked at it. After a few failed attempts to get out past the breakers, Josh towed me out.

“You know, I might very well hate you after this,” I said, gazing out at the incoming waves.

“And you might just thank me too.”

“It’s looking doubtful,” I said, but the smile creeping onto my lips gave me away.

Josh appraised me for a while, then pursed his lips. “What do you remember? Do you need me to start at the beginning?”

I shook my head. “Theory-wise, I think I remember the basics. I just never got the hang of it well enough for it to be like riding a bike.”

He smiled. “Well, how about we ride one in together? Just remember, once you get going, snap up to your feet.”

I inhaled deeply, gathering strength, and nodded.

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