Page 61 of Friends with Benefits

‘We need to check on the time. I told you we have plans.’

She sits back straighter, leaning away from my chest to look at me, and I rub the wet hair that’s pressed to her temple behind her ear. ‘What are we doing?’

‘You’ll see.’ I walk us out of the water and set her down in the sand. It’s six fifty-five – excellent planning.

‘Don’t we need to pack up?’ she asks as I walk past our towels and bag, only stopping to grab my wallet.

‘Nope.’

Giggling, she runs to catch up to me. ‘You’re still not going to tell me, are you?’

I wrap an arm around her shoulders. ‘Nope.’

She leans harder into my side. Damn, I love when this girl is happy.

‘Here we are.’ I nod to the surf shack in front of us and take my arm from her shoulder. ‘How do you feel about taking a surf lesson with me?’

She tilts her head to one side, a glint in her eye, a smirk on her lips.

‘Surfing?’

‘I thought it would be cool to try something new together.’

‘And you chose surfing?’

I nod, wondering whether I called this massively wrong. She’s usually up for fun stuff.

‘Jake?’ A guy about my age walks out of the shack, his hand out for me to shake, the wet suit that hangs down around his waist, leaving his chest exposed, a dead giveaway as to who I’m taking to. That and his mass of wavy, blond hair.

I take his hand. ‘Heath?’

‘The very man. You must be Jess.’ He shakes her hand too and doesn’t even check her out, despite the fact she looks crazy hot in her bold print bikini. ‘Have either of you guys surfed before?’

I tell him no. ‘But I pick up all sports fairly quickly. Spend as much time with Jess as you need.’

She tuts and her eyes widen as she scoffs the way she does when she thinks I’m being a dick.

‘Sorry, babe, but surfing is tough. I want you to be safe.’

‘No, thanks, I appreciate it. Like you say, you’re so good at all sports. I mean, you hardly need a lesson.’

‘Do I need to let you two have a domestic?’ Heath asks.

‘No, we’re good,’ Jess tells him.

‘All right then, let’s get you fixed up with some wet suits and boards and we’ll go through the basics.’

Once the three of us are zipped in, we carry our boards onto the beach and set them down on the hard sand by the water.

‘We’re going to practice popping up onto the board,’ Heath tells us. He demonstrates, moving from lying on the board to planting his hands on the sides and popping up to stand in the middle. Jess and I give it a go. After a few rounds of popping, I’m wondering whether Jess will be able to cope with this in the water. It’s tougher than I thought.

‘Ready to catch some waves?’ Heath asks, standing and bringing his board under his arm.

‘I’m ready. Jess, are you still up for it?’

She looks at the water, then at her board. ‘I’ll try. I can always stop if it’s too difficult, right?’

‘Sure you can, babe. We’ll stop whenever you want.’

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