Page 62 of Friends with Benefits

We fasten our ankle straps and follow Heath into the water. He shows us how to paddle out and the three of us set off. I get a buzz of excitement as I see the mounting waves. But I also worry about Jess in the rough water.

When we get out beyond the closest wave breaks, we sit on our boards and Heath talks us through catching the wave. ‘If you don’t feel confident, you can start on your knees,’ he says.

We wait for minutes in the water and my adrenalin builds.

‘We’re going to catch this one, guys,’ Heath says. ‘We’re just going to practice popping and getting our balance this time. Get a feel for being up on the board.’

The wave comes and we paddle until Heath calls, ‘Now!’

We all make it up on the boards, with Heath staying upright but Jess and I falling off to the side. We paddle back out to the same spot and wait again. Jess reties her hair and wipes her nose as she watches the rolling water.

‘Are you okay?’ I ask her.

She nods but doesn’t speak. She seems nervous.

‘Okay, guys, this is a big one. Are you up for it?’

‘I’m in,’ I say, looking at Jess.

She nods tightly. ‘Yeah. I’m in.’

‘All right then. Let’s do it.’

The wave builds and, crap, it’s bigger than the last one. I’m about to tell Jess not to go but she starts paddling forward.

Looks like I’m going.

I paddle faster and faster. When the wave comes, I pop up but, mother, it’s huge and fast. I manage to stand for a split second before being pushed under the water. I kick up hard, fighting the drag of the undertow, desperate to find Jess.

When I break the surface, I look around me, and finally see her, riding the wave like a pro, fisting the air and laughing before she dives off the board and under the water.

‘Looks like you brought a hustler,’ Heath says, paddling back toward me, laughing hard. ‘She’s definitely done that before, dude.’

‘She freaking played me.’

Jess comes paddling out to us and shrugs when she comes up to sit on her board next to me.

‘You can surf?’ I ask.

‘I traveled the world for fifteen years, Jake. Yes, I surf.’ She drops her voice, imitating me. ‘But, babe, are you sure you’ll be okay? It’s just I’m so great, I pick up everything real easily. I’m such a maaaan.’

I kick up water and she splashes me back as all three of enjoy her wit.

After my surf lesson and Jess’s refresher, we grab some fries and take them down to our towels on the beach.

‘Where did you learn to surf?’ I ask her, dunking one of my fries in her ketchup because mine is gone.

‘Manly Beach in Australia. I surfed a few hotspots as I traveled around. I haven’t been out on the water since I moved back to the UK, though.’

‘You know what I love?’

‘That I have tomato ketchup left for you to steal, which you need to stop doing, by the way, before I stab you with my fork.’

I snort-laugh. ‘Besides that. I love that you can still surprise me. I can finish your sentences. I can predict what you’re going to say before you say it. I can tell how you’re feeling from the shade of your irises. I know what you’re thinking every time you roll your eyes. But I love that there’s still so much to find out about you, Jess.’

Her eyes lock on mine for silent seconds. Then she looks down as if her fries are the most interesting thing in the world. But I see the lift of her cheeks and know she’s smiling.

I ball my food packaging up and stuff it into the waste bag that’s pinned down by a bottle of water. When she still hasn’t looked at me, I lean forward, steal a fry and make a point of taking more ketchup on that fry than I should have had on ten.

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