“It was so dumb,” she continues, relievingmy worries that she bought into it. “He said he was being forced tomake all of these ‘adult decisions’ all of a sudden, and they’dfollow him for the rest of his life, and he needed a clear head forit. He didn’t want a girlfriend because he didn’t want that toinfluence him. He was dating Naomi a week later. That’sher.”
“Yet it didn’t kill your desire for ahappily ever after?” I ask.
By the way this girl was talking in thepool, you’d never guess she just endured a horrible break up with aguy full of bullshit and lies. She’s like a literal butterfly,floating through a garden, free and optimistic that the rightcaterpillar is out there brewing just for her.
“I’m not letting one stupid guy crush that,”she declares. “There’s no way I’m letting him have that kind ofvictory. Him or anyone else, really. One day I’ll be the heroine,and I may go through a few wrong heroes in the meantime, but Irefuse to believe that I won’t have a happy ending.”
Maybe Sloane has more fight mode inside ofher than I realized. “So, you really want to meet Dominic?” Iask.
She smiles because she knows she’s won.“I’ll do whatever you need,” she says. “Bonfire on the beach? Tacotruck? Pool day? You name it. I’m officially your fairy god sister– because I’m not old enough to be your fairy godmother.”
Chapter Six – Dominic
The rain thumps against the thatched roof, arhythmic drumming behind the sound of my alarm. I silence my phoneand sit up immediately so I won’t drift back off to sleep. There’sa sliver of daylight outside, a mild hue of gray, but it’sdefinitely not surfing weather.
I step onto the wooden floor and staggertoward the door. I crack it open, but there’s no hint of blackcoffee brewing, which means Glenn isn’t up yet. I’m careful not tobe too loud because I don’t want to wake Kaia, so I tiptoe to thefront door. I crack it open. The ocean is hidden under the mistyrain.
“Go back to sleep,” Glenn says from behindme.
I jump upon hearing his voice.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” he says.“I say let’s take a day off. There’s no training to be done in thiskind of weather. You deserve a break, and I wouldn’t mind onemyself.”
I push the front door shut before the windcan sling rain into the living area of the bungalow. Glenn startsbrewing his coffee, but I make my way back to bed to sleep in justa little longer. Maybe my boards will be in today, and I can stopusing this pathetic excuse of a board out here. Training seemspointless when you don’t have proper equipment.
Maybe I can spend some time in the gymtoday. Or I can catch up on what’s happening with the world tourand the title race. It’d be cool to get out and take some picturesof the island since Cassie complains that I never update Instagramor send enough pictures back home. She says if I’m going to see theworld, she deserves to live vicariously through me. If I ever makethe world tour, I’m going to make sure she gets to see some ofthese places. Dad can stay home if he wants, but my stepmomdeserves that chance. She’s helped me get this far. It’s the leastI could do.
I make my way back to my room, reset myalarm, and fall back into the sheets.
Glenn is at the gym when I wake up later inthe morning. Kaia sits in the living room, holding her phone outwith her arm, probably trying to get a decent connection.
“You know the resort has Wi-Fi,” I remindher.
She nods. “I’m not walking down there justto get this text to go through.”
I pour a glass of orange juice and lingerbehind the kitchen counter instead of joining her. We haven’ttalked much since the other night when she told me about her mom’snew baby and how badly her dad needed to be coaching again. I’m notsure if that brought the walls down or not, but I don’t want tooverstep my boundaries.
“This is ridiculous.” Kaia groans. “I thinkI’m going to just get ready and go down to the resort. Sloane willknow I’m going with her when she sees me there.”
I don’t overstep, but I decide to push theboundary and see if she lets me cross. “Where are you going?”
She doesn’t look up from her phone. Shestays curled up in the chair, staring at the device in her handlike if she gives it the evil eye long enough, it’ll grant herwishes.
“Some place with waterfalls,” she says. Shedares to look up now. “Jumping off waterfalls, actually. Prettydangerous stuff. My dad wouldn’t approve.”
I take another swig from my glass beforepouring the rest down the drain and leaving the glass in the sink.Then I walk around toward the living room.
“So you do have a bit of an adrenalinejunkie in you,” I state. I fold my arms over my chest, but Iinstantly realize that this smug grin is going to rub her the wrongway. I don’t know how to undo it either.
“I’m not some kind of thrill chaser,” shesays. Then she shrugs like it’s no big deal. “It’s something to do.Better than sitting around here all day.”
She’s right about that. Live streaming surfclips is probably out of the question without setting up in theresort lobby. Definitely can’t do it from my bed with thishit-and-miss connection.
“You want to come?” she asks.
I guess that’s one way to undo the smug grinand cocky chest puff. I’m completely off guard, and I’m sure myface shows it. I don’t know how to recover.
“You sure?” I ask, trying to downplay it. Idon’t want her to know that I really want to go. “I don’t want tohijack your day. I’ve done enough damage already.”
She brings her phone down and studies me fora moment. “No, I’m sure,” she says. “I think you should tag along.We’ll see if you’re as brave in the water without a surfboard asyou are when you’re on one.”
