Waxing His Board (Filthy Dirty Summer)

“I’m looking forward to watching you shred.” She tilted her head to the other two women in our heat. “Not sure how much you’ve looked into the competition since you’ve got that cute little baby at home, but don’t worry about them. You’ve got more natural talent than anyone else out here today. If I was a betting woman, my money would be on you.”

I was a little anxious about returning to professional surfing after giving birth to our adorable baby girl but seeing my gorgeous husband in the stands with Winslet strapped to his chest when I walked past them to head toward the shoreline had soothed most of my nerves. Wilder had shocked everyone in the surfing world but me when he announced that he was taking this year off the pro circuit. After nabbing the world championship for the second year in a row, people expected him to want to defend his title. But as awesome as he was as a pro surfer, he was an even better husband and father.

As soon as the doctor cleared me to be back out on the water six weeks after Winslet was born, he’d asked his mom to come for an extended visit so he could coach me. We’d done dawn patrol for four weeks straight before I felt at home on my board again.

Her compliment meant the world to me, but I needed to lighten the mood before I got too emotional. “Not if you make me cry right before I catch my first wave.”

“Did you already forget?” She bumped her knuckles against her board with a laugh. “There’s no crying in surfing.”

I was laughing when we got the signal to paddle out, and my good humor must have brought me amazing karma. My first wave was gnarly, and I paddled hard toward it, committing one hundred percent without any hesitation. Crouching down, I grabbed rail and made myself as compact as possible. Setting the line straight and putting all my body weight to the front of the board, I picked up speed, going fast enough down the wave to catch a backside barrel. When I hit the bottom of the wave, I tucked my knee in and pulled up to set my line in the middle, the lip of the wave about a foot above my head. Then I set my stalling so I could ride the barrel all the way to the end.

Katya was cheering for me, and I flashed her a quick grin before focusing on the swells again. I hit two more waves before the time for our heat was up, but I was confident that the third hadn’t even been necessary. My scores for the first two would be some of my highest ever.

Returning to the beach, I headed straight for my husband and daughter. Wilder climbed off the stands to give me a hug, Winslet patting my chest with a giggle.

“Oops, I’m getting her wet.” I brushed my hand over her soft brown curls to whisk away a few drops that had landed on her head.

“Our little mermaid doesn’t mind a bit of water.” Winslet tilted her head to stare at her daddy when she heard his voice. “Do you, sweetie?”

“Good point.” She loved bath time and took to the pool like a fish out of water when we started taking her swimming after she was able to hold her head up on her own at five months old.

“You did it, baby.” Wilder shifted to the side so Winslet wasn’t squished between us. Then he leaned forward to capture my lips in a deep kiss. “You just showed everyone that you’re back and better than ever.”

“I kinda had to.” I pointed at the name printed on my lycra. “I’m competing as an Abrams now, after all. I’ve gotta rep the family name.”

Wilder’s green eyes were serious as he cupped my cheek. “I’m so fucking proud of what you just did out there, but you could’ve wiped out on every wave, and I still would’ve loved you the same.”

He showed me how much he cared all the time, and I had no doubt that his love for me was unconditional. “More and more every day.”

He nodded. “Damn straight.”