We go through another dozen. Then a dozen more. She gets flushed and breathless. Fuck, she looks like she's melting.

I know I am. Wetsuits are fucking warm on the sand.

I pick up the board and point to the beach. It's quiet here. Only a few other surfers and a couple having a picnic. We're well into Malibu. Farther than we were last night. But…

I'm not going there right now. The beach is my happy place or some cheesy shit like that. It always clears my head. Helps me make sense of the world.

I lead Iris into the water. Get deep enough to drop the board, watch her climb onto, bring it past the break point.

The ocean is freezing against my hands and toes, but it feels good. Soothing. Invigorating.

I tread water with one hand on her board.

She turns her head to look me in the eyes. Uses her arm as a pillow. "This is relaxing." All that heaviness fades from her voice.

Fuck, that makes me warm all over.

I want this. I want to see that smile every fucking day.

The waves rock the surfboard back and forth. "Can I hang out like this forever?"

"Yeah."

"Really? You'll hang there all day?"

"You underestimate how much I love it here."

"That much?"

I nod. "The ocean is constant. Steady. It can kick your ass a million ways, but it's always there, wearing rocks into sand."

"When did you learn to surf?"

"A friend's birthday party. I was eleven or twelve. I lived at the pool in the summer. Begged my parents to take us to the beach every weekend."

"Did they?"

"Yeah. But they weren't into it. They'd argue over who's turn it was then sit there, under an umbrella, working."

"Working at the beach?"

"You ever see a guy scribbling on a legal pad in board shorts?"

She shakes her head.

"Then you've never seen my dad at the beach."

"What's he do?"

"Business consulting. I'm not sure, exactly. I tune it out."

"And your mom?"

"Same kinda thing. Finance. The details always escape me."

"They worked a lot when you were a kid?"

"Yeah. We had a nanny when I was young, but she didn't really hang out with me. It was always me and Bree. She'd help me with my homework, make me dinner, let me tag along with her friends."

Tags: Crystal Kaswell Inked Hearts Romance
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