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I thought some of these guys forgot we were supposed to be grown ups now. For me, I wanted my son to look up to me and want to be like me one day, not see some juvenile that didn’t have his life together and was a lousy father.
When I approached the surfboard rental station, Kai was there, waxing one of the boards. “Hey, kid, which will it be?”
I cracked my knuckles, thinking. “Let’s do a foam longboard.”
Kai grabbed one of the blue and white longboards and passed it to me. It would do just fine for the sixty-year-old man I was working with. The foam would make it easiest for him to try to get up, it was more stable and better to paddle with. And I rarely ever used shortboards, unless they had multiple lessons with me prior or were using our lesson as a refresher.
I took the board from him and thanked him.
“How is that kid of yours?” Kai asked. “You’ll have to bring him around some time.”
I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand. “He’s good. Today he’s with Steph, doing activities. I’m sure he’d love to see you.”
“He could help me wax the boards. We could make a day of it,” he replied, smiling.
That was what I loved about this resort, everyone was so friendly, and they felt like one big family. “That’d be great. Thanks, Kai.” I pointed to the beach. “I have to go, but I’ll bring this back after my appointment.”
I placed the surfboard under my arm and held it there with my hand. The surf conditions were still great with their being no wind and the water like glass today. I didn’t care for canceling my appointments, so I was pleased when the conditions remained good for surfing throughout the day.
Looking ahead, I spotted a woman walking toward the beach. She had beautiful brown hair with shades of blonde that was on the top of her head in some sort of sloppy knot. She could’ve been a real beauty, if I could’ve seen anything other than the top of her head. She was so focused on her phone, whatever was on it captivating her much more than the oasis around her.
I didn’t get people. This was the closest we may ever get to paradise and she had her head in her phone. It boggled my mind.
I looked behind her and saw a golf cart coming, almost straight toward her. Why wasn’t it stopping? “Look out!” I shouted to get their attention when I realized he, too, was on his phone.
Nothing. From either of them.
Deciding I had a better chance in saving her, I stuck the board in the sand, jogged over, and bumped right into her, placing my hand on her shoulder and pushing her onto the sand. Only between the impact and the fact that she didn’t seem to be paying any attention still, we both went down and fell sideways on the sand. She cushioned my fall and I immediately felt bad and stood up.
The guy in the golf cart put his hand up as though to say sorry, but my focus was on the woman still.
“What is the matter with you?” she practically shouted, fury in her voice as she looked up and our eyes connected. “Oh my—” her words obviously fell off in utter shock, as a look of disbelief came across her face.
“Gemma.” I couldn’t believe it. It’d been a little over three years since I’d last seen her and here she was, like no time had passed. She didn’t look any different, except for a few more strands of blonde in her hair.
When she said nothing, just kept staring at me, I cleared my throat and put my hand out for her to take.
“Why did you do that?” she asked, regarding me closely.
“You were going to get flattened by that golf cart,” I said, pointing ahead, but it was long gone by this point.
Her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips, deciding to get up on her own.
But all I could do was stare at her lips, remembering the way they felt like pillows. Full, they always shimmered, just as they did now. I was tempted to bend down and place my own lips over them for old times’ sake.
She brushed her dress thing down and fixed her bag on her shoulder, dropping her phone in it, finally. “Thanks,” she said as if unsure if she meant it.
I raked a hand through my hair as I watched her wipe her hands on her legs so the sand fell to the ground. “Anytime.”
She looked around and sighed. “I didn’t expect to see you, let alone bump into you. Or you bump into me, literally,” she said simply.
“I work here,” I reminded her.
She patted the top of her head as though to check and make sure her hair was still put-together. It looked like a mess, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that. It looked like a beautiful mess, though. When she was finished, her eyes roamed over my body and I watched with satisfaction as her gaze stayed a little too long on my bare chest and ripped muscles. I couldn’t help but remember the fondness she had for my muscles. She cleared her throat as her eyes met mine again and I tried my best to stifle a laugh. She clearly noticed I was noticing her because now she was fussing with her hair again, tucking a loose strand behind her ear.
“I remember you work here, but three years is a long time.”
I shrugged, keeping my hands at my side, even if all I wanted to do was reach out and touch her. “It’s a good job. So what brings you back to the resort, Gemma?” I watched my words carefully, almost letting the word beautiful slip out. Old habits. We both knew as much as I would’ve liked her to say she was back here for me, that was so far from the truth. If she was going to come back for me, she wouldn’t have waited three years or made herself believe that it was such a long time that I probably wouldn’t be working here anymore.
