Page 190 of Contentious

“Yeah. I’d love to do that.”

* * *

They moved back to Cresley’s the next day, ignoring the gaggle of reporters who rushed toward them the minute they realized she was there. Carson’s guys had been put on notice to hold them back. When they were safely inside, he breathed a sigh of relief as Ty ran for his room, elated to be back at home.

“Are you okay, hon?” Carson asked her.

“It’s strange, you know, to feel weird about being in my own home.”

He put his arms around her. “It’ll feel like home again in no time.”

“It’ll always be the place where you got stabbed.”

“I’m over it, and it’s okay for you to be, too.”

“Still too soon, Carson.”

“Yes, dear,” he said with a chuckle.

“Carson! I want to watch surfing videos.”

With a kiss to Cresley’s cheek, he said, “Let’s do it.”

For the next hour, while Cresley unpacked and got them resettled, Carson and Ty sat on the sofa, watching learn-to-surf videos.

“We’ll start with a long board like that one,” Carson said, pointing at an image on the screen, “so you can get a feel for balance with a more stable board. We’ll start practicing pop-ups, which is what we call going from paddling to standing on the board. That’s a critical part of the process, so we’ll get you comfortable with that before we go in the water. I’ll also show you how to wax the board, which we do to prevent slipping.”

“How soon will it be before I can do that?” he asked, pointing to a surfer catching a wave and riding it to the shore.

“Depends on how quickly you figure out the pop-ups and balance, but we’re not going to rush any of it. The focus will be on safety first.”

“That sounds boring.”

“You know what’s more boring?”

“What?”

“Getting injured and not being able to do anything.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Don’t be cocky. Anything can happen, and you need to have a healthy respect for the many ways you can get injured in the ocean.”

“Have you gotten hurt surfing?”

“Oh yeah, lots of times. Tons of bruises and a concussion once that was no fun. My brother Griffin used to surf competitively until he got caught in a monster wave in Portugal and nearly drowned. It took a long time for him to go back in the water after that, and it was the end of his professional surfing career.”

“Wow, that sounds scary.”

“He said it was the most terrifying five minutes of his life. He was certain he was going to drown.”

“Did he ever go back to surfing?”

“He did, but he only does it for fun and sticks to regular-sized waves.”

“I want to see videos of the really big waves.”

“Click on that link right there.”