AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Malia-Tarni
I kiss…he kissed…we kissed…I have no idea the order of events that led us to that moment or who made the first move. All I know is that I was lashing out at Bhodi because I didn’t know how to thank him for defending me. It’s such an alien feeling, made worse by not knowing why he did it. It feels like a trap.
Aside from Summer, I’ve never had anyone in my corner before, and Summer doesn’t know the half of it. She would never have stood up to my parents like that, even if she knew the truth.
I race across the campus half blinded by tears – I honestly didn’t know a person had so many in them – needing the ocean to absolve me of my sins by washing away the blood.
I race to my dorm to grab my board but stumble to a halt when I find Cove sitting on the floor in the corridor, his back leaning against my door.
“Hey.” He grins when he sees me but all I can do is stare. “Did you forget? Shark Harbour and dinner after?”
My face falls. Was that today? It feels like an age since we were texting and I was excited to spend time with him again. Now all I want to do is escape into the solitude of the water.
“What’s happened Mai-Tai?” he asks softly, getting to his feet and stepping towards me.
“N-nothing,” I lie. I don’t attempt to force a smile onto my face. It would be too obvious, too fake. “I just forgot, is all.”
“Hey, no worries.” He smiles through the disappointment in his eyes as he goes to move past me. “I can take off and we can do it some other time.”
“Actually—” I reach out and touch his arm to stop him from leaving. What am I doing? Why am I touching him? All I wanted was to be left alone and now that feels like the worst thing that could happen to me.
Cove stops and looks at me expectantly, hopefully.
I don’t want to lead him on. I like him. But I was just kissing another guy.
“Yeah?” he prompts when I don’t say anything.
“I forgot we made plans but I was racing up here to get my board anyway.”
“Where were you going to go? You don’t have transport do you?”
“No. I guess just down to the bay.” Cove scoffs.
“No way. That’s shit. Grab your stuff and I’ll drop you anywhere you wanna go. If you want to surf alone, I’ll leave you to it. Just text me when you’re done and I’ll pick you up.”
“What if…what if I still want to surf with you?”
His smile lights up his face.
“Get your stuff. I’ll wait here.”
What am I doing?
I race to unlock my door, flinging it open and grabbing a bikini from my drawer. I dart into the bathroom to change, wincing when I see the state of my arms. I didn’t know it was that bad. I quickly wash the blood away with cold water and scrub at my nails. I know the ocean could take care of it, but I don’t want to draw Cove’s attention to it if he hasn’t seen it already.
I pull some jean shorts and a new vest top on over my black bikini, and stuff my rashie into my bag with my phone before lifting my woody under my arm.
“Let me take that,” Cove says, jumping forward to take the board from me when I walk out. I let him take it so that I can lock up but he doesn’t give it back when I’m done, tucking it under his arm way more easily than I ever can. With his free hand he threads his fingers between mine and tugs me gently down the corridor and out of the dorm.
He straps the board into the back of the buggy alongside his and I toss my bag down by my feet as I take my seat.
“Want me to drive?” I offer.
“Hell no. You scratched it last time, and I got my ass handed to me by its owner!”
“I did not,” I protest. He laughs and pulls out of the parking space, tossing his phone into my lap.
“Here, connect that to the Bluetooth and hit go on my surfing playlist.”
