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He groans as Cove and Reef walk out the door. “She’s as bad as you, mate.Don’t touch my baby!” he mimics, sounding nothing like me but making me laugh nonetheless. “I swear, if she wasn’t made for me, you two would be perfect for each other.”
I freeze, worried about how Cove - and maybe even Reef - will react to Bhodi’s words, but they both just laugh and shrug it off. Maybe I need to relax a little. If they’re not worried, then I don’t need to be.
I turn my attention to Reef’s board. He’s holding a small fish with a funky abstract neon pattern on it. I whistle through my teeth. I’ll be impressed if he can ride that well. Shortboards are notoriously difficult. I’ll stick to my woody.
“Everyone ready?” Reef asks. I nod and Cove passes me a bottle of water.
“Gotta stay hydrated, Mai-Tai.”
“Yeah, it’s a real desert out there,” I joke. While I’m distracted, flirting with Cove, Bhodi presses his advantage and slips my board out from under my arm. “Hey!”
“Snooze ya lose, little dot.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he replies with a smug look.
“Well in that case, the last one in the water is cooking tea!”
I take off with a shriek and race across the sand. With only my towel and bottle of water to carry, I’m streaks ahead of the others, though with his fish, Reef is easily hot on my heels. I dump my things on the sand, drop my shorts and race into the water without regret. It’s not even cold, unlike the lake, and I happily dive under the surface and swim out past the breakers. It’s exhilarating and grounding all at once, and I swear, the saltwater must be getting to me because I’m sure I see the flash of a mermaid’s tale as I swim.
I break the surface, laughing to myself at the absurdity.
“What you laughing at, pretty girl?” Reef asks, sitting beside me on his board.
“You’ll think it’s crazy,” I begin with a shake of my head, still laughing at myself.
“Malia. Don’t do that.”
“Sorry. But it’s funny. I thought I saw something in the water.”
“Like a shark?”
“More like a fish.”
“Oh, well, that’s pretty normal. There’s some great snorkelling and scuba diving on the island. Not so much on this beach though.”
“No, like a really big fish. I thought I saw a mermaid.” I laugh uproariously at how insane it sounds saying it out loud, but Reef doesn’t join me. I glance over at him to find him staring at me, a frown on his face.
“Ah so I finally did it,” I tease.
“Did what?”
“Managed to say something to convince you that I’m crazy.”
“Not at all. I just wasn’t expecting you to say that. Oh look, Bhodi’s finally made it, let’s go grab your board.”
“Go ahead. I want to see what you can do on that thing.”
Reef grins then winks at me, before paddling his board around, ready to catch the next set. He only has to wait a minute before a decent wave comes along, and he easily drops in on it and pops to his feet with grace. He rides the wave smoothly, twisting and turning and performing some impressive stunts. I wonder if he’s showing off, trying to impress me. It’s working.
I start to swim with the next wave, allowing it to carry me closer to shore and then ducking under the surface before it breaks. I have to kick hard to avoid the ebb, but the current isn’t too strong today so it’s not dangerous.
I pop back up and take a deep breath, then walk the rest of the way in the shallows to get my board from Bhodi.
“Can’t wait to see what feast you concoct for us tonight,” I joke, rubbing it in as I take my board.
“Joke’s on you, little dot. Saturday night’s always a takeaway night.”
