MIDDAY SUN BEATS down around us at the cove. It reminds me so much of the small inlet Lily and I were at a couple of weeks ago.
The bonfire that changed everything.
Except now, a lack of people crowd the shoreline. One of the best parts about my surfing class has been discovering so many of the locals-only beaches in Rio. This secluded cove is perfect for the tandem surfing session today.
“I’m so wet.” Lily pants under the hot sun as I wax the surfboard.
She returned to acting like nothing’s out of the ordinary. Maybe I was off base with my presumption that she’s somehow connected to this Zoe Mona personality.
Or I’m closer to the truth than she lets on.
“You haven’t even gotten into the water yet.”
She faces me, wiping sweat off her forehead. “Why is no one else getting ready?”
“They did their tandem surfs yesterday,” I say, keeping a straight face.
The rest of my surf class sits by the shoreline, drinking and setting up firewood for our sunset end of class celebration. I can’t believe I convinced Lily that to graduate surf school I needed a partner to tandem surf with.
She might kill me, but I couldn’t resist getting her to try something new.
I yank the board beneath one of my arms.
“You look like a s*xy aquatic version of Catwoman.” I eye Lily in her all-black swim attire.
“Cats don’t like water.”
“Your constantly wet pussy says otherwise.”
“Oh, shut up.” She swats me with the back of her hand. “Forget what I said about being wet. It’s a full-blown Sahara Desert there now.”
“Need me to assist?” I land a heavy drop of spit on two of my fingers and hold the wet digits up to her face.
She rolls her eyes.
“Just your fingers? I was hoping for your tongue.” Lily wraps her hand around my wet fingers and drags them toward her lips.
Wow, I was expecting a slap on the cheek. I swallow. “Anything you want, princesa.”
She smirks before dropping her lips open. My pulse hammers in my ears. In a blink, she swipes my hand from her mouth and straight into my face.
I yip. A gob of spit trickles from my eye.
I deserved that.
“Exactly what I wanted.” Lily hikes up her nose before she trots off down the beach.
“You’re wild.” I wipe my skin clean, tighten the surfboard leash around my ankle and chase after her like a puppy.
“I know, and you’re lucky you’re cute. Now, can we get this over with?”
Lily Rodin thinks I’m cute. The thrumming in my blood escalates again.
The surfboard floats on the surface of the water next to me as we walk out until we’re covered to the hip. The small waves make it difficult to steady the board, but she eventually climbs onto it, laying on her stomach.
“C’mon, grumpy, spread those legs.”
She turns to look back at me, and her hair swats me in the face. “Wait, what? I thought you were going to be in the front or something.”
“I’ll lie right between your thighs and paddle us deeper into the water. Once we catch a wave, I’ll stand first and pull you up. One solid wave, and we’re done.”
“This seems like a ploy to stare at my ass,” she yells over the crash of waves, but does as she’s told.
I hoist my body up, planting my chest on her thighs and my bottom half on the rest of the board. “Since when is that a bad thing?”
“It’s not.”
“Good.” I sink my teeth into the plump softness of her left butt cheek. “Hey.” Lily tries to wiggle out of my grasp. “What the hell?”
My hands pull her toward me. “Making sure you taste good enough for the sharks.”
“There are sharks?” Her shaky voice travels back to me with the sea breeze.
“I’ll keep you safe, don’t worry.”
“What are you going to do against a shark attack?”
“Show them that right hook of yours.” I catch the formation of a wave coming our way and turn the nose of the board to the shoreline. “Come on, Lil. When I say now, you’re going to follow me into a standing position.”
The swell of water approaches. I paddle forward, riding the wave, until I hop up.
“Now,” I shout, but she doesn’t move. “Stand up.” “I’m good down here!”
“You can do this, be brave.” My hands scoop beneath her arms, tugging her up. “Now!”
She drags her legs beneath her and tucks her knees to her chest like we practiced on the shore for the past hour. There’s enough momentum for her to pull into a brief crouch. When she tries to stand, the back of her head collides with my balls. A sharp pain spears up through my stomach and into the base of my throat. The scream erupting through me is enough to summon Poseidon’s rage. I wipe out and sink under the water.
I wash up near the sand, yanking on leash to grab the board. I pluck myself out of the water and collapse onto the beach.
“Are you okay?” Lily shouts from the coast.
“Fine,” I lie, trying to catch my breath. I could put an end to this ridiculous situation, but something inside me wants to see her succeed outside of her comfort zone. “Let’s go again, we can do it.”
“I’m trying, I promise. I almost stood up.” “I know you did, pretty girl. Come on.”
She follows me into the water, and we wade our way into the ocean. For the next half hour, we follow the same routine: we paddle, I stand, Lily almost stands, we restart. My muscles scream at me to tell her the whole thing was a terrible joke, but there’s finally an easy wave coming at us.
One more.
I hop to my feet. “Now, Lily. One, two, three. Just trust me.”
To my surprise, Lily hikes herself up and stands. Any of her previous tentativeness has been washed away with the tide.
“We’re surfing!” She lets out one of the most joyous screams I’ve ever heard, and a mixture of shock and laughter pours out of her.
I hold on to her hips, knitting her body into mine and doing my best to keep her steady.
“We’re fucking surfing, Nico. Can you be—” Lily turns to me, but the jolt causes us to lose our footing, and we tumble into the water.
We wash up on the shore. Lily runs straight for me to jump into my arms.
“That was so much fun,” she squeals. I hold on to her thighs, spinning her around in circles. “I did it.”
“You were incredible, a total natural.”
Lily’s fingers get lost in the damp strands of hair at the back of my neck. Time feels sluggish as the beach fades into the background. The beat of my heart slows with it.
She whispers into the tempting space between us. “Thank you for encouraging me.”
“I got you, remember?”
She nods. Her eyes reflect the softness mine must be echoing. We’re becoming something more. I’m not sure what exactly, but I know that my feelings for her refuse to stop growing.
I trace my gaze over the curve of her smile. The familiar scent of her namesake mixes with the salt air and practically tangos along my senses. Her forehead collapses to mine, and I can almost taste her lips.
“Nico, I—”
“So cool, guys,” Marcelo interrupts.
Lily slides away from me, tucking her hair behind her ears. For fuck’s sake. What was she going to say?
“Lily, you didn’t tell us you were practicing,” João chimes in, only a few steps behind Marcelo. “We could’ve gone with you.”
I look at him and hope to clearly communicate that she’s mine.
Lily bats her hand in front of her. “I don’t know if I could’ve been your plus-one. That was enough for me.”
“What?” Marcelo asks.
“Your surf partner.” Lily tries to jog their memory. “To graduate.”
I shoot death stares at my friends, trying to get them to play along.
Instead, Marcelo and João send me a let’s-fuck-with-Nico look.
Her gaze skips between their faces. “Who did you tandem surf with?”
Marcelo snorts. “You don’t have to tandem surf to graduate.”
She spins toward me. If we were in a cartoon, a grand piano would be falling on my head right now. I glance up at the pale-blue sky.
All clear.
But boy, oh boy, Lily’s fucking mad.
“Nico—” Lily punches my bicep as though she’s a WWE wrestler closing out the show.
“Ouch.” I run my hand over the blister of pain. Marcelo and João both grin widely.
“You’re the worst,” she says. “But you looked so cool.”
Lily stands between them and loops her arms through theirs. “Come on, guys, help me figure out how I can get revenge on Nico.” They shrug at me and happily follow her to join our group farther up the beach, where music drifts from a speaker.
I watch her walk away, the smell of her skin still drifting in the air.
