Page 68 of Finish Line

“Sounds good.” Once dressed, she walks over to me and grabs my right hand. I steer her toward a path to the left, which leads to a parking lot about a five-minute walk from the top of the hill. “Wait, so anyone could have come up and caught us at any time?”

I nod. “Yep.”

Her mouth falls open. “You told me no one was here.”

“There wasn’t.” I smile. “At the time.”

She punches me in the arm.

“Ouch.” I laugh.

Her cheeks burn crimson. “That’s not what I meant.”

“No one came up. Plus, it made it more exciting, didn’t it?” I waggle my eyebrows.

She shakes her head and climbs in the car. As we drive down the mountain, I hold her hand. I can’t help but love the solid press of her engagement ring against my hand. I spin the ring back and forth, and she squeezes my hand back in acknowledgment.

It’s late afternoon before we make it back to the house. When we walk through the doors, no one is in the house, and no one answers when I call out that we are home.

I walk to the deck with Shelby’s hand still in mine and gaze down at the beach.

The guys sit around a small bonfire. Cam says something that causes Dom’s head to tip back, and we can hear his laughter all the way up at the house.

“Do you not want to go join them?” I ask.

“Let’s.”

Hand in hand, we walk down to the bonfire.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

MAV

I’m up way too early, especially after going to bed late, but Cam wanted to surf before the water got too crowded. I go to the boat house and grab my board.

Cam, Shelby, and Luke are waiting for me when I walk down the path.

“Good morning, Knight.” Cam sounds way too alert for this ungodly hour.

“If you say so. How can you be so chipper after only a few hours of sleep?” I yawn.

“Genetics. Are you ready to do some surfing?” Cam pokes me in the side.

“Yep. I’m excited to see our girl out there,” I say, more alert.

“Well, time’s a wastin’.” Luke chuckles.

We race into the water and wait around for the right wave. One’s coming, and I motion to Shelby to take it. She paddles and jumps up, sticking her feet to the board.

“Damn. She’s good and sexy as hell.”

Her hair whips behind her, and her skin glows with a golden tan. Plus, she’s in nothing but her rash guard and bikini bottoms. The absolute joy on her face as her board glides across the wave’s surface excites me about how far she’s come.

I take a few waves, but mostly, I wipe out.

After about an hour, I call it quits. I’m too tired to be doing this. “Hey, Princess. Be ready by one for our date, okay?”

She nods before turning to check out the set coming in.

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