Page 52 of Catch a Wave

“I get that. And I thought this might happen. I mean, it’s like the worst sort of science experiment. You take two people who were madly in love with one another—the kind of love most people only dream of finding. Then you throw them into a trauma where they reevaluate their own lives and also remember how much they meant to one another. And then you stick them in the same little beach cottage where they’re in one another's personal space at all hours of the day? No one could escape that sort of setup.”

“Wow. Just wow. I never took you for such a cynic.”

“Forgive me for not buying a ticket and hopping on the Bodhi Merrick fan club express. I’m just your voice of reason.”

“I have a voice of reason in my head. She sounds a lot like you, come to think of it.”

“Good. That’s what she should sound like.”

“You should see Bodhi now.”

I try to force my voice to sound more like I’m talking about a kitchen chair than the man who makes my heart rate spike like he always has, only maybe even more so now that we’ve both faced tragedy.

“Do you need me to fly there when the competition’s over so I can see what’s what?”

“No. I definitely don’t need that.”

“Okay. I would, though. In a hot minute. I’d love to see you anyway.”

“I’d love to see you too, but give me some time. I’m doing well, but I just need … a little time.”

“I know. And that’s why you need to watch yourself aroundhim. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will.”

“Talk to me about what you think you want here. I’m actually way more objective than you are when it comes to the subject of your ex.”

I’m not really sure Leilani is more objective, considering how fiercely defensive she gets on my behalf.

“I don’t know. My body and heart want him. My head is all over the place.”

“This is worse than I thought.”

“Worse?”

“You’ve only been there three weeks and you’re already ready to open the doors wide and go back to what you had with him.”

“Not back, Lei. Forward. Whatever Bodhi and I do, it’s not going to be what we were. We’ll have to build something new. And we’re just friends anyway. Just friends. Nothing else is happening. Don’t worry.”

Leilani’s kind enough to drop the subject.

She fills me in on the competition. I tune out at times. As much as I want to focus on all she’s sharing, it’s a bit much, hearing about all the waves and surfers, and who’s topping each heat so far. I had almost forgotten what I would have been doing if I hadn’t been thrown off that wave at Mavericks.

Mavs.

That name.

I let Bodhi call me Mavs. I haven’t stopped him. It doesn’t mean Leilani’s right. Nothing’s happening between me andBodhi. We’re just building a friendship, and he’s trying to make up for abandoning me when everything blew up two years ago.

It’sthe second night Shaka’s been in the house. He curls at my feet during dinner. He sits quietly on the floor behind Bodhi and me while we rinse dishes and load the dishwasher together. Kai took off right after dinner to help fix a plumbing issue on the other side of the island.

Aren’t there plumbers on the island?I had asked him.

She called me,was his answer. She who?

Bodhi and Kai had exchanged a look. Now I’m dying to know whosheis that has my brother taking off after a long day working at the watersports shack so he can help with a plumbing issue.

With Kai gone it’s just me and Bodhi and Shaka.

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