Page 65 of Catch a Wave

“He didn’t moon me. Lei. Calm down.” I wait. “Lei. Seriously.” She’s still laughing at her own joke. “I said he didn’t moon me. The dog popped the door open.”

“I know. I know! And you were shouting and covering your eyes and flailing around … and then. Whew, girl. This is my favorite part.”

“Let’s not.”

“Oh, no. Let’s. Then he brushes past you while you’re acting like all three ofthe emoji monkeys—trying to cover your eyes, ears and mouth all at once! And then he smoothed your hair off your shoulder and placed a soft kiss on your neck? Oh, sweet friend. You are in trouble with a capital T and a final letter E and all the letters in between. I am so buying my ticket to California. Hold the phone while I pull up my travel app.”

“Stop it.” I’m grinning despite her teasing.

She’s so ridiculous I have to smile.

“So? What is the upshot? Are you two pursuing something again, despite my best attempts to warn you not to go there?”

“No. That’s the end of the story—the story you can tell better than me now, apparently. Nothing more. We’re just going through the motions.”

“Mm hmm. And what motions are those exactly?” I can almost see the mischievous glint in her eye.

“Get your head out of the gutter. The motions of living in the same house as good friends who used to date.”

“Let me check something. Hold that thought.” She pauses, so I wait. “Oh. Yeah. I checked. The last time my friend softly brushed my hair away from my shoulder and kissed my neck was … um … let me see here … yep. The twelfth of never.”

“It was nothing. He was half asleep. It was probably an automatic reaction—him acting on a memory. He didn’t put two and two together. He was basically sleepwalking. I shouldn’t have even told you.”

“What? No—no, no, no. You don’t start holding out on me. Promise me. You need me. Remember, I’m the voice of reason.”

“If you’re my voice of reason, I can only imagine what my voice of insanity sounds like.”

“Ha. Ha. Truthfully, though. You sound good. Lighter.”

“I feel good. The boot is off. I walk to the beach every morning. I even put my feet in the water.”

“That’s awesome! Does that mean you’re getting ready to get on a board again?”

“I’m … I’m not sure. Not yet.”

“Okay. That’s fine. No rush. You can take your time getting back into things. You’ll get yourself built back up eventually. We’re all here when you’re ready. Dan’s here. He’s working with a team for a while, but you and I both know he’ll take you on privately as soon as you say the word. Your sponsorships are all on hold, but they’ll support you when you come back.”

“That’s all great. Thanks, Lei.”

I stare out the window of the kitchen. I’ve been mindlessly chewing a cuticle while Leilani gave me a rundown of all the people who are eagerly awaiting my return to surfing. Shaka’s running through the yard chasing a seagull who landed there a minute ago. I watch him make a half-baked attempt at a jump toward the gull. Then he trots toward the back door and I walk over to let him in.

“I better go. I’m meeting someone for coffee.”

“A hot guy?”

“No, not a hot guy. A friend of Kai and Bodhi’s … Um. Actually, it’s Summer Monroe.”

“Shut the front door! You are having coffee with Summer Monroe?”

“Yeah. Her boyfriend works for Kai. We’ve been hanging out a little since I got here.”

“Kai is the boss of Summer Monroe’s boyfriend. Man. Your brother just went up a notch in my book.”

“Like he needed to go up a notch. You always had a crush on him. Don’t promote him too far. He’s still an overbearing pain at times.”

“Ihada crush. I’m over that. Though, I’d love to officially be your sister. But that’s not reason enough to throw myself at your brother. I’m finished chasing men who need to be convinced I’mawesome. And, you might gripe about him being overbearing, but you love him.”

“So much.”

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