Page 60 of Caelum

“Surfing,” heclarified.

“Oh. LikeSurf’s Up?”

Frazer snickered and shot me a look I couldn’t analyze—he was hard to read. “You mean the penguin movie?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t know what surfing was, so Eren decided to educate me.”

“With a cartoon?” Another snicker followed by a swift shake of his head. He got to his feet and beckoned to me with his hand.

Curious, I followed and stood on the edge of a very high, very craggy cliff. It was strangely beautiful. Was I scared? Considering there was a seven hundred feet drop? Sure. But the wind blasted me in the face while the sun burned hotly from above.

I felt safe.

It was strange to recognize that when I didn’t know Frazer all that well, but Iknewhe wouldn’t hurt me.

If anything, there was a gentleness to his eyes that I hadn’t seen when he was in the gym. It came when he looked at me, and his smile? It would have melted chocolate. Not because it was loaded with heat, but it emitted a continuous stream of warmth that had me gnawing on my own bottom lip in confusion.

He raised his arm and, pointing at the waves, said, “The island is a surfer’s paradise.”

“It is?” I just saw waves. “Why? Or should I be asking Reed that?”

His lips curved. “No, I can answer. There are several coves here, plenty of beaches, and each with different conditions that mean there’s usually surf on one side of the island whenever he needs it.” When I stared at him in surprise, he shrugged. “I’ve been with my brothers enough to know their quirks, so I’ve picked up on their hobbies. I can even translate surfer talk now.” That had his smile widening.

“Oh?” I’d admit to being curious about Reed. As far as I’d learned, there was only one man in his year that was aligned with the Hell Hound. I knew from my own experience the wrath that swathed me in its toxic embrace on those days, and yet, in his own way, Reed seemed quite chilled despite his Hell Hound proclivities.

“Yes. Oh.” Another smile that started to fade as he explained, “Reed surfs to forget.” A shorter, harder smile. “If only that worked for me.”

God, I wanted to ask what they wanted to forget, but instead, I murmured, “Does it work for Reed?”

“When he can surf for hours? Yes. It calms him down.” He cut me a quick look. “You know he’s going to be a Hell Hound, don’t you?”

I snorted. “I have ears, don’t I? That’s all most people talk about. And the fact that you’re a Sin Eater.”

When Stefan told me that he was going to be an Incubus, his shoulders had puffed up in a way that told me he was proud. But Frazer? There was no pride on his face or in his posture at my words.

If anything, he turned away from me like he was ashamed.

I found myself wanting to reach out, to touch him, but that would be wrong.

His voice was a rasp as he stated, “See those waves there? The ones close to the beach?”

“Yes,” I mumbled, staring at the spot he was pointing to. I’d never gone to the beach, even though I knew everyone did on the weekend. Even the boys. They tried to drag me there but I couldn’t go.

Not when I’d seen what the girls wore.

“Those waves are intense.”

“Why?” It was a long, continual stream of a wave with a foamy middle that seemed to extend for a long time. It was also quite high, and I wasn’t sure how anyone could surf it without hurting themselves.

“It’s called a break. The seabed is formed from coral and volcanic rock, and the water breaks over them and forges very high peaks. Reed told me he surfed a double overhead once.”

“What does that mean?”

“Sorry. I’m used to his slang. It means it was double his height.”

My eyes widened. “But he’s very tall.”

He grinned. “Exactly. He was buzzing that day. See that cove?” He pointed to an area farther along the coast, around twenty or so miles away from where we were standing.

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