Page 9 of Barefoot Chaos
The statement hung in the air and I didn't know how to respond. Did we have a 'moment'? Was she friends with Kai because of her fiancé? And if so, did I dare tell her how I felt about him?
I was saved from answering by Bailey entering the room loaded down with more clothes.
"Okay, I pulled an LBD, which every woman should have, a few more casual dinner outfits, and just a few colorful things for fun." She hung it all up on the hooks on the wall, then spun around to look at us. "Why is it so silent in here?"
"I was just questioning Hessa here on her dating prospects. She and Kai had an interesting exchange the other day and I wanted to know what was going on," Esa spilled.
"Reaaallllyyyy?" Bailey's eyebrows went up in her hairline.
"I don't know if I'd call it a 'moment' but he's a very nice man to look at," I admitted.
"Very nice? That's like how you'd describe the eighty-year-old next-door neighbor or that tomato soup at that place off Magnolia. Give us something better, girlie." Bailey folded her arms over her chest and gave me an encouraging smile.
I blew out a big breath, boosted by the caffeine, and launched into it. I told them how I felt when I first saw him, how he bought me a hot chocolate, and the conversation in the gymnasium. When I finished they both had smiles on their faces and looked ready to jump up and down in excitement.
Bailey clapped her hands and whipped the LBD off the hanger. "We better get back to work so you have something to wear when that boy asks you out. Mark my words: he'll ask you out. I've gotten to know the habits of these lifeguards. It's just a matter of time."
I walked out of the store with my bank account several paychecks lighter, but my heart lighter too. I'd found friends and I'd found courage and hope. Which was priceless, really.
4
Kai
It'd only been two days, but I was finding it hard to focus on my job when all I could think about was that teacher walking away from me, the way she'd looked at me, the way I'd felt around her. It was ridiculous, really. She was completely not my type. I wanted a woman who was low maintenance, not a prim and proper teacher in heels and a sexy skirt. One who could hang with me at the beach all day, not fry the moment her skin was touched by the sun. A woman content to get her hands dirty in nature, not study the nuances of various languages from the safety of a book or computer.
Yet. I couldn't get her out of my mind. So I took the leap of logic most besotted fools do and decided I needed to see her again. See her faults, be annoyed by her quirks. That would cure me. In the meantime, I'd keep reminding myself to focus on my job and let the rest go. Time to rely on my meditation skills that were supposed to have trained my brain to focus.
Mid-shift on Monday, I was glad for the concentration because I spotted a guy carting a shortboard out into the water north of the pier, directly in front of my tower. He didn't have a wet suit on which was my first clue he wasn't an experienced surfer. That and he never stopped to watch the sets come in. He just walked right into the water and plopped down on his board. He paddled out by the pier which was normal, but instinct told me to keep my eye on him.
After he'd made it out past the break, he straddled his board and it was so short, only the very tip of it was still out of the water as he waited for a wave. He didn't wait long. Laying flat on the board, he started frantically paddling, trying to catch a wave that he wasn't fast enough for. He attempted to stand and the wave crashed over his head. I lost sight of him as he went under in the white water, taking a hard hit.
I grabbed the phone and called it in, grabbed my red buoy and raced down the sand. I did the high knees run once I hit the water in a run-and-swim entry. I hadn't seen him surface and his board shot by me, on its way to shore. I swam out where I last spotted him. I dove down and spotted him floating approximately three feet below the surface. I pulled him up, laying him on my buoy and towed him in. By the time I reached the shore, a lifeguard truck from headquarters had pulled up. Ivan and Jax jumped out to start assessing the victim as I tried to catch my breath and fill them in on what happened.
They'd just started chest compressions when he coughed and spit out some ocean water. Knowing he'd make it, I collected his board from the sand where it washed up and brought it up to the truck. Once he was stable, we loaded him up in the truck and they took off.
I grabbed my buoy and headed back to my tower. Crossing the sand, I heard a group of people talking about the guy I just rescued. Something they said caught my attention, prompting me to approach them.
"Sorry to interrupt. Did you say something about a dare?" That was the exact word Jackson had used in the hospital.
One of the guys spoke up. "Yeah, when they got him sitting up, he was saying that he'd just been trying to 'do his dare'." He used his hands to make air quotes.
I could feel a frown taking over my face at this news. "Did he say anything else?"
"No, man. That was it. I thought maybe he was doing the Care Dare that Surf City High does, but he looked too old to still be in high school."
I grunted and thanked him for his help. I continued up the sand to my tower, waving off the replacement lifeguard, letting him know I was ready to hold my position again. All afternoon I tossed the words around in my head. Could my last two saves be about this Care Dare thing? Was it coincidence? Sounded like I'd be paying a visit to Hessa's school again soon.
Wednesday rolled around and I found myself rushing to finish my shift so I'd have time to shower before I headed to the high school and then to Chocolate Dreams for our weekly meet-up. I told myself I was just washing off the salt water, but I was spending a ridiculous amount of time getting my hair to lay flat with some new gel I just bought. Disgusted with myself, I washed my hands and grabbed my keys, forcing my current hair to be good enough.
I probably wouldn't even see Hessa.
I entered the school office ten minutes before classes got out. I asked for the teacher coordinating the Care Dare program while flashing my lifeguard information and was told to head to room 207. I'd done some research the last two days and learned what the program was all about. It sounded ridiculously dangerous and unnecessary. Challenging hormonal teens to do things they were scared to do? What purpose did that serve except to give me job security rescuing them?
A loud bell rang and all the doors on the second floor flung open, spitting out hordes of kids as they rushed to get off campus as quickly as possible. I waited until the door to room 207 closed again and no further students exited. I thought I should knock, but then thought better of it. Who knocks politely at a high school?
I whipped the door open, ready to reason with the teacher behind this asinine program. What I actually did was take a step into the classroom and drop my jaw on the floor.
Bent over, hands in a bottom drawer of the desk at the front of the room, was the most delectable ass I'd ever seen. A grey skirt was pulled tight over a round bottom, hips my hands itched to hold onto, and a pair of legs on display from the skirt's slit up the back. Black stilettos topped off the porn-star pose. All thoughts of why I was here drained from my head, leaving me horny and confused.
