Page 23 of Meet You in the Waves
ajay
Ihonestly wasn’t sure whether to expect to see Nick for our usual dawn surf the morning after the beach party. Any other day after such a late night I would have given it a miss in lieu of a sleep in myself.
But for reasons I didn’t want to investigate too closely I woke at my usual time feeling antsy. Unsettled. Kira was still asleep, her long blonde hair spilled out across the pillow beside me and I knew she would be out of it for a while. Mornings were a thing that belonged to me alone out of my friendship group.
Well, me and Nick.
And with that thought to spur me on I stumbled out of bed and pulled on the first pair of blue boardies I found in my drawer. I’d been feeling antsy a lot this week, some ever present itch scraping at the insides of my stomach that only seemed to be growing. At the risk of sounding like a Green Day song, I’d kind of even wondered if it had been lack of sex that was making me feel this way.
But even as I let my gaze drift down over Kira’s beautiful form as she slept soundly on my bed, I knew it wasn’t that. Honestly, I’d never really been one of those guys that was always gagging for it. I mean, I was interested enough in sex as a concept but Icould pretty much take it or leave it which I knew didn’t really speak in glowing terms about me as a healthy twenty year old guy.
I shoved those thoughts aside and made my way downstairs and out onto the deck. I found myself alone out here with the soft light of the rising sun just making itself known and I tried to tamp down on the rise of irrational disappointment. Nick had stayed out on the beach far later than me so it only made sense he would be too tired for a surf this morning.
Nick, who had told me he was gay last night, a fact I had not picked up on before then. But I’d since had a full night to think it over and I had come to the realisation it was probably me who had been blind to the evidence. Nick had always had this flirty way about him that I had put down to personality. I still put it down to personality because I was sure he was flirty with everybody, not just me. The guy had kissed both of his best friends after all, among various other things I was still actively not thinking about. Or trying to not actively think about at least.
Still. I did feel like I’d missed the punchline somewhere along the way.
I picked up my board from where I had left it resting against the boat shed yesterday morning and started to make my way down to the water.
“Ajay! Wait up,” I heard, my heart stuttering in my chest when Nick suddenly appeared in all his golden glory, the low light showing off his blue eyes in the fresh dawn.
“Hey,” I replied. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you this morning.”
“And miss waking up with you?” he returned, sending me the full force of one of those grins. “I don’t think so, Tassie boy.”
Just his personality. It was just his personality I told myself as we slowly made our way down to the water, the waves curling beautifully in a way that had Nick’s eyes lighting up. They looked like they were a little beyond my skillset but I knew I’d have a goat them anyway, if only to prove to myself that I could. Or maybe it was to prove it to my teacher. Who knew at this point.
Nick was quiet this morning, his usual banter silenced. I watched on as he got the drop on an amazing wave, performing the most perfect aerial trick that I still hadn’t learnt the correct name of. He was so good out here on the waves, all eyes glued on him like they always seemed to be wherever he went.
In the end I wound up back at the shallower waves this morning and Nick let me be. Usually he would come in and surf some of the easy stuff with me but the lure of those amazing waves was obviously too much for him. I couldn’t blame him.
I eventually caught Nick’s eye and nodded towards the shore and he immediately followed me in. I hadn’t meant to interrupt him but I was done for the morning and wouldn’t have minded just sitting on the sand and watching him for a bit longer.
I felt his hand snag on my bicep just as I made it to the ankle deep water and my eyes fell to where he was holding me.
“Ajay, wait,” Nick said, a cautionary air to his tone that had me stopping. I glanced up at him as he carved a hand through his long hair, a nervous tilt to his body language that had me pausing. “There’s something I thought you should know. I’ve thought about this all night and I want you to know I’m telling you this as your friend, nothing more, okay?”
“Okay,” I returned hesitantly, watching his face as his eyes dropped to the ground. He took a quick breath and then glanced up at me, the rising sun catching his ocean blue eyes and making my insides do that weird pinching thing again.
“Last night, after you’d gone to bed, Kira came onto me,” he told me. I blinked at his words, not quite registering what it was he was saying to me. He’d what? Was he saying he’d hooked up with Kira last night? I took an involuntary step back.
“What?”
“Nothing happened of course,” he rushed to add and I felt that tight band loosen across my chest. Of course nothing would have happened. Why had my thoughts even gone there? Nick wouldn’t do something like that to me. I knew that at my heart. Even if he did happen to like girls instead of guys. Which he didn’t.
“Are you sure?” I asked because I had nothing better to say. Kira was flirty too and I knew that sometimes guys could get the wrong idea from her.
“Well, she basically propositioned me before showing me her tits, so yeah, pretty sure,” he replied, a hint of guilt slicing across his face. He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck and I suddenly felt stupid for questioning him.
“Sorry, that was dumb.”
“Don’t apologise to me, Ajay,” Nick said, taking a small step towards me. He still hadn’t dropped his hold on my bicep and I found I needed his steadying presence right now.
“It’s not your fault, Nick,” I returned, needing him to know that. “I know what Kira can be like when she sees something she wants.”
“And you also know that I would never cheat on you, right?” he asked.
“I know, Nick. I know you wouldn’t. You’re a great guy.”
