Page 39 of Meet You in the Waves
“Sounds about right,” Ajay huffed a laugh. “Will you be gone the whole day?”
“Yep. It’s up at Wollongong so I probably won’t get home until late. But don’t worry, I’ll still have time for a surf.”
“Priorities,” he smiled.
“Absolutely. Believe me, sitting inside a classroom in the middle of a summer’s day is torture. Especially knowing you’re back here.”
“I’ll make sure I have a drink for you.”
“See, that’s why I like you, Ajay,” I said, nudging his arm gently with mine. “Always thinking of others.”
“Pretty sure that’s you, Nick,” Ajay replied.
I had to swallow around my suddenly dry throat before I spoke. “What will you do all day without me?”
“Ah, now that’s a question. I have a feeling I might need to do some pretty serious grovelling with Dane so I’ll probably be doing that. Although hopefully something that doesn’t involve forty dollar cocktails. I should probably get some guitar practice in too. Been neglecting it a bit.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that. You’re amazing. Wish I’d thought to bring your guitar out on the boat with us today actually.”
“Yeah, cos everyone lovesthatguy,” Ajay replied with a laugh.
“Mmm, probably a good call. We don’t want everyone falling in love with you.”
Ajay chuffed a strained laugh at my words. “That’s highly unlikely.”
“Not once you start singing,” I returned, trying to keep my words jokey when they were actually only pure, honest truth. I was pretty sure I had fallen a little in love with him when I’d first heard him sing.
“I’m really not much of a singer,” he replied, complete lack of self-awareness shining through once again. “I prefer to hide behind the guitar.”
“Not much of a singer,” I scoffed. “Honestly, Ajay. One of these days I am going to get you to see yourself through otherpeople’s eyes. Maybe then you’ll see how absolutely incredible you are.”
Ajay said nothing, his eyes on the sand as I wondered whether I had said too much. Again.
“You know I think that way about you too,” he finally said, eyes still firmly on the sand but his words made my heart beat hard in my chest.
“Mutual admiration society,” I grinned.
“Yeah. Sounds about right.”
Oh, Ajay. If only you knew just how deep my particular type of admiration went. I wondered how fast he would go running back up the path away from me if he knew exactly how I had been thinking about him.
CHAPTER 14
ajay
Iwoke with the birds, eager to start the morning off with a surf with Nick. I’d missed being out on the board with him yesterday but then again, I wouldn’t have exchanged even a minute of the day on the boat for the world. It was probably right up there with the best days I’d ever had.
Nick was waiting for me with our boards and his big smile by the time I made my way outside. I wondered how he always managed to beat me down here, always one step ahead of me.
The waves were pumping this morning and I felt a braveness come over me that told me I could tackle them today. Maybe it was something I had borrowed from Nick, this self-belief that he had in spades but was something I could sorely do with more of.
I was riding a high by the time we came in an hour later. I knew Nick had a work training course today so we’d had to come in a little earlier than normal. I reckon I could have stayed out for another hour at least.
Nick jumped under the cold shower while I used the hose to rinse off the boards. My eyes snagged on Nick as he tipped his head back into the water, running his hands through his long hair. Every muscle on his chest caught me in its thrall as thewater snaked down over those pecs and the ridges of his abs, down the valley of that v that led into his board shorts.
He turned off the tap, eyes alighting with a smirk when he found me looking. The hose was still dripping in my hand so I did the mature thing after being caught out staring and sprayed him with it.
“Oh you did not just do that,” Nick said, mock outrage on his face.
