Page 81 of Guys Can't Write Romance
“Since it worked for McKenzie.”
Chapter nineteen
Love and Low Tides
The sun was peeking over the city in streamers of orange and pink as Chad and Rhino trudged across the sand in their wetsuits, surfboards tucked under their arms and a slight cooling breeze ruffling through their hair.
The beach was calm and quiet in the early morning hour, the only sounds coming from the squawks of seagulls circling overhead and the faint crash of waves on the shore. Ahead of them, the ocean stretched to the horizon, a deep blue sky bleeding into pink, yellow, and orange as it met the water.
“Figures it’d be flat,” Rhino muttered, staring at the mostly ripple-free ocean.
Despite the hangover, Chad let out a small chuckle. “That’s karma for dragging me out last night.”
“Are you gonna keep whining about that?” Rhino said.
“That’s the plan,” Chad said, glancing toward the gently rolling waves as they neared the shore.
“Then I’m bringing earplugs next time. So how’s the book coming?”
“It would be coming a lot better if some idiots didn’t drag me out on an intervention.”
“Damn. I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
“Yup.”
They reached the shoreline and waded into the water. Climbing onto their boards, they paddled smoothly across the water. Chad settled into the rhythm, the pull, the glide, the pressure of his hands cutting through the ocean, and let his mind drift somewhere between the blue sky and the sparkle of waves. Out here, it was easy to think about nothing at all. Or at least, it should have been.
But when they finally reached the lineup and sat on their boards, legs dangling into the water and waves lapping gently beneath them, nothing at all quickly became something very specific.
Rhino leaned back slightly, his bare feet bobbing near the surface of the water. “So. This writing contest. You think you’ve got a shot? And don’t tell me you would, if some idiots hadn’t dragged you out last night. I get it already.”
Chad snickered. “I don’t know. Maybe.” He looked back and squinted at the horizon. “I guess it depends.”
“On what?” Rhino said. “On how Daisy’s date with the banker went?”
Chad rolled his eyes. “I thought you gave up meddling after your epic fail at intervention last night.”
Rhino smirked. “Bro, last night proved that meddling is my art form.” He turned to look at Chad, his expression softening slightly as he said, “But seriously, though. You guys don’t see it, or maybe you do and you’re pretending not to, but you balance each other out.”
Chad glanced at Rhino, surprised by his rare moment of insight. “You’re saying that because I’m a mess, I need a neat freak to balance me out.”
Rhino nodded. “And because she’s so annoyingly organized and chaos-free, she needs your spontaneity and expertise at disorganization to balance herself out.”
“Did you read that in a fortune cookie?”
Rhino shook his head. “Carly said it at the bar last night. Which you would’ve heard, if you hadn’t been glued to your phone waiting for her to text.”
“Waiting for who to text?”
“Don’t give me that.”
“Dude. She was out with her boyfriend.”
“That didn’t stop you from checking your texts every thirty seconds. Did she text?”
“No.”
“Did you text her?”
