Page 33 of A Love Letter to Whiskey
Today would be a good day.
“What’s that?” Jamie asked, eying my old simple bathing suit I was wearing under my t-shirt and shorts.
“My swim suit?”
He chuckled. “You’re going to freeze. Do you have a wetsuit?” I shook my head and he kicked the Jeep into drive. “Alright then, that will be our first stop.”
The conversation on the way to the beach was easy, mostly Jamie telling me about his favorite surfing spots he’d found since he’d been there. He was taking me to Windansea, which was insane in itself considering how many times I’d heard about it from watching pro surfing on TV. It wasn’t that I was obsessed with watching surf, because surfing was always more of a personal release for me, but I did catch it from time to time. And Windansea was often mentioned as home turf for big-time surfers.
My phone pinged with a text from Ethan just as we arrived at the beach, my brand new wetsuit folded across my lap and waiting for me to slip into it. Jamie hopped out of the Jeep quickly to get to work on taking our boards down while I stared, wondering what to say back.
— Hey, just tried to surprise you with breakfast in bed. Where are you? —
I thumbed out a response, but debated the last part. Deciding against adding who I was with, I stuck to just answering his question.
— Decided to finally check out the surf. Call you when I’m back on campus? —
— Sounds like a plan. I wanna take my girl to dinner. —
I smiled.
— I’d like that. —
— Then it’s a date. Have fun out there! —
I tucked my phone into the pocket on my beach bag and sighed, feeling a strange pang of guilt twist in my stomach. I wasn’t doing anything wrong by surfing with Jamie, so then why did I feel inclined to keep his name out of my answer to Ethan?
“Ready?” Jamie popped up beside me, opening the passenger side door wide as I hopped out. And that’s when it hit me.
I was about to surf the waves in California.
My smile felt too big for my face as I picked up my board from where it leaned against Jamie’s Jeep. “Let’s do this.”
We made our way down to the beach, which was mostly rock and looked nearly vacant as the sun rose behind us. There were a few surfers already out in the water, but it was nowhere near as crowded as the beaches back home would have been. Then again, it was October, and we were early. I imagined it’d fill up soon enough.
Jamie and I wasted no time, dropping our bags near a small surf shack and pulling on our wetsuits. It felt weird to me at first, but the minute my toes touched the icy water, I was instantly thankful for the coverage. I hissed, stepping back at first, and Jamie laughed.
“Told you you’d freeze.”
Thankfully, the sun was already starting to warm the air around us, and the cold water wasn’t enough to keep me from one of my dreams — surfing in California.
The minute I laid my board down and climbed on, strap around my ankle and arms on each side ready to paddle, I instantly felt at home.
“God, I’ve missed this,” I whispered.
“Me too,” Jamie answered, but he wasn’t on his board yet. He was staring at me, instead. I sat up, straddling my board, and smiled back at him. His hair had grown out a bit since I’d arrived on campus, and in that moment — in the water, climbing onto his board — he felt like my Jamie.
I learned a lot about myself that day. Like that no matter how big my mouth was, it was tougher surfing in California than I thought. Not that I couldn’t do it, because I did, but paddling out wasn’t as easy as it was in Florida, and the waves were bigger here, which meant adjusting my knowledge on when to catch them and how to ride. I got the hang of it soon enough, and Jamie and I caught wave after wave all morning and well into the early afternoon.
Still, we had to take a lot of breaks. My stamina was sad compared to what it had been in the Florida surf. But Jamie had packed us a lunch, so we spent a lot of time on the beach, laughing and soaking up the sun — which I was the most grateful for. I hadn’t expected the water to be as cold as it was, and that combined with the intensity of the surf was exhausting in the best way.
We slowed down after lunch, taking our time, sitting side by side on our boards and talking between catching waves. When the sun was high in the sky and the waves more crowded, I knew we needed to head back to campus so I could get ready for my date with Ethan. I didn’t want to leave the waves, but then again I knew they’d be here, and I hoped Jamie would want to bring me out again soon.
