Page 9 of Room 810

It turned out Toby had napped too. When I found him in the lobby, his cheeks were flushed, and when he saw me, his whole face lit up. I tried to ignore the way it made my pulse quicken and my skin prickle. I cleared my throat and kept my expression stoic. “So… what’s next?” I asked.

“Let’s getwet!” he said too loudly, and a few heads turned. He giggled. “Whoops! Notthat,” he clarified. “Everybody get your heads out of the gutter!” He winked at me, drawing attention to the pillow crease across his cheek and all the way up through his eyebrow. I looked quickly away, in case I started thinking too hard about how cute he looked when he was sleep-rumpled and fresh out of bed.

True to his word, we got wet—and not inthatway. We went surfing, and while it wasn’t at all something I would normally try, seeing as it involved coordination I didn’t possess, I found that… I didn’t hate it.

We started on the beach, just learning how to get up on the board. The instructor, Eric, demonstrated a few times. I nearly scoffed at how silly and basic it sounded, but apparently, there was a certain skill involved in even these basics. I nearly tipped over on that first pop up from my belly, and Toby’s giggle had my cheeks reddening in embarrassment. “I’d like to see you do better,” I sassed at him over my shoulder.

“All right then, I will,” he said playfully, not at all perturbed by my attitude. And when he shoved off the board, he landed awkwardly and fell straight over, nearly faceplanting into the sand.

My laugh burst out, surprising me. I slapped a hand across my mouth to hold it in, shocked by the force of it. I was usually in better control of my emotions. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh,” I said, but he threw his head back and laughed right along with me, a musical peal that seemed to dance through the air.

“Are you kidding? It was hilarious! Laugh all you want, I deserved it.” His eyes seemed to twinkle, but it was probably just from the sun overhead.

We were soon sweating as the day’s heat reached its peak, and I was looking forward to jumping into the water to cool off. I peeled my shirt up and off, tossing it in the pile of our stuff under a palm tree. “Good idea,” Toby said, doing the same.

I tried to focus on the lesson, but my eyes kept being drawn to where Toby was hopping up on his board beside me. Now that he’d abandoned his gauzy robe, I got a clear look at his lean torso, and his muscles bunched and flexed as he moved, twisting to keep his balance. His skin was bronzed from days spent in the sun, and the sheen of sweat made him practically glow.

I tore my gaze away.He’s not the omega for you, I reminded myself. Sure, he was good-looking in a confident, carefree, fun kind of way, but I was leaving tomorrow night, and I most definitely was not the type for flings. And since I lived by the rule never to stay at the same resort twice, I was destined never to see him again. To fall for him was a set-up for failure and heartbreak.

“All right, good work, guys,” Eric said in his thick Spanish accent, clapping his hands once. “I think you are ready to take things to the next level.” We were heading into the ocean.

Luckily, we were nestled in a cove here, with a coral reef out at sea, which stopped the waves from getting too big. They were plenty big enough, if you asked me. As I stepped in, the water lapped around my ankles. I braced myself for the chill, but it was warmer than I expected, almost like bath water. The farther from shore we got, the colder the water, and also, the stronger the current. Each wave pushed my body back a step, followed by an insistent pull back out to sea. My unease grew. I wasn’t exactly the strongest swimmer.

Up on our boards, we began to paddle out. “Not too far,” Eric reminded us. “The ocean is stronger than she looks.” And she already looked pretty darn strong to me. Eric made it look effortless; it was clear he did this all the time. Meanwhile, my shoulders were already aching.

Finally, we were facing the shore, ready to catch our first wave. My heart was fluttering, my anxiety freezing me in place.I don’t think I can do this…

Without a single lick of doubt, Toby laid down on his board and began to move his arms. “Here I go!” he cried out in excitement, working hard to catch the wave… and missing it. It rolled under him, his board rising and falling, before the wave kept right on going, where it crashed against the beach. “Oh, never mind. Next time for sure.” His casual demeanor brought me a certain sense of comfort. Maybe I could do it after all, if only I could be more like Toby.

I didn’t manage to catch the first wave I tried, or the second, but soon enough, I found the board surging forward, and I leaped up just like we’d been taught—and fell into the water. It was a little disorienting, being tumbled around under the wave, but the sun above acted like a beacon, and I swam hard for the surface.

When I emerged, Toby was there, grinning wide. “That was so great! You almost had it.” While I suspected he would’ve praised me either way, his words had me smiling despite my failure.

There were more misses than not, but with each wave, we got more and more confident, steadier on our feet. We moved a little farther out and kept at it.

“Last wave, guys,” Eric told us. “It’s getting late, and the weather’s about to turn.” Toby’s head whipped sharply in his direction, but Eric didn’t elaborate. And it was true, it was getting late. The sun was sinking toward the horizon already. We must’ve been out here for hours, but I hadn’t even noticed.

A perfect wave began to form, and we all got into position on our boards and began to paddle hard. As the wave started to crest, I pushed up, steady on my feet. The breeze wicked at my face, the spray salty on my lips. I felt…alive!

I stayed up on my board the whole way in. I gave a whoop of triumph as I jogged up onto the beach with my board. “Toby, did you see that?” Except when I looked over my shoulder, Toby wasn’t there. “Toby?” I called again, my pitch rising. My excitement evaporated, my stomach plummeting.

Tossing the board onto the sand, I ripped off the ankle strap and headed back out, making a beeline to where I saw Toby’s board bobbing. I scanned the water for Toby’s telltale blond hair, but there was no sign of him. I heard Eric calling him, but my own voice caught in my throat, panic gripping me.

Did he fall off his board? Was he caught in the current under the surface, being dragged out to sea? I ran out as far as I could, then dove under, trying to get a clear look through the water, cloudy with sand churned up from the bottom. My eyes burned in the salt water, but I whipped my head back and forth, refusing to blink for even a second in case I missed him.

My lungs were begging for air, but I stayed under as long as I could. Toby needed me, and I refused to fail him.

When I finally burst from the water, I heard voices shouting. I almost ignored them and dove back under, except one particular voice cut through my panic. “Gabriel! Hey, Gabe!”

Gasping, I wiped water from my face, blinking to try and focus on the figures on the shore. I wasn’t wearing my glasses, but even blurry, I would recognize Toby.

I waded back into shore on wobbly legs, each wave knocking me forward. My whole body felt like jelly—from the hours of physical exertion, sure, but more from the adrenaline. “You’re okay,” I gasped when he walked out to meet me. I wanted to grab him and pull him into my arms, make sure he was real and not some figment of my imagination.

“Of course, I’m fine,” he said, far too calm. “I slipped off the board and ended up a bit farther down the beach, that’s all.” There was a new emotion in his eyes I hadn’t seen before, an unfamiliar warmth that was far more genuine than his usual casual aloofness. “You tried to save me. Thank you.”

I shrugged like it was no big deal, but my arms flopped down at my sides, my whole body heavier than normal. “I needed my tour guide,” I said, trying to be just as nonchalant as he was, but I could tell I wasn’t fooling him.

“Then I’d better get back to my job.” He winked and went to take my hand, and I found myself reaching out to meet him halfway, lacing our fingers. I appreciated his firm grip, his hand warm and steady to balance the cold shakiness that still plagued me.

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