Page 50 of Family Bonds: Carson & Laine

He had seen the tattoo on her list that was crossed off, but he’d already known she’d had one. He just didn’t expect this and where it was.

“It suits you,” he said.

“I know it does,” she said. “And I’ll explain it more when we are done. Let’s get out there before the rain starts.”

The wind had picked up pretty fierce. He was thinking they didn’t have much time before the storm hit.

“Have you watched any videos on how to do this?” he asked.

“I have.”

“Good. So we can walk into the water and then paddle out. You can just hold onto the board and kick behind it if you want. This way your hand won’t get pushed around.”

She put the glove on and he was trying to pull his eyes away from the baby blue bikini she was sporting. Two pieces of triangles and there was this thought that it might not stay in place in rough water.

He wondered if she’d thought of that or not.

Together they walked toward the water. He had the board in front of him to cover the fact that he was so affected by the sight of her. He was only human.

“Yikes, that’s colder than I thought,” she said when the water went over her toes, “but it feels good at the same time.”

“Yes, it does,” he said.

They both walked out until the water was up to their waists and then put the boards under them and kicked out with their feet. He would have normally used his arms too but no reason to get that far ahead of her.

“We wait for the wave to get right on us and then turn to slide on and ride it down to the beach?” she asked.

“We do,” he said. “Why don’t you try it first and then if you get on, I’ll catch the next wave. I don’t want to leave you out here by yourself.”

The waves were close enough together. He should have asked how good of a swimmer she was.

“Sure,” she said. “Why is the lifeguard blowing a whistle?”

“It’s a warning they are shutting down the beach in ten minutes.”

“Then let’s hope we get this right on the first try,” she said.

“We can always come back another day,” he said.

“We can, but I’m not so sure I like this.”

“Are you okay?” he asked. He didn’t like the look on her face.

“When you’re out here the ocean is just so vast. So yeah, I’m good riding the first wave in and calling it a day.”

“Let’s paddle back,” he said.

“Nope,” she said. “Here comes a bunch of waves, let’s do it.”

He loved that she was pushing herself.

The wave came, she caught it perfectly and rode it in and he got the next one right after her. Her laughter was contagious.

“You did it!” he said when they hit the beach and both stood up.

“I did. One more. We’ve got the time. I know the lifeguard is getting annoyed but one more. Please?”

“Sure,” he said.

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