Page 29 of Bad Behavior

Taking the lotion, I smooth it across her shoulders. I suck in a breath; her skin is sun kissed, incredibly soft, and warm under my hands. I spread it out over her back, admiring the arrangement of tiny freckles I find there. I’d honestly forgotten that she was so much smaller than me, but touching her like this, being so close, I can’t help but remember.

“Make sure you get it down low,” she says, turning her head to see me. “I don’t want a weird lower back sunburn.”

I don’t say anything, just obey her command. Her lower back is so perfect, with two perfect divots at the base of her spine. Her ass starts just below where my hands are now, so trim that you could bounce a quarter off of it. I lotion her lower back, my hands spreading the lotion out until I am almost gripping her hips.

I won’t lie, it’s not the first time that I’ve thought about holding her just like this… and it probably won’t be the last. I realize that I am growing hard in my wetsuit, which is a no-go. Releasing her suddenly, I thrust the tube of sunblock at her.

“Done. Take it,” I say.

She turns around and takes it, a little smile on her face. I wonder if she waited until she was here to put on the suntan lotion on purpose, just to fuck with my head. After all, she hasn’t exactly been discreet about wanting me to notice her.

And notice her I do. All the damn time, even though I’m not supposed to do it.

“Time to get serious,” I say, scowling.

“Yes sir,” she says with a wink. “I like when you’re bossy.”

I roll my eyes. Picking up one of the surf boards, I move it about five feet from the other, and lay it back down.

“All right. Come stand right here,” I say, pointing to the end of the board.

“Okay…” she says, moving.

“The first thing to do is to try to practice your position and body movement here on the beach.” I move to the end of the other board. “So we’ll get on our knees…”

I kneel, and she does the same.

“Then I’m going to try to hold the sides of the board, maybe two thirds of the way down. Like so.” I grab my board so that Emma can see. “Now I pull myself onto the board, holding onto the sides. Keep your hands on the sides of the board, and your arms tucked back. See this weird sort of chicken wing thing that I’m doing with my arms?”

She frowns. “Yeah, sort of.”

“Then just push yourself, your head only, up a little.” I do the move. “The first few times you surf, you can make it easier on yourself by riding the whole wave that way.”

“That doesn’t seem that hard,” she says.

I chuckle. “We haven’t even tried standing up yet. Let’s do it from the beginning.”

We both return to kneeling at the end of our boards.

“Alright. Grab the sides… yeah, that’s right. Pull yourself on. Tuck your arms. Now watch…” I slowly turn one of my legs out so that my ankle touches the board. “I turn my right leg like this. I lift my chest up… then I slowly, carefully slide my left foot forward. I get my balance… and then, voila!”

I open my arms, looking at Emma. Her look of utter incomprehension makes me laugh.

“What the hell did you just do?” she wonders.

“Look, Law School. If I can do it, you can do it. Let’s start from the beginning.”

We go through the steps ten times, until I’m absolutely sure that she’s got it down.

“You got it? Do you feel good about what you’ve learned so far?” I ask, standing and brushing the sand off my knees.

She mimics me, brushing herself off. She rolls her eyes. “Just because I understand the theory behind something, doesn’t mean I will actually be able to do it. It’s hard.”

“You will. Just not today. The water is pretty unsafe here. Instead of a sand bar, it’s pretty much just rocks.”

She looks pretty skeptical.

“How do I like… spot the right wave? I am guessing I don’t just go after the first one I see.”

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