𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 || baxter radic

31.

The competition has begun. We made the smart decision to just keep the surfer group to just our locals. After the competition was held if more people wanted to go out on the water, that was all up for grabs. But until then my eyes were on the people who had become my favorites.

Bax takes the first wave. I think that was the plan all long. Despite keeping me in the loop, there had to be things that my friends didn't share with me about today. They had a knack for surprises. They all enjoyed the way people's faces would light up at whatever they had hidden up their sleeves.

He gets lost in the wave. It sucks him under—it feels—before he even starts. A gasp sounds in the crowd. I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't fear his disaster. He was going for blood. He has a goal at the end of the day—he needed that surfboard.

It's like wave after wave each one of my friends is taking the hit of a lifetime. I've never seen them wipe so hard. It is almost as if it's being done on purpose. I look toward Manu but he's surrounded by people. He's watching, but his mind is distracted and I can't go bother him.

I scan the beach for the surfboard I was handed earlier and spot it on the ground next to Summer's mom. I trod through the sand until I'm stood beside her. With my arms crossed and my eyes glued to Summer taking another big hit I take a deep breath and ask a question I already know the answer to. "Let me guess, they're not going to put up scores until I do."

"It might be the plan. I can neither confirm nor deny." I can feel Summer's mom's eyes staring at me.

I let out a heavy huff and sweep the surfboard off the ground. "So much for enjoying." I run off toward the water as I hear the announcer's voice fill my ears.

"It looks like we have a late contender." My skin crawls. I am no contender. I'm only doing this because if I don't, I'm pretty sure everyone will leave. And all of this will have been for nothing.

I paddle out to my friends, a heat radiating off my skin I swear it could boil the water it touched if it touched my skin long enough. "Can one of you please just do something good?" I splash my hands against the water's surface.

"You're cute when you're mad." Bax's eyes are trained on me, a massive smile spread across his face. There is even a twinge of angst, like he wants to betray my orders just to see me pouting with anger for longer.

"Flirting with me isn't giving our lovely guests anything to enjoy." I shoot and annoyed fake smile at him. He reads through my fakeness. It's like he's inside my head half the time, knowing exactly what I'm thinking—what I'm feeling.

"Ride a wave in with me. Like actually stand up and ride a wave in with me. Then we will start putting up scores." Bax's eyes play with the idea. My mind is screaming no. Like a visceral bloody murder scream of no. My fingers tap against the surface of the board. Index, ring, ring, middle, pinky.

"Hey," Bax's hand clamps over my tapping one, "you know how to stand, just listen to me, follow my lead. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"You've got this May." Poppy and Bodhi speak at the same time.

"Let's go Belle." Summer follows suit.

"You're in the best hands." Wren ups her brother. A rare occurrence, and for that I trust her judgement the most. If she believed in her brother, then I should as well. He wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. He would let himself drown before ever letting a single thing happen to me.

"Come on Babe." Bax's expression is so soft. There is so much care and passion coursing through his veins that it just radiates off of him. Maybe not to everyone, but definitely to me.

I leave my board, climbing onto his. "Just in case." I turn slightly toward him and purse my lips. He chuckles and places a soft kiss against them.

"There is no just in case. We're gonna nail this." There is so much confidence in his voice, and I really don't know why. There was no way this was going well. I had stood and ridden a total of one waves. I, without a doubt, was going to be the reason this failed. But at least it will have made him happy.

"Good one's coming." Ari's voice bellows to us and Bax starts directing me.

We lay down on our stomachs, paddling as the wave behind us forms to what Bax may call a perfect wave. I wouldn't know, this isn't my forte. I close my eyes in fear of what's coming. All I want to do is pull my nerves from me by the tap of my fingers, but I can't. My only job is to paddle.

"Up May, up!" My eyes shoot open and I lift to my feet. It's not clean, or pretty. Honestly, it's a wobbly mess. But Bax's hand grips mine, holding me as steady as he can. His voice is the only thing centering my mind. His voice doesn't stop talking the entire time we ride the wave. If he had, I would have gone tumbling into the water.

As the wave fizzles out, Bax gets us back in the right direction and were paddling back out toward my board. "I'm really proud of you Maybelle." I hear him, but his words don't settle. They go in one ear and right out the other. This was a lot to process and I was feeling very overwhelmed.

When we reach my board, I climb on it and Bax pulls me toward him. "Go back into shore. I'll see you in a little okay?" His voice is calm, direct, focused. The complete opposite to how I feel. "I love you."

My mouth drops. I feel my heart flip in my chest. Genuinely, I feel like if someone were monitoring it on a screen, they would have physically seen it flip. I'm caught off guard in every good possible way I could be. I stumble over my words, struggling to force out the same three back to him. Not because I don't feel the same way, because I do. It was just so out of left field that the mess in my mind has been made even worse.

But after a few moments to process, a few moments to struggle, I take a deep breath and repeat the same words back to him with a pink tint on my cheeks.