Annie
I’d lost track of how many hours we’d been surfing. My fingers and toes had become prune-like due to the water exposure, and my limbs felt sore. Nathan had forced me to catch waves again and again, and somehow I’d improved my surfing technique. I still fell off a lot, but I could keep my balance for longer which Nathan assured me was excellent progress. Despite the early start and aching muscles, I was enjoying myself, and I had good company.
I sat a little beyond where the waves broke, resting with a leg on either side of my board. I drifted a little with the tide of the waves, feeling the water swell under my board and rock me to and fro. It was calming to be sitting out in the water, in silence and amid the beautiful blue expanse of sea.
Nathan paddled towards me, his hair drenched with salty water and a large smile on his face. He made it look so easy – paddling with powerful strokes towards me. When he got close enough, he pushed himself up and sat in a similar position to me, drifting closer still.
“Do you want to go in?” he asked.
“Yeah its getting pretty hot,” I cast a glance at the sun, which was almost directly overhead by now. The temperature must have been just less than thirty degrees.
“Alright, let’s go,” he gestured for me to follow and we paddled towards the shore.
Managing not to get dumped, I made it to the beach and we hauled our boards up and under our arms. It was an odd sensation to be walking after spending so much time in the weightless environment, and it took a few minutes for me to adjust.
“So, did you enjoy yourself after all?” his bright green eyes playfully appraised me.
“It was definitely an experience,” I laughed. “Though I wouldn’t want to be dumped that many times again. I probably swallowed a litre of seawater.”
Nathan smiled. “We’ll have a rest then. Want to go for ice-cream?”
I nodded in reply.
After packing the boards back into the car, we peeled off our wetsuits. While I put my dress back on, I snuck a glance at Nathan shirtless, reaching into the car to grab his t-shirt. I’d known he was tanned, but now I had confirmation that it was evenly spread over his body, and though he didn’t have defined abs, I could see some toned muscle over his abdomen.
Somewhat mesmerised, I couldn’t look away in time, and Nathan raised his gaze to see me watching him. Blushing, I cleared my throat and poured all my attention into zipping up the side of my dress, while I heard Nathan chuckling.
“C’mon, I’m hungry,” he teased, jumping into the driver’s seat. I slid into the passenger’s and tried to look anywhere but at him – for I knew he’d seen me checking him out, and the whole situation was awkward.
We drove back to the main street where the surf shack was, and went to a small ice-cream place on the boardwalk. It looked like a sort of Hawaiian bar, with a cheerful old man serving behind the counter. The flavours they offered sounded delicious, and I settled on honeycomb with burnt caramel swirls, and Nathan got licorice.
We sat on the curb in the shade, overlooking the main beach, which was packed with people – tanning, swimming and a few surfing, though the waves weren’t too big.
“Alright, I say we play twenty questions.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really, could you get more cliché?”
“It’s an effective way of getting to know someone. I’ll start,” he paused to scoop some ice cream up. “What is… your least favourite ice cream flavor?”
