didn’t like the comments he made about you. Besides,” Kai began while setting the cup down, “I don’t really need an excuse to beat Chase Jones’s ass.”
I turned around and moved to the little kitchen table, sitting down with a huff. Kai watched me as I picked at my nails. After a few moments, he grabbed the coffee and moved to sit across from me. “Do you really think he did it?” I asked.
Kai looked out the window at the crashing waves. “Maybe? But I don’t think Chase is smart enough to pull something like that off. It wouldn’t make sense. And I might not like the asshole, but he did love Violet. Last night I was caught up. Worried. But I don’t think he did it, no.”
We both sat in silence. I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t want to leave, either. “How’s your side doing?” he asked.
I lifted up my shirt to show him. “Mom cut the stitches a couple days ago. Almost fully healed,” I replied.
“Wanna surf?”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. Surfing I could do. Surfing was normal. Healing. Freeing.
“I’d love to.”
Mom used to tell me there wasn’t an ailment that couldn’t be cured by salt water. She said it was medicine for the soul. It felt so good to paddle out. My side ached a little bit, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before. I welcomed the slight burn. It meant I was alive.
“You alright?” Kai called to me. Watching his muscular body cut through the waves had me transfixed. He balanced on his board with skill, his expression relaxed, as if he was born in the water.
“I’m good,” I replied.
I joined Kai on a few waves, casually enjoying the Saturday morning ride. I paddled hard until I felt the firm swell of a wave beneath my board. I moved my hands onto the rail and brought my legs forward, popping up onto the board. I crouched down, balancing on my back foot as I rode the wave all the way back to the beach. His spare board wasn’t as nice as mine, but I liked the rush of it all. I almost forgot my demons for a brief moment.
Finishing out the wave, I made my way to the foamy white water close to the sand. I stood up and carried my board the rest of the way to the shore, dropping the board and collapsing onto the warm sand, letting the water roll over my feet. I closed my eyes and soaked up the sun. Being in the ocean and sun, I felt peaceful.
I felt a shadow fall over my body and squinted my eyes open to see that Kai had returned to the beach as well. He dropped down next to me, and I pushed myself up onto my arms so that we were level. We both stared into the water, glittering from the sun’s rays, in comfortable silence.
“Did you ever surf with Violet?” I asked before I could stop myself. I don’t know why I asked him that and immediately regretted it. Why did I keep dragging up painful memories and why would I essentially ask him to compare me to his dead girlfriend, especially when we finally found a moment of calm in the storm?
“No,” Kai answered. There wasn’t a hint of irritation in his voice, and his face settled into a small smile, like he was remembering one of the few happy memories about his relationship with Violet. “Violet wasn’t really into surfing. She said the salt water messed with her hair, but she did like to sit on the beach to sunbathe and watch me surf.”
I knew that about Violet and cringed internally for even asking. On an island where surfing was religion and the ocean was church, Violet was an atheist. She knew how to recommend the best board for every type of surfer, board maintenance, and even which beaches had the best waves for beginners and experts, but she refused to go into the ocean where anything above her waist would get wet. And I loved her for it.
Kai extended his arms and stretched his muscles, curling his toes into the sand as he did. I was mesmerized by the movement of his muscles expanding, and my eyes were drawn to his midsection, soaking up every detail of his washboard abs. He looked up at me and smirked as he caught me staring just a little lower, where his skin met his trunks.