Ripped - Cassia Leo Page 0,51
back to collapse into the water just as the horn sounds, signaling the end of the heat. Grabbing my board, I begin making my way out of the water, watching the board for my final score. Then it appears: 9.8.
I fall to my knees on top of my board in the knee-high surf. I did it. I fucking did it.
The crowd roars as they all rush the water, pulling and touching me from all sides as I cry the most bittersweet tears of my life. Yuri and Andy fight their way to me and soon I’m hoisted up onto their shoulders.
The announcer bellows into the microphone and a chill passes through me. “Congratulations, Adam Parker! Your new WSL World Champion!”
Sand and confetti fly everywhere as Andy and Yuri, buoyed by the energy of the crowd, carry me across the sand toward the stage. I smile when I see Lena, Mila, and Kaia standing off to the side, waiting for me. Yuri and Andy set me down on the platform, which has been covered with black cloth, and I immediately rush over to get my girls.
My heart swells when I see that Kaia is crying. “What’s wrong, baby?”
She shakes her head as she turns her face into my chest. “I’m just happy for you, Daddy.”
“Oh, baby,” I say, picking her up and squeezing her tight. “I’m just happy you’re here with me.”
Hank hands me the trophy and I immediately hand it to Kaia. As the cameras flash, and the congratulations roll in, I can’t help but feel a raw emptiness eating away at me. This moment just isn’t the same without Lindsay.
Someone taps me on the shoulder and I turn around to find Yuri standing behind me, holding out his phone. I take the phone from him and hold it an inch away from my wet ear, but I can’t hear anything over the crowd.
Covering my other ear, I press the phone against me and shout into the phone. “Hello?”
“Congratulations, champ. I knew you’d do it.”
“I wish you were here,” I shout, my throat thick with emotion.
“Hurry up and come home so we can name the babies,” she replies.
I laugh as I hit the FaceTime button on the phone to switch to a video call. She accepts the video call and the sight of her sitting in the hospital bed takes my breath away. I turn around and the commissioner, Lee Wembley, shoves a microphone in my face.
“How are you feeling, Adam?”
I hold the phone up for the crowd to see, then I shout into the microphone, “I had twins last night!”
The crowd laughs at my outburst and I turn the phone screen back to me in time to catch Lindsay laughing.
I grab the microphone from the commissioner and he looks a little shocked as I begin speaking. “Not everyone gets the privilege to see their dreams come true. This victory is for my childhood best friend, Myles, who died the day of his first event. And it’s also for my new best friend. The woman who gave me the four most valuable trophies a man can receive. I love you, Lindsay.”
The crowd goes crazy, but it’s the smile on Lindsay’s face when I look at the phone that makes me happiest. I blow a kiss at her and we both mouth the words I love you before I disconnect and hand the phone back to Yuri.
And as the award ceremony winds down, and Carlos and his team give me their congratulations, Yuri and Lena finally get to take Kaia, Mila, and me back to the hotel. The five of us have a quiet dinner before Yuri and Lena head back to their room and the girls and I settle in for the night. After a long shower, the world champion of surfing falls asleep with his baby girls slobbering all over him, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.
Eighteen
I’ve only been in the stockroom of Yuri and Lena’s surf shop a couple of times, but I’m not at all surprised that it smells briny despite the fact that it’s very clean and organized. The briny smell is probably from the wetsuit that hangs from a hook in the ceiling, dripping saltwater into a large blue bucket. Cases of sunblock, nutritional supplements, and surf wax line the shelves, which extend from floor to ceiling in this room that’s about as big as a janitor’s closet.
I stand up straight when I hear Lena’s voice inside the shop. Even with the door