A Mermaid's Kiss (Bay State University #1) - Katie Holland Page 0,12

on the water. We sat on the boards letting the water float us around. This was a very peaceful place for me, it always had been.

“I like this,” Kayleigh said out of the blue. “It’s very relaxing.”

I agreed with her, but kept that to myself.

“Ready to try getting on the board?”

They both nodded.

“Okay, watch how we do it.”

Bodie and I popped up and took the stance we used on a wave. I don’t think I’d ever done that when I didn’t have a wave under me. I actually lost my balance and fell into the water. I came back up to laughter.

“Dude,” Bodie said, “what the hell? I don’t think you’ve fallen since we were kids.”

“Usually, when I do that I’m on a wave and have the momentum to help me. This is my first lesson remember, dickwad.” I got back on my board. I saw Kayleigh had a smile on her face too, but to her credit, she wasn’t laughing. “Maybe we should try paddling in on a wave first,” I said.

We waited until the next wave came and paddled in toward the shore. We went back out and did it again.

“I want to try standing on it,” Karma said.

“Me too,” Kayleigh agreed.

So we paddled out and they both tried to get on the board. Both of them fell into the water, but came up smiling. They each tried a few more times until they had their feet under them. The smile on Kayleigh’s face was contagious, and I felt myself smiling back at her, and it had nothing to do with thoughts of getting her naked. She was proud of herself and I liked that I help put that smile there.

Chapter 9

Kayleigh

I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get up on the board, but when I finally did, I felt like I was on top of the world. It was an amazing feeling. I did it a few more times to really get the feel of it. Once Karma and I had that down, the boys called it a day. We paddled back in and got out of the water.

True to his word, Major had stopped being a dick. He actually might be fun to hang out with if he acted like this all the time, but I knew that was going to be too much to ask.

“Thank you,” I told him, when we were drying off. “That was a lot of fun.”

“You’re welcome,” Major said.

“Is it too much to ask for another lesson?”

“I think that can be arranged. Same time next week?”

“Sounds good. Karma?”

She nodded in agreement. We gathered our stuff and carried the boards back to Major’s truck. It was a great big white thing that would have been right at home in Oklahoma.

“Nice truck,” I told him.

“Thanks, she’s my baby.”

Guys and their trucks. My ex had been the same.

“How about we take you ladies out for dinner for being such good students,” he said.

I noticed that Bodie gave him a strange look, but wasn’t sure what to make of it. I was about to turn him down when Karma answered for us.

“We’d love to,” she said, giving me the look that said not to argue.

“None of us are exactly dressed to go out,” I said gesturing to our swim attire.

“We don’t need to be dressed up for what I have in mind. Are you game?” Major said, as a challenge.

I might be on the shy side, but I almost never backed down from a challenge so of course, I agreed.

“Then get in the truck,” he said. “We’ll bring you back to your car. It’s not far from here.”

Without a second of hesitation, Karma was getting into the backseat of his truck. I went around to the other side and got in as well. Major started the engine, and we drove on the road that ran parallel to the beach.

About five minutes later, we pulled into another parking lot. It turned out that we weren’t going to a restaurant at all, we were at a food truck.

“I hope you ladies like fish because these guys serve the best fish tacos in the area,” Major said, as we stopped beside the taco truck.

“I happen to love fish tacos,” I told him. And I really did. I didn’t eat unhealthy very often and when we did go out, I always checked the menu for fish tacos.

We hopped out of the truck and had a look at the menu. I laughed when I saw it. There were only