“I’m glad you see that. There are some unscrupulous promoters and business managers out there who take advantage of young surfers, especially the ones just starting out. I try to advise the kids to steer clear of them, but some of them don’t listen.”
She shrugged. “It’s the same way in my business. Agents just trying to make a quick buck off young and upcoming athletes, but they don’t care about their futures. There’s not much you can do about it. There’s always going to be sharks in any sport.”
“True. Fortunately there are good people like you to steer them in the right direction.”
“And people like you.”
He laughed. “Okay, now that we’ve mutually admired each other, how about we hit the beach?”
“Sounds great.”
She changed and put her swimsuit on under her sundress, slipped on her sandals and sunglasses and grabbed her beach bag. Ben took her hand and they rode the elevator down and walked out onto the sand.
“We can sit under the tented area,” he said. “It’ll be cooler in here.”
“I like that idea.” It was already shaping up to be a warm day. The sun shone bright and though it was still early in the day, she was sweating in the heat.
Ben found her a chair with a great view of the competition. Alex came over and gave her a kiss, his body dripping water on her.
“You look beautiful today. Did you rest well?”
“I did. How’s it going?”
“Great,” he said. “I’m ready to get this thing started.”
She pressed her palm to his chest, wishing she could touch his bare skin instead of the wet suit. But she’d take what she could get. “Best of luck out there.”
“Thanks, but luck has nothing to do with it, babe.”
She loved his confidence. “Then go kick everyone’s ass.”
“I intend to.” He grinned, then went over to have a conversation with Ben before wandering off to the competition area. He gave her a wave before he disappeared.
Ben left the tent for a while, standing outside to have a conversation with some of the other promoters.
“Hey, Victoria.”
Whitney leaned into the tent.
“Hi, Whitney.” Victoria stepped outside the tent and stood on the sand next to Whitney. “Are you here to watch the competition today?”
“I am. Got the day off and everything. How have you been? I haven’t seen you around.”
“Oh, yes. I’ve been hanging out with Alex.”
Whitney cocked her head to the side. “And with Ben?”
“Well . . . yes. With him, too.”
Whitney shoved a shoulder into her. “Lucky you. You’ve really scored two winners there. Ben’s a little old for me, but oh is he ever hot.”
“I think so. And how about you and . . . Cade, is it?”
Whitney sported a sly smile. “Things are going well. He seems into me. I’m definitely into him.”
“I’m glad. You should be having some fun.”
“Oh, we’re doing that. I think I’m going to pull up a spot near the water with a few of my friends. Catch you later?”
“Absolutely. Nice to see you.”
“Aloha.” Whitney jogged off with a wave, and Victoria headed back into the tent.
The competition began, so she settled into watch. The waves looked big—overwhelmingly large compared to the guys aiming to master them.
Ben finally came back and took a seat next to her as Alex paddled his board out.
“Tell me how the scoring system works,” she said.
“The guys go out based on a priority system based on previous scores from other competitions. Alex has top priority so he can choose what wave to go after. Other guys can chose the same wave as well, as long as they don’t impede his run. Scoring-wise, each surfer will try to lock in their three highest scoring waves. The max they can score is ten points per wave.”
“So the highest they can score in each round—or heat, as you call it—is thirty points.”
Ben nodded. “Thirty points max per heat. Then those scores are added into the competition total. It’s all about a championship total. Whoever wins today will be on the leaderboard. It’s not like this is a final event. That won’t take place for a while. The competition continues in other countries.”
She nodded. “Got it. So what are the judges looking for?”
“Degree of difficulty, innovation, and the different variety of moves they make.”
“What are the types of moves the judges look for?”
“Speed, power, control of his board, where he is in the tube and how long he rides it. There are varying factors that go into scoring a ride and it takes years of expertise to become a judge. They know what they’re looking for, and they know, from varying degrees of difficulty, who’s mastered a wave and who’s blown it. So it’s critical for the surfers to not just get up on any wave and ride it.”
She blinked. “Wow. That’s a lot of work.”
He nodded. “It is. It’s more than just riding the wave. There’s so much finesse that goes into it.”
She leaned forward in her chair as Alex approached a wave, her heart in her throat.
Ben took her hand and squeezed.