I followed the directions Jesse had texted to me the night before as I approached his side of town. Just like he’d said, the part of the beach that he surfed at was only a few minutes away from the restaurant we’d been at last night.
The lot was almost empty when I pulled in. I didn’t see Jesse’s Jeep anywhere, so I turned off my car and waited with the windows down. Even this early in the morning, the temperature was already starting to rise. I grabbed a hair tie out of my console and pulled my hair up into a messy ponytail, fighting the pieces already matted to my neck with sweat. I couldn’t wait to get in the water and cool off.
I glanced up as a car pulled in beside me. I couldn’t hide the smile that broke out across my face when I saw Jesse sitting in the driver’s seat of his Jeep. He was out of the car and opening the back before I even realized that he’d moved. I quickly got out of my car and walked back to where he was unloading two boards. He didn’t mess around.
“Hi,” I said nervously.
“Hey. Can you grab that duffel bag and carry it down to the beach for me? I’ll get the boards.”
“Sure,” I said as I picked up the bag from the back of his car.
I followed him down to the beach. We stopped halfway, and Jesse put both boards down in the sand and took the duffel bag from me.
“Where do we start?” I asked. I had no idea what surfing entailed, but I was anxious to find out.
“First things first. I’m going to show you the basics—how to wax your board, how to put the leg leash on, and things like that. I also borrowed Andy’s sister’s wet suit for you to use today. You two look like you’re about the same size.” He unzipped the duffel bag and pulled out what looked like a bar of soap and a leg rope.
“Are we taking a shower or something?” I joked as I stared at the soap.
“Huh? Oh, no.” He laughed. “This is board wax, not soap.” “And now I feel like an idiot,” I groaned.
“Nah, it’s cool. You’ve never been around this stuff, so it’s understandable that you didn’t know.”
He was trying to make me feel better, and I was fine with that. I hated looking like an idiot.
“Anyway, what do we do first?” I asked.
“I waxed both boards last night, but I’m still going to show you how to do it. You need to keep your board waxed, or you’ll slide right off. When you wax it, it makes little bumps that give you traction.” I nodded to show that I was listening.
“There are two different types of wax. The first is the base coat that you put on every few months. I’m not going to show you that because I already got both boards ready. The board I brought for you is called a longboard. It’s the easiest thing for you to learn on. I always wax the entire surface of a longboard with the base wax. After I do that, we move on to the top coat.
You have to add that wax a lot because it is softer and rubs off easily.”
He motioned me forward and held out the wax for me to take. I gripped it tightly as I looked at the board.
“Top coat—got it. So, how do I wax it?”
“With the base coat, you need to put a lot of pressure into it but not so much with the top coat. I always go from one end to the other until you cover it all. Try it.” He stepped back to give me room to start waxing.
I ran the wax across the board, unsure of whether or not I was doing it right. “Is this okay?”
“Put just a little more pressure into it, not much though.”
I did as he’d said, and I smiled when he nodded in approval. “I think I’ve got it.”
“You do.” He took the wax from my hand and threw it on top of the duffel bag. “Just remember, you’ll need to do it every few trips in because it wears off.”
“Great. What’s next?”
“Next is the leg leash. It’s easy to do once you do it a few times. Watch me do mine first, and then I’ll help you do yours.”
I paid close attention to how he tied his, and then I started working on my own. He had to help me once or twice, but I soon figured it out. I felt a sense of pride when I finished.
“Yay! I did it!”
He laughed, and I couldn’t help but stare at his dimple. Dear God, I wanted to lean forward and lick it. Forcing myself to look away before I did something stupid, I focused my attention on the board between us.
“What’s next?”
“Normally, we’d get in our wet suits and head out, but I want to teach you the basics before we get in the water.”
“Okay...” I had no idea how he planned to teach me to surf without water, but I wasn’t about to make myself look stupid by asking. I looked out at the water longingly. It was too hot to be this close without going in. “Do you care if I swim for a minute? The sun is about to fry me.”
“Sure, go ahead.” He watched me closely with an amused look on his face.
“I’ll be right back,” I said as I stood and shimmied out of my shorts. My shirt went next, and I threw them in the sand beside him. I ran out to the water, and I sighed in relief as I dove in. It felt cool on my overheated skin, and I loved it. I swam just a few feet out and dove under again before stepping back out of the water.
“Feel better?” Jesse asked as I approached him.