He spun around in his chair, but she wasn't standing near him anymore. She was striding out the door, not even waiting for a response.
Ha. Not so hard. Just gotta keep this attitude for the whole weekend and by the time we're done, neither of them will want anything to do with me anymore.
*
They had often joked about Liam's laid back personality – his “comfortable” style, his funny t-shirts, the way he slept in all day, every day. “Surfer” had been used to describe his attitude, but again, it had always been a joke. Katya hadn't ever thought he was really a surfer. It seemed like it would require too much energy and concentration.
So color her shocked when they got to the beach and he rented a board. He warned her that not only had he not surfed in months, but rental boards weren't the best to use. He wasn't used to the weight or the heft, it hadn't been waxed right, so don't judge him if he fell off immediately.
“Just get out there and shred a barrel, Edenherring!”
“Shred a barrel!? And did you just call me a herring?”
Katya had never known anyone who could surf. She'd grown up in California, near a beach, so of course the natural assumption was that she had spent all her weekends there, getting tan and developing a valley accent and chilling with cute surfers. But that wasn't reality, California was a huge state with lots of different cultures depending on where a person was from – she'd barely spent any time at the beach growing up and hadn't known anyone who was particularly athletically inclined, aside from Wulf.
So watching Liam slice through the water on a large piece of foam, she finally felt like a true California girl. She lost her mind, felt like she was watching a celebrity. She ran up and down the shoreline, screaming and cheering and clapping.
“Jesus christ, you would think you'd never seen a surf board before.”
She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder, holding her wide brimmed sun hat on her head. The only dark rain cloud at the beach – Wulf had decided to join them, after all. While she and Liam had been loading a cooler and towels into the car, he'd sauntered out, shocking her with his shorts and polo shirt. Very laid back, for him.
But once they'd gotten there, he'd gone right back to work. Using a fancy tablet and writing things down in a folder. Why he'd even come, she wasn't sure.
Probably just to ruin my fun.
“I've never seen someone surf before,” she said as he stepped up next to her. “It's so exciting!”
“I've never understood the appeal,” he grumbled.
They stood side by side, watching as Liam climbed back onto his board. Katya smiled – he looked so happy. He didn't know any of the other guys out in the water, but of course he'd quickly made friends with them. A group of them floated around for a couple minutes, laughing and talking about something. Probably gnarly waves and sick wipe outs, or whatever.
“Maybe it's not about you,” she replied, glancing at him. “I don't understand why anyone would want to swim for miles, back and forth, never getting anywhere. And you probably don't understand why the thing I love most is standing in front of hot ovens all day.”
“I get it, I get it.” He paused for a while, and she thought that was it. Then he took a deep breath. “But it's all part of his thing.”
“What thing?”
“You love to bake because it's part of who you are – I love to swim because it's part of who I am. Eden surfs because it's another way to distract himself from the fact that he doesn't have anything,” Wulf explained. She frowned.
“That can't be true.”
“It is. He has no real sense of self,” Wulf explained. “Why do you think it's so easy for him to smile at you while lying to your face?”
That stung. It just reminded her of how stupid she'd been. Also, her instant reaction was to defend Liam, which she couldn't even do. Wulf wasn't saying anything that wasn't true.
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But … I mean, he has things. He likes his job.”
“Because saying he owns his own business makes him feel important – being a business owner isn't his life passion. I don't think he knows what it is, and that makes him bitter,” he said. She glanced at him.
“Real easy to be so judgemental of someone else. What makes you so bitter?” she snapped. He smiled tightly.
“Father issues.”
Liam was paddling back in, so Wulf returned to his spot on the beach. Katya smiled big and clapped for the returning surf hero.
“You're amazing!” she laughed. He rolled his eyes and chuckled.
“I was shit for a while,” he chuckled. “But it always comes back.”
“Well, I thought it was amazing. It looks like you're flying when you're out there. When did you learn?” she asked, falling into step with him as he headed back to the board rental shack.
“Oh god, like when we were ten? Eleven? My dad got Landon and I these ridiculous boards, huge. I thought it was the coolest thing ever – broke my nose on a rock, first time out. Landon wasn't as into it, but he eventually came around. We surfed religiously through high school,” he recounted.
“Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth?”
“Hey, not that long ago.”
“You were surfing while I was in elementary school.”
“God, when you say it like that, I kinda want to barf.”
She laughed loudly.
“Seriously,” she finally said, catching her breath. “You looked relaxed out there. Like you were having fun. You looked … good.”
He glanced down at her as they waited in line, his board shielding her from the people ahead of them.
“Thanks. I think you look good, too,” he complimented her, his eyes wandering over her body. She was wearing the tiny orange bikini she'd bought last time she'd been to Carmel, the one that had been meant as a surprise for Wulf.
“This old thing?” she laughed, glancing down at herself. “It's a little too much, huh.”
“Your body is a little too much.”
She glanced up, but he was still staring at her skin. The way his eyes ate up her lines and soft curves, she could tell he was falling back into memories. Going back to silly mornings spent wrapped up in sheets and hot moments under hotter showers. She took a deep breath and stepped closer to him.
“I've been exercising,” she said softly.
“Really?”
“Mmm hmmm,” she nodded. “No job and no men equals a lot of free time. Gotta stay in shape.”
“Any time you need help stretching out, just feel free to give me a call,” he offered, not once looking up into her eyes.
“I don't know, my work outs are pretty hard.”
“Angel cake, you don't even know what hard is.”
“Oh, I think I do,” she whispered, almost closing the gap between them. He was finally forced to look her in the face. “I think I have a very good idea of what hard means.”
She watched as he took a deep breath. Struggled to keep his eyes on her face. He licked his lips, went to speak, thought better of it. Licked his lips again. Then opened his mouth.