The doors opened and Drea got on.As the doors closed, both men looked at her.Drea collapsed against the mirrored wall with a sob.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket.It was two o’clock in the morning.If she texted Cujo, he wouldn’t see it until he woke up.
Please call me.
There were so few people she could count on, she only hoped Cujo was still one of them.
***
Cujo handed out the life vests to the small group waiting to take the beginners paddleboard course through the waterway.It was a perfect end to an early October day.The sky was turning a spectacular red and burnt orange and the above-average temperatures were meant to continue through the month.
The relaxing sounds of the water soothed him.After hours of trying to sort through his feelings for Drea, he had given up and called Connor.The timing was fortuitous.One of Connor’s guides had called in sick leaving him a person short for the last tour of the evening.Cujo had wrapped up his shift and headed over.Even Trent didn’t understand his need to make the nearly two-hour drive to his brother with such great frequency, but the hours he spent on the water, surrounded by beauty, filled his creative soul in a way nothing else did.
He checked his phone one last time.
Want to come for dinner?
He’d seen the text from Drea but had ignored it.
Shit.He was a selfish ass.
“Thanks for helping out, man.I’d have been screwed.”Connor checked the fit of the life preserver on a sexy tanned senior from UCLA.“It isn’t like Desiree to call in sick last minute.Guess I won’t be trying the new burger place she tried after all.”
“No worries, I needed the break,” Cujo said, tucking his phone and keys into a waterproof bag.
Drea had reached out to him, which was huge for her.And he wanted to be there for her.After a decent night’s sleep, he knew they could figure this shit out.
“Okay,” Connor said, clapping his hands together to get everybody’s attention.
“Right, we’ve gone through the basics, so now you guys get to try it out.Grab a board from over there.”Connor pointed to the rack containing twelve boards.“Grab a paddle, too.Then get in the water with your board.”
Cujo waded into the water with his board, knelt in the middle, and then before standing, pushed himself out.
“No.No.No.”
A brunette in a wetsuit wobbled on her board and fell into the water.She resurfaced and laughed.Cujo made his way over to her.
Placing her paddle down on the board, she looked at him.“Not sure this is my thing.”
“Nah, you got this.Let me see what you’re doing?”He jumped off his board and held hers while she clambered on.Connor paddled by to get to another student, but Cujo caught the way he checked out the woman’s ass.Connor shrugged with a smirk as he passed by.
Her stance was fine.It was her paddling that was all over the place.
“Stay standing upright and engage your core.Extend your arms to paddle, not your body.”He demonstrated it for her as she wobbled on her board.She tried again and inched forward.
“Okay,” Connor said, “feels like you guys are starting to get the hang of it.So let’s head down the waterway.It never gets deeper than a few feet so you’ll be fine if you fall in.”A ripple of laughter followed as people started to line up behind Connor.
“Lucky me,” she laughed.
“Just stick with me.You’ll be boarding before you know it.I’m Cujo, if you need anything.”
“Mandy.I’d shake your hand but I am scared witless of letting go of my paddle.”Cujo laughed.
By the end of the first leg, Mandy had gotten the hang of it.She’d fallen in three more times but had mastered both types of turns, the wide arc and the reverse paddle.Her confidence was growing but she was overthinking it still.He needed to distract her, so he teased her a little, pointed out things of interest along the water’s edge.
As they entered the home straight, she was standing tall, capable if not yet confident.
“You did it,” he said, helping her off the board.
