Page 54 of After You Returned

And then there are his abs. Those ridges I love to touch and lick. I love to feel them move beneath my hands when I touch him. The way they harden when he gets excited.

“What’s wrong?” Miles asks and I drag my eyes up his body to his face. “Mermaid got your tongue?”

I flick my hair over my shoulder. “Isn’t this what I’m supposed to do at one of your famous surfing lessons? Objectify you, surfer boy, and hope you’ll choose me as the favored one?”

His eyes darken before he steps closer. “I will always choose you, Blaze. Each and every time. Until I’m old and gray and don’t remember which end of the surfing board enters the water first.”

Welp. My teasing backfired. Miles is supposed to be bantering with me. Not making my panties damp.

“Miles!” another woman yells. “We’re ready.”

Miles eyes flash with annoyance before he blinks and it’s gone. “We’ll get started in one minute, Brittany.”

I glance over my shoulder to discover Brittany is another blonde wearing a tiny bikini.

“Do those bikinis hold up in the surf?”

Miles grimaces. “You’re cruel.”

I blink and widen my eyes to feign innocence. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re the only woman I want to see lose her bikini.”

“Not wearing a bikini.”

He squeezes my hip. “Still the sexiest woman here.”

He claps his hands to get everyone’s attention. Once the women quiet down, he begins with a safety briefing. I shouldprobably pay attention – sharks and currents are no joke – but who in their right mind can pay attention when Miles is strutting around without a shirt on in front of them? I’m not that strong.

“Are there any questions?” he asks once he’s finished.

Tiffany throws her hand in the air and jumps up and down. Uh oh. Her bikini top is barely holding on. But Miles doesn’t pay her top any attention. He gazes off in the distance.

“Is it true wax for surfboards is called sex wax?”

“Sex Wax is a brand. Any more questions?” When Tiffany jumps up and down again, he ignores her. “Any questions on the safety briefing?”

“Okay. Moving on. We’ll practice paddling and the ‘pop-up’ technique for standing on dry land before moving to the water to catch small, broken waves close to shore.”

“Can’t we go out further?” Brittany asks.

“Not today. Today’s a beginner class. If you want to go out further, you can join an advanced class.”

“But all of us have done the beginner class already this week.”

Miles motions to me. “Hazel hasn’t.”

“Can’t she wait on the shore or something?”

He growls. “Hazel isn’t waiting on the shore. She waits for no one.”

“Whatever.”

When no one else speaks up, Miles proceeds to run us through a bunch of exercises for paddling and popping up. It’snot long before he’s telling us to pick up our boards and get into the water.

The other women shriek as they rush into the water to play in the waves. I’m less excited about this part. I carry my board into the water until I’m waist deep. I sit on the board and dangle my legs in the water.

“You should be laying down on your board,” Miles says as he joins me.