“No, kid. Not, like,now,” I mocked. “We’ll start tomorrow.Now,I’m going to finish my morning sesh. Try not to fucking drop in on me again, yeah?”
He nodded his head eagerly, his megawatt smile so big I swear the corners of his mouth were going to touch his ears.
“Yeah, yeah! No problem… Mr…”
“Riddick. You can call me Riddick.”
“You got it, Riddick!” he chirped happily, and I paused at the door just as I was about to leave.
“One last thing…” I trailed off, clearly wanting him to tell me his name.
“Finn.”
I nodded.
“One last thing, Finn. If you tell anyone about our little arrangement, the deal’s off, got it?”
His giant smile slipped a notch, and he frowned.
“How come?”
I sighed. “My buddies and I have been trying to keep Leviathans from getting swarmed for years. No one’s going to be thrilled to hear that you’re training to ride the wave that killed Stars Cove’s poster boy.”
This didn’t seem to sit right with him, and I scoffed.
“So you’re in it for the glory, then? You need the crowds and the titles and the accolades or what, it’s not worth it?”
His frown deepened, and he set his jaw, locking his fierce, impish gaze on me.
“It’s not about that. It’s about proving to myself that I can do it,” he insisted, and my lip twitched.
“Well then, you shouldn’t have a problem keeping your damn mouth shut. Welcome to the club, kid.”
“There’s a club!?” he asked excitedly, following me out of the shack, much to my dismay.
“Yeah, there’s a club,” I grumbled.
And the only way out is in a fucking body bag.
But I didn’t tell the little imp that last part. That was something he was going to have to learn on his own.
Ispent the day surfing with Riddick.
Well,WITH Riddick was a stretch. He barely acknowledged I was there. But I was with him, whether he wanted me to be or not.
He was better than me.
He was better than anyone I had ever met, if I was being honest. I could understand why he was so pissed at me for dropping in on his wave after watching him for only an hour.
Riddick didn’t wipe out.
Like,ever.
And it’s not like he was just carving up the pipe; he was casually doing super sick, advanced shit with his eyes basically closed.
Riddick doing a layback was one of my new favorite things. I wanted to be able to do the things he could do.
I wanted tolookhow he looked while hewas doing it.
