By early December, the waves were still only reaching ten to fifteen feet. However, the second Riddick had me first dip my toes in, I could immediately feel the difference.
The rip tide alone was terrifying. Even just ankle deep, when the water pulled out, it was clear that this beach was out for blood.
The water was colder now, and I’d needed to purchase a wetsuit to keep my lips from turning blue each time we hit the waves, but I didn’t care.
I.
Fucking.
Loved it.
The first time I surfed a baby Leviathan, I almost fucking came from excitement. ThehighI felt as I cut through the belly of the beast was like nothing I’d ever felt before.
I was immediately addicted.
Outside of the horrible way my mother died, there was a reason I didn’t drink or smoke. I avoided substances like the plague because I was a dopamine chaser.
The second my ADHD-starved reward and pleasure centers received adropof dopamine, I tended to get hooked.
This was no exception.
Adrenaline was my drug of choice, and I couldn’t give it up if I wanted to, even though I knew it could one day kill me.
The water here was darker – more sinister than the crystalline blue waters of Stars Cove, and the rush of excitement combined with the exhilaration I felt as I rode through the dark, hollow barrel of each bloodthirsty monster wave was so fucking good… I couldn’t get enough.
Riddick became a drill sergeant when we surfed these beasts.
“Eyes on the horizon!”
“Focus, Finn! You have doubles coming in!”
“What did I fucking tell you!? When in doubt, don’t paddle out!”
I tried not to allow myself to get too annoyed with him. I could see the terror in his eyes the entire time we were in the water. His intensity increased when he was worried about my safety, and I knew it was coming from a good place.
But it was hard for me to take things as seriously as he wanted me to when I was having the time of myfucking life.
Surfing Stars Cove after Leviathans just didn’t hit the same after a while, and before I knew it, I couldn’t think of anything else.
Nothing held my interest but those cold, vicious waters.
I couldn’t hear people when they talked to me anymore. My hyperfocus had been activated. When I wasn’t actively surfing Leviathans, I was thinking about surfing Leviathans.
Imagining it.
Dreamingabout it.
“Finn! Baby! Where’d you go?”
Snap, snap, snap.
I blinked to find Riddick snapping his fingers at me again to get my attention.
“Huh? Oh. Sorry. I was daydreaming again.”
He didn’t look amused.
We were finishing up for the day and were both dripping in seawater as we hiked across the pebble beach toward the natural stone steps that led up the cliffside back to the shack. We each had our shortboards slung under our arms as we walked, and I was already itching to get back in the water, even though we’d just surfed for, like, six hours.
