“What’s got you looking like someone dropped in on your wave, brother?” he asked, getting out of the car to greet me. I shrugged.
“I don’t know; just having a weird couple of days.”
“Yeah, man, I feel ya. The weather’s turning. Wanna hit Stars Cove up before work? Maybe your fan club will cheer you up.” He winked at me, and I grinned back.
“Yeah, alright. Let’s do it.”
“Load up your board, brother. Surf’s up!”
The waves werenice but sort of boring after all the time I’d been spending at Leviathans.
I shredded some easy pipes with Turtle, and by the seventh or eighth run, I was starting to feel more relaxed.
Turtle had been right. Surfing was my happy place, and it was definitely working as a way to get my mind off how weird Riddick was being.
Or itwasuntil Jet and Kai showed up.
I had just finished a run, so I assumed the cheers coming from the beach were from my fan club. However, when I went to wave to them, I noticed they weren’t cheering for me.
My Finnatics were all crowded around two dark figures that I immediately recognized as the guys who had come and knocked on my door the other day.
They both had their boards with them and wetsuits on, which told me they were coming to surf.
My heart was suddenlyracingin my chest.
I didn’t know what to do.
Riddick hadn’t wanted to interact with them at all. I had to assume that meant he didn’t wantmeto interact with them, either.
But…
Riddick was keeping secrets from me, and I was starting to get sick of being kept in the dark. Why didn’t he want to talk to these guys?
Why were they evenhere?
I paddled back to meet Turtle in the lineup, and we both bobbed on our boards, watching as the two newcomers paddled out to join us.
“Heyyy, brothers, how’s it hanging? Sick waves today,” Turtle greeted them in his friendly Turtle way.
The guy with the long hair gave him a half smile while the dude with the shorter hair just glowered at us.
“Hey man, yeah. Nice day,” Long-hair said. He had a full sleeve of what looked like traditional Hawaiian tattoos and a shark-tooth necklace.
“I’m Turtle, and this is my best bro, Finn.”
As soon as Turtle said my name, both of their eyes flashed.
“Hey. I’m Jet, and this is Kai,” Long-hair said, gesturing to him and his very pissed-off-looking friend. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Turtle replied. I remained silent, but both of them were staring at me now.
“Blake told us a lot about you, Finn. Sounds like you’ve become a bit of a local celebrity. She says you’re planning on riding Leviathans.”
“Uhm. Yeah. I mean, I’ve already surfed there a bunch, but the waves should pick up next week. I’m hoping to hit my first twenty-footer then,” I answered honestly.
Kai looked furious. “Oh yeah? Do we have you to thank for the fucking surf competition Blake told us about?”
I frowned. “What? No. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
