Nimita nodded, and they all headed for their towels. All except Roshan. She realized he wasn’t with the group after a few feet. She turned to find him still practicing.
Vishal sloshed back to her. “That’s Roshan,” he said softly, almost sadly. “He’s got to be the best at everything.”
Nimita looked back at Vishal. He seemed almost sorry for his friend. “Has he always been like this?”
Vishal nodded, his mouth in a line. The look in his eyes was pained.
“Why?”
Vishal glanced down at her, his face changing instantly, a smile replacing his concern. “I’m not that much of an auntie.”
Karan splashed past them and headed out to Roshan.
“Come on,” Vishal said to Nimita. “Let’s get a table. Karan can handle this.”
Nimita looked back at Roshan. He was still trying to pop up with ease. She furrowed her brow. Huh.
* * *
“Roshan. Time to let it go for a bit.” Karan approached, his voice gentle.
Roshan was no fool. He knew why Karan was here. Karan was the one who came when Roshan needed to be grounded, when Roshan got lost. Knowing this did not make it any easier to stop. It wasn’t a compulsion, exactly. It was just who he was.
Or at least who he wanted to be, but somehow could never quite become.
“Two more tries,” Roshan said.
Roshan popped up twice more, the last time with ease, and he maintained his balance.
Karan grinned. “Excellent. Let’s go before I eat your board.”
Roshan looked at his friend.
Karan nodded and waited. “We don’t care how good you are, or even if you want to surf at all. You can sit on the beach and drink, and we don’t care. We love you regardless of your accomplishments.”
Roshan’s mind started to settle. Of course. These guys were his family. The family he had chosen. Who had chosen him.
“Well, let’s eat.” Roshan grinned and picked up his board.
They hit the beach and left their boards at the rental stand, easily finding Nimita and Vishal at an outdoor table. Nimita was laughing at something Vishal said. Typical. Everyone laughed when Vishal spoke.
Weird that he envied Vishal in this moment.
“Huh.” Karan narrowed his eyes in jest. “Looks like V is making a play for your girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” Roshan retorted automatically, but he did feel the burn of the green monster within. He suppressed the monster’s pull, because he had no claim over Nimita. As if anyone could put a claim on her anyway. To be fair, she’d never look his way anyway. He’d made sure of that at graduation.
“She does seem to have a special dislike of you. Even while she helps you,” Karan mused. “What did you do to her?” He was joking, but he had hit on it.
Roshan shrugged as they sat down.
“He’s not a pro, but he won’t drown,” Karan reported.
Nimita glanced at him, actually resting her gaze on him for moment, like she was trying to figure him out.
“Well, apparently Nimita can teach even a monkey to surf,” chuckled Vishal.
“She taught you, didn’t she?” Roshan said as the waiter brought coffee. A round ofoooooohs from his buddies, and then they placed their orders.
