The auburn-haired man says, “Could be worse. He could’ve gone with Breakfast.”
I point at him. “You. Slightly nicer, but still not nice.”
His mouth curves. “That’s fair.”
The blond’s grin turns lazy, almost wicked. “So. You racing us or not?”
I settle back onto my board, pride kicking in where panic just was. “Please. If anything, this has only made me more determined.”
“Good,” he says.
The auburn-haired surfer glances toward the incoming swell, then back at me. “Try not to scream if a fish looks at you.”
I narrow my eyes. “Try not to cry when I beat you.”
That gets a real laugh out of both of them, and this time when they look at me, there’s no reserve left in it.
And then there’s a splash behind me, and I flinch hard.
“Adelaide?” a male’s voice calls out.
I spin on the board so fast I nearly go sideways, and there he is. Water still running off him from a wave, staring at me as if I’m a hallucination.
Ace.
The jaw, green-gold eyes, wet hair pushed back. Chest entirely available for viewing due to the surfing situation. I remember it so well from the plane bathroom, all of this against my will because my brain is a complete and utter traitor.
“Ace.” I stare at him. “Y-you surf.” I can’t think straight. For a second, everything in me goes completely still, then all at once, it’s too much. Shock. Relief. Want. A sharp, stupid burst of excitement that I have no business feeling after the way I left things.
He’s just as I remember him, still devastatingly handsome, but now he’s all wet skin, rippling muscles, and that face I’ve been trying not to think about since the plane. Yet, here I am smiling at seeing him because I’m a fool.
Worse, somehow, his friends are just as incredibly sexy. And of course they’re all Alphas… I can tell without smelling their scents.
Ace is floating on his board, sitting there, staring at me as if he can’t decide whether to laugh, drag me closer, or call me out.
“You left me,” he states, sounding more vulnerable than he probably intended, and his buddies are staring at him.
I push wet hair off my face. “You’re weirdly hard to find online, by the way. I really tried.” I’m avoiding the direct question because I have my reason for bailing on him, which I don’t want to blurt out.
His brows lift, then that grin appears. “You searched for me?”
“I was curious. Don’t make it unbearable.”
Behind me, the blond guy says, “Hang on. You’re Plane Girl?”
Ace’s gaze stays on mine. “The one who vanished.”
Heat climbs my neck. “I had places to be.”
He gives me a look. “You had baggage claim.”
“Which is, last time I checked, a place.”
The auburn-haired guy huffs a laugh.
I glance toward the shore again, stomach tightening when I spot the two men still there. I straighten on the board. “Are we doing this challenge or not?”
The auburn-haired one glances between us. “You challenged us before boyfriend here paddled back in.”
