Ace’s eyes narrow slightly. “Excuse me, North?”
“Figure of speech,” the bigger one, called North, says, completely unhelpful.
Ace glances back at me a little too sharply. “You picking up random Alphas on beaches now?”
Something hot twists through me. “You say that like I’m the one with a pattern.”
His mouth almost curves.
North watches us both, then says quietly, “This feels loaded, and as if Luca and I shouldn’t be here.”
“You should totally be a witness, in case she ditches me again,” Ace sneers with a grin.
“Eat glass,” I tell him.
The blond guy, Luca, grins. “Now I like her.”
There’s shock behind those green-gold eyes, and something tighter underneath. Ace wants answers, but he’s not getting them here.
My chest tightens, all that unfinished tension pushing to the surface. I force a shrug. “Can we not do the interrogation thing? I came out here to surf, insult strangers, and win a free lunch.”
North laughs.
Luca, on the other hand, studies me for another second, then spots the swell building behind us. “We can ask questions later.”
Ace still hasn’t moved his attention from me. “How long before you disappear again?”
My pulse kicks hard. I lift my chin. “Not before an early lunch.”
That finally gets a real smile out of him. “Good,” he says. “I’m not letting you out of my sight this time.”
And damn him for making his comment sound like a promise.
We turn toward the horizon as one. A clean set is rolling in, glassy and even, the early light catching on the faces of the waves. For a second, everything else falls away. The men on the beach. The knot in my chest. Ace.
This part, at least, makes sense. I start paddling, feeling the ocean lift beneath me, that familiar rush building in my blood. Salt on my skin, muscles waking up, and the board steady under my hands. God, I love this. The drop, the speed, that split second where the whole world narrows to water, balance, and instinct.
Then I see them go.
Luca catches his wave first, all power and easy control, strong shoulders cutting through the spray as if he’s built for exactly this. North is smoother, quieter about it, but just as solid, reading the wave. And Ace is something else. Fluid. Unhurried. The wave belongs to him, and he’s just being polite enough to share it.
Well, that’s irritating.
My wave comes in clean, and I take it. Pop up fast, knees bent, weight right. For a few perfect seconds, I’m in it. Flying. The board humming under my feet, water breaking cold around my calves, wind in my face.
Then I glance toward the shore where the two men are still there, and just like that, the whole calculation changes.
I don’t need to win. I want these three to definitely be walking off this beach with me. So I let my balance go on purpose, not enough to look fake. Just enough.
My board skids out from under me, and I hit the water with a splash, cold closing over my head in a rush of bubbles and sound. I come up sputtering, hair plastered to my face, laughing breathlessly.
By the time I shove my hair back and adjust my bikini, I’m with all three of them as I grab my floating board.
North pushes wet hair off his forehead, dark eyes already on me, checking.
Luca is grinning outright, enormous, smug, and far too pleased with himself.
While Ace watches me with that knowing glint that says he’s not buying what I’m selling for a second.
