“Is that right?” I shoot Zach a glance. Jade is another of our sponsored surfers and a friend. What she and Zach get up to is their own business, but I don’t like seeing her being messed around. “That how you and Jade do things?”
Zach frowns. “If you’re talking about the girl in my room, Jade is cool with that. I might fuck around, but she knows she’s the one I love.”
“Jesus, Zach, another one? I don’t know how you get away with it,” says Scott. “Sal would have my balls if I ever did anything like that. Not that I’d want to.”
“She would, and so would I,” I say.
I’m not kidding, either. I was best man at Sally and Scott’s wedding, and we’ve all been friends a long time. Sally is gorgeous, all curves and laughter. I told Scott he was lucky when he married her, and I still believe it. I can only hope to meet someone similar one day, a true life-partner.
“You’re one to talk, Myles,” Zach says. “Which supermodel are you on now? I give it another month, tops. Maybe less. Have you ever even had a proper girlfriend?”
“Don’t be a dick.” I snap the words, nettled by his comment. The swell rises beneath me and I turn my board, lying flat and signalling the videographer.
“Watch yourself,” I hear Scott growl at Zach as the wave lifts me, propelling me forwards. I pull into a crouch then stand, glad to be taken away from the conversation. But as the wave curls into shore, taking me with it like a bird in flight, I have to fight my annoyance. Zach doesn’t know about Cassandra, of course. Not many people do. I should be over it, I suspect even Scott thinks I’m milking it, but there’s a fracture inside me that has not yet healed.
I carve across the water, turning my board top to bottom, hitting the lip of the wave, playing up for the camera. As the wave dissipates I turn, pull out, and fall into deep blue, letting the rolling foam pass over me before emerging, refreshed. The built-in hood on the wetsuit is working well, but I feel cold across my lower back. Something to look into when we go back to the design team. I pull myself onto my board and paddle back out, pausing to watch Zach pulling into a small barrel before shooting out in a cloud of spray, giving a thumbs-up to the camera.
Scott is still waiting out back, despite the waves rolling through. I know why he’s waiting.
“It’s fine,” I say when I reach him. “He doesn’t know.”
Scott sighs. “Yeah. He doesn’t. It’s been six years, Myles. I guess that’s why.”
“What are you saying?”
“That you’re my friend, and I know you want to be with someone. To have what me and Sal have. So, maybe it’s time to take a look at what’s out there. Or what’s right in front of you.”
“Right in front of me?”
“Have you even thought about Katya since we’ve been here?”
“I’m ending it with her.”
“So, no, then? But you’ve mentioned Zara’s name about ten times this morning alone.”
“She’s my assistant. I needed to talk to her.”
“You could do worse.”
“Are you suggesting I ask her out?” My heart leaps at the thought. I push the feelings back down again. “First of all, she works for me, which makes it an automatic no-go zone. And secondly, Zara would never go for it.”
“Who’s Zara?” Zach paddles up next to me. He sits on his board and pulls his hood back, rubbing his hand through the spikes of his blond hair. “Not sure how I feel about the hood by the way. Could it be detachable?”
“I’ll think about it. Thanks.”
“Zara is Myles’s assistant while Eloise is away. She’s also gorgeous.”
I blink. Scott never usually comments on how other women look.
Zach grins. “That right? Maybe I’ll swing by the office tomorrow, say hello to her.”
“You better fucking not.” The words are instinctive, out before I can stop them.
Scott coughs.
“What?” I snap.
“You can’t have it both ways. Either you want her, in which case you should ask her out, or you don’t, so you can let other guys have a go.”
