‘Please no alcohol near the water,’ Antoine said.
I shook the almost empty beer can. ‘I don’t really like this beer anyway,’ I said. And I caught his smile as he tried to hide it by looking away.
When we got to the hut, Antoine unlocked it.
He pushed the door open, and we walked inside. He flicked on a light, then hit another switch. Fairy lights twinkled around the edges of the windows. There wasn’t much apart from that. A bed. A tiny kitchen with a mini fridge. A rusted locker, a sofa with worn-looking blankets and a corner full of floats, wetsuits and other surf paraphernalia. The windows went all the way around the hut so you could see the entire beach.
‘Do you live here?’ I asked, scanning the room again. It looked lived-in, but it was tiny.
‘Yes. Well, I stay here most of the time. I like to be close to the water.’ He walked over to the little kitchen.
I put my beer can down and sat on the sofa, the sounds of singing at the bonfire in the distance. There was something charming about living on the beach. And it just added to the whole mystery of Antoine.
‘Cool,’ I nodded, thinking how fun it must be to live alone with nobody telling you what to do.
‘Chocolat?’ Antoine asked again and I nodded.
‘S’il teplaît.’
Antoine made the hot chocolate on the little stove and handed it to me in a mug before sitting down beside me, leg against mine.
And it was the first time I’d seen his eyes. They were usually hidden behind black sunglasses, but here, in the soft light ofthe hut, they were a warm, deep blue, outlined with thick, dark lashes. Like a tide pool surrounded by water-soaked rocks.
‘It is nice?’ he asked, nodding at the mug.
I dragged my eyes away from his and blew on the hot chocolate before trying some. It was sweet, and rich, and perfect. Who knew an arrogant surfer held the secret to the best hot chocolate in the world.
‘Amazing – what’s in it?’ I asked. It was sweet and spicy and creamy all at the same time.
‘A secret. A secret family recipe,’ Antoine said before leaning back on the sofa. It was the most relaxed I’d seen him.
‘Sébastian and Lili are nice,’ I mused.
‘They are very special to me, they are my family,’ he said, and I could tell that he really meant it.
I’d turned to look at him and had let my knee keep leaning against his, but moved it when I had Felixdéjà-vu.
‘And Delphine?’
‘Ah – Delphine. She is a bit more complicated. But underneath? She is who you want to save you if you are in trouble,’ Antoine said. He was looking right at me now and it was like I could feel his gaze, like some imaginary laser beam that ignited this heat inside my chest and made my heart race.
‘She’s good at surfing?’ I asked, knowing the answer.
‘She is more than good. She could be great, but she needs to do more training,’ Antoine said seriously, as if she was there to hear it.
‘Cool,’ I said. I thought about asking him why she was so cold towards me but didn’t want to ruin the mood. ‘When do I get to go in the water?’
‘Have you been practising at home? Your pop-up?’ he asked me matter-of-factly.
‘What? No, I don’t have a board.’
He shrugged and said something in French that sounded more like a noise than a word. ‘You do not need a board to practise.’
‘My sister would jump on me!’ I laughed.
‘Which? Rue? I would like to see that,’ he said, then laughed too, as if he was imagining it.
Then he stood up quickly. Like he’d sensed something or heard a noise that I hadn’t. He looked out the window.
