‘You too, Sébastian,’ I said.
‘Really? You are happy to see me?’ He put his hand on his bare chest and grinned.
‘Very happy,’ I said.
‘And now I am even more happy,’ he said, laughing.
‘Sébastian!’ Antoine called again.
‘J’arrive!’ Sébastian shouted back. Then he leaned in and kissed both my cheeks before walking towards Antoine and taking over his group of kids.
My stomach flipped when he walked towards me. His chest was bare today and his board shorts hung low on his hips, showing even more of the deep V that outlined his abs. He came right over and kissed each of my cheeks. And although it sent fireworks through my veins, it felt weirdly formal. He never greeted me like that. ‘We will go inside?’ he asked.
I followed him into his hut and sat down on the little sofa.
‘Would you like something? Water? Something to eat?Du chocolat?’ he asked, putting things away as he did.
‘No, I’m OK, thanks.’
‘Non,’ he replied. ‘You are not OK. That morning. It was intense. You must rest and take care of yourself.’ Antoine sat down beside me. He was so close that I could feel the heat from his body without actually touching it.
‘Two days ago. You scared me.’ He pushed his dark hair back.
‘I scared me too,’ I said.
‘But I can ask you a question?’ Antoine looked right into my eyes, the blue of his softened by the light inside.
‘Of course,’ I said.
‘Why did you surf alone? I told you not to surf alone. I tellyou so much about the danger of the ocean, and it was like you did not listen to me at all.’ He turned away for a second, like he was too frustrated to even look at my face.
‘I thought I would be OK,’ I stammered, taken aback by his anger.
‘Margot. You almost drowned because you cannot follow a simple instruction.’ He stood up and paced around on the wooden floor in front of me. He picked up a tin of board wax and turned it over in his hand.
‘I’m fine!’ I said, realizing how blasé it sounded as soon as it came out of my mouth.
‘Non!You could havedied! Do you understand? You could have died because you thought you knew better thanyearsof experience.’ He threw the tin of board wax across the room, and we watched it bounce on the floor.
‘Why are you so angry? I thought you’d be happy that I’m OK!’ Now I was getting frustrated.
‘Why am I angry?’ Antoine threw his arms in the air and looked at me. ‘Because I am your instructor. I should have been there to protect you. And if some stranger had not been there to save you …’ His hand was in his hair again.
‘It wasn’t a stranger,’ I said. ‘His name is Felix. We’re … seeing each other.’
Antoine stopped pacing and stared at me, something turning in his head. But he didn’t say anything, so I continued. ‘He works at the campsiteBrasserie, and he hasn’t been in the water since his brother Gabriel died. But he did go in. To save me. And that means … I don’t know …everything?’ I could feel tears building again.
‘Stop,’ Antoine said, his tone replaced by something softer. More vulnerable. But I needed him to know what Felix did for me. People deserved to know.
‘Stop what? Telling you that someoneelseis the hero in this scenario?’
‘Margot, I saidstop!’
His face went white. The fury still there, but it was mixed with something else. A raw kind of pain that exposed him. Exposed Antoine as being the same as everyone else. Not invincible after all.
He turned to look out the window, at the ocean that looked so beautiful and threatening at the same time. ‘You are … with him?’
‘Well, it’s complicated.’ I stood up too. ‘We’ve been spending a lot of time together.’
