“So,” Becca said. “Tomorrow.”
Lana held up her hand. “I’m going.”
“Obviously I’m going,” Capri said. “I made a sign last night. Our waves. Our home. Our call.”
Becca pointed at her. “That’s actually good.”
Becca looked at me. “Are you going?”
“I don’t know.”
Becca frowned. “Dad’s coming to watch the kids so we can go.”
“He doesn’t want us to go,” I reminded her.
He hadn’t told me not to go. But he hadn’t told me to go either. He said be careful, which was him giving us the option to make a choice.
“He’s worried,” I said.
“He’s always worried.”
“I want to get there early,” Capri said. “Before it gets crowded.”
I looked out at the water. The afternoon class would be arriving soon. A group of six, all adults, which was a different kind of exhausting than the kids. Adults were self-conscious. They overthought everything and apologized constantly for falling off their boards. And they were so much stiffer.
We stayed on the beach until Becca started collecting towels. “Let’s go, guys,” Becca said.
“I better get going to,” Capri said. “I have to work.”
“Me too,” Lana sighed.
“You doing okay?” I asked Lana.
“Better,” she said. “I’m still angry. But better.”
“One day at a time,” I told her.
She nodded and picked up her board. “See you tomorrow.”
I watched them all make their way up the beach. I lay back on my board, letting the sun hit my face. I had maybe twenty minutes before my adult class showed up. I closed my eyes.
I’d been lying there less than five minutes when I felt the shadow move over me and I knew it wasn’t a cloud. I opened my eyes to find Colt standing over me. Just watching.
“That’s a creepy habit,” I said.
“You close your eyes in public a lot.”
“Never been a problem before.”
“I stopped by your house,” he said.
“Oh good, you’re a full-service stalker.”
He smirked. “I came to apologize.”
I propped myself up on my elbows. “Go on, then.”
“Excuse me?”
