Alejandra shot him a deadly stare. He raised his hands in defense. He wasn’t here to cause trouble. The only thing he wanted was to help Alejandra and her friend out, smile politely at fans, and make his sponsors happy, mostly TerraVive, who had not-so-subtly reminded him that winning was part of the deal if they were going to keep supporting him.
Luckily, the first two legs of the tour had gone well. He’d won the opening event, sparking the great comeback headlines, and placed fifth in the next one. Not a victory, but still solid. In surfing competitions, every spot earned points, and every point kept him in the running. He’d learned to take the results in stride now, letting the numbers speak for themselves instead of getting lost in the hype.
Somehow, Ilias still had it. That connection with the ocean, the board, his body. Even though he’d thought about quitting, it was still the only thing that made him feel truly happy. Truly alive.
“Sofi, Ilias is here!” Alejandra called out in their mother tongue; her Southern Spanish accent thicker than when she spoke English.
The woman who turned around looked up at him with unimpressed brown eyes, even though she was anything but unimpressive. Maybe he should’ve researched who Sofia was, because this girl looked like she could eat him alive and he’dgladlylet her.
“You’re late,” Sofia said, looking at the iPad she cradled in her arms.
“My fans wouldn’t let me go.” He smirked. In his mind, it sounded like a great excuse, but by the way Sofia looked at him, she was even more unimpressed.
“Anyway, thank you for coming,” she said, plastering on what he thought was the most gorgeous fake smile he’d ever seen. “I’m Sofia. Nice to meet you.”
Her Spanish was flawless, but there was a slight accent he couldn’t quite place.
“Ilias. Thank you for inviting me,” he said, shaking her outstretched hand, which glittered with rings set with colorful gemstones, each one catching the light like a tiny jewel from a treasure chest.
“It was Ale’s idea.” Sofia shrugged.
“Anything to help the ocean and a new project.”
Her brown eyes searched his for a moment, then she nodded. “Do you know what your role is in this?”
“Enlighten me.” He grinned.
Sofia looked between Alejandra and Ilias. “I’ll give a speech, then we’ll start the clean-up, which we’ve designed to be like a race. We’ll split them into three groups, each of us leads one, and the winners get eco-friendly gear from our sponsors.”
Ilias tilted his head, intrigued. “So, is it a competition?”
Sofia frowned. “Well, yes. But like, a friendly one.”
“There’s nothing friendly in a competition, Sofia,” Alejandra grinned. “And I’m going to crush you both.”
“Gosh, you surfers,” Sofia almost groaned, definitely annoyed, as Ilias chuckled.
He couldn’t quite figure her out. Was she nervous? Standoffish? Introverted? Or just too focused on her work to be nice?
“And what do we win?” Ilias asked.
“If you win, you get gear and glory. That’s it,” she replied with another shrug.
“Could we raise the stakes a little?”
Sofia cocked an eyebrow. “It’s not a game for me. It’s an important day for my business.”
“What were you thinking?” Alejandra interjected.
“It was more a proposition for Sofia.”
He turned to look at her. Her long brown hair tumbled in waves over her chest, brushing the curve of her breasts, her nipples peaked through the fabric beneath the Salacia sweater. He forced his gaze back to her eyes, and they were definitely judging him.
“I have no time for this,” she snapped. “The gear’s over there.”
Sofia stormed off. Alejandra pinned him with one of her famous stares while he grabbed the gloves and started putting them on.
“What?” he asked, pretending not to care.
