“Start paddling,” Rowan coached. “Not too soon. Wait ... wait ... now.”
Kelsey dug deep. Her stroke wasn’t perfect, but it was determined, and determination could make up for almost everything else.
The wave lifted. Rowan braced, ready to shout corrections, but Kelsey didn’t need them. She felt it. She paddled three clean strokes, pressed her hands to the deck, and popped up—
And stuck it.
A real clean ride at Threes.
Her stance was loose as a grom, her knees too stiff, but she rode the face for a solid, glorious five seconds before tumbling off in a spray of foam and limbs.
Rowan whooped so loud a couple of uncles in the lineup hollered approval. “Yes, Kelsey! That was gorgeous!”
Kelsey surfaced, sputtering, hair plastered across her face—but beaming. “IDid It! Did you see that?!”
“Hell yes, I saw!” Rowan yelled back, laughing. “You just rode Threes. Not the whole wave, but enough. Get your butt back out here for another.”
Kelsey paddled toward her with wild joy lighting her face. “Dad is going to freak out when I tell him.”
Rowan’s chest squeezed. She hoped he would.
Last night he’d claimed her like she was oxygen and he’d been underwater too long. And now her body had the nerve to remember every detail while she was trying to teach his daughter to surf.
Kelsey reached her and Rowan steadied the board. “Okay,” she said, clearing her throat. “Let’s do it again. I want to see that bottom turn today.”
Kelsey grinned. “A real one?”
“A real one,” Rowan confirmed. “Even if it’s tiny. Even if it’s barely a twitch. Today you earn your first real cutback.”
They paddled out together, water warm and green around them. Rowan watched the girl watch the ocean—really watch it—for the first time. Not with fear. Not with hesitation.
With hunger.
And something inside Rowan cracked open. The ocean had taken so much from her, left her wrecked and afraid for months. But seeing Kelsey fall in love with it—seeing this quiet, lonely girl transform out here where the world felt bigger and kinder?
It healed something Rowan hadn’t realized was still raw.
When another clean swell approached, Rowan touched Kelsey’s ankle in signal. “This one. Take it.”
And this time, Kelsey didn’t question. She paddled, rose, and turned.
Rowan allowed the rush of joy to hit, and realized how much she’d missed it.
Realized how both of them had already changed her life.
By Friday, the week had blurred into a swirl of walk-throughs, meetings, and the faint throb of exhaustion behind his eyes. The Purity project had moved from vision to countdown—every detail needing his signature, every department holding its breath until he gave the final word.
It should’ve felt like victory.
Instead, all he could think about was her.
Rowan.
He could still taste the salt of her skin. The way she’d whispered his name against his neck. The sweet, honeyed taste of her mouth and the spice between her thighs. Everett hadn’t been able to stay away, so he’d visited twice more, not caring about sleep or work, just the next hit. It was everything he wanted from a summer affair.
Reasonable rules. No promises. Just need.
And yet, here he was on Friday, checking his phone too often, hoping for a text that said something simple likesee you soon.
