Page 42 of Harper’s Renegades

“While that is probably the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me, it’s also a lot of pressure. People want to be needed, but no one wants to be the sole source of someone’s happiness. That’s not fair to either person involved,” I said, covering his hand with my own, hoping he could understand what I was saying. “I’ll be fine, and if I feel the slightest thing might be off, you’ll be the first to know.”

“I know you probably don’t believe this can happen so fast or be willing to acknowledge it, but you need to know one thing, Harper Peirson… I love the fuck out of you. Most of the time, I suck at showing it, and telling you this is probably going to freak you out, but it had to be said.” Magnus didn’t give me any time to react as he kissed me soundly, then grabbed his board and jogged off.

I stood there, my fingers touching my lips, as his words ran through my head over and over again.

The grumpy bastard loved me. What the hell was I supposed to do with that?

Numbly, I spread out a few towels on the sand and sat, staring out at the ocean where three men who were slowly stealing my heart were surfing.

Chapter nineteen

Harper

Eventually, I managed to set aside what Magnus had told me as I applied my suntan lotion and worked on my tan. When I got too hot, I shifted to the shade, rolled up a towel for a pillow, and took a nap. Moments like this made me pause to put a mental note that vacations were needed far more often than I’d been doing them. It was so freeing not to have a schedule—no worrying about what client was going to have an emergency that required me to work through the night.

Here, I could blissfully ignore all that was happening in the world except that someone was dripping water on me.

Cracking open an eye, I found Ghost grinning at me. “Ready?” I groaned and took the hand he extended, pulling me up onto my feet. “Trust me, angel, this is going to be fun.”

“Just you wait. Soon, you’ll be banishing me to the beach, so I don’t drive you crazy,” I mumbled as I entered the water.

Ghost grabbed the longboard he was going to teach me on and waded after me. “We only need to go about waist deep. No sense in trying to drown you as we work on the basics. So tell me what you do know.”

Moving to the back of the board, I hoisted myself up. “I know you need to find the sweet spot so the nose doesn’t dip under the wave or sit too high. This, I didn’t have a problem with. It was the whole chase-the-wave-and-pop-up bit.”

“Okay, show me how you pop up,” Ghost instructed.

Heaving a sigh, I pushed up like a plank, then tried to bring one foot forward only to have the board shoot out from under me. Then, into the water I went just like I knew was going to happen.

“You all right there, angel?” Ghost asked as I stood, wiping the water off my face.

I glared at him and pulled myself back on the board. “This is going about as well as it did last time.”

“From what I saw, you aren’t making sure you’re steady before pulling your foot forward. Everything is happening too fast. Slow it down. Pretend you’re doing yoga on a paddle board, and you need to keep things balanced and smooth,” Ghost explained.

This time, when I lifted on the board, I waited until I felt grounded.

“Good, just like that, now when you bring your foot forward, don’t take it so far. You need to take two steps, not just one.”

Just as I was moving forward, a large wave crashed behind us, tossing me off the board as a burst of whooping laughter could be heard. Once more, rising out of the water, I saw Jaxson and Magnus finish riding out the wave, high-fiving.

“Bad luck on that one. I should have been watching. Since it’s getting later, the waves are becoming a little rougher,” Ghost apologized. “Come on. You did way better that time. Let’s give it another go.”

Up on the board, I went, into my plank, holding firm, taking one step.

“All right now, lift your head and look where you’re going, don’t watch the board. It will stay where you want it if you trust it to.”

I wobbled a bit, then found my center, looked forward, brought the second foot up, and stood. There I was, standing on the longboard, even if I were a wobbly mess, while I tried to find my balance. The water undulated, and I was once more back in the ocean.

Popping up, I was met with a round of cheers, not that the other two had joined us.

“Gorgeous, you did awesome,” Jaxson encouraged. “I bet you can do it again now that you have a feel for it.”

“Standing on a board with no forward movement is tough, so don’t let that get you down,” Magnus added. “This time, let Ghost push you to simulate a wave and try. It should help.”

It was hard not to feel energized with all of them so excited with the small amount of progress I’d made. “Okay, let’s give it a shot.”

They were right. Now that I got a feel for what it should feel like, letting my body flow into it was easier. I’d always been able to pick up new Pilates or yoga moves once I got a sense of them. This seemed to be no different. As I pulled up on the board, finding the sweet spot, Ghost gave the board a good shove sending me forward. The momentum was different, but as they said, keeping the board steady as I got up was helpful. Standing and keeping the balance was far smoother, and I kept myself upright until the board slowed.