Page 84 of The Surfer

“The sentiment’s there, although there were easier and less riskier ways to get my attention.”

Of course, Cove picked the most dangerous.

“You had to pull me out of the water yet again. All I wanted to prove was how much you’ve changed me for the better these last few weeks,” Cove says softly, his voice breaking. I just want to hold him tight against me and never let go, but he’s not finished yet. “I wanted to prove to you that I love you.”

What? What did he just say?

“You love me?” I ask, breathless.

It’s like the whole world disappears from around my vision, leaving only Cove and I and the words he’s whispering to me.

I love you.

He actually said it. A truth we both know but we’ve been avoiding. A truth we’ve known since the first day we spent together.

But now he’s actually said it.

“Yeah,” he replies, smiling his gorgeous smile. “Yeah, I do. I love you, Ripley.”

I lean in. Our faces are so close. “I love you, Cove.”

Cove turns to Sandy. “Is that alright, sis? Are we breaking the deal?”

Sandy laughs. “Fuck that deal,” she replies. “This is love.”

Yeah, fuck it.

Cove winks at her and turns back to me, staring at me with a serious expression that I’ve rarely seen from him in all our time together. It’s a look of complete sincerity. “I want to make this right, Ripley,” he says. “I want to get back into surfing, you’ve made me realize that. You did. I couldn’t do it without you. I’ve realized I can’t do anything without you. I want to get back into surfing and I want your help.”

“My help?”

“You’ve made me a better person, Ripley. You’ve made me a better man in every way, and it’s only taken now, to when I nearly lost you, to realize that. I want to get back into surfing, but I need your help. I want you with me every step of the way, what do you say?”

He wants me to stay? He wants me to help him?

“Is that what you really want?” I ask.

His clear blue eyes stare deep into my own and I see how serious he is. I see how much he loves me. It’s all true. Everything he’s saying is true, he really wasn’t like my Dad after all. Cove really does love me.

“Yes,” he replies. “That’s what I really want.”

He’s my surfer boy.

I nod, turning to Sandy. She smiles back at me, standing a few yards away to give us space.

I think back on that first time we met, back when Cove stood naked outside his bedroom door. I think about the first day we spent together properly, and the way Cove tenderly taught me to surf. I think about the last few weeks, and how we’ve barely been apart.

The best weeks of my life.

If this isn’t love, then nothing is.

Love is a mysterious force. You never know when or where it’ll cross your path in life. And, when you least expect it, love finds you.

Love has found me now.

Cove and I have found each other.

Cove didn’t think he deserved love, but he does.