Page 3 of Lowering His Guard

“Who’s ready to catch a wave?” I throw up the devil’s horns before telling everyone to line up!

Sandy is first. I push the board until we reach the tiny broken waves near the shore. “Paddle! Now stand!”

She falls and I cheer. “Now, you can call yourself a surfer.”

I motion to Jace. “You’re up!”

I push his board. He’s already paddling. “Ready! Now stand!”

He catches a wave and stands. He stays up for three seconds before wiping out.

Brock steps toward the water but I touch his arm. “Wait.”

He stares at me.

“He’s okay.”

A second later, Jace pops up laughing. “I did it!”

I give him a high-five. “Gnarly, dude!”

“Dad! Did you see me?” Brock grins at his son. Oh boy. The man isn’t merely sexy. He’s a good father.

Once Jace is out of the water, I motion to the next kid in line. I continue until every student has had a chance to try and ride their first wave.

“All right, surfers!” I holler. “That’s it for your first lesson. You can now officially call yourselves surfers.”

I high-five all my students. “I’ll see you at your next lesson, but before you go, we need to clean our equipment and carry our boards back.”

I supervise while they wash the sand and dirt off the boards and rinse the leashes. Once they’re clean, I motion for them to place the boards on the rack.

I notice Brock carrying Jace’s board and scowl at him. “He can carry his own board.”

He shrugs. “I know.”

“But you’re carrying it anyway?”

He shrugs again. “It’s heavy.”

Who does he think he’s fooling? The foam beginner board weighs almost nothing.

“You carry all his stuff, don't you?”

He grunts.

Jace rolls his eyes. “Don’t take it personally. He thinks grunting is a form of communication.”

“No worries. I don’t take anything personally.”

Brock frowns at me. “Nothing?”

“Not if it doesn’t involve me.”

We arrive at the surf shed where the music is playing. I shake my hips and sing along to the song as I dance toward Brock. I motion to the rack where he can put the surfboard.

“Miss May! Miss May!” Sandy shouts. “I forgot my flip-flops!”

I hand Sandy my sandals without a second thought. “Use mine.”