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‘Slipped right in,’ said Zach in awe from behind.

‘That’s what she said,’ murmured Emma dryly from a few feet away. At the smothered snorts of amusement and Hannah’s horrified expression, Emma held up her hands in surrender. ‘Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.’

Caleb set her down on her feet and Hannah was certain her face was on fire. ‘Thanks.’

‘No problem,’ said Caleb, and he turned away from her to pull up his own sleeves, covering the incredible chest she’d face-planted and dribbled all over. She turned back to glare at Zach, who winced a little with an apologetic lift of his shoulders.

A gentle hand touched the bare skin of her back; she didn’t jump, but her breath caught in anticipation as Caleb’s hand slid up her spine to the nape of her neck and then slowly brushed aside her hair. The rattle of the wetsuit zip followed, and her head swam with a dizzying rush of hormones. His hand curved between her collarbone and neck in a soothing gesture, as he whispered, ‘All done,’ in a husky tone that made her wetsuit feel uncomfortably tight and abrasive against her nipples.

‘Right, pick your boards!’ shouted Lucas, and everyone hurried towards the pile, except for Hannah, who needed a full minute to control her breathing first.

After they were all suited, they grabbed the boards and headed out to sea, paddling out a good distance to catch the longer waves.

‘This one’s a beaut!’ said Zach with a grin, and he sank flat on his board while keeping an eye on the upcoming wave. Everyone else did the same.

‘What do I do?’ squealed Bianca, in an oddly girlish voice.

‘Try and ride it,’ said Lucas with a laugh, which caused her to pout in response.

The wave drew closer, and they all began to paddle furiously, Zach moving slightly away from the group.

Lucas and Caleb flipped up to their feet with ease – almost at the same time as Zach. Uncertain, Hannah did the same; she had her balance for almost a full three seconds before she crashed out, tumbling in the freezing salty water, the leash on her board jerking her leg as it was swept forward without her on it. After the wave had passed, it bobbed back to her, and she grabbed hold of it with both arms and held it tightly.

The others were riding the wave. Bianca had stayed low for most of the wave – or perhaps she’d even ridden the one that came after? Either way, she was doing well and jumped to her feet prettily at the last minute. Which proved she’d either been lying about not knowing what to do, or she was a sickeningly good beginner.

Knowing Hannah’s luck, it was probably the latter, and she tried not to be bitter. Caleb dropped deliberately into the water at the end of his wave. Lucas must have done the same because he was bobbing cheerfully in the shallows, and Zach was already paddling back towards her.

She noticed Caleb sit up on his board and deliberately twist his body. When his gaze fixed on her, she knew he’d been searching for her. She felt embarrassed that she was so far behind them and so obviously bad at surfing, despite owning her own – if badly fitting – wetsuit. She tried clambering onto the board and failed, repeatedly.

‘Need a hand?’ asked Zach as he paddled towards her.

‘God no!’ she cried, half-afraid of what he would do this time – pull her up by her feet?

‘Sorry about earlier. Want some tips?’

Grunting, Hannah managed this time to haul herself up onto the board, her grumpiness softening when she realised Zach was holding the board steady and genuinely wanted to help.

Well, she didn’t like to hold a grudge – not for too long anyway – and Zach was an expert at this. ‘Thanks, that would be great.’

Fifteen minutes later, Lucas and Bianca had apparently called it a day and were heading up the beach, while Hannah felt as if she were no closer to standing, despite all of Zach’s tips. Caleb had been helping Bianca and Lucas improve their technique, while she’d been still learning the basics.

Emma came paddling into the shallows, the legs of her jumpsuit rolled up, and shouted over to them, ‘Can one of you guys come and check Bianca over? I think that last wave winded her.’ She pointed back at the beach where Lucas was helping Bianca onto her sun lounger.

‘I’ll go, it’s probably not serious if she’s walking,’ said Zach. ‘You practice your standing jump. I wanna see you ride a whole wave before the end of the day.’

‘I’ll try,’ she said weakly, knowing that the sea would turn into wine first. In all the waves that had come and gone, she’d wiped out every single time.

As she began to paddle further out, Caleb moved in beside her. ‘You’re getting better.’

‘Erm, thanks?’

‘I mean, it’s not like there’s loads of opportunities to practice surfing growing up in Hackney, right?’

‘Not many, no,’ she admitted.

‘Right, get ready,’ said Caleb, and she noticed he’d moved beside her and was now kneeling on his board.

The wave began to surge, and they both began to paddle furiously.