The next wave came through. “Arabesque stand, Lola.”
The fast wave picked us up, and a spray of water hit my eyes, temporarily blinding me. I blinked furiously. “Come on. Let’s go.”
My leg hurt like a motherfucker when Justice lifted me to his shoulders, and I winced in pain. The bandages had started to come loose, and I felt a trickle of blood ease down my bare leg, onto my foot and drip onto Justice’s shoulder.
“I hope the judges don’t pull Lola Hamilton,” the announcer said. “That blood does not look good. Not good at all.”
I inhaled a steadying breath, and Justice huffed out, his muscles straining as he lifted me up into the pose that required him to hold my leg while I leaned forward and spread my arms. Balance, Lola. You got this. Blood dripped into the wave pool, and I could feel the slick liquid working its way under Justice’s hand.
I sneaked a peek at the jumbotron and saw the look of concentration on Justice’s face. Come on, babe. Don’t worry about me. Don’t drop me.
I tried to enjoy the applause from the audience, and I could hear Bobbie screaming in the background, but I was so keyed up that my legs cramped.
Finally, the ride was over, and we dismounted. Justice gave me a high five. “Awesome, babe!”
We got right back on the board. “Let’s get out there and finish them off,” I said.
We met the Stonebreakers back in the lineup and Devin’s face was set in a smirk. “No prob, you guys. Kristin and I fall sometimes, but we always come up smelling like roses. You haven’t seen our best moves yet.” I wanted to jump off the board and slug the guy. “And when I take over the shop I’ll invite you two to the ribbon cutting ceremony.” He made an expansive gesture with his arms. “I’ll have champagne, caviar, and hell, even some strippers. Maybe some of those chicks from The Booty Shop’ll shake their ass at the party.” Devin leered and pointed his finger my way. “You’d like that wouldn’t you, Lola?”
Justice jerked his fists up. “Don’t you talk that way to my wife.”
I gestured wildly. “Shut up, Devin.” An edgy, twitchy feeling coursed through my body and I splashed the water hard with one hand. Screw the jumbotron and Devin’s precious videographers; I didn’t need to put up with his machismo one second longer. “Yeah? And I suppose you’ll be trying to screw as many strippers as you can get your hands on. Just like you tried to screw me. Why don’t you tell Justice and Kristin all about how you begged me to give you a blowjob at the Ritz?”
Kristin’s eyes grew wide, and I heard Justice suck his breath in.
The announcer’s voice came to life. “A little drama’s always good for reality shows, but here at the Knight’s Ferry Wave Pool Contest, we take love seriously on Valentine’s Day. But hey, hey. Looks like we got one heck of a friendly competition out there.”
Justice said, “What the fuck?” His strong hands gripped my arms in a protective gesture. “Did he hurt you?”
“Hell no,” I said. “But if he comes near me again, his balls’ll end up in a vise.”
Kristin’s eyes filled with tears and I felt awful for her. I hoped with every fiber of my being that she’d leave his sorry ass.
Justice jabbed his finger at Devin, and I swear if we weren’t in the wave pool he would’ve stuffed him into a trashcan. I felt his body shake with rage. “Do yourself a favor and stay away from my wife.”
Devin looked over his shoulder as the next wave approached. “I hate to break up this party, but I’ve got a hundred grand with my name on it.” The wave came through, and Devin said, “See you back at the bank, Lola.”
“That son of a bitch,” Justice said. He leaned in and whispered in my ear. “You think you’re up for the arm-to-arm scorpion?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Hell yes.”
The arm-to-arm scorpion was one of our most difficult, highest-scoring moves. I’d have to contort my body into an upside-down position while I gripped Justice’s shoulders, and then curl my legs over like a scorpion’s tail until they almost touched my head.
We watched as Devin and Kristin executed a perfect one-arm straddle, and I cringed as I saw Kristin’s graceful legs stick out in a perfect V. Devin actually waved at the camera with his free arm.
The next wave rolled toward us, and Justice said, “Come on, babe, this is it.” We lay prone, paddled like crazy and dropped into the fast wave. Justice picked me up, and despite my injury, I knew I wouldn’t let him down.
My leg pulsed with pain but I forced the sensation out of my head. Justice lifted me to his shoulders, and then his powerful arms flipped me effortlessly until I was upside down, one hand gripping the back of his neck, the other on his shoulder. I eased my legs into a curled position like a scorpion.
The sun hit my eyes, and I squinted. I blinked. Everything felt perfectly balanced, but that’s when I noticed blood dripping from my foot onto the front of the board. Don’t look down! Point your toes and forget the pain.
But the throbbing pain wouldn’t go away. A sour taste filled my mouth as I felt the blood seep out of my wound. I pressed my lips together and forced myself to concentrate.
The blood continued to ooze, and I knew Justice probably saw it dripping in front of his face as it made its way onto the tandem board.
I took a deep breath as the water rushed underneath us and I glanced at Justice’s face for a second noticing that a few drops of blood had hit his face and the front of his rash guard.
His muscular arms held me firmly, a look of determination on his face.
“Lookie here, folks,” the announcer said. “Lola Hamilton’s executing a perfect, high scoring arm-to-arm scorpion with her husband, Justice. Are they crowd pleasers or what? You gotta give ‘em extra credit for getting back out there.”
The crowd whooped, and I heard Papaw scream, “Show ‘em how it’s done!”
My heart beat hard in my chest, and my spine ached with the contortion, but as the blood dripped off my leg the world came into focus.
Something was happening to me.
I felt like I was in a dream as Justice held me in his strong grip. This man who had captured my heart when we were kids was my soul mate.
Whether we won the contest or not, I had the biggest prize any woman could ever hope for.
Love.
With Justice. Together. Justice and me. We worked together. Like a well-oiled machine.
Being with Justice was a dream come true. He was my best friend, he was my workout partner, and he was romantic in the way I loved. Not with rose petals and cheesy candlelight dinners, but with childlike fun that made me want to grow old with him.
I wanted to ride bikes together in the streets when we were ninety. I wanted to watch our grandchildren grow up so we could all surf together. I wanted to make love to Justice every night as the ocean boomed in the background and then wake up in the morning and grab our boards and run laughing into the sea. I wanted to snuggle in with him and watch The Ring with a big bowl of popcorn on our laps.
I was in love with Justice and, win or lose, I was going to tell him those words every single day until we died holding hands.
Tears pricked my eyes. “I love you, baby.”
The wave came to an end, and Justice eased me out of the pose in a series of athletically graceful movements. I landed on the board with a wince of pain. “What?” he said. “Did you say something?”
I turned around and threw my arms around him. “I said … I love you!”
He smiled, and his lips were on mine, his athletic arms circling me tightly in his embrace. His lips possessed mine, his warm tongue licking, and nibbling. I couldn’t kiss Justice without my knees going wobbly, and so I gave into the passion of the moment. I lost myself in his seductive kiss as the crowd laughed and applauded. I heard Ginger’s voice above the crowd. “You go girl!”
We finally broke the kiss, and Justice’s dreamy blue eyes gazed into mine. His voice was low and husky. “I love you too, baby,” he said. “I never stopped.”
; The horn blared, signaling the end of the contest.
“And that’s it, folks. I’d say we saw one helluva show today. Promised you it’d be worth the price of admission. Competitors, exit the wave pool while the judges tally your scores.”
Thirty-Seven
Justice
Lola and I stood on the sand next to the humongous trophy that had been arranged on a velvet cloth covered table.
I was so worried about Lola, and all I could think about was getting her leg stitched up. We held hands, and I gazed into her eyes. “You, young lady, are heading straight to the hospital as soon as this is over.”
Her hand trembled in mine. “I’m fine.”
Surf music played while a hush came over the crowd. “Our judges take this seriously,” the announcer said. “And we need to carefully tally the scores but meanwhile, get your smartphones ready and pull up your Instagram account or whatever the heck you’ve got. Be ready to record history. Because we here at the Knight’s Ferry Wave Pool love a good old celebration.”
I squeezed Lola’s hand and swallowed hard. Devin and Kristin stood a few yards away, and Devin just had to get one last dig in. “Get ready to celebrate my redevelopment award, Justice.”
The contest had been a whirlwind of emotion. I had talked Lola into marrying me and as I gazed at her, this gorgeous woman who I’d met as a kid, my best friend, my soul mate, my playmate, I felt a deep and profound feeling of contentment.
My wife.
No way would I ever let her out of my sight again. I didn’t care if we had to live on beans and rice. Didn’t care if we had to start with nothing and live in her tiny bohemian apartment while I built up my motorcycle repair business and Lola cut out patterns for her swimsuits out of brown paper bags on our kitchen floor.
I would create a wonderful life for the woman of my dreams. I would make love to her every night as the sun set into the Pacific Ocean and we lay spent in each other’s arms, exhausted from a hard day’s work, a satisfying surf session, and a hotter-than-hell lovemaking session where I would spank her butt the way she loved and claim her as mine. I would happily make love to Lola and come inside her over and over until she was pregnant with our babies.
I would never leave her side, not even for a weekend trip. Lola and I would vacation together, weekends in local surfing towns if that’s all we could afford because all we needed was each other.
I smiled, picturing the two kids we once were, running hand-in-hand into the ocean and splashing each other. There wasn’t anything I needed more than that one feeling. When I thought of what made me happy in life—what made us happy—I realized that the happiest moments I’d ever had were those times where we’d done nothing more complicated than going down to the corner store, buying some penny candy, and working on a jigsaw puzzle together.
Love.
That’s what love meant to me. Being with Lola, the one person who made the small things in life precious, who made me wonder why anyone would ever feel the need to pile up stacks of hundred dollar bills when life was happening right in front of them every second. Lola even made a trip to the Laundromat fun.
Uncle Seth had plenty of girlfriends, but the shop was his life. He didn’t get to experience what Lola and I had. Maybe he would’ve found a love like ours, but his life was cut so short.
My throat felt tight thinking about Devin’s bulldozers showing up and viciously razing the Blue Tide Surf Shop that had meant so much to my uncle.
I squeezed Lola’s hand, and she gave me an anxious smile.
It was all over now.
Whatever the outcome, we’d done our best.
The crowd seemed to be in a hypnotic lull as surf music played and the announcer finally spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, cats and dogs. We have arrived at the moment you’ve all been waiting for. It’s been one heck of a crazy weekend here at the wave pool, and the competition has been fierce.
“We’ve seen the best tandem competitors—couples from California all the way to Tasmania. We’ve seen wipeouts, laughter, tears, and injuries.
“Our sponsors have been crazily generous with their time and money, bringing together the biggest purse in all of tandem surfing history. One hundred thousand dollars will go to our lucky winning couple. But make no mistake about it. Luck had nothing to do with it. Our couples are the biggest talents around, and I for one can’t wait to get my picture taken with each and every one of them.”
Lola and I held hands tightly and watched as the head judge whispered something in the announcer’s ear and handed him a piece of paper.
His voice came back to life with a chuckle. “Well, well, well, I won’t keep everyone in suspense any longer.
“Are you ready to crown your winners?” The crowd went insane with applause.
“Devin and Kristin Stonebreaker, Justice and Lola Hamilton, take your places next to the trophy.” He cleared his throat. “Tandem contests are judged by a straight point system taking into consideration surfing style, degree of lift difficulty, and length of ride.
“It was oh so close. Our winners edged out the second place team by two-tenths of a point for the win.”
His voice became ecstatic. “Please help me congratulate our winners of the one hundred thousand dollar grand prize at the first annual Knight’s Ferry Valentine’s Day Wave Pool Extravaganza! Congratulations to Justice and Lola Hamilton!”
Wait.
Did he just say we won?
The world came into sharp focus as adrenaline raced through my system and I let out an earsplitting whoop, fist raised in the air. “Holy—Lola we did it!” Next thing I knew, confetti rained down on us as the loudspeakers blasted “Surfing USA.”
Lola’s hand flew to her mouth, and I grabbed her up into a strong embrace and twirled her around. “We did it! We won!”
Lola’s mouth was on mine as the crowd went into a frenzy and the photographers closed in on us, clicking furiously. I peeked up at the jumbotron and saw both of our faces, larger than life. We had never looked happier.
When I gently set Lola down, Devin stood so close to me I could smell his overpowering cologne. His fists curled, and he hissed in my ear. “Don’t get too cocky. I’m demanding a recount.”
Devin practically frothed at the mouth when he glared at me. “This isn’t over, Justice.” He pointed to the wave pool. “I’ve got footage from my videographers. I’ll demand a replay of the entire contest. Every single second of it. You and Lola think you can get away with this phony marriage thing of yours and take the shop.” He pointed to himself. “It’s mine.”
Kristin grabbed her husband by the arm. “Let it go, Devin. This was all a mistake. We never should’ve entered.”
He whirled around. “I’ll tell you about mistakes. I should’ve bought the shop years ago. It’s mine!”
Kristin turned on him, and she looked like a wild animal. “Shut up, Devin! When we get home things are going to change. I’m not your doormat anymore.”
Kristin shook Lola’s hand. “Congratulations, Lola. You deserve this.”
Devin marched at a fast clip toward the parking lot. He gave one final glare my way. “This is far from over.”
But it was over.
Devin may’ve had the millions, but it would never be enough to make him happy.
Papaw, Ginger, and Bobbie raced toward us in a blur.
Bobbie flung her arms around Lola and me. “We won! We won! We won!” She jumped up and down and danced a jig with a laughter that bordered on maniacal.
Ginger placed a hand on Bobbie’s shoulder. “Sweetie, we know they won.”
Bobbie bumped hips with Lola and gave her a high-five, gave me an extra hard fist bump and then took Ginger by the hands and twirled her around. Her usually serious face took on a look of absolute glee.
Bobbie pushed her eyeglasses up on her nose. “No, Ginger, you don’t get it. We won.” She jumped up and down again and held her smartphone up for everyone’s inspection. “Lola and
Justice were the fifty-to-one underdogs.”
Papaw placed an arm around Bobbie. “Calm down kiddo. We don’t bet on sporting events. Too risky.”
Bobbie threw her hands up in the air. “Justice gave me ten grand and Lola gave me ten grand. I placed the bet, and they each won an extra five hundred grand!”
Lola and I stared at each other. We spoke at the same time.
“What?” Lola said.
“You placed a bet too?” I said.
“I gave Bobbie my ten grand from the Mystic Seaweed sale,” Lola said.
I slapped my thigh. “I gave Bobbie my ten grand from the shop sale.”
Ginger placed her hands on her hips. “Well, will you look at that. My niece really does know her way around the betting arena.”
Papaw held his hands in a “T.” “Time out guys. What the hell’s going on here?”
Bobbie started talking fast. “It’s like this, Mr. Hamilton, a fifty-to-one bet pays out fifty times the amount. Lola gave me ten grand, Justice gave me ten grand. They each won an extra five hundred grand from the bet alone.” She squealed with delight. “They’re millionaires!”
The reporters thrust their microphones in our faces. “What are you going to do with the money?”
“Any plans for a surf trip to Tahiti?”
“Do you think you’ll renew your vows?”
“How did you two meet?”
“Any tips for a happy marriage?”
The reporters were relentless.
“You placed sporting bets? What made you so sure you’d win fifty-to-one odds?”
“Any plans to compete in another contest?”
I took the microphone out of one of the reporter’s hands and placed a protective arm around Lola. “What do you think we should do with the money, Mrs. Hamilton? Should we buy a new tandem board? One with the name of your business painted on the deck?”
Lola gave me that gorgeous smile I would never tire of looking at and kissed my cheek. “Mrs. Hamilton thinks that’s a great idea.”
Two of the contest assistants strode into the fray with an oversized check made out in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars.
Riptide of Romance Page 25
