The Player novel Chapter 13

Brielle

6:23 AM

"Get out of the car!"

I rubbed my eyes, staying put. "I'm too tired to get up. Why did you insist that we get here this early?"

He opened my door, reaching over me and unbuckling my seatbelt. Despite my efforts of clinging onto the car seat, Christopher managed to rip me out from his convertible.

"For the fifth time, the waves are better in the morning."

Now that my ankle had gotten better, Christopher insisted that the first thing I did was learn how to surf, like I promised. I tried my hardest to talk my way out of it, but he was persistent.

"Why are you so gung-ho over me surfing with you?"

He walked to the backseat of the car, picking out two surfboards and a bag from his trunk. "First, no one says gung-ho anymore."

Really?

"And two, surfing is actually fun when you get the hang of it. I bet you that by the time you learn you're going to like it more than me."

"I highly doubt that."

He didn't respond after that. Instead, he started making his way towards the shore. He had parked near the beach, and it was deserted due to the time of day. There were only a few surfers littered in the ocean. We had just come at sunrise, and the view took my breath away. The sky was a mix of orange and pink hues, all forming together into one beautiful sky. We walked in silence, each of us taking it in.

When we reached the shore he reached into his bag and threw an article of clothing at my chest. "Put this on."

I held it up in front of me, inspecting it. It looked like a waterproof, skintight, onesie. He must have seen the confusion on my face, because he explained what it was.

"That's a wetsuit. You're supposed to put it over your swimsuit to keep you warm." I nodded my head as he took off his shirt, before slipping his legs into his own suit. I managed to get a good look at his bare upper body, and nearly choked when I saw his defined abs. I quickly looked away, afraid that he would spot me.

I turned away from him, taking off my t-shirt and jean shorts to reveal my bikini underneath. All that I had were one-piece bathing suits, so Sam leant me one of hers. I told her that I was fine with my own, but according to her I looked like a grandma going to water aerobics.

Sam was much smaller than me, so the bathing suit was way too tight. I blushed, quickly putting my legs into the wet suit. I left the top part of the suit off, like he did, so that the sleeves were dangling from my waist and my upper body was exposed. When I turned around to face him, I noticed that his eyes were on me. He quickly looked away, but not before I caught it.

"Okay," he said, coughing. "Here's your first lesson." He picked up the surfboard next to him and laid it on the sand. He then threw a piece of wax to me. I fumbled with it before finally catching it. "Wax the board."

"Why?"

He let out a huff. "Just do it."

"I didn't know that Nike had a new spokesperson," I mumbled underneath my breath.

"I heard that."

Once I had finished rubbing the wax on the surfboard, I turned towards him, waiting for him to tell me what to do next.

"Now lay on your stomach on the board." I did what he said as he stood over me. "You have to arch you back off it."

"Like this?" He shook his head, before kneeling beside me. He placed his hand on the small of my back, his cold hand against my warm skin causing me to shiver.

"You have to keep this part of your back pressed down," he then placed his hand on my shoulder, gently lifting it. "And keep your chest lifted. Like that."

I let in a ragged breath, hoping that he didn't notice. Just contact from him was enough to make my heart beat faster.

Get it together Brielle.

"You're going to paddle in this position, and then when the time is right, pop yourself up and stand." He showed me how to do it, before making me do it for what felt like a hundred times. When my arms felt like spaghetti, he finally let me in the water.

We both got on a surfboard as we paddled into the ocean, waiting for a wave to form. To pass the time, I turned towards him. "So why did you start surfing?"

He looked behind us, checking to see if a wave was coming. "Surfing was always my oldest sister Bianca's thing. She dragged me one day and after that I really liked it."

"Yea, well don't expect that to happen with me."

"Don't worry," he flashed me an award-winning smile. It wasn't fair how white his teeth were. "It will."

Just then, a wave started to form behind us. He began paddling, before pushing himself off his board until he was standing, riding the wave. It was almost mesmerizing. He looked completely at peace, gliding through water. The sight alone made me excited to learn, even though I would never tell him that. When he returned to me, he shook out his hair, splashing me with water.

"Your turn."

****

Two hours and many failed attempts later, I was pretty much ready to give up. I didn't know how Christopher made it look so easy, but it wasn't. At all. Christopher seemed to have given up on me too, because he had returned his surfboard back to his car and was now sitting on the shore. Whenever I wanted to quit, he would force me back out, claiming that he wanted to give up when he first started too.

One bad wipeout later, I had finally reached my breaking point. "I'm not kidding Christopher I give up!" I yelled trying to get him to hear me.

"Just one more!" He shouted. I rolled my eyes. If one more stupid wave was going to allow him to let me quit, then it was worth it. I began paddling towards the wave before pushing myself up.

However, this time, it felt different, like everything had aligned perfectly. As I stood up, I felt one with the ocean, soaring across the water. The wave crashed on the other side of me, causing me to be encased in a tube of water.

What was probably seconds felt like forever as I held onto the moment, not wanting to let it go. When I finally jumped off my surfboard, I looked to the shore to see Christopher jumping up and down, cheering for me. An adrenaline rush hit me as I paddled towards the shore, discarding my surfboard once I reached it.

I ran up to him, a big smile on my face. He held his arms out to me, and I jumped into them, wrapping my legs around his waist as he spun me in a circle. After our excitement had subsided, I realized what I was doing.

I'm straddling Christopher!

He must have had the same realization because his eyes grew wide. I quickly jumped off him, my cheeks flushing with red.