Chapter 27
ALEJANDRA
Resta Con Me - Bambole di Pezza
The more she spent time at the event, the more she could confirm she didn’t want to be there. And yet, here she was, leaning with her hips against the balustrade overlooking the beach where the event was being held, surrounded by people who looked way happier than she was.
Sofia and Ilias hadn’t stopped shouting about the baby coming, which they deserved to do, but that basically brought people closer to her circle, and inevitably questions were asked to her too.
She tried to distract herself observing Carlos flirting with Ester, and Amira gawking at them after finishing her recently won heat.
Was that a real life triangle romance she was witnessing?
Truthfully, what she had grasped from the few comments Amira had gifted her, she wasn’t interested in Carlos.
Apparently, he was like a brother to her, and ew, she could understand.
It was like flirting with Ilias—no fucking way.
But yet, the way she was checking very closely Ester talking with Carlos…
She had even tried to catch Carlos’ attention a couple of times.
It was fascinating, and by the way Sofia and Ilias noticed it, she wasn’t the only one entertained by it.
“What are we looking at?” Callum appeared by her side with a pack of fries and two beers. She grabbed one, and let him rest the fries on the balustrade, hoping that no seagull decided to attack them. She had been around those evil animals enough to know they were not to be trusted.
“Seeing what will happen between the triangle that has formed between Amira, my brother and Ester.”
Callum leaned next to her, his perfume enveloping her. Díos, she could drown in his smell. Even though she wasn’t someone who liked strong colognes, this man did everything perfectly. Even choosing the right perfume to activate her estrogen.
“Is it as entertaining as one of your romance books?” he asked, smirking.
“I’d rather not know my brother’s sex life, but I would eat the shit out of that book if it was written.”
Callum laughed, and she followed him. Somehow, being around Callum made her entire mood shift. Maybe because he was the only one there not reminding her who she was. He was just there—for her and Lamina—but there, present. And she couldn’t be more grateful for it.
“That last wave Amira got was great. She nailed a perfect tube. She’s off to a great start this season, don’t you think, Ale?” Mick Turner leaned against the railing beside her, grinning as he kept his eyes fixed on the beach where Amira had just secured her pass to the semifinal.
Alejandra’s mood shifted instantly.
She forced a smile onto her face and nodded. “Yeah. If she plays her cards right, she can win the event. She still has room to grow, though.”
“Maybe this is her chance to win the Championship without you in the way,” Mick joked, laughing lightly as if the comment meant nothing.
The words lodged somewhere beneath Alejandra’s ribs. Her stomach tightened. For a second, the noise from the beach blurred into a dull buzz inside her head.
Without you in the way.
She swallowed hard and kept the smile glued to her face out of pure muscle memory.
“I don’t think I’ve had the chance to introduce myself yet, mate,” Callum interjected smoothly, extending his hand toward Mick, who finally turned away from the ocean. He slid his sunglasses up onto his head and smiled politely.
“Mick Turner, mate. Nice to meet you.”
“Callum Evans.”
Mick blinked. Once. Twice. The color drained slightly from his face as his expression tightened with surprise. Alejandra frowned immediately. It was such an odd reaction.
Mick cleared his throat and shook his head quickly. “Right. Uh…” His eyes darted somewhere over Callum’s shoulder toward the crowd. “I think someone’s calling me. I should go.”
Before either of them could answer, he gave them a quick wave and disappeared into the crowd.
Alejandra watched him weave between people, confusion prickling at the back of her neck.
That had been weird. Not just awkward weird.
Weird weird. Mick was one of the most laid-back guys on tour.
He flirted with everyone, talked to everyone, and could hold a conversation with a brick wall if necessary.
She had never seen him look genuinely unsettled before.
And she was almost certain nobody had called him.
“The guy’s a bit weird, isn’t he?” Callum scoffed, taking a sip of his beer.
“Yeah…” Alejandra kept staring at the crowd, trying to spot Mick again, but he had already vanished. “That was… strange.”
She replayed the interaction in her head again.
The second Callum had introduced himself, Mick had looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Do you know him?” she asked carefully.
“Mick? No. Never met the guy before. Why?”
Alejandra shrugged. “I don’t know. He reacted weirdly.”
Callum didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. He leaned casually against the railing, beer bottle hanging loosely from his fingers.
“He was saying things that made you uncomfortable,” he said simply. “I’m glad he left.”
Alejandra looked down at the sand below them, watching the white foam dissolve against the shoreline.
Maybe this is her chance to win the Championship without you in the way.
The comment kept echoing in her head no matter how hard she tried to shake it off.
Callum’s voice softened. “How do you feel?”
Usually, she would have probably hid everything behind a smile but with Callum, by the way that she looked at her, she wanted to somehow be able to share the weight pressing on her shoulder with someone else.
“Do you know Inside Out?”
“The film with the tiny emotions running around inside a kid’s brain like they own the place?”
“Yup.”
“What about it?”
“Do you know the green one? Envy? I think I’m turning into her.
” Her gaze roamed to the other surfers on the beach stretching and preparing for the following heat.
“I don’t feel like myself not being able to feel the adrenaline from prepping for a heat.
I feel…useless, aimless. And the comment Mick just said… without me Amira can win…I don’t know…”
His expression softened. “You are not useless or aimless. You’re being incredibly brave just by being here. I told you, I couldn’t even watch the Olympics for years after I got injured.”
“I don’t even know why I’m here when I can’t be there,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on the ocean.
“I miss the adrenaline. The nerves. Knowing that I’d catch that wave, ride it all the way in, feel the wrap of the ocean around me when I’m done.
” Her voice cracked. She took a shaky breath, trying to hold it together.
“We can leave.”
She looked up. His blue eyes held no pity.
“We can leave,” he repeated. “You show me around Ericeira. Or we drive down to Lisbon. Or we head back to the stand and you help me out. Whatever you want, Alejandra, whatever you need, we’ll do it. I’ll be your driver and your emotional support Welsh guy.”
Her jaw clenched. Her heart cracked open. God, the idea was so tempting. They could drive to Lisbon. Escape it all. Spend the day together. Maybe slowly fuck him out of her system without injuring her shoulder in the process.
“I hate feeling like this,” she muttered, tilting her head up, blinking fast to stop the tears from falling.
He reached out and gently squeezed her right hand, grounding her. “Whatever you want.”
“Don’t you have to work for Lamina?” Her voice was low, like they were sharing a dark secret. Because in reality, it was her darkest secret: not wanting to be anywhere near the water if she couldn’t be in it, if she couldn’t be the Alejandra before Pipeline, before the injury.
“The two kids are great. Asma trained them with, like, a hundred PDFs on Lamina. They’ve got it handled.”
“Wouldn’t it look like I’m running away?” Her voice barely above a whisper.
His hand brushed against her cheek, and she leaned into it, needing the comfort more than she wanted to admit.
“It’s your choice, Alejandra, it doesn’t matter what people think of you.”
She took a deep breath. And he was right. She’d never cared what people thought before. So why the hell start now.