Chapter 25 #2
Roan blinked, and for a moment, Danger was afraid he’d decline and choose to work with Pope and Ocean, since they’d been the ones to teach him how to swim, then his face lit up, and he rushed over and right into Danger’s arms.
“Yes, please,” he said as Danger hugged him tight.
“I am so proud of you,” Danger said. “You earned that. Now let’s teach you how to ride it.”
“Awesome!”
The waves were perfect for a beginner, breaking gently, so he had the chance to get the feel for them as Danger taught him first how to paddle out and turn so they could carry him on a bouncy ride back to shore on his belly.
Since he’d learned how to cup his hands while swimming, paddling was easy for him to get the hang of.
Water droplets clung to his skin, making the golden hue shimmer like it was glitter-dusted as Danger held his board and spoke to him about turning.
“For now, we’re going to keep you on your belly and teach you how to use your body to turn the board,” he said after Roan had been out and back several times.
“Think about what it’s like when you’re on your Harley and approaching a curve.
You want to look through it, see everything you can on the other side, right? ”
“Uh-huh, that way you’re not too far to the middle if you’ve got oncoming traffic heading for you,” Roan replied.
“Exactly,” Danger explained. “In this case, I want you to visualize and imagine where you want to be after your turn. Look in at the wave’s curl, not at the spray, and shift your weight in the direction you want to go.
Dig your elbow into the rail; left takes you left and right goes right.
Ease pressure as soon as you’ve turned as much as you want and reached the place you visualized; if not, you’ll either spin all the way around or get board-sided by the wave and knocked off.
With Pope and Ocean positioned on either side of them, calling out words of encouragement, Roan made his first attempt at turning and managed the spin enough for the wave to break near his feet, propelling him forward and making him laugh.
Again and again he worked on turning until he managed to do it right where he needed to and rode the wave in with a big grin on his face. Danger tapped him on the shoulder, and he was knocked into the water when he turned and crashed into his arms; he was so excited.
They came up laughing, saltwater stinging his eyes, but man, he could see how much confidence Roan had gained and how thrilled he was to be out there with them, finally able to participate fully.
“Time to check on the pups, rehydrate, and think about heading in for the rest of the afternoon,” Danger said, not wanting to crush any of Roan’s enthusiasm, but it was getting hot, and he didn’t want Roan to get dehydrated or exhaust himself to the point where it stopped being fun.
“Yeah, I’m getting tired,” Roan admitted. “All that paddling is a serious workout.”
“You’re damn right it is,” Pope said, getting in on the hugging too, as did Ocean, so they stood in a circle with their arms around each other, Roan’s boogie board squished between them as the water lapped around their knees.
“You are a natural,” Ocean said. “Once you got the hang of turning, they were smooth and deliberate motions. I could tell you weren’t hesitating; you were just going for it with everything you had.”
“It was so much fun,” Roan said. “Thank you guys for teaching me how to swim and helping me get over my fear of the water. I didn’t even think about what might be swimming around us or under me while we were out there.
All I cared about was turning my board where I wanted it to go.
Man, I worked up an appetite, though. Do we still have slices of turkey left? ”
“Unless you guys killed it off while we were gone,” Pope said.
“Nope, we had scrambled eggs, oatmeal, and Greek yogurt with blueberries,” Ocean replied. “We followed the recipe you posted on the fridge and made eggs and oatmeal for the dogs, then added yogurt and blueberries to theirs too, so we all had the same breakfast.”
“Perfect, then I’ll fry some bacon up for our sandwiches,” Pope said. “And a bit extra for our furry friends but only as a treat on top of their turkey and carrots.”
“They love their carrots,” Roan said as they headed out.
They collected the blankets and the pups, then headed inside with them for a much-deserved meal.
The cool air that had steadily filled the house over the course of the morning and afternoon blasting them the moment they opened the door and stepped into the mudroom.
Paws were wiped and fur was brushed as one by one they showered off in the stall, dried off, and stepped into the clothes they’d left waiting on the bench.
Cleaning up in here meant sand stayed out of the house and even allowed them to keep their beach clothes separate from their everyday wear, since Pope collected everything, including their towels, and put them straight in the washing machine when they were finished.
Their pups eagerly stood by their sides as their bowls were filled, no longer whining as if afraid they wouldn’t be fed.
They were patient and trusting and followed them over to their mat beside their water dispenser, the big container allowing the bowl to remain full of cool, fresh water for them at all times.
Only after their pups were taken care of did they slice tomatoes and break out the lettuce so they could customize their sandwiches.
“Any thoughts on how you’d like to spend the rest of the day?” Pope asked.
“Can we watch something from your surfer movie collection?” Roan asked.
Ocean giggled at the request and winked at Danger. “Someone’s caught the bug.”
“Yup,” Danger replied. “We’ve got to nurture that.”
“Sure do, though I bet the biggest inspiration will be watching you compete next month.”
“Shit, whoa, is it seriously only a month away?” Ocean remarked before tapping his phone a few times to check the calendar. “Oh fuck, I’m gonna have to bust my ass to get ready.”
“Bullshit,” Pope said. “You’re more than ready. You’ve hit the waves damn near every day since you’ve gotten here. You just haven’t been obsessing over the competition, which, in my opinion, is better for you than constantly running a countdown clock in your head, so don’t start that now.”
Nodding, Ocean dragged in a breath and turned the phone over.
“You’re right. I came here to get a feel for what the waves were like, and I have, and I am completely comfortable on them.
I would like to head up a few days early, just to surf the actual beach I’ll be competing on, but there’s no reason to disrupt the routine I’ve already established.
Thanks for keeping me from getting spun out. ”
“It’s what I do,” Pope said, grinning at him.
“Your mental health matters just as much to us as your physical pleasure,” Danger said. “We don’t want you making yourself anxious, especially over things you’ve got no reason to be anxious about.”
“I never imagined getting stuck on the side of the road would lead to finding my family again,” Ocean admitted. “I feel like I owe the road an apology for how badly I cussed it out that day.”
“You weren’t the only one cussing at that road,” Danger admitted. “As much as it sucked to wind up eating asphalt, I don’t regret a single second of what happened, since it led us to you.”
“Sometimes fate has a fucked sense of humor,” Pope said, “and that day it was on a roll.”
“Tell me about it,” Ocean said. “Comedy central would have had a star in the making if roads could talk.”
“Instead of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, they could call it the Asphalt and Accidents Comedy Tour,” Roan added.
“And this is what I get for living with a bunch of wannabe comedians,” Danger grumbled. “You all suck.”
Grinning, Ocean cocked his head and stared across the table at him. “Name the time and place.”
“Right here, right now, right under this table,” Danger growled as his cock twitched in anticipation.
Ocean barely hesitated, pausing only to devour the last bite of his sandwich and wash it down with what was left in his glass before shoving the chair back to crawl under the table.
When his hands gripped Danger’s sleep pants, he fumbled with the strings to get them untied and rose from his seat just enough to allow Danger to yank them down around his ankles, then off, when they wouldn’t allow Danger to spread his legs enough.
Damp hair brushed against his inner thighs as Ocean crawled between his legs, and he sucked in a breath at the cold sensation.
“Don’t know how you intend to finish your lunch that way,” Pope remarked, eyes darkening with desire.