Riding the Wave (11 page)

W
aking with his face buried in a pillow and his arm around a slender waist, Tanner had approximately five point two seconds of peace. At least it lasted longer after he’d come last night. That had been all Avalon, though. The way she’d twined around him, brushing his hair back from his face, had been enough to keep his high going. To stay out of his head a while longer.

But now she was asleep. The light in the room was slightly gray due to the west-facing windows but Avalon’s hair still managed to shine with dark red gleams, spread in a dark cloud over her shoulders. She slept on her stomach, like him, but she’d hitched one knee up toward her side.

Admitting what an attractive curve the position made of her ass would probably be a little pervy, considering how knocked-out she seemed to be.

For a minute, he considered waking her up. It wouldn’t take much. Some strategic kisses and then he could fold up to her from behind. A few kisses to her neck and he could likely be inside her again in the time it’d take to get the condom on.

He slid out of bed instead.

In the morning’s hazy light, everything seemed entirely more complicated. Sleeping with Avalon hadn’t been quite as
easy
as he’d thought. To be truthful, he’d expected a quickie variation. More protracted, sure, but with the same sort of pump-and-go type of vibe.

Instead he’d locked his hand around the back of her neck and forced her to focus on him.

Not at all his usual mutual-orgasm routine.

But he’d hated the way she’d avoiding looking at him.

In the bathroom mirror, his face was rough looking. His eyes unfocused. Splashing water on his skin helped, and so did the rest of his routine, but by the time he stumbled downstairs to the kitchen, he still didn’t feel right.

How much of that he could lay at Avalon’s feet was debatable. There were also his other, way more massive problems. Like winning the San Sebastian Pro. Or, hey, how about the way he’d decimated his family last night? That’d make for some emo hours if he were so inclined.

The buzz of his phone against the granite kitchen countertop was a relief from the suck-hole his head had become. Until he saw Sage’s face smiling at him from the caller ID.

Coffeepot in one hand, he about not answering. For way longer than a good brother would admit. The shit storm of the next few days was already coming for him. No reason to grab it up any faster than he needed to.

He snatched up the phone, thumbed the answer. “Hey, you.”

“I’d decided that you were already out surfing.”

Tanner had come to believe he knew Sage’s voice better than he knew her face. He might’ve spent the past
decade away from his hometown, but there had been no way to give up his little sister. She hadn’t let him. At first the phone calls had come mostly from her, but he’d absolutely grown used to them. Now they talked at least twice a week, no matter what finagling they had to do in order to work around the time zones.

“Excuse me?” Water gurgled into the pot. Coffee was his one regular indulgence lately. He might have to eat pretty healthy to stay competitive with the younger groms on the circuit, but he couldn’t seem to give up his caffeine.

“Either you were out surfing, or you actually screened my calls. Mine. Your precious baby sister who you love more than anyone else in the world.” She was so obviously straining for her normal level of cheer and laid-back attitude. And failing. A thick quality told him she’d either been crying or was going to soon.

Tanner had done that to her. His hands kept working through the motions of making coffee, but his gaze turned to stare out the windows. This was what he’d worried about all along.

God
damn
their dad for putting him in this position.

“Screening is a sin against the universe,” he finally said. The coffee machine burbled away.

“So you hit the waves, then?” The music Sage always blasted in her shop crashed in the background before abruptly being cut off again. She’d probably swiped off the iPod. At this hour, she’d be alone in her dusty shop, probably hand-shaping her favorite pieces. “Because I’ve got this prime sub-six-footer with three fins that’d be sweet out there today.”

“No, didn’t surf. Not this morning.” The truth flew out of his mouth before he had a chance to think twice about
it. He’d never lied to his little sister before, not even when she’d been seven. Her hair in wispy blond pigtails, she’d asked him if the Easter Bunny was real and he’d managed to duck that one.

But he’d never banged her best friend, either.

The gaze he darted up revealed only a white plaster ceiling. As if he’d gone all Clark Kent–ish and could see Avalon’s naked ass in his bed from here.

Heat slammed up the back of his neck.

Holy crap, this could count as a major fail on his part. He’d thought about Sage, but he hadn’t exactly run through every level of consequences. Not that sisters were something a man
wanted
to think about before they were about to get dirty.

Fuck. Up. Hard-core.

Made a guy almost want to discuss his shitbird father and the illegitimate son he’d left behind.

“Where were you, then?” Sage laughed. “No. Don’t answer that. Probably best if you don’t.”

She had no fucking idea. He scratched short nails over the back of his head, but couldn’t put a dent in the tension-locked muscles there. “Was there something you needed, sis?”

“Yeah. Mom. She needs you to come by today.”

“Really?”

“Well . . .” She hedged a little bit. He could almost picture the way she’d duck her head and thrust her jaw to the side. She’d done it as a teenager when conning fifty bucks off him. “More like I think she needs you to come by.”

“I don’t know.” His gut churned. The scalding sip of black coffee he took only added to the burn. “I was thinking I should probably give her some space today. Let it go for now.”

“Tanner Wright, you’ve given this family almost ten years of space.” She sounded absolutely exasperated. A person had to push pretty far to get levelheaded Sage to that point. But then, he’d always had a talent for fucking up family. “You get your butt over here by this afternoon, bare minimum. And expect to stick around for dinner. You’ll answer any questions either Mom or I have and you’ll do so as honestly as you did last night. And everything will be fine in the end.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he snapped. But it was a sort of relief. Direction. A way to handle it. Though he found himself doubtful everything would be that easy.

Sage was a ridiculously determined optimist. It was one of the reasons she’d founded her own surfboard-making company at twenty-three. Because she’d never imagined that it wouldn’t work.

They chatted a few minutes more, but Tanner could hear the strain under it, even if no one wanted to admit it.

He’d been right to keep the secret. It seemed that no one agreed with him, but he knew. The hurt was all there, in the way Sage
wasn’t
laughing by the time they hung up. She’d been happier when she didn’t know.

Tanner tucked his phone in the pocket of his pajama pants, then carried his coffee, the carafe and a second mug back upstairs. But Avalon was still completely racked out.

She looked stupidly gorgeous for being so knocked out. The apples of her cheeks had been sleep-pinked, and even her curves looked warm. She was lying facedown and he could see the bottoms of her feet and toes, which were surprisingly tender and delicate looking.

Better to let her sleep. He’d kept her up late enough, after all.

He smiled around a sip of coffee as he sauntered out
toward the balcony. French doors gave way to a deck. Half the size of the ground-floor deck, there was still plenty of space, which was filled with cushioned wicker furniture. And all of it looked out on the best view in the world.

Beach. Pure beach, ended with only a beautiful white-frothed left break. Tanner knew without even pulling up the surf report on his phone that the waves had to be at least three feet on the backside. Plenty thick enough to get some tricks in.

But he plopped down on the deck chair and set his coffee on the mosaic-topped bistro table.

There’d be enough time for surfing later. For now, he meant to let Avalon sleep longer. She was always so wound up and riding some knife’s edge of energy. He got the feeling she didn’t rest enough.

But he didn’t have long to catch up on the surf reports and preliminary standings, much less hit his e-mail, before the door slid open behind him. He tucked the phone in his pocket, then twisted to smile at her.

She had her camera again. Raised in front of her almost like a shield.

Didn’t help her much. She still looked freshly fucked, her hair a tangled mess. She’d pulled on her shirt, but the only thing covering her ass was her red bikini bottoms. And her lips looked as reddened and swollen as when he’d first kissed the hell out of her last night.

He reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip. He needed his own armor, it seemed like.

This moment was not exactly wrapping up like he’d imagined. Maybe a kiss or two in the morning, a few nice words. Regrouping later with him in professional-sports-star and her in professional-photographer mode again.

He didn’t like the dense knot that lodged in his chest.

“Brought you coffee.” He kicked his feet up to the railing and leaned back. “Didn’t know how you wanted it, so it’s black.”

The waves were rolling in sets of six. Same as they always had at this break, his entire life.

Duh. The obvious didn’t make for very good avoidance methods.

She hesitated for a second. The camera wavered and he spotted her dark green eyes as it lowered. But then she snapped off half a dozen shots anyway.

Tanner tried not to feel the hair at the back of his neck standing to attention. He was going to have enough unwanted publicity, because of Mako’s article. He didn’t want the privacy of this moment broken as well.

“Thanks,” she said, finally lowering the camera. “Black’s fine. I’ve gotten used to it.”

She picked up the coffee and drank deeply, but she didn’t sit. Instead she moved to the side of the balcony—though that wasn’t far, only ten feet—and hitched her ass onto the waist-high railing. Sipping from her mug, she silently looked out to the water.

The message couldn’t have been any clearer if she’d written it in permanent marker across her forehead. Not interested, move along.

Tanner ought to take the message. They’d gotten what they wanted out of each other. Last night had been more about forgetting a messy evening than starting something new.

But fuck that.

Second place had never been to his taste.

He set his coffee mug down with a click that could barely be heard over the roar of the waves. Coming out of his chair, he moved toward Avalon.

She knew he was coming, watched him out of the corner of her eyes. Her fingers tensed around the coffee mug until her knuckles went white. But she didn’t flee. Didn’t run, or try to fill the space between them with chatter. He liked that about her.

He framed her pixie-shaped jawline in his grasp for a fast, swift kiss. They traded bitter coffee tastes when her tongue took his.

Pulling back, he brushed her long bangs to the side, the better to see her wide-open eyes. “Good morning, Avalon.”

She swallowed on a soft sigh. “Good morning, Tanner.”

A
valon wanted her camera in her hands rather than the mug of coffee.

But she didn’t usually get what she wanted, did she?

It wasn’t like Tanner’s hands at her face was any sort of hardship. She’d find a way to endure. Somehow.

She had to bury the sudden smile in her coffee mug. Explaining that one might be a wee bit difficult.

Tanner didn’t return to his seat and she didn’t want to examine how happy she was. The sun peeking over the rooftops had nothing on the happiness beaming through her. He stood between her knees, though he lowered his hand to her knees. The tingle that went up the inside of her thighs was proximity and possibilities.

She couldn’t resist the devil on her shoulder. The slightest move tightened her legs and her knees brushed his sides, along his ribs. The man had incredible lats, that was all there was to it.

The very thought brought back the rush of holding him. Gripping those very sides.

He could go straight to her head—and other parts. Especially with the steady way he looked at her. As if he
could see right down inside her, and maybe didn’t mind what he was finding.

The fear that prickled along her skin at that thought was more than she could bear. She hadn’t earned that level of interest. The smile she forced to her lips felt unnatural, but she made it. “Do we have plans? And mind you, I’m asking as your assigned photographer. Not the pickup chick who won’t go home.”

His smile was pretty, though she’d never tell him that. And the scar only added a tiny dash of recklessness. “I don’t kick my pickups out quite that fast, thank you very much. There’s always time for a second round.”

“Oh?” She wanted to kiss him again. Lose herself in him, tell him there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for another chance.

Which was patently ridiculous. She didn’t have any time for the likes of him, not when they’d both be moving on so quickly. Not when he’d need so much from her. “Make them earn their keep, do you?”

“Of course.” His hold on her legs was completely possessive and self-assured. She almost felt like she could settle under a hold like that. “I’m not kicking you out, either.”

“What are you saying, Tanner?”

“I’m saying whatever you want to hear.”

On the surface, Tanner seemed as solid as the shore. Unmoving against the pounding surf. But what people didn’t realize was that shorelines shifted. Sand slid away. Currents took it to rest elsewhere. Even land couldn’t be trusted.

He might be offering her more time, but that didn’t necessarily make it a good idea.

She had a history of making bad choices. Look at Matthew and every other boyfriend she’d had, after all.

She shook her head. But looking down at her coffee
was the only chance she had of escaping him; he’d crowded in that close. Truthfully, she didn’t want to get away. Not yet. She could give him up later. Or he would realize she didn’t have
enough
to keep him intrigued.

“Schedule, then. As both photographer. And pickup.” Her hands would have shaken if she’d given them half a chance.

He grinned at her. Then sank his fingers deep in her hair and tugged her mouth to his. That smile tasted as brilliant as it looked.

For the shortest moment possible, Avalon let her eyes flutter shut and let herself . . . go. Whitewater froth come to rest. Temporarily.

Miracle of miracles, he managed to hold her up.

When he pulled back, it was everything she could do not to throw herself at him.

He brushed a thumb over her cheek. Bad man, to tempt her so. “I was going to go for a run now. Surf a little after that.” His gaze flicked away from hers, noticeable in its absence.

“And then?”

“This one’s not really photographer or pickup territory.” He looked back at her, at her mouth this time. His hands kept roaming over her, touching. Everywhere, practically. Down her arms, over her hips. Almost hypnotizing. But so definitely not calming at the same time. “But Avalon can come.”

She tilted her head. “Who’s left of Avalon if I’m not a photographer or the chick you laid?”

The laugh that rolled out from him was part comfort and part embarrassment.

“You. You’re here. My sister’s friend. Honest chick. Great sport. Decent surfer.” A wrinkle drove between
his brows. Confusion clouded his eyes. “Did you really mean that?”

She pulled her mouth into a smile. Took that kiss she’d wanted, because it was easier than being looked at. Her forearm looped around the back of his neck, but he wouldn’t have moved if he hadn’t felt like letting her. He was such a brick house of muscles; there’d be no taking him anywhere he didn’t want to go.

“Course not,” she finally said, after she’d battered herself on his calm for a minute. “The phrasing made me curious.”

He studied her for a minute more, as if he could see further through her words. Her heart tumbled in her chest and bounced up to her throat as she reminded herself it wasn’t exactly a lie. And beyond that, it was none of his business if she didn’t know who she was beyond her goals. “So what is it, then?”

“Sage called. I’m summoned for the afternoon.”

“And you want me to go?”

His hands finally settled at her lower back, thumbs curving over onto her waist. The drape of his fingertips at the top of her ass sent a wiggle through her that was entirely too naughty for the subject.

“I bet Sage would have insisted on it too. If she’d known you were here.”

Wasn’t that one subject she’d like to skim right by. She swallowed down a silly burst of adrenaline. It wasn’t as if they were about to be caught right then and there. Or that Sage would really care.

But man would it make for one awkward afternoon.

Good thing her mother had taught her to lie like a pro.

•   •   •

Only problem with that plan proved to be her failure to check with Tanner.

Avalon sat in the back patio area, her seat carefully chosen to be the max distance from Tanner’s. And she’d managed to keep her eyes off him for the most part, even though he sat with a stillness she found fascinating.

He wore an old dark blue T-shirt that did amazing things to the color of his eyes. Cargo shorts showed off his thick thighs and calves, borne from hours and hours of balancing on a surfboard. He looked so damn calm and focused.

She wanted a piece of that. Or she wanted to climb in his lap and shake him up. Either would do.

But Sage and Eileen sat leaning against each other on the padded swing. They looked flat-out miserable. No two ways about it. Sage’s blond hair had been wound into a limp ponytail, and dark shadows ringed Eileen’s eyes. The woman hadn’t slept, that much was obvious.

“One more question.”

He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. His body became a thick curve. “Anything.”

“Do you know what he said about me? To her?” She leaned into the arm Sage put around her shoulders. “I know Hank had to mention me for Mako to find us.”

Tanner shook his head. Sympathy darkened his eyes. “No. I stopped talking to Dad, and . . .”

“And things went downhill from there.” Eileen let her head fall back against the swing. Sunlight spun around her in a gentle caress, lighting her features and pointing out the delicately wrinkled skin at her jawline. She wasn’t exactly a young woman anymore. “Neither of you have expressed any wish to involve yourself in the retail portion of the store.”

Guilt pinched Sage’s features, but she never stopped rubbing Eileen’s arm. Tanner shifted back in his seat, his hands folding over the wrought-iron arms. “Not really,” he said.

Eileen pushed up from her seat, then set her glass down on the table. She patted Sage’s shoulder, left her hand there, but the move seemed empty. Her gaze was focused somewhere else. Maybe somewhere inside herself. “It was your father’s idea to even open the store. Everywhere I look, I see him. I might sell it.”

“Oh, Mom,” Sage said. Her eyes widened and she grabbed at the hand resting on her shoulder. “You don’t want to do that.”

Eileen patted her again, then patted Tanner, as if they were little children. Avalon sat quietly on the other side of the patio. This was their moment, their time. She’d be intruding.

“I might,” Eileen said. “No decisions now, but remember what I’ve always said about telling others how to feel.”

Sage pulled a face, her nose wrinkling, but she didn’t protest. And when Eileen walked away, toward the house, the brother and sister pair let her go.

Fear prickled along Avalon’s forearms and wedged a hot rock under her ribs. Awful. Miserable. The thought of the store being gone, this family falling apart . . . She couldn’t stand it.

The Wrights were all she had. Over the years, they’d given her more support and love than she’d known what to do with at times. This couldn’t be allowed to happen.

Sage watched the door Eileen disappeared through, sadness etching her delicate features. Sage pulled her legs up onto the seat of the swing, curling them up under herself in her usual way. But she didn’t look as relaxed as normal. The back of her neck was stiff in a way that Avalon had never seen before. “She didn’t sleep last night. Kept going downstairs and making cup after cup of tea. I don’t think she could have possibly drunk all of them.”
Her wide blue eyes fixed on Avalon. “I peeked in your room but you weren’t there.”

The rasp of Avalon’s tongue over her lips didn’t help much. Her mouth had gone dry as sand. The last thing Sage needed was to know exactly what Avalon had been doing last night.

Hell, it was already haunting her—but in the best possible way.

Halfway through their run this morning, she’d looked over at Tanner and seen a scratch on his knee. The very knees he’d been on while licking her.

She forced a smile. “I went for a walk. Sat on the beach for a while.”

“Oh really?” Tanner’s gaze flew to hers. His eyebrows lifted on a distinct air of challenge. And the smile that quirked his mouth looked decidedly smirky.

Naturally Sage didn’t miss a thing. She looked back and forth from Avalon to Tanner, her lips parting more and more on each go-round. “What’s going on here?”

Tanner smirked. No two ways about it. He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over that thick chest. “Avalon said she walked, then she walked.”

The way Sage tilted her head sent the long sheaf of her ponytail spilling over her shoulder. Her small smile was at least related to her usual brightness. “Did you finally get some, Avalon? You’ve been a freaking nun since you moved back in here.”

Hot embarrassment burned across her cheeks. She wanted to plaster a strip of duct tape over Tanner’s smirk—which had only gotten bigger.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for the nun type.” He was flat-out taunting her. No two ways about it.

Her mouth worked but sound refused to come out.
She shook her head. Okay. There had to be a way out of this. But it was damned hard with the way Tanner was looking at her. Like he’d like to strip her naked and start all over again—except he’d be laughing against her skin the whole time.

She locked her knees together against the sudden throb of her body. That wasn’t a half-bad idea.

The cough she forced into her fist didn’t clear her throat. But it did afford her an opportunity to flip Tanner off. Childish, maybe. Still satisfying though. “No. Nothing special last night.”

At that, he choked back laughter. Thank God Sage was looking down at her nails, trying to pick foam out of them from making surfboards all morning, and missed it.

“You should hook up with Jack,” she said in a voice that sounded a little strained. Probably from trying to maintain a happy conversation under the weight of discovery about her father. But that was Sage. A peacemaker down to her toes. “He was asking about you.”

Tanner didn’t seem to like that at all. The smile slid right off his face.

Avalon stretched her legs out, pointing her toes in their pink, sparkly flip-flops. She sent a smirk of her own at Tanner. “Maybe I will. He’s not bad looking.”

“It’s the eyes, isn’t it?” Sage spoke down into her hands, still without looking up. “He’s got great eyes.”

“He does.” She was getting a hot rush of power off this; there were no two ways about it. After spending the whole morning feeling like she was only waiting for the other shoe to drop, she deserved it. “Maybe I’ll give him a call later.”

Except Tanner had apparently had enough. “That might be a little awkward. Especially if you call from my bed.”