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“
Injuries?” he asked.
 

“
Didn’t you crash your bicycle?” The man’s English wasn’t very good, but Cole knew he’d used the word bicycle instead of motorcycle on purpose.
 

Cole chuckled. “That was a while ago. Since then I’ve won the RCP and the ASP.” He smiled and set his surfboard down.

“
Yeah, I heard about that.” He chuckled. “If you call those competitions.” He nodded in Maka’s direction then walked off before Cole could say
anything else.
 

“
That man’s an ass,” Maka said, causing Cole to laugh. He’d never heard his friend use the English version of the term before, always the Hawaiian, which sounded less harsh. “What?” Maka turned to him. “He is.”
 

“
True. I guess I’d better go check in.” He nodded towards the line that was quickly growing.
 

“
You go sign in; I’ll stay here and wax.” Maka sat in the sand and started working on Cole’s surfboards.
 

Cole walked over to the check-in table and chatted with a few friends. Most of the surfers he’d seen over the years were pretty cool. Most of them looked out for one another, if the occasion called for it. There was always an underlying competition, but it was an honest sport. At least in Cole’s mind.

There was a group of women that seemed to follow the circuit, and then there were the surfer chicks, as they were called. Some of them scared the hell out of Cole. He would be the last to admit it, but he wondered how the hell he was supposed to compete against a girl that could, if she wanted to, do a back bend on a surfboard. Not that he’d seen anything like that in person, but…

His thoughts were broken when a cool hand reached up and ran down his back. Turning around, he smiled at Carly.

“
Hey.” He leaned in and placed a kiss on her
cheek. Carly was one of the followers. He’d never seen the woman step foot in the water, even though she always wore a stark white bikini, which she filled out very nicely.
 

“
Hi, I was hoping you’d be here.” She leaned a little towards him. He’d known her for almost as long as he’d been on the circuit. She was a good ten years older than him, and turned every head on the beach.
 

“
Oh?” He moved up in the line and saw that there were only two people now in front of him.
 

“
Yes, I haven’t seen you since the Gold Coast,” she purred. “I was hoping that maybe we could see one another.”
 

With her chest pressing up against his, he fully understood her meaning. She’d shown interest in him a few times, but nothing as blatant as this before.

“
Uh, I’m with someone,” he blurted out, taking her hands in his and removing them from his waist, where they were dangerously traveling lower.
 

“
Oh?” She blinked and then looked around.
 

“
She’s still sleeping, but she’ll be along later.” He moved farther away from her and smiled. “I’ll talk with you later,” he said, just as it was his turn to step up to the table. He felt a surge of relief flood through him when she frowned and walked away.
 

A few months ago, he would have been all over that. No matter how empty it would have made him feel. He was so thankful that streak of his life was over.

After checking in and stopping almost a dozen times to chat with other friends, he made his way back to Maka. He smiled when he saw Wendy sitting next to him in the sand.

She’d brought a portable beach chair and a cooler. “I brought lunches.” She smiled up at him as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.

“
Hmm, and dessert,” he whispered against her lips. She chuckled as he sat next to her in the sand. “I’m all checked in.”
 

“
Good.” She blinked a few times and he watched her bite her bottom lip. “Maka was just telling me about Carly.” She nodded towards the blonde, who was glancing his way.
 

“
Oh?” He felt his stomach flip a little.
 

“
Yeah.” She sighed. “She sure looked glued to you.”
 

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, she’s not my type.” He took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips. He watched her eyebrows shoot up in question.

“
Really, because I seem to remember—”
 

“
Wendy.” He smiled as he interrupted her. “I didn’t spend last night with Carly, and I don’t want to spend tonight or the next with anyone other than
you.”
 

She frowned a little and then glanced down at their joined hands. “It’s just so hard to…” She sighed.

“
Hey, I guess we haven’t talked about…” Just then Maka stood up and walked over to them.
 

“
Ready?” He nodded towards the shore.
 

“
Yeah, I guess I’d better get out there and show these guys how to surf.” He smiled and looked down at Wendy. “Later.” He waited until she nodded then grabbed his board and headed out.
 

T
he next few hours were complete hell for Wendy. Every time Cole disappeared below a wave, her heart skipped. She watched in amazement as he rode each wave with ease, weaving in and out of the other surfers or the photographers that littered the water.
 

Since her eyes were glued to Cole, she didn’t see the big wipe-out that had broken another surfer’s board. He’d been carried out of the surf in a neck brace.

“
He’s young,” Maka said, sitting beside her in the sand.
 

Since they’d been there, many people had stopped by to talk to Maka. Some he chatted with, other’s he’d just nod his head at and they would go on their way.

“
You seem to know a lot of people.” She propped her elbows on her knees as her eyes zeroed back in on Cole.
 

“
I’ve been surfing since I was five.” He smiled at her. “Most come and go, but those who stick around know my name.”
 

She smiled. “I think the whole world knows your name.”

He chuckled. “Don’t tell that to my kids.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You have kids?”

He laughed and then pointed to another surfer. “My son, Makaha. This is his tenth competition.” He smiled. “My daughter, Maka Nani goes to the university next year.”

“
Are they both named after you?” She chuckled and leaned back.
 

He smiled. “My actual name is Maka Koa, fierce one.”

“
Oh, yes.” She laughed. “I can see it now. You’re so fierce.”
 

He smiled. “Again, don’t tell that to my kids.”

“
How did you meet Cole?”
 

Maka laughed. “I saw him surf years ago and approached him after.”

She tilted her head in question.

“
If you haven’t noticed, a lot of surfers approach me and ask that I train or teach them.”
 

She nodded. Over a dozen had already done so that day. All of which he’d declined.

“
I have only approached two myself.”
 

She let that sink in. “Who was the second one?”

He smiled and then nodded towards a surfer in blue shorts. “Deyon Colston.”

“
Is he any good?”
 

He chuckled. “Second best in the world.” His eyes traveled over to where Cole was swimming out. “I still regret it.”

“
Oh?” She turned a little towards him and watched him nod.
 

“
He has a hole, here…” He tapped his chest over his heart.
 

Wendy’s eyes moved back over to the surfer and watched him for a few minutes. He was a powerful surfer, but she watched as he repetitively came too close to the heads of swimmers or cameramen.

“
Is that the guy who knocked Cole off his board.” She frowned as she watched the man jump off his board into the water near Cole.
 

Maka glanced at her and then burst out laughing. “Oh, I do like you Ka makani `olu `olu.”

She smiled. “Thanks. I like you too.”

She thought Cole would come in for lunch, but instead, he just drank some water and headed right back out to the water. She didn’t know how they were being judged, or for that matter, who was doing the judging.

She knew the competition lasted two more days, but Maka told her that Cole would just have one more day to compete. By the time Cole called it quits for the day, she was tired herself and could only imagine what he must feel like. He must be exhausted and extremely hungry.

When Cole walked up to her, he looked like he was energized.

“
How do you do it?” She shook her head as he jogged next to her in the sand.
 

He chuckled. “It’s like having my batteries recharged.” He smiled over at her. “Let’s go out tonight. There’s this little place not too far from here.

She nodded. “I’ll need a shower first.”

He smiled and stepped closer to her, and even with the large surfboard between them, she felt his heat. “I’ll need one too.”

She swallowed hard and nodded slowly.

***

Cole sat across from Wendy and couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was wearing a white cotton dress, which hugged her curves beautifully. She had large dangling silver hoops in her ears and she’d left her hair down, flowing around her face.

They sat at the Hukilau Cafe, one of his favorite hole-in-the-wall kind of places and ate some of the best burgers in the world.

“
I’ve never had eggs on a burger before.” She frowned down at the burger.
 

He smiled. “Once you try it, you’ll never eat burger without one again.”

She nodded, then picked up the large thing and tried to shove it into her mouth. He watched and felt his own mouth watering just watching her.

After taking a bite, she closed her eyes and sighed as she chewed. “Wow,” she said after taking a drink of her soda. “Incredible.”

He chuckled and picked up his own burger. “Told you.” She nodded as she took another bite.

“
So, how does this competition thing work? I mean, I didn’t see any judges.”
 

“
Depends on the competition. Something like this one, we’re usually judged on speed, style and the power of the ride and wave. Since this is a big wave competition, the bigger the wave and ride, the higher the points.” He took another bite of his burger.
 

He loved talking about surfing, so for the next half hour, he told her all the ins and outs of his trade. The fact that she hung on his every word was not only a happy surprise, but exciting. Most of the women he’d been involved with before didn’t like it when he talked shop. In fact they all t
ried to steer the conversation towards his modeling career and which celebrities he’d met.
 

“
So, that’s how it’s decided who gets to ride the wave.” He finished up the conversation as he slapped down some cash on the table to pay for their meal. “Now, I know this great place to get ice cream.”
 

She laughed and followed him as he took her hand and led her outside. “I like this side of you.” She smiled as he helped her into the Jeep.

“
Oh?” He turned and looked at her as she nodded.
 

“
Yes, you seem less… hindered.”
 

He thought about it as he walked around and jumped behind the wheel. “I guess I feel that way in the water.” He shrugged his shoulders as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Angel’s Ice Cream shop a couple miles away. “It’s the way you are… behind the bar.” He glanced at her and saw that she was frowning. “Come on, don’t try to deny it.” He smiled. “You enjoy your job.”

She nodded. “Yeah, but…” She glanced towards him. “I never really thought of it as what I was meant to do. I mean, I have other dreams.”

He glanced at her and waited. When she didn’t finish, he prodded. “Like?”

She chuckled. “I don’t know.”

He laughed. “Join the club.”

“
I guess my first dream is to see my sister graduate school.” He nodded. “My second is to pay off her school.” She chuckled again.
 

“
With her help,” he suggested.
 

“
Oh, of course.” She didn’t sound very convincing.
 

“
What is it you’re not telling me?” He pulled into the parking lot of the ice cream place and stopped, and then he turned towards her and waited.
 

“
Nothing.” She shook her head and then sighed. “Okay, so she might not know that I’m paying for her school. Exactly.”
 

He blinked. “Who, exactly, does she think is paying for her school?”

She sighed. “A trust fund that dad set up for her.”

“
Why would she think that?”
 

“
Because that’s what I told her a year ago when she told me she didn’t want to be a burden and had decided to get a job instead of going to school.” She leaned her head back and sighed.
 

He chuckled. “The things we’ll do for our siblings.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips. He loved watching her eyes go soft when he kissed her hand. “Willow sounds like a smart girl. I’m sure by now she’s figured it out.”

Wendy nodded and smiled. “Now, you promised me some ice cream?” He laughed.

***

The next day’s competition was even rougher. The waves were better than the day before, and Maka looked like he’d rather be out riding them than sitting in the sand next to her.