Rough Waters (24 page)

“I refuse to call him,” Topher says. “Right
now, I can’t even hear his voice or I’ll just start screaming, you
know? Joe relays information for us. Vin’s acting all grown up
about it and saying how he’ll give me time. It just pisses me off
even more.”

“He’ll be back,” I say, before I even realize
it. I actually wish I hadn’t. “You can take the boy out of Horn
Island, but you can’t take Horn Island out of the boy. This is all
just temporary.”

The fact that I know I’m right scares me.
Eventually, Vin will be back. He can’t stay gone forever. I just
hope I’m not around when he resurfaces.

I grab Emily’s shoes out of Topher’s
floorboard before he walks me to the door. His slacks are still
rolled up, sans shoes.

“Thank you for tonight,” I say, wrapping my
arms around his neck. I really wish I wasn’t holding a pair of
heels right now. How awkward.

“Thank
you
for tonight,” he corrects
me. He loosens his tie. “Next time you see me, I’ll be in board
shorts. And I’ll have my piece of junk truck. I don’t see how
Cinderella even made it to midnight in glass shoes. I’d die.”

This is the Topher I know, and I’m so
thankful that a sponsorship won’t change who he is. I’m also
thankful that his sponsorship is with Drenaline Surf. I figure
Liquid Spirit will find out soon enough on their own.

“Be careful driving home,” I say, lingering
around the front door of the guest house. I hope my roommates
aren’t hiding in a window watching right now. I’m embarrassed just
thinking about it.

“Always,” Topher says. He tugs at his tie
again. “I’ll text you tomorrow?”

I nod. “Sounds good. Good night.”

After one more quick hug, Topher retreats to
the rented sports car and I disappear into the guest house telling
myself not to think about Topher and those stupid blue and yellow
striped board shorts. I won’t think about the way his eyes light up
when he’s excited or how the specks of blue literally dance around
his eyeball. I won’t think at all. If I shut my brain off for the
night, then there’s no way I’ll let everyone’s assumptions play
with my mind.

I drop Emily’s shoes inside my doorway, let
my purse fall next to them, and immediately take these earrings out
of my ears. In the middle of unclasping my necklace, there’s a
knock on the guest house’s screen door.

That didn’t take long. I mentally gamble with
myself, guessing who it may be among Reed, Alston, and A.J. I
settle with the two As. Reed is probably asleep by now. I step into
the hallway, but Topher stands on the other side of the screen
door.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Uhh, I think so. Yeah. I’m okay…Can I come
in?” he asks, hesitating with his words.

I nod, even though I’m actually a little bit
scared. He seems all jittery like he did when he picked me up
tonight. Maybe the sand outside of our house has been poisoned or
there’s something toxic in the air.

I step back into my bedroom. Topher follows
me into the light. He looks sane and healthy. I still can’t speak,
though, so I just stand here and wait for him to say something.

“I need you to know something,” he says,
shoving his hands into his pockets. “I’m not like my brother, at
least not in the bad ways, and I know I’m young and reckless and do
stupid things sometimes, but I know what I want.”

He talks much too quickly, rushing his words
together like if he doesn’t spit it all out right this very second,
he may never say it at all.

“Do you want to sit down?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I know that if I don’t
do something about it now, it’s only a matter of time before
someone else does, and I’ve spent the last year regretting the fact
that I didn’t speak up sooner.”

“It’s okay,” I say, even though I’m honestly
not sure if it is. “You’re okay, and everything is going to work
out.”

He laughs and shakes his head his again. “You
don’t even know what I’m talking about,” he says. He glances up,
like he’s waiting for an intervention, but then he sighs. “I hope
you won’t hate me for what I’m about to do.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to question
him.

It’s in this very moment that my
ex-boyfriend’s little brother kisses me.

Thank you so much for reading Rough Waters!
As an indie author, I depend heavily on my readers for word of
mouth, so if you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a
review. It doesn’t have to be a book report. Short and simple is
just fine and greatly appreciated!

Emily Godwin
: My (Enchanted) Hurley
girl! ;) Thank you for believing in this series from day one,
before it was even a series. No one will ever understand or love
Drenaline Surf the way you do. You'll always be its #1 fan, its
first reader, and the girl who says, "Hey, can I date Miles
Garrett?" Even more so, thank you for putting up with the endless
(literally, endless) surfer talk, the days where I'm panicking over
heats, and for letting me be Team JJJezina on the days I can't
decide among JJF, Jezza, and Medina. (Although we both know who I'd
save on the roof!) You are the best. Everrrr. Luhhh yewww.

Rachel Schmermund
: When every voice
in the world knocks me down, you're the one who always picks me
back up, dusts me off, and sets me back into the world. I also
think, aside from Emily, you're the only person who knows how to
handle my personality, my panics, and everything else that is the
essence of me. You get me when the world doesn't. Thank you for
being my best friend, even from half a world away. Triple hearts,
always! <3 <3 <3

The book world
: Thank you to every
person who read Chasing Forever Down and loved it enough to come
back for more. Thank you for your reviews, your tweets, your help
to spread the word, and your support, friendship, and love. Writing
a book is such a tough, solitary thing, and it's always so great to
know that a story I loved so much that I had to tell it has been
discovered and loved by someone else.

The surf world
: When I wrote CFD, I
knew nothing about professional surfing or the world that existed
around it. Because of my "I feel like a fraud" mentality, I dove
into learning about a sport that I've come to love. It's a happy
place for me. Thank you to the ASP, Surfer Magazine, Hurley,
Quiksilver, Billabong, RipCurl, Reef, Red Bull, and all of the
other companies that play a role in the surf community. I apologize
to anyone who follows me on Twitter for bookish updates. If you
haven't unfollowed me yet due to the endless tweets about how
adorable Gabriel Medina is, you deserve a medal. Speaking of...

The surfers
: Even though there are 34
guys on the ASP World Tour, some of them inspire me more than
others. Thank you for helping me keep it real, keep my fictional
surfers authentic, and for teaching me (inadvertently) about
everything from goofy-footers to what a cutback is. The Drenaline
Surf series will be better simply because of you. In particular,
thank you to:

*
John John Florence
, the first pro
surfer I ever kept up with and who has made me #TeamJJF forever.
He's also my favorite Hurley boy.

*
Nat Young
, because he is one half of
#EmilysFavoriteSurfer as well as the (new) most underrated surfer
on tour, and *
Filipe Toledo
, the other half of
#EmilysFavoriteSurfer. Also, they're part of why we prefer Hurley
over Billabong, right Emily?

*
Matt Wilkinson aka Wilko
, for his
unique sense of everything.

*
Mitch Crews
, who reminded me to get
the rest of the (book) world out of my head and just focus on doing
my thing. His post-heat interviews pushed me to finish Rough
Waters.

*The most important name on my
acknowledgments page –
Jeremy Flores
, for being the most
real surfer on tour, for his honesty, for his aggressive fight in
the water, for the inspiration to do what I wanted to do, and for
being brave enough to admit when he's broken. Without his
heart-pouring honesty, I'd have never found my way back to this
series to even start this book. I owe Drenaline Surf to Jezza. He's
my favorite.

*And last but never least,
Gabriel
Medina
, the one surfer who I chose rather than him choosing me.
I don't think anyone has inspired me on such a deep, intense level
since Casey Calvert, and that speaks volumes for how much I believe
in Gabe and how much he inspires me on a daily basis in my everyday
life. Thank you simply for being. Você me faz acreditar. <3

Nikki Godwin is a YA/NA/LGBT author. She
can't live without Mountain Dew, black eyeliner, and music by
Hawthorne Heights. When not writing, she internet-stalks her
favorite bands and keeps tabs on surf competitions. Her favorite
surfer is Gabriel Medina. If you ever get her started on surfing or
music, she'll never shut up. You've been warned.