“What if I get stung again, though?” Emma says, wrinkling her nose.

I’m carrying the surf boards as we hit the beach. It’s almost three weeks from the last time I tried to get Emma on a surf board. She tried putting it off yet again, but I wouldn’t have it.

I need to surf, and so here we are. I squint at Emma as we walk down the beach in the early morning light. She’s wearing a dark blue bikini and carrying her wet suit; with her dark hair and tiny waist, I think she looks like she could easily be a movie star.

I don’t tell her that, though. I don’t want her to start thinking about her appearance, so I just comfort her fears instead.

“You’ll be fine,” I say, hefting the boards. “You’re going to surf today. I’m going to surf today. And then we’ll fuck like two bunny rabbits. Easy peasy.”

She pulls a face, but my words seem to have calmed her a little bit. “We’ll see about the surfing part. You have way more confidence than I do.”

“It’s not confidence, it’s just knowledge of the facts.” We reach a good stopping point, just out of reach of the lapping waves. I set down the boards on the untouched sand. “I know that you can stand and surf. We have been out here too many times for anybody to get in your way, even a jellyfish.”

She shudders. “Let’s hope so. I would really like to feel what it’s like to surf, but I definitely don’t need a refresher course on a jellyfish sting.”

“Good, cause I left the vinegar in the car this time.” I wink at her. “Come on, let’s get down to business before the sun gets any higher in the sky.”

I pick up one of the surf boards and offer it to her. She takes it, but she lags behind me as I head out into the dark surf with the other board under my arm. I can feel how much she wants to resist, in her heavy steps and her grumpy expression.

“Come on,” I chide her gently. I hit the cold morning water, splashing on in it to my knees. “Think of how good it will feel to tell everyone that you can surf.”

Emma shoots a skeptical glance at me, but I just hurry further out, sinking into the freezing tide. When I get to my waist, I turn and look at Emma. Emma is almost in up to her chest. I squint, wondering how I almost forgot about our difference in height.

I cast my gaze about, eyeing the distance from the shore. “This is good for your first time.”

She looks a little green. “Uh huh…”

“Remember, you just have to get on the board,” I say, holding my board by the end. “And then try not to fall.”

Emma takes her board by the end, looking behind us. “What am I looking for in a wave?”

“The surf is perfect right now. Pretty much anything you catch that’s big enough will do it.”

She looks for a minute, then points to a wave that’s headed our way. “Like that one?”

“That works. Are you ready?”

She half-nods, distracted by getting on top of her surf board. The wave goes by, breaking right before it reaches us, while Emma is still not ready.

“Crap,” she mutters.

“It’s okay. There will be another one in just a minute.”

She heaves a frustrated sigh, straddling her surfboard. It’s kind of cute, how she has no patience for surfing. Outside of law school, she’s not used to doing anything that she has to work at. Seeing her actually try and fail is… well, it reminds me that she is human.

“There’s another one coming,” I point out. I don’t even bother to get on my board. This is her time to shine.

The wave comes in, and she looks like she is fiercely concentrating. As the wave picks her up, I see her flounder a little, and then she falls off the board. The wave goes over her head, and I wince.

She comes back up to the surface, spluttering. She’s a little baffled. “I fell!”

“I saw,” I say, making my way over to her. I scan her for injuries. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Only my pride was hurt,” she quips. “I’m going to paddle out a bit and try again.”

I grin. “Atta girl.”

I drift in her wake as she goes out a little further, then gets astride the board again. As I watch, she waits for a wave to swell beneath her. It begins to propel her toward the shore, and she rises on the surf board.

I hold my breath as Emma makes it to her feet, whooshing past me. As she goes, she shouts to me. “I’m doing it! Jameson, I’m really surfing!”

She looks at me instead of looking at the water before her. She wipes out big time, falling sideways off of her board. I’m already swimming towards her when she resurfaces, her hair plastered to the side of her skull.

Although she just fell, she’s all smiles when she sees me.

“I did it! I am terrible at surfing, but at least I did it.” She grins at me. I close in for a hug, picking her up.

Her arms settle around my neck, and she looks up at me.

“Ready to go again?” I ask.

“You know what? I think I’m good,” she says with a shrug. “I would honestly rather sit and watch you surf while I have a drink.”

I chuckle. “That’s it, huh? You just had to make sure you could do it?”

“Precisely.” She squints up at me. “I feel fulfilled.”

“Well, alright then,” I say. “Do you mind if I surf for a little while?”

“Definitely not.” She releases her grip on my shoulders, stepping back. “I’ll be on the beach, doing a little yoga.”

As I watch, she turns and heads for the shore, her hips swaying. I shake my head and make my way further out into the dark blue ocean.