It feels strange to wake up and not be teaching Wes for once. But it’s also incredibly fucking nice. I jump out of bed and glance out my window. The sun is just starting to rise over the ocean, and it looks like it is going to be the best goddamn day.
Wes already gave me a schedule of events I need to be at as his best man over the next month. I don’t have any events that I need to be at for my sponsors.
Today, I’m a free man. I can just surf.
I slip into my swim trunks and don’t bother to throw on a shirt. Then, I run out the door and get in my truck to head to my favorite spot on the beach.
When I get there, I jump out of the truck and grab my surfboard before running toward the ocean.
“Hey, man!”
I freeze and do my best not to groan.
I turn and face Wes. “Hey, what are you doing here? I thought we were done with lessons.”
“We are. Just wanted to show my fiancée what I’d learned.”
I see it in her eyes the second she spots me. Immediate recognition, regret, and anger. She recovers quickly and tucks a loose strand of her blonde hair behind her ear as Wes turns to grab her hand.
“This is my fiancée, Sloane Hart. Sloane, this is Asher Calder,” Wes says.
Sloane holds out her hand to me, and I shake it with a mischievous grin on my face—or at least, that’s how I imagine she views my grin.
Sloane smiles politely and shakes my hand. “I’ve tried teaching Wes how to surf many times, so I’m still not convinced that he has learned how to actually surf, even by someone as experienced with surfing as you are,” she says as she retracts her hand.
Wes laughs.
I cock my head to one side as I study Sloane. She looked up who I was, or she’d already known who I was. That has me even more intrigued with her.
“Are you underestimating my surfing skills?” I instinctively move toward her, unable to resist closing the distance between us.
Sloane holds tight to Wes, like he is going to be able to stop me.
“No, just your teaching skills and Wes’s lack of coordination.”
Wes and Sloane laugh together, like most couples do. Like they share a secret no one else knows. Seeing them happy together just makes me want to rip them apart even more.
“Well, Wes, you’d better go out there and prove her wrong for both of our sakes. I wouldn’t want her to find either of us lacking.”
Sloane frowns every time I speak, but the second Wes looks at her, a fake smile appears on her lips. It’s entertaining really, watching her.
Wes kisses her on the lips, and I study them both. When Wes kisses, he closes his eyes and lets her into his soul. When Sloane kisses, it’s clear that she isn’t fully in the moment. Her eyes don’t close all the way, and her lips don’t part all the way to let him in or so that he can fully claim her mouth with his.
Sloane gently pushes Wes away. She tries to hide it. She tries to make it seem like she wants nothing more than to be kissed by Wes all day. It’s clear that me being here makes her uncomfortable.
Wes smiles at Sloane, so oblivious and in love that he can’t even tell that she had issues with his kiss. He grabs his surfboard and then begins walking toward the water.
He pauses just before going in. “You coming, Asher?”
“Nope, this is all you.”
Wes runs into the water with his surfboard in hand and begins paddling out.
Sloane folds her arms across her chest and watches Wes with laser focus. So much focus that I am able to move until I’m standing right next to her.
“He’s good, isn’t he?” I say into her ear.
She jumps.
I lean back, away from her ear, as she turns to me.
“What are you doing? Why did you give Wes surf lessons?”
“Are you accusing me of setting this all up so that I could see you again?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I’m accusing you of.”
I fold my arms across my chest and watch her eyes linger on my abs for a second before looking me in the eye again.
I laugh. “As luck would have it, fate stepped in. My sponsors arranged the lessons, not me. It would seem the world thinks we should be together.”
“You’re an asshole, a douche bag, a bastard, a—”
I laugh. “Is that the best you’ve got?”
She narrows her eyes. “I’m engaged! What kind of man thinks I’d be willing to have a one-night stand with him, a complete stranger, on a normal night, much less when I’m about to be married? There isn’t a name so bad to describe what you are.”
I shrug. “At least none that you can call me from your pretty, little mouth.”
She glares at me, and I know she means it as a warning that I have no doubt she would follow through on if I tried anything, but all I can think is that I want to see that same passion in her eyes when I kiss her. I want to see how angry she would be if I kissed her right now. I want to feel that anger with just the tiniest hint of desire. Because I know that, once she got a taste of me, no matter how much she loved Wes, she would keep coming back for more.
“You’d better turn your attention to your fiancé. You wouldn’t want him to see that you couldn’t take your eyes off me when you were supposed to be watching him.”
Sloane huffs but doesn’t say another word as she turns her attention to Wes, who is now sitting on his surfboard, waiting for a wave. I, however, don’t take my eyes off of her. And, even though she tries her best to fix her gaze on Wes, she still looks at me out of the corner of her eye.
“Oh my God…he’s…” Sloane says.
I reluctantly tear my eyes from Sloane to look out at Wes. He’s now standing on a surfboard. He’s a little shaky but standing fairly well as he glides down toward us.
“How did you do it?” Sloane looks at me with wide eyes.
“I’m a good teacher, and your fiancé isn’t that bad of a learner.”
Sloane turns back to Wes, who is still up on the surfboard. “He’s a terrible learner. He has no coordination and no athletic ability really. He occasionally runs and lifts weights, but beyond that, nothing. I’ve been trying to get him up on a surfboard for years. How did you do it?”
“Like I told you, I’m a pro. I’m very good at what I do. I never lose. I always get what I want. If I want to get someone up on a surfboard, I will. And, if I want to get you in my bed, I will.”
“I’m thankful to you for helping Wes, but I’m very happy that I will be the first time you lose. You will never find me in your bed. In fact, you will never see either of us again. It’s clear that Wes doesn’t need your services any longer, and we still haven’t decided where we will be making our permanent home after we are married, but I can assure you, it won’t be anywhere near you.”
I lean in close to her ear and smell the flowery perfume she is wearing. “Actually, you’ll be seeing a lot of me.”
Wes falls off the board, and Sloane’s mouth falls open as she watches him hit the rough water.
“What do you mean?”
“Just that, since I’m Wes’s best man, I expect that you will be seeing a lot of me. So, make sure you are strong enough to resist my charm if you are going to make promises about being the first time I lose.”
Wes runs toward us, carrying his surfboard. “What do you think?” he asks.
“You were incredible. I can’t believe you were able to do that,” Sloane answers. She kisses him on the lips, but it’s a chaste kiss.
“I’m ready to go again. Want to join me?” Wes asks Sloane.
Sloane looks over at me and then back to Wes. “No, I’m not feeling the best. I’d rather just sit here and watch you.”
That’s when I notice the strings of Sloane’s bikini sticking out from the neck of her T-shirt. I’d love to see her in nothing but a bikini.
“You going to join me and make me look like a fool?” Wes asks.
I laugh. “Well, I did come here to train, but you don’t need me to make you look like a fool. You already do that by yourself.”
Wes laughs and starts heading back out into the water. I turn back to my truck and grab my own surfboard.
I walk slowly past Sloane, knowing full well that the only reason she didn’t take Wes up on his offer to go out surfing with him is because she wanted to stay back and have it out with me. I raise an eyebrow as I walk, daring her to talk to me.
“You can’t be Wes’s best man,” she hisses.
“And why not?”
“Because you are a horrible person who is just doing this to try and sleep with me.”
I grin. “That’s exactly why I’m doing this. But it’s also exactly why you can’t do a damn thing about it. You love Wes, and Wes chose me as his best man. And, if you really think you can resist me, there is no harm in giving Wes what he wants.”
Her mouth drops open, but no words come out. I take off toward the ocean, knowing that her eyes are on me. She can’t help but watch. And, when she sees how awesome I am at surfing, how I glide over the water like it’s in my control, she will want me to control her in the same way.