My rental surfboard lies on the sand next to Eric’s. As he demonstrates on his board, I follow his instructions, pushing my chest out and bringing my right leg out in front of me.

When I woke up this morning, I checked my phone and discovered a text from Ty letting me know he was still with Mandy and that he’d had a very good night. I remembered Eric saying he would show me how to surf, but I assumed he’d forgotten. To my surprise, when I stepped out of the guest bedroom, he was already eating breakfast and eager to show me some of his surfing skills.

“Make sure to angle your left foot on the back there like I have it,” Eric says.

I obey.

“Eh. Good enough. What do you say we give it a go?”

“Really? That’s all you’re going to show me?”

Ten minutes of instruction doesn’t seem like nearly enough. And not gonna lie, I’m enjoying watching him demonstrate for me, especially since he’s just in a pair of board shorts, giving me an opportunity to view that impressive body of his as well as the way his fat dick hangs to the right in the crotch.

“It’s gonna have to do. Surfing’s kinda something you have to get into the water to learn.”

I step off the rental board, and as Eric picks his board up off the sand, I do the same.

“Ready?” he asks, turning to me, his bright blue eyes sparkling in the morning light as he flashes a gorgeous, pearly white smile. He looks like he could be a fucking model with a smile like that.

“No time like the present to look like a total moron, I guess,” I say.

“That’s the spirit.”

He leads me to the water, and we swim out deep together. He shows me how he catches a wave before swimming back to me. I give it a go, but I don’t even make it on both feet before I topple off the side.

I try again…and again, each time having to go all the way back to the shore and then run back out into the water.

I swim back to the shore after my last failed attempt. Eric glides across the water on his board effortlessly, his muscles contracting and expanding as he balances perfectly and with skill that has clearly been developed with years of practice. He’s totally in tune with the wave and his body.

“Goddammit,” I say as I meet him at the shore.

“You gonna give it another go?” Eric asks. Judging by his expression, he seems skeptical. He doubts me. That only makes me more determined to accomplish this.

“Of course I’m gonna go again. I’m not a quitter.”

I’m fucking not, either. That’s not how I’ve lived my life. I don’t give up on anything because I’ve learned that’s the only way to be successful. I wouldn’t be anywhere if I’d given up…not in my career…not in my life.

I give it a few more tries, and I hear Eric laughing at me as I wash ashore yet again.

“It’s tough. You don’t have to get it on your first day,” he says.

“I’m gonna get on the board for a few seconds, at the very least.”

I pant hard. My legs are fucking exhausted from running back and forth so much.

As frustrated as I am, I’m confident I can figure this out. Each time, I’ve felt like I’ve gotten closer and closer. It’s this balancing that’s tricky. I can get up on it. I just need to feel which way the water’s moving and do my best to keep on top of it.

I swim on the board, and when I catch a wave, I follow Eric’s instructions for standing up. Then I’m up on the board, and before I know it, I’m gliding across the water like he’s been doing every time.

Holy shit!

“There we go!” Eric exclaims from the shore.

He applauds, and now I’m full of confidence and excitement, but I only make it a few yards before I lose my balance again.

But no one would know I failed by the way I lunge out of the water, arms raised over my head, screaming, “Fuck yeah!”

I grab my board and hurry ashore, where we high-five. I’m stoked, and I can see he’s impressed. “Told you I could figure it out.”

“You did, you did.”

“I’m gonna go again.”

He laughs. “Okay, I’ll come with you.”

We head back out and catch another wave together. I push my feet onto the board, and as I put my foot back behind me, I slide off and fall to the side, my head slamming against the board.

Shit.

I rise from the water, my hand on my sore forehead. Holding the board under my opposite arm, I walk to the shore.

“Aw, shit, that looked like it hurt,” Eric says, his own board under his arm. “You okay?” His expression is serious, and something about his concern feels unusually nice.

“It was like a hammer to my forehead. Fuck.”

I fall on my knees onto the sand.

“Goddammit,” I say. I set the board on the ground beside me and lie on my back, keeping my hand on the sore spot on my head.

“You okay, buddy?” Eric asks, kneeling beside me. He rests his hand below my chest.

Fuck, he shouldn’t have done that, because now, despite the pain I’m in, I’m getting hard.

He runs his other hand through his dark, wet locks, and my gaze catches his. Once again, those blue eyes are so mesmerizing that I have a hard time looking away from them, even though I know that’s what I should be doing.

I don’t know what it is…maybe my head injury…maybe that he’s so damn hot, but I just keep staring at him.

He raises his hand off my skin and snaps his fingers in front of my face.

“You in there? Everything okay?”

“Oh yeah. I’m fine.”

“You think you have a concussion? Do we need to take you to the hospital or something?”

“No. It wasn’t that bad. It just surprised me.”

His gaze shifts to my board shorts and then right back to my eyes. There’s no way he didn’t see how hard I am right now. And judging by the way he checks out my body, I can tell he’s considering my interest.

I check his shorts and notice he’s got his own boner, but damn, what a shit idea this is. Ty would freak the hell out if he knew I wanted to screw around with his dad.

Don’t do it. Be smart and let this go.

I don’t even know what I’m doing. I’ve never fucked around with a guy before. I bet Eric would laugh at me like he did with trying to get on the surfboard. He’d think I was bad at it.

“Did Ty say when he’d be back?” Eric asks.

“No. Just that he and some of those friends were going to hang this morning.”

Really, just him and Mandy, but I don’t think he would want me blabbing about that to his father.

“You think he’ll be gone long?” he asks, and I can only imagine why. Because he knows what I want…and he wants it too.

“Why don’t we call it a day for surfing,” he adds. “Head back to the condo.”

I feel his thumb against my side. It slides across my flesh. And my dick shifts again in my board shorts.

“Works for me,” I say, hoping he understands that I don’t just want to go back to the condo—I want to fuck.

I hope Ty isn’t back yet. I hope we have time.

But then I’m also thinking that it might be better if something were to interrupt us and stop us from making this colossal mistake.

We return our boards to the rental shop before we grab a cab and ride back to the condo building.

I’m uneasy. Tense. Freaked out.

I feel like he’s emitting this powerful sexual energy, even as he just sits there next to me, glancing straight ahead.

What am I thinking? I don’t know how to fucking have sex with a guy.

As we head through the hall to the door to his unit, I’m thinking: What am I going to do? What are we going to do? Why am I doing this?

My thoughts are all over the place, but one thing I know for sure is we’re gonna do something.