Twenty-Eight
Lola
We arrived at the wave pool early the next morning.
The loudspeaker boomed. “Welcome to the Knight’s Ferry Valentine’s Day Wave Pool Extravaganza! Make sure you sign in, get yourself a tonic at the juice bar, enjoy the fish tacos at the snack bar and get ready to put on your best tandem moves. And remember to smile for the camera. We’ve got coverage on all the top sports channels around the world. Get ready to rumble!”
The massive crowd began to form in the early morning; old people and young, families with children, those who appeared to be locals with their weathered farm looks and others who looked like they spent their days working for the man behind a desk somewhere. Judging by some of the accents I heard—British, South African, Spanish—it looked like spectators had made the trip from all over the world. This only added to my uneasiness. I let out a huge exhale. No pressure here.
“Lola!” I was nearly knocked to the ground when Bobbie threw her body at me in a bear hug. Papaw and Ginger trailed behind, two lovebirds connected so tightly I thought they were conjoined twins.
I caught my breath and hugged my sweet friend. I smoothed her hair and looked into her eyes. “You made it! How’s Dexter?”
She tried to bump her shoulder with mine, but the poor dear only reached halfway up my arm. “I left him plenty of food and water just like you said.”
Papaw’s eyes held a gleam when he reached Justice. He stood still for a moment, chest thrust out. “Oh, come here, kid.” His arms circled Justice in a strong hug, and I noticed a tear in the corner of one of Papaw’s eyes. He drew away and hooked fingers in his belt loops giving Justice an appraising stare. “Looking good, man.” He squeezed Justice’s bicep. “Strong as an ox.” He narrowed his eyes. “You been treating this lady right?” He turned to me, and when I fell into his hug, I inhaled a calming aroma of leather and Old Spice.
Justice looped an arm through mine. “Lola’s the best wife I’ve ever had.”
“Wait. I’m the only wife you’ve ever had, right?”
Justice rolled his eyes. “Duh.”
Bobbie wielded her smartphone. “Check it out. The contest’s broadcast on Sports Center and World Surf League.” She gave me a sly smile. “The betting’s getting fierce.” She winked, and an adorable smile graced her face. “I might have to place a bet myself.” She scrolled through the odds for my inspection, and my heart sank when I noticed Justice and I had been given fifty-to-one odds.
I licked my bottom lip. “That’s nice, honey.” And my heart started that uncomfortable racing thing it always did before a contest.
Ginger looked gorgeous wearing a low-cut royal blue mini-dress with a silver choker at her throat. Her eyes held a sparkle that I noticed every time she was around Cliff. She wrapped an arm around Bobbie. “Don’t distract Lola.”
Justice clapped his hands together. “Well. We’ve got time to watch some of the contest before we’re up.” He swept his arm in a grand gesture. “Shall we?”
The five of us settled into the stands amid the aroma of popcorn, grilling hamburgers and a slew of spectators hell-bent on drinking gallons of beer on tap.
Justice clutched my sweaty hand tightly, and my stomach churned as the contest began. Jesus Cristo, Santa Maria, and Dexter! The rivalry was fierce. Through blurry vision, I watched a series of couples—fit athletes performing advanced tandem moves—the halo, the buddha, the one-arm Kennedy. I clutched Justice’s arm so hard he winced. My voice was a whisper. “I don’t know about this. I should’ve dieted more.”
He kissed my lips softly. “You’ll do great.” His mesmerizing blue eyes looked into mine, and I wanted to fall into their depths. His gaze was reassuring and protective. Justice smoothed my hair away from my sweaty forehead. “I’ve got the prettiest, strongest, most athletic partner in all of Knight’s Ferry.” His smile was confident, radiant even.
I suddenly felt light-headed and drew in a shaky breath.
I wanted to share Justice’s enthusiasm and confidence. But.
But what?
He gave me a crooked smile. “We’ve got our lucky rash guards.” He placed a masculine arm around me, drawing me close. “I’ll take care of you.” He leaned close and whispered in my ear. “You’re my wife, Lola.”
My body froze. A married couple. Yeah, right. What about after? Shut up and concentrate, Lola. The hundred-grand prize dangled in front of my sphere of vision and I blinked.
What if we really were a married couple? I could pretend, couldn’t I? Just for these two days?
I closed my eyes and inhaled his masculine scent pretending that we were a real married couple who did everything together—shopped together, worked our business together, made babies together.
I squirmed at the thought of how Justice’s hand had come down on my ass last night, my screams drowning out his own groans of excitement and a wicked smile formed. That’s the kind of married sex I liked.
I leaned into Justice and nuzzled my head against his neck. When I looked up at him, I forced the nervousness out of my system by pretending I was acting in a movie. Yes, that’s it. A movie. Fantasyland. “If you say so.”
He reached around and smacked my butt. “I do say so.”
Then it was time.
The announcer’s voice boomed. “Sarah and Brian Rich against Mike and Lacy Jones, on deck. Lola and Justice Hamilton against River and Roxy Sullivan, in the hole.”
Justice grabbed my hand. “Come on, Hamilton. Our trophy awaits.” Papaw, Ginger, and Bobbie gave us enthusiastic cheers of encouragement. “Break a leg!” Ginger yelled.
We ran hand-in-hand to the staging area where we donned wetsuits, our rash guards, and retrieved our tandem board.
I can barely remember what went through my mind as we waited for our first heat and I don’t want to remember. It was a mixture of tunnel vision, a ringing in my ears, and waves of hot and cold chills. I took a deep breath thinking of my papai and how determined he’d been to ride savage waves of sixty-feet and larger. I closed my eyes and tried to channel my father’s intense determination. Like father like daughter. Justice joked and bantered in his casual way, but all I wanted to do was get in the wave pool. There I’d be able to put all my nervous energy to good use. Our focus needed to be great surfing and advanced lifts to achieve the highest combined score.
Finally, it was time for our first heat. We raced toward the sand and Justice and I stood together and bumped fists. “Go get ‘em Team Lola Justice.”
Justice grasped the back of my head and gave me a luscious kiss on the lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I viewed our French kiss, large as life on the jumbotron. “That’s team Hamilton, y’all!” the announcer’s voice boomed. “Show ‘em how it’s done. Then get a room.” Justice’s thumb moved slowly across my jawline as his pillowy lips made out with mine, seeming not to care that the whole world witnessed our love. Give ‘em hell, Justice. We’re married. Fake married.
From a distance, I heard Papaw yell. “Yeah! That’s my grandson!”
We finally broke our PDA, and I scanned the crowd of competitors. Devin lurked on the sidelines, a grin on his face. He held two fingers to his lips and then blew me a kiss. Bile rose up my throat. I wanted to throw up.
“Come on, babe,” Justice said. “Let’s go.”
We paddled out behind our competitors and watched as they caught the first wave. A lump the size of a golf ball formed in my throat as the announcer’s deep voice filled my ears. “They’re going straight for the butterfly.” That was one of the more advanced moves and—dear Lord in heaven—they executed it perfectly. “Will you look at that folks? River and Roxy never disappoint. If this is what we have to look forward to, it’s going to be one heck of a contest,” the announcer enthused.
Justice squeezed my arm. “Remember what we practiced. Let’s go for the one-arm straddle.”
I twisted my toy diamond ring, the cheap plastic scraping my skin. “Are you crazy? That’s one of our hardest moves. Holy smokes, Justice. You want to lose?”
“Have some confidence. We did it fine the other day.”
I swallowed hard and told him, “Okay.”
The wave formed, and we paddled mightily until it picked us up. Justice’s strong arms lifted me. “Here we go.”
The maneuver required me getting on his shoulders; then he hoisted me higher until my arms were straight down in front of my body and I extended my legs in a straddle. Justice held my clasped hands with one of his hands. This move took a ton of strength because Justice only held onto my hands with one hand while his other arm stuck straight out.
The announcer’s voice boomed. “Will you look at that. The Hamilton’s are going for the one-arm straddle! Good gawd, they’re brave.”
The wave rushed underneath us and Justice’s muscular arms flexed, his breathing labored. My arms shook, and I felt my grip loosen. “I’m going to fall.”
“Hang on, babe.”
“I can’t.”