Long Shot (Lauderdale Knights Book 3), page 15
I kept waffling with wanting to leave and wanting to stay. We would be good together long-term. She was everything I wanted, and no amount of telling myself to keep things casual changed the reality of my growing feelings. We genuinely liked each other, the sex was so good neither of us ever seemed to get enough, and the long and short of it was that she made me happy.
My friends liked her, so I could picture her spending time with us in Fort Lauderdale. She’d fit in with the wives and girlfriends I knew, and we’d have some downtime before she had to get ready for the next World Surfing League competitions, which began in late January.
Of course, this was all assuming I made the team, and she was ready to take a step that serious. Either way, I wasn’t sure what I could offer her if I wound up back in Atlanta. Most of my friends up there were single, and it was four hours to the closest beach. There wouldn’t be any way for her to surf, and I didn’t think she’d be happy living in the three-bedroom condo I shared with two other guys. Then she’d be gone again, and I’d be too broke to follow her around all summer.
I looked down at the weights, and the harsh reality of my situation seemed to be staring back at me. If I didn’t make the team, I was going to lose a hell of a lot more than my dream of playing for the Knights.
I was going to lose Tawny too.
As he’d predicted, Tobias had to split the photo shoot into two parts. On Thursday we had to be up and out by seven thirty so Tawny and I could do a few shots on the shore with her showing me how to get up on the board in the sand. It would have been fun if we hadn’t had to do the same things over and over. I’d never done any acting or modeling beyond what I’d done with Shine On, and I’d had no idea how cumbersome it was. They wanted the same shots from every possible direction, then they asked us to change what we were saying. Thank god I was with Tawny and not a stranger, or I would have been self-conscious every time I screwed up my lines.
Tobias seemed happy with what we’d done so far when we broke for lunch, so it couldn’t have been too bad, but I was already exhausted, and Tawny still had half a day to go. I worried about how long it was taking because the first heat of the women’s competition was tomorrow, and she needed to rest.
Connor and Kalea had come to watch, and the three of us stood under a tent used as a dressing room type area. Tawny paddled out to do the surfing scenes. One of the camera operators was on a boat not too far from her, and I wondered how that was going to work with her riding the waves. They weren’t huge today, but big enough to rock that little boat back and forth. The other camera operators were on shore, and I didn’t know what the logistics were, but it looked like an intense amount of choreography to get it right. No wonder Tobias had been stressed about it.
“Why do you think Eddie isn’t here?” I asked Kalea.
“Scarlett did us a solid,” Kalea said, grinning. “She was planning to meet with him anyway, even though she really doesn’t want an agent. But she wanted to at least hear what he has to say. So I asked her if she’d tell him today was the only day she was available and to make sure she kept him there a while.”
I chuckled. “I need to buy that woman a drink.”
“We all owe her drinks,” Connor said.
“Oh, fuck me, we spoke too soon.” Kalea groaned under her breath as Eddie came over to stand with them.
“Where have you been?” Connor asked innocently.
“Business meetings,” Eddie said sharply, staring out at the water. “How’s our girl doing?”
“My girl is badass as fuck,” I said casually, not looking at him.
“I hope they don’t overdo it today,” Eddie muttered. “She has to compete tomorrow.”
For once, Eddie and I agreed on something.
“She knows her limits,” Kalea said. “She’ll say when she’s had enough.”
“How come you’re not out there?” Eddie demanded, frowning at me. “I thought that was the whole point.”
“Since I don’t actually know how to surf,” I said, refusing to look at him, “Tobias thought it would be more authentic for them to just feature her on the waves. My stuff will all be on shore.”
“Huh.” Eddie seemed to be mulling this over when his phone rang, and he walked away to talk to someone.
“Dickhead,” Kalea murmured under her breath.
“What do you think?” Connor asked me. “Any interest in surfing?”
I hesitated since I didn’t know if he knew about my current phobia. “It looks like fun. With hockey season right around the corner, I don’t know if this is the time for me to pick up a new sport, but maybe next summer. By the way, if you guys ever get to Fort Lauderdale, please hit me up for tickets to a game.”
“Dude.” Connor high-fived me. “I’m going to be subscribing to the hockey channel so I can watch all your games on my phone when I’m traveling. Can’t wait to see you on the ice this season.”
“Thanks, man.” I grinned back at him. I really liked Connor. He was about my height, but a lot leaner, with white-blond hair that stuck up on top and a snaggle-toothed grin that was infectious. He laughed easily but was badass on a surfboard and incredibly protective of his pregnant wife. Their love was tangible, and even now that she wasn’t able to surf competitively, they were always in tune to the other’s needs.
My gaze drifted out to Tawny and, as always, I was mesmerized watching her ride a wave. She made it look so easy, even though I knew it wasn’t, and the athlete in me itched to try it for myself.
I just had to get past this ocean phobia bullshit.
Well, it was more like a shark phobia, but I tried not to think about it. There was a guy on the Knights whose wife was a psychologist, and I planned to hit her up as soon as I got to Fort Lauderdale if I couldn’t work past this on my own. Reason number 4,523,235 I needed to make the team.
“Jesus Christ,” Kalea murmured under her breath. “From what I can hear by being nosy, it sounds like Scarlett is going to sign with him.”
“Seriously?” Connor wrinkled his nose. “Didn’t you warn her?”
“Not my job,” Kalea responded. “But I thought she had better sense.”
Eddie had a self-satisfied smirk on his face as he joined us. “So, who’s your agent, Jace?” he asked.
“Wayne Griffin.”
“Never heard of him.”
I shrugged. “Probably not a lot of overlap between surfing and hockey.”
“Yeah, but I know most of the big names. You might get a sponsorship if you had a more high-profile agent.”
“Maybe.” Like I’d ever tell him Wayne had been working on it, but I simply hadn’t garnered that kind of attention.
“We should talk before you head back to Atlanta,” he said. “Maybe I could make some introductions for you.”
Like hell, I thought, though I smiled politely. “Yeah, let me think about it.” I turned back to Tawny, wondering if she was tired and when the last time she’d had water was. This was turning into a grueling day, and I glanced over at Tobias, who seemed to have a more serious look on his face than he’d had earlier.
“Current’s getting stronger,” Connor commented, staring out at the water. “It’s not a big deal in general, but it’s going to tire her out if she has to keep fighting against it to stay closer to the location of the shot they want.”
“Tobias.” I walked over to him. “This day has gone way longer than it was supposed to. She’s competing tomorrow.” I tried not to sound like an overbearing parent, but as an athlete myself I understood the need to rest before any competition.
“I know.” He made a face. “It’s going to cost everyone a lot of time and money if we don’t get the shots we need today, but there have been technical issues, one of the camera operators got motion sick, and apparently Tawny had a wardrobe malfunction out there, so we’re falling more and more behind.”
“Anything I can do?” I asked quietly.
He shook his head. “No. But thanks for offering. I’m going to wrap this up in the next thirty minutes. Whether we have what we need or not.” He picked up a walkie-talkie and started barking out orders at someone.
I sighed and went back to where I’d been standing with Connor and Kalea.
I was about to tell them what Tobias had just told me when Tawny wiped out. We all cringed out of habit, and I waited for her head to pop up next to her board, but it seemed to be taking an extraordinarily long time. She’d fallen dozens of times today, but she was always right back on her board.
“Where is she?” I muttered, moving out from under the tent and closer to shore.
“Connor, do you see her?” I heard Kalea’s voice and Connor’s negative response, but my eyes were glued to the water.
Where the hell was she?
My heart started to beat harder as I scanned the top of the water for a flash of her dark hair. There were no swimmers where we were since Tobias had gotten this portion of the beach closed off for the shoot. There were supposedly lifeguards on duty, but they didn’t seem particularly alarmed. I glanced back at Tobias who’d gotten out of his chair and was talking rapidly into his walkie-talkie.
“I see her,” a production assistant with binoculars said. “But I don’t think she’s moving.”
“Where are the lifeguards?” I demanded, yelling over my shoulder to Tobias.
“I think she’s okay,” Tobias said. “She’s just—”
“If she was okay, she’d be back on her board,” I said through gritted teeth.
What the fuck was everyone waiting for?
“Tobias!” I yelled his name, and he held up a finger, indicating I should wait.
Oh, hell no. I wasn’t going to wait for something bad to happen.
Without a second thought, I kicked off my sandals and yanked off my T-shirt as I ran.
I thought I heard Connor calling my name, but I’d already hit the water, swimming in the direction of that damn boat.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Tawny
I’d probably fallen off my board a million times in my life, but never right into a waiting jellyfish. The first tentacle wrapped around my right calf and the sting made me yelp. Before I could move or get out of its way, another tentacle caught my left thigh and the pain brought tears to my eyes. I wasn’t angry—this was his home after all, not mine—but a jellyfish sting hurt like a motherfucker. I had one arm on my board, hoping it would carry me away from the tentacled little bastard, and give me a few minutes to breathe through the pain.
There wasn’t much you could do, and contrary to popular belief, the best remedy was to stay in the water and let the salt water neutralize the poison. I’d been stung before, so I wasn’t allergic or anything, but it would burn like hell for about fifteen minutes. There was no way I could surf until it let up a little. I wanted to let the camera operators on the boat know I was okay, but the current was so strong it was already pulling me in the opposite direction.
Dammit.
I wasn’t scared, but annoyed and uncomfortable. I could swim through the pain if I had to. I just didn’t think I should have to with a whole beach full of lifeguards and crew who were supposed to be on guard for unexpected events like this.
“Tawny!”
Someone was calling my name, and I turned my head in the direction of the voice. I lifted my arm so the two people swimming in my direction would see me. Had the lifeguards finally realized something was wrong?
“Tawny!” The voice was closer, and I squinted.
No. It couldn’t be.
Was that Jace?
“Babe!” He reached me breathing hard, one arm around my waist and the other hanging on to my board for support. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Did you swim all the way out here?” I asked, unable to fight my smile despite the stinging in my legs.
“You didn’t get back up, and I panicked.” His eyes met mine.
“You okay?” Connor swam up a few seconds behind Jace, and I gave him a half-hearted smile.
“You guys are something,” I said. “I’m all right. It’s just a jellyfish sting, but I needed a few minutes to get past the initial pain.”
“Jesus.” Connor blew out a breath. “You scared the crap out of us. And Jace wouldn’t even wait for me, he just took off.”
“To be fair, I didn’t know you were coming,” Jace told him.
“The current is strong,” I told them. “Swimming back is going to be a bitch.”
“How bad does it hurt?” Jace asked me. “Can you make it?”
“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Best thing for a sting is saltwater anyway, so it’s easiest for me to take my time and swim back to shore.”
“You want me to take your board?” Connor asked.
“Yeah, that would be great. Holding on to it and fighting the current is a pain in my ass.”
“Got it.” Connor held the board steady while I dove under water to remove the leash from my ankle, which was what kept it from floating away every time I fell off.
“You sure you can swim?” Jace asked me.
“You sure you can?” I countered playfully.
He looked around. “Don’t remind me.”
“The easiest way for me to get this to shore,” Connor said, “would be to ride it in.”
“Take it.” I waved a hand. “Just be gentle with her.”
“I’ll love her like my own woman,” he called, lifting himself onto it.
We watched him ride a big wave that took him almost to shore before Jace and I started to swim. He was strong and fluid in the water, much like I was, and my gut told me he’d be a strong surfer if he was ever willing to try it.
“You sure you’re all right?” He kept slowing down to make sure I was keeping up.
“I’m good,” I promised. “Just getting a little tired. It’s been a long day.”
About fifty yards from shore, two lifeguards met us and helped us the rest of the way in. Even though everyone knew there was no help for jellyfish stings, someone produced some steroid cream and Kalea wrapped a towel around me as I applied it.
“You scared me,” she whispered.
“Sorry.” I gave her an apologetic smile. “Didn’t mean to scare anyone.”
My eyes sought Jace’s, and the intensity in his was a little overwhelming.
I’d motioned to the camera operator on the boat that I was okay, but since no one could hear me they’d probably assumed I was hurt. Jace hadn’t waited to find out, though. He’d forgotten all about his fear of sharks to get to me, and that warmed me in a way nothing else ever had. When was the last time someone metaphorically fought for me? In this case, Jace had been fighting his own demons, and my strong, blue-eyed man had put me first.
No one had ever put me first.
Not the grandfather who’d raised me, not Eddie, and not even Pete.
Despite the jellyfish incident, I’d gotten back in the water and did a couple more runs so Tobias had the shots he needed, and we wouldn’t have to come back. Jace had put his foot down after thirty minutes and announced we were heading back to the hotel whether the commercial was finished or not. Though Jace had always been possessive and attentive, I’d never seen this alpha side of him. It was interesting because it didn’t annoy me the way it did when Eddie or Pete acted that way. Maybe it was different because Jace was different, but I liked having someone in my life who had my best interests at heart.
We’d gotten back to the hotel half an hour ago, and Jace had ordered room service while I was in the shower.
“You sit and relax,” he said, “while I take a quick shower. Room service said about thirty minutes.”
“Thank you,” I called, pulling clean panties and a t-shirt out of my suitcase. I put them on and then brushed the tangles out of my hair. I was going to let it air dry since I’d probably put it in a braid tomorrow for the first heat. Despite a long stressful day, and a painful jellyfish sting, I was relaxed. I kept picturing Jace jumping into the water to come to my rescue. I couldn’t help thinking about how good it felt to be together and wondering what we were going to do when he inevitably had to go home. We’d never discussed it again after he’d agreed to come to Brazil, but if there was ever a time to bring it up, it was now.
Jace came out of the bathroom in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs that showed every line of his amazing body. I smiled as I held out my arms and he came to join me on the bed.
“Did I remember to thank you in the midst of all that chaos today?” I asked, running my fingers through his damp hair.
“You did,” he said, pulling me against his side.
“Does this make us even now?” I asked playfully.
“You saved me from a shark. I arrived too late to protect you from evil living tentacles,” he said, laughing. “I’m not sure how that makes us even.”
“Well, it’s not a competition.” I turned my head and burrowed into the hollow of his shoulder. “You’ve started to mean a lot to me, Jace.”
“You mean a lot to me, too.”
“It scares me, though.”
“How come?”
“Because you’re leaving, and I’m going on to the next competition.”
“Yes, but I’m not leaving yet, and the finals are in late September or early October, right?”
“Yes, I think they start September 29th.”
He ran his hand up my arm as he said, “Is there any reason why you can’t come to Fort Lauderdale at that point?”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” I admitted quietly. “Do you want me to come?”
“I don’t know exactly what my living situation is going to be, but if you don’t mind sharing an apartment with Cam and Felix, then yes, I do.”
“I don’t care about where you live, I just want to be with you.”
“Even if I’m in Atlanta?”
