“Thanks for inviting me,” Gia said, once the waiter returned with her credit card. “I should probably get home. I’m meeting Katrina early tomorrow for a workout.”
“You’re lucky you scored her.”
Gia nodded. “You don’t have to tell me. She knows our world and what it takes to survive the big waves.”
“My guy, Bruce, is great, but I grew up hero-worshipping Katrina. I had her poster in my room.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Oh yeah? Did you demand your mother find you those exact same board shorts? The ones with the green and the—”
“Yellow vertical stripes. I hounded her daily. I also taped her finals heats with an actual VCR.”
Elle pointed at her. “I still have my tapes.”
“Shut up. Truly?”
“I do. I couldn’t throw them away if I wanted to. Did you try and spike your hair like hers?”
“I tried, and failed miserably.”
“Same.”
They stood at the entrance of the restaurant, waiting for rides and grinning at the unexpected common ground. It’d been a while since Gia had met someone who understood how great Katrina was. Is. “You’re a cooler girl than I thought, Elle.” She held up a hand. “And don’t let that go too far to your head. I might deny saying so tomorrow.”
“Or maybe you won’t.”
A moment passed between them, and Gia softened. “Or maybe I won’t.”
Elle laughed and turned to face the street, the wind lifting the loose strands of blond around her face that had somehow escaped the braid. Gia felt like she’d seen behind the curtain tonight, to a version of Elle she hadn’t realized existed. But then again, maybe she hadn’t wanted to know. Until now.
Elle’s car arrived first, and she turned to Gia. “Thank you for tonight. I had a great time getting to know more about the infamous Gia Malone.”
“Next time, I choose the place.”
Elle took a step in, a close one, and Gia felt it all over. “There’ll be a next time?”
“Yeah. Why not?” Gia asked.
“You’re asking me?” She shook her head, and her tongue briefly wet her bottom lip.
Gia’s stomach took a wonderful dip.
“I see no reason at all.”
Elle slipped into the back seat and Gia stared through the window at her silhouette. The car pulled slowly from the curb and disappeared into the night, right along with everything Gia thought she knew about the world. What was she supposed to do with that glimpse of flirtation and this newfound attraction to someone she didn’t even like a month ago? Gia raised her hand to her forehead. She needed an Advil and a sounding board, because her head was pounding with problems.
Chapter Eight
Something was up with Christopher.
He’d been quiet since they’d sat down for coffee at the quaint little garden table he’d selected for them at the outdoor café. Elle was consistently impressed with his ability to seek out the beautiful spots in the world. Now, if only he seemed to be enjoying their surroundings as much as she was.
“Hey, goober. You’re not saying much.”
He raised his handsome gaze and furrowed his brow. “Did you just call me a goober?”
“Yes, and it got your attention,” she said playfully. “Why so solemn?”
He inhaled quickly as if snapping out of it, and met her eyes. “We have fun together.”
She nodded. “We do.”
“We talk about things that actually matter, and you’re charming and flat-out gorgeous. I think you’re very attractive.”
She smiled. “I could say all of those same things about you.”
“But let me ask you this.” He sat forward, scooting to the edge of his chair. “Do you go home and think about me?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t mean about what we laughed about or what we ate. Do you think about me?”
Now, that was a harder question to tackle, and Elle took a moment to figure out what to say next. He didn’t give her the chance.
“Because I don’t think about you.”
The coffee caught in her throat and she found herself sputtering and gasping in attempt not to choke. To his credit, Christopher leapt into action and slid a bottle of water her way. “You okay?” he asked softly, when she regained control. Why were his eyes kind when his words were cruel?
“Other than what you just said to me?”
His eyes widened and he looked genuinely horrified. “Hey, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It’s just…we’ve clicked, I feel like.”
“I thought so, too.” She liked him more than any guy she’d dated before.
“I could hang out with you all day and night, but I don’t think the romance is there.”
“Yeah,” she said, reflecting on their time together. They had so much in common, and she truly liked Christopher, but they’d pretty much stepped away from the physical, to a soft and simple peck at the end of their dates. Nothing more. She didn’t go home and think about him…at least, not like that. Maybe she shouldn’t be so surprised that he’d noticed. “I guess it’s not there.”
She watched as relief took shape on his face. “I want you to know that this is in no way your fault. I think you’re an amazing woman and I still want us to be friends. To keep doing stuff together. But there’s something I need to let you in on, which may not be easy to hear.”
“Of course. You can tell me anything.”
“I’m gay.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Elle laughed hesitantly. “No, you’re not. There’s no way.”
“Trust me. I used to think the same thing. Even very recently.”
She blinked. She blinked again. A third time. She tried on the statement. “You’re gay.”
Birds wrestled in the birdbath nearby and he covered his eyes with his hand. “This is new for me, too. I mean, it’s not. But it is new for me to say it out loud. I’m thirty years old and I’m finally admitting to myself what’s always been there.”
“Hey,” she said quietly, pulling his hand down from his face. She reminded herself to focus less on her own surprise and more on her friend’s feelings. This was a big admission for him. “You don’t have to feel embarrassed or nervous in front of me. What do I know about anything? I can’t even whistle.” That netted a small smile. To help, she gave it a shot, forcing air through her lips in an abysmal display. “See? I’m a wreck of a person.”
“No, you’re not. You’re put together. I’ve always thought so.” He sat back in his chair and drank his coffee like a shot of bourbon.
“Well, I’m glad it looks that way.” A new thought descended. She brushed the hair away from her face and inclined her head. “Can I ask if there’s something in particular, other than your lack of connection with me, of course, that has led you to this revelation? A someone, perhaps?”
And then it all came tumbling out like a pent-up confession. “More like every man on the planet. Including Dash, and if you tell him that, I’ll kill you, friendship or not.”
“Aha.” She laughed, and used her fingers to lock her lips. “Well. It sounds like the world has opened up for you, Christopher.”
He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Are we okay?”
“How could we not be? We’re too adorable people in a garden that looks like it was heaven sent. My good friend trusted me enough to tell me something important about him.”
He smiled and exhaled slowly, as if the relief was a welcome hit. “You’re amazing.”
“Thank you. Hey, can we still check out that little sushi spot near the Grove next week? We just won’t make out afterward.”
He touched his cup to hers. “I made the reservations last night.”
“Awesome.” She beamed. “Yelp says their Seattle roll is worth its weight in gold.”
“Then we gotta have it,” he said. “Oh, and what about that Harrison Ford cop movie we were waiting for? It opens
next week.”
“I could do Thursday night,” she said, scrolling through the calendar on her phone.
“Thursday works for me.”
In only a matter of minutes, their brand-new friendship was a hundred times more comfortable than their romance-that-wasn’t. The pressure was gone, and they could just…be. Elle was happy for Christopher and could already detect a lightness about him that she had never noticed before. She wondered what that must feel like.
“Oh, and Elle? You’re going to find someone amazing. I have no doubt in my mind.”
“You never know.” For the first time, after years of feeling that romance was an impossibility for her, the pieces of a long-unrealized puzzle were beginning to assemble themselves slowly. She didn’t know what they meant quite yet, but she was starting to have an inkling.
Christopher studied her. “What’s the look on your face? You went somewhere just now.”
Elle decided that Christopher had been honest with her, which couldn’t have been easy, and the least she could do was let her guard down with him. In fact, he was likely the perfect person to talk to about this. She leaned in. “Do you remember the girl from the surf bar I took you to? The brunette across the room with her friends?”
“Your competitor, yeah. You two talked at the bar.”
“What if I was starting to feel like I might have a crush on her? A small one. Almost nondetectable, but still a crush.”
Christopher didn’t balk. He didn’t widen his eyes in surprise. He simply nodded as he took in the information. “Do you think she has similar feelings?”
“Definitely not. I mean, she teases me about a sex dream I had about her, which I shared in a drunken moment of idiocy, but I think that’s all it is. Just playful fodder.”
“You had a sex dream about her? And she knows?”
Elle waved him off. “Yes, but that was so last week. This week, we had dinner, and the thing is, there’s so much more to her than I’d realized. I’d always thought of her as this less-than-warm surfer that I was supposed to take down on the tour. But maybe that was a characterization of my own making, because now I find out that she has this personality. She can be funny when she wants to be, and nervous other times, and she comes with this whole childhood in Hawaii, and don’t even get me started on the fact that she’s really very beautiful and—”
“Hey, Elle?”
“Yeah?” she asked, a little dazed.
“When you’re apart, do you think about her?”
The answer was upon her immediately. She nodded. “I do. A lot.”
He smiled. “Then I think it’s safe to say that you have a crush on your hands. The only question is, what are you prepared to do about it?”
“I honestly don’t know. Probably nothing.”
“Well, maybe you don’t have to know, in this moment. But can I offer a piece of advice?”
“Please. I would very much welcome any guidance or insight, because everything is feeling very out of sorts, and when you’re a control freak like me? That’s terrifying.”
“Here goes. Don’t wait fifteen years to admit to yourself what you probably already know. Life is too short, and you’re too wonderful a person to lose out on something that could be really great if you were open to it.”
“But I don’t think I’m…” The sentence died on her lips because she couldn’t back it up. She flashed on all her failed relationships with men and how they never held her interest. She’d always believed it was because her career took precedence, but maybe that hadn’t been it. Now, through an unforeseen series of events, she’d stumbled onto someone she was actually attracted to, who appealed to parts of her she’d previously imagined were broken. Maybe this meant she wasn’t broken after all.
Christopher gave her hand a squeeze. “You were saying?”
“That I have some thinking to do.”
He nodded knowingly.
They wrapped up their coffee date with some small talk about Holly and Dash, their work schedules, and what plans they were already making for Christmas, a holiday they both loved. As they walked to their respective cars, Christopher turned to her. “Can I say that I might have suspected? It’s an awful thing to say, but in this case, it’s true.”
Her mouth fell open. “I don’t think I believe you. No way.”
“Well, then I won’t say it. Out loud.” He wrapped his big arms around her and kissed the side of her head. “See you on Thursday.”
“All right, goober.”
* * *
As Gia stood in the afternoon rush line at Cat’s Pajamas, Autumn tossed her the universal look for “get out of line, idiot, I’ve got your order.” She passed back an “Okay, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to give me special favors” glance, and received the “you’re not doing that, so stop being stupid” stare. Gia dutifully stepped out of line and took a seat at a nearby table. The one they usually sat at was occupied by a group of frat guys in swim trunks and damp T-shirts. She sent them a cool, even “that’s my table” gaze as she passed. Unnecessary, yes, but she happened to be in an awful mood.
Her practice session had been rough, and with San Clemente coming up in just a few days, she couldn’t afford a rough practice. With nearly two months since the last tournament, it was up to her to stay in peak surfing condition. She and Katrina had taken the Jet Ski out to catch the bigger swells, but she’d been off her game and couldn’t seem to engage. She’d wiped out or been swallowed by a wave an embarrassing number of times, and when they’d found the bigger pipe, she just didn’t have it in her to go after it and ended the session early in a frustrated huff. She was annoyed at herself and the world.
“Special delivery,” Autumn said, and slid Gia an iced coffee, her afternoon beverage of choice. “Uh-oh. That’s a rare look. I’ve seen it on your face maybe twice. What happened?”
Gia rolled her eyes. “Lame training session. All my fault, so I’m yelling at myself in my head.”
“That sounds terrifying. Maybe let yourself off with a light lecture? Some extra chores?”
“Nah. Too easy.”
Autumn, with a hand on her growing stomach, slid delicately into the chair across from Gia. “Coffee will make it better, though. It makes everything better.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled halfheartedly, and thumbed the circular lid. Coffee did help, and she was doing everything she could to see value in the little things, because the larger issues were confusing the hell out of her.
“Would it help if I told you that the kids are dancing up a storm today? Probably because they wanted to say hello to you. I told them you might drop in.”
Gia sat up, intrigued. “You can really feel them now?” The idea made her surfing issues fade to the background, at least momentarily.
“Mm-hmm. Here. It’s getting to the point where others can, too. At least once or twice for Kate.” She took Gia’s hand and placed it on her stomach, which was surprisingly firm. At first, she didn’t feel anything. Autumn looked skyward and moved Gia’s hand to the left and pressed it into her stomach as if to wake them up. “Feel that?” Gia sat upright, because there was a noticeable little flutter against Autumn’s skin.
She pulled her hand back in surprise and pointed. “Whoa. There are people in there. Moving. You were right.”
Autumn laughed. “Can you believe it? I still can’t.”
Gia grappled. “I know human beings have children every day, but it’s different when it’s…Autumn. I mean, you. You’re having kids. You. My best friend.”
Autumn nodded with an acceptance Gia didn’t have yet. “That’s true. This time next year, there will be rug rats around here causing trouble. Real ones, with thoughts and opinions and wants and needs.”
Gia felt a surge of panic and glanced around. “We should probably start getting ready. Making lists or something. What list should I make?”
Autumn stood. “Way ahead of you, champ. You should see the storage locker Kate’s rented, full of baby suppli
es. I tried to tell her we’re expecting a couple of infants, not the apocalypse. But it makes her feel better to be overprepared. She’s turning into a professional baby supply hoarder, though, no doubt about it. An intervention might be forthcoming.”
“Kate’s hoarding babies?” Gia’s goofy neighbor, Barney, asked as he meandered through the shop. His normally bleached-blond hair had a green streak running through it today. Gia couldn’t begin to understand the type of life that dude led. He had a different job every time she talked to him. Magazine subscriptions, errand runner, and her favorite, rare coin collector. Mainly, he just wanted to hang out on the beach and play volleyball with his dude friends all day.
“More like supplies,” Autumn said, gesturing to her stomach. “She’s getting ready for these guys.”
“Gnarly. Gonna down some of your delicious coffee now.” He offered Autumn a fist bump and continued his half dance, half walk to the counter.
Autumn, used to Barney and unfazed, turned back to Gia. “I was meaning to ask, are you free this weekend? We thought we might do a gender reveal with our close friends.”
“Oh, man. I leave for San Clemente on Sunday, but I could do Friday or Saturday.”
“Done. Stay tuned for details. We’ll all find out together.”
Gia was smiling when Autumn returned to work, but that smile came right off her face when she saw public enemy number one walk through the door.
“Hey,” Isabel said to Gia. “I took off a little early today, so I thought I would see what everyone was up to.”
“No way,” Gia said. “You can’t walk in here and be friendly. We’re not friends right now.”
Isabel seemed taken aback, but only mildly. “We’re not friends? Was there a memo I missed again? I suck at memos.”
“You can’t quip your way out of this one with your Izzy-talk.”
Isabel took a chair, turned it backward, and sat down. “Gonna have to be more specific.”
“You’ve ruined my life and now my job.”
“Yeah, that was a lot clearer.” She softened. “Suggestion time. Why don’t you just tell me what’s actually going on, with details rather than vague suggestions?”
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