by A. J. Sand
Sterling delivered ideal competition to make it interesting and exciting, but Wes garnered the win that he had been (mostly) confident about. He got his winnings at the winner’s podium and was formally announced as the wildcard for the competition in Bali. He posed for the media and the crowd, leading them all in a “Deuce is wild” cheer after he flashed his tattoo in his signature pose.
Teahupo’o was a tiny fishing village, so nightlife was nonexistent regularly, and the contest sponsors had managed to turn it into a party city for the duration of the competition, but for the biggest event, the after-party following the final, everyone had to travel several hours away to one of the luxury resorts in a more tourist friendly town. The hotel was a beautiful place, structured like most of the resorts in the South Pacific: thatch roofed buildings, various lagoon style infinity pools and expansive greenery. Each pool area had its own DJ, genre of music and bar with seating arranged for the surfers and their guests, and large photos of past parties scrolling on a screen.
The Reaper Crew had a contractual obligation to attend the Wave Saver and Lava finals after-party so Wes and the surfers had to be there early for media interviews on the red carpet, and because he knew Lana would be on his arm later, he had put some effort into his look. Black Nikes, black button down and jeans, and a black Lava hat. Dressed up, Elliott style.
Wes and Brody bookended Christian and Abel during the pictures on the red carpet, and Wes decided he would avoid Brody tonight, call a silent truce, as long as he stayed away from Lana. Then he posed with the Lava girls in some promotional photos, and did some interviews required by his sponsors. He waved Dylan and Kai over once they were past the entry ropes.
“Char and Lana were taking forever, so I left…” Dylan explained. “From what I saw, though, she looks really pretty, Wes.”
After another half an hour, Lana and Charlotte arrived at the start of the carpet to receive their VIP passes, and a fiery feeling, which was almost warlike in the way it struck him, fell over Wes as he stared at Lana. Wow. Her hair draped over her shoulders in loose curls, and she was wearing a tiny, body-hugging, hot pink dress that an overestimation would’ve placed at mid-thigh. It was a style Dylan was calling “bandage” because of the all-over tight fit to accentuate the curves of a woman’s body. Oh, it was accentuating all right, and not a single guy who was checking her out would not have sold his first born’s soul to be that dress. And the shoes. Holy fuck. Black. Open toe. High enough for them to almost be at eye level with each other he guessed. His dick was definitely on alert. High alert.
She was laughing at whatever the bouncer had said to her, giving off her unmatchable glow and magnetism. His stomach coiled in anticipation for her to look up and see him. When she did, she winked and blew a kiss. He gestured at her to come over.
“Damn, I get why you like the bad girls,” Kai said to him.
“Hey!” Dylan said, pinching him on the side.
“But I love the good girls, baby.” Kai kissed her cheek in apology. “Just the good girls. Just you, Dylan Kimberly Carroll.”
“But she’s really hot though…” Dylan admitted. “I think I get it, too.”
“Oh, you like Lana, Dyl? You think she’s sexy?” Wes asked as he swung his arm around her shoulders. “What do you find sexy about her? Tell me. In detail. Everything you like about her. Start with her—”
“Don’t say another word, baby,” Kai said, laughing as he cast a warning glare to Wes. “Don’t put my girl in your fantasies!”
Dylan squeezed Wes’ shoulder and shook her head before turning to Kai. “Come dance with me, boyfriend!”
“Sure…be there in a sec,” Kai said, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand before she walked away, and he shot a sly smile at Wes.
“What?” Wes said. “What is it now?”
“I know that look…I know you’re going to get mad when I say this, but I’m pretty sure that’s what I looked like when I realized I was in love with Dyl.” Kai gave him a one-armed hug and started to walk away.
“Hey, White?” Wes called after him.
“Hm?”
I know. Something in his chest wrung it tight at the thought. “Nothing, I’ll catch you guys inside. You know where mine and Abel’s chairs are, right?”
Kai shot him a wide smile. Stop knowing stuff, asshole, Wes thought. “Yeah. See ya in there, Deuce.”
When Lana reached him, he lifted her into a hug. “Damn, you look so beautiful. Feels like this is the second time I’ve won today. That dress is…wow. Damn, I already want to take you back to the room. And those shoes. I want them against my ears…”
She laughed. “You like my come and fuck me heels?” she asked.
“You’re looking in the wrong place for the answer to that question,” he whispered before he kissed her on the cheek then traced her ear with his lips.
“Oh? Where’s the right place?”
“You’ll know when I’m fucking you on the beach later.”
“Damn, I wish later was now,” she whispered back after a moan then she smiled. “But I want to dance with you first. Will you dance with me?”
“Serious question?” And he led her to the first pool area under a wave of greetings, many shouts of “Deuce!” and congratulatory messages, but right now, his mind was simply on holding this gorgeous woman against him and swaying to the music. A hammering beat was shooting through the air and the entire crowd was gyrating to it. A translucent dance floor had been built over the pool and color-change lights flared up from below. Wes pulled Lana right to the center of the dance floor as everyone made way for him.
It was good to be king.
Once he and Lana settled on a spot, Wes placed his hands on her hips as Lana pressed her back against his chest, linking her fingers behind his neck. They danced through several songs, and Wes was really in a partying mood, so they were drenched in sweat within minutes. Lana had a lot to do to keep up, but she did, and he was impressed that she never complained about her feet. Dylan soon danced over and pulled Lana away from him, and the two of them went off as Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” came on; Wes laughed as the women imitated moves from the music video for each other.
Kai walked up to his side and put his arm around Wes’ shoulders, and the two of them stared at the women for a moment. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s never going to happen,” he joked. “Never.”
“So…is this what it’s like?” Wes asked him.
“Well, if you mean watching your girl act silly and laughing and happy and being herself, and realizing that if you lost everything tomorrow but you woke up next to her the day after, you’d be able to face it all, no matter what else happened…” Wes held his composure but Kai’s words were a shot of adrenaline to his chest. “If you mean that…then yes. This is what it’s like, bro.”
Wes exhaled loudly. “No offense to your girl, but I want Lana back…” Wes told him and went to get her, shooing Dylan in the direction of Kai. Several women came over and tried to cut in over the course of their next round of dancing, but he waved them off. No way he was taking the chance that someone else might ask her to dance if he accepted any offers, and he didn’t want to. People were blatant in their staring and they probably thought she was his girlfriend, but he didn’t care.
“You can go dance, Wes,” Lana said. “They’re your fans. They like the fantasy of you being available. I mean you are…I don’t want to hog you. I’ll be okay.”
“I don’t want to.” He shook his head.
“Okay, then what do you want to do?” she asked, grabbing him at the waist. He pulled her body against his, angled her chin up with a firm grip and dropped an open mouth to hers.
“Kiss you.” After a smile, her tongue flicked across his bottom lip and he let her slip it into his mouth. He held her face, felt her palms settle on his forearms, and their lips shifted against each other’s, their tongues lapping the other’s mouth.
“Well, this isn’t extreme cuddling, but
it’ll have to do,” Lana whispered back. Laughter erupted as soon as she said it, but it didn’t come from anyone within earshot. As he looked around, Wes realized that they were near the women who had been harassing Lana on the beach earlier, and Lana must’ve seen them too because she turned his head back to her, but his anger had already flared.
“You guys have to leave,” Wes said to them in a raised voice, and they turned to glower in defiance until they were cognizant of who he was.
“Wes…” Lana said, a disapproving edge in her tone.
“No, they have to go, Lan. I don’t want them here.” Wes dropped her hand and walked up closer to them. “My name is on the event promo and I won today, so I can actually get you tossed out.”
“Wes, wait, I need to say something,” Lana said when she approached. “You know what’s really sad? We complain so much that men sexualize us without caring about anything else about us, and yet, women are some of the first who will judge other women about sex without knowing anything else about them. Well, let me tell you something about me that you never bothered to learn regarding what kind of person I am. I’m not interested in you guys getting kicked out of here. I don’t want Wes to do that. You got all dressed up, you probably spent a ton of money to come to this competition, so you should stay and enjoy yourselves, and I hope you have a great night. One last thing. You.” Lana pointed at one of them. “What did you call Wes? If I remember correctly, it was ‘Captain Save a Ho’? Well, I guess my point in all of this is, and what I want you to remember is that sometimes ‘the ho’ saves you. So, you should probably be nice to her.”
If his feelings for her weren’t already rooted, he would’ve fallen for her right then. She had handled herself without throwing a single punch or yelling or resorting to their level of nastiness, and Wes had breached a new level of respect for her. How was it possible to find new ways to lose himself in this woman? After breaking out into uproarious laughter, Wes grabbed a little higher than her waist, lifted her suddenly, and she leaned her face down close to his.
“You are fucking amazing, Lana…and you’re an absolute badass. Don’t ever let anyone tell you differently.” Wes angled his lips and she kissed him. “I’m going to get them kicked out anyway, though. I’ll be the asshole.”
“Let the twatsicles be,” Lana whispered to Wes as she held his neck. “Vey often slut and whore and their many variations are just more concise ways of saying, ‘I don’t get you, and I hate that you are probably having all the fun I’m too afraid to have.’ I don’t like them, but I know those are just words for when someone wants to try to control you. And you know how I am about being controlled.”
“But they still don’t deserve to be in the same room as you.” He kissed her again. “Ready to go?”
She nodded. “Bathroom break first.” Wes set her down and tapped her butt lightly with his palm as she walked away.
“Bambi eyes,” Abel said to him on approach, before he threw his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “I finally figured out who you look like when you’re staring at her. A Disney animal character. Ridiculously huge saucer eyes that are too big for your face.”
“Shut up.”
“I’m happy for you, bro. She seems like a great girl. I missed out on my chance of keeping the one I almost had, so you should go for it…as long as it doesn’t interfere with your surfing.”
“Abel, you can’t live vicariously through me…”
“I’m not trying to. It’s just that…you deserve this, Wesley. You’ve been working hard, man. I just don’t want to see my hetero life partner screw up this year.”
“I’ve got it all under control, mom,” Wes said, hugging him. Over Abel’s shoulder he caught a glimpse of a hot pink dress on the far side of the space through the slivers of passing people. A few feet away he spotted Brody, which meant the person in the dress was probably Lana. Concern then jealousy spiraled through him as he pulled away from Abel. That relationship bothered him but there was nothing he could do about it; he had already done what he felt he had an obligation to do on her behalf. Lana walked over smiling with Brody’s gaze digging into her back. Wes scowled at Brody, whose attention was already focused on a familiar blonde. Charlotte.
“What was that?” Wes asked when Lana reached him. “Was he being an asshole? What is he saying to Char?”
“He was just apologizing to me for not shutting down the crap people say,” she said with a big, reassuring smile as she gave Abel a hug. “And we talked about some Sadie-related stuff.”
“Oh…” Wes whispered. He hated to admit it, but he was still very envious of that connection of theirs.
“Okay?” Lana linked arms with Wes. “I guess something you said got through to him. Thank you. You ready?”
Although he nodded, Wes didn’t budge. “Is he still using?”
“He swore to me and the Olins that he was done with that way before that article came out, which he has to be for them to even consider allowing him into Sadie’s life the way they’ve let me.”
“How does he know Char? I don’t want him hanging around my cousin.”
“At the U.S. Open, she came over when we were doing a toast to talk to me. I introduced them because she asked me to, but I went off to watch the competition.” Lana touched the side of his face. “You want me to talk to her about it?”
“Yeah, please. If I do it, she’ll just do the opposite.” They went inside the hotel to change into their swimsuits—board shorts for him and a bright green bikini for her. Wes led her to a quiet part of the well-lit beach, away from the whirlwind of the resort, with her sketchpad, a camera, a surfboard, a blanket and a beach cabana in tow.
The sky held an ample white moon, which was casting a ghostly streak on the swelling dark waters of the Pacific. She sat just outside the beach cabana, drawing, and Wes went out for a brief night surf.
This thing with Lana was weighing heavily on his thoughts. How in the world could he bring up this shift that had happened—and it was pretty obvious, so there was no way he’d catch her off guard—without it actually changing things between them? That was the ironic part, mentioning the change would actually change things. But his heart was so different now, so involved now. They could probably make it work more than the people who actually sought out relationships. They would be careful, there wouldn’t be chick flick romance idealism, and they wouldn’t develop unrealistic expectations of each other. It would be like now, but just the two of them, official. It was that simple. Right? Jogging back to the shore though, he was far less emboldened about his ideas when he sat next to her.
“I’ve been drawing you, Deuce,” she said, and she showed him the partially completed sketch of him surfing, a heavy, menacing wave threatening to swallow him. “I’ve been working on it for a while now. I wanted to surprise you. Maybe it’ll be good luck.”
As she continued to work, staring out into the ocean periodically to gather her creative thoughts, he snapped a picture of her without her noticing. He smiled as he reviewed it. It was a gorgeous photo, if he could say so himself; he’d caught her right when she was looking out at the water, a light wind whipping her hair up into the air.
“Okay, my turn to draw you. You’ve drawn me twice now and I have yet to draw you.” He dried off his hands and took her sketchpad and pencils.
“That’s because we both know it’s going to be terrible.”
“Ouuuuuch. You always go for the kill shot, huh, Lan? Close your eyes.” He was no artist, so he had barely mastered 2-D drawings, much less the 3-D renderings she created. “Okay, I’m done,” he said within a few minutes. He gestured at her to sit on his lap after he lay on his back. “Keep your eyes closed. Okay, now look.” Wes spun the drawing to face her.
And it was worth hearing her exploding laughter. “Oh my God, Wes, that’s a huge circle with brown squiggly lines for hair! And…are those boobs? Why does my drawing have boobs at all? And why are they almost as big as my head?” Wes took the drawing back from her
, scribbled on it and showed it to her again. “‘Not drawn to scale?’ Oh my God.”
Wes slid into the cabana, and flipped them so that she was on her back. She laughed at the sudden rotation but got quiet when he stroked her face. Just tell her. Tell her. Tell her. But his chest was wrenching too much, too full of everything he now cherished about their relationship. He ran his finger from her temple to her cheek to the slant of her jaw, still unable to find the right words. His heart was churning, not even beating, but churning his insides, making him nauseated, anxious.
“Wes, why are you looking at me like that?” She squeezed his biceps, her eyes moving rapidly beneath her furrowed brow as she studied him. “Wes, are you—”
He lowered his lips to hers, sinking into the calming effect kissing her seemed to bring on. Her legs tightened around his waist, her palms stroking his back, as they gave in to a moment of tame passion. Just lips brushing, only puckering, barely any attempt to prod the other’s mouth. He pulled back and cradled her face, loving how stunned and breathless she looked.
“I can’t draw you or paint you; I don’t have the skill. But if I could, Lana Marie Langston, I’d use whatever color brown would best capture how bold and bright your eyes are. Draw you smiling, of course…because of your dimple. Then, I’d bring out the light rosy color of your lips, sketch to show how delicate and soft they are. I’d show how smooth your skin is, how I love the creamy, pale tone, and how I can’t keep my hands off you. I’d use whatever artistic technique would bring out the strong shape of your body. I love where you curve—everywhere you curve—where you’re delicate, where you’re soft, where you’re toned. And then if it were at all possible, make all of it reveal just how much you light a fire in my chest when you look at me because I just can’t believe that someone as beautiful as you hasn’t already been drawn a million times.”
His arms were hurting; she had been squeezing him tighter and tighter as he spoke. There was so much more he wanted to say, but nothing his brain came up with sufficed to capture how he felt. Wes Elliott, who truly had no problem saying whatever he wanted to, was actually out of words. Maybe because of how well she knew him now, she’d figure out the message buried underneath, he hoped. She was still studying him, still looking completely stunned, but with the glow of tears in her eyes.