Page 40 of Catch a Wave
“About this one? No. But in the past when I brought up getting a dog he said we’re gone too much to care for a pet. We’re always here at the shack, or out in the water. We’re only home at night or sometimes on our days off.”
“Seems like this little sweetie would be fine with that arrangement. Anything’s better than what he’s got going right now.”
“You make a good point.”
I can’t help smiling up at her again. Her long, full hair drapes down around her face while she leans in and pets the dog again. He looks up at her like he’s in love. Yeah, man. That makes two of us. Just don’t break her heart. She’s had enough of that to last a lifetime.
“This can be our little secret.” I wink at Mavs.
“Hmmm. Maybe.” She straightens, steps back a little and then says, “Well, I’d better go. I just came here with Summer. I met Phyllis, by the way. She’s great.”
“Told you. She’s special. I bet she loved meeting you.”
“We had fun.”
Mavs smiles this shy smile. It makes me itch for the days when her smiles were mine—freely given, wide-open smiles. She smiled and laughed all the time back then.
That’s what friends are for.
I might never get her back, but I can at least help her smile like that again. At least I can try.
Mavs and I walk back into the shack through the back door together. My little furry friend stays out on the dock giving me a classic look full of those puppy-eyes.
“You’re killing me, man,” I tell him.
Mavs giggles for the briefest moment. We glance at one another and that little ball of hope inflates just the slightest bit more. It’s dangerous to hope, but I’m a man who always sought out danger. You could say it’s my natural habitat. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
My phone buzzes in the pocket of my board shorts.
I pull it out and read the text. It’s from my friend in San Diego.
Jammer:Any word on the contest, bro?
I quickly type out a response.
Bodhi:Working on it.
Jammer:By working on it, do you mean, avoiding it?
I’m so busted.
Bodhi:Just thinking through the whole thing. Not completely avoiding.
Jammer:I saw Cap the other day. He said you didn’t put the application in yet, so I wanted to crawl into your messages and push you, knowing how you love being pressured to take action.
Bodhi:It’s my favorite. No need to get me a birthday gift now. You’ve outdone yourself.
Jammer:Seriously tho, bro. Send it in. This is a low-key event for a good cause. We’ll hang out, ride some waves. Raise some money. Play some music. It will be like old times.
Old times. Only all of these guys still compete and travel with sponsorships or partial sponsorships. Or they at least surf with the old group of friends regularly if they’ve quit competing. Jammer owns a surf school. He still does events like this one at least twice a year. Some of the guys even have their own brands now, and they’re the ones sponsoring young up-and-coming surfers. Being around them puts salt in a wound. They all stayed with the surfing life and community when I dropped off the face of the earth.
Jammer:I hear those gears grinding from here. Stop overthinking. Come hang with your friends. We miss you. And bring that girl of yours.
Bodhi:We’ll see.
I look up right then to see Mavs reading the whole text exchange from over my shoulder.
“Sorry.” She nearly winces. “You … I just … I better go.”
