Maileah watched, on edge with everyone else. She saw Adrian standing to one side, nervously flicking his fingers and chewing his lip. She hadn’t realized surfing could be a dangerous sport.
She also saw an undercurrent of worry in Skeeter, even though she was excited and pulling for Sailor.
“Wait for it, wait for it,” Skeeter chanted.
The waves swelled and broke, but Sailor was patient, watching for the perfect wave, Maileah presumed.
“There it is,” Skeeter whispered.
As if on her cue, Sailor took off, heading toward a wave that rose with incredible power. He whipped onto the wave, keeping a lower line from the top and making it look effortless. The wave hollowed out, and he surfed into it.
He crouched in a low, tight stance. Another camera angle captured him in the barrel, gliding through the wave as it crashed split seconds behind him like falling dominoes.
How does he do that?Maileah wondered, holding her breath. It seemed he was at one with the ocean.
Excitement seized her chest, and she caught her breath. She knew that feeling of being in sync. Not just knowing what to do, but feeling the conditions, sensing them even before they changed.
She and Sailor had talked about snowboarding down a mountain and being so in tune with the experience they instantly sensed shifts before that knowledge hit their consciousness.
Watching him, she could feel his movements in her muscles. She saw Skeeter’s body moving slightly along with him.
“You’ve got it,” Skeeter said, pulling for him as he glided out of the barrel, grinning and lifting his arm.
“Yes!” Adrian said, punching the air. He bent to hug Skeeter.
Sailor had done it. Maileah let out her breath as everyone cheered.
Yet, even as they were celebrating, a wave suddenly caught up with Sailor and crashed over him. In an instant, he disappeared.
“Hang on,” Skeeter screamed, clasping Adrian’s hand.
Shocked at how quickly the sea could turn, Maileah trained her gaze on the screen, afraid to look yet terrified to look away.
Another hush descended on the crowd.
“Please, please, let him go,” Skeeter said, hugging Adrian, who also had a prayer on his lips.
A few seconds later, the wall of foamy water dissolved, and at once, Sailor’s head appeared. He was still standing.
A huge cheer erupted, and Skeeter jumped up and down.
Adrian pressed a hand to his heart and murmured, “Thank you, thank you.”
Adrenaline surged through her, and then Maileah feltlimp. She wondered how many times they’d witnessed that and how close he’d come before.
She heard someone say something about another surfer whose board had struck his femoral artery.In seconds, she heard them say, then,it was awful.
Remembering the pointed edge, she instantly knew what they were talking about. If that main blood vessel to the lower part of the body was severed, a surfer could bleed out in seconds.
The thought of that made her skin crawl. Yet Sailor was a highly trained athlete aware of the risks. Maileah wondered how long he planned to compete.
Another surfer took Sailor’s place, and many people in Cuppa Jo’s went back to eating and talking, although Skeeter’s attention was still on the screen. Soon, the final scores were posted, and another cheer exploded.
Sailor had won.
Skeeter and Adrian hugged again. Both were ecstatic and visibly relieved. They treated each other like family. Maileah assumed Skeeter and Sailor had been together a long time.
So much for her attraction to Sailor. That was just as well, she decided. He was her old type, not her new type.
