Below the Barrel (Saltwater Springs #2)

2. Koa | San Clemente, California, USA

TWO

KOA | SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA, USA

“I know you probably don’t see a point in trying your hardest in today’s individual surf, but the points still count towards the championship title, so make sure you’re putting one hundred percent into how you surf today,” Gabriel says as our driver pulls into Trestles Beach.

The Lower Trestles is our first wave on the World Surf Championship Tour and one of the easiest and safest surf spots on the itinerary. In today’s competition, surfers will be paired based on their overall points, aside from Maliah and I. Regardless of how we score today, Gabriel has already pulled strings to ensure we’re paired together. It’s all part of his master plan to get Maliah and I back onto speaking terms.

“Whatever,” Maliah grumbles from beside me.

She’s looking a lot better than she did on the plane ride here. The Gravol I gave her knocked her out almost instantly, and she was able to sleep through the rest of the flight without a care in the world about the constant turbulence.

I, on the other hand, refused to sleep the whole flight down. I’m positive the pilot was new because I’ve never been on a flight that had me fearing for my life, until now. I had to make sure I was awake in case the plane nosedived, and I had to be the one to save Maliah from drowning in her sleep.

“I’m serious. A single point can be the difference between a World Champion and a loser.” Gabriel runs a nervous hand through his hair, his brows pulled together as he stares at Maliah.

“Don’t worry, Gabriel.” She frowns at him as she sinks into her seat with crossed arms. “I didn’t come this far just to lose.”

“Good.” He sits back in his seat with a satisfied smile and looks out the window as the driver parks the car and opens our doors.

After climbing out, I hold my hand to help Maliah exit the car, but she swats my hand away and climbs out on her own, brushing past me wordlessly. I stare at her back as she walks away and feel a familiar ache grow in my chest.

Maliah and I are from two different worlds.

Where she grew up in a high-class, wealthy family, I grew up in a low-class, low income one. I knew from the very first day that I didn’t deserve her. That someone with my upbringing could never be good enough to keep a girl like her in my life.

I join her and Gabriel on the sand as we stare at the SurfFlix camera crew setting up. Not only are we competing for first place in every competition, but each of us will also be followed by a camera crew, recording everything that happens behind the scenes.

“Do you have any tips to share for Lower Trestles, Gabriel?” I ask, turning to face him.

“Lower Trestles makes the perfect wave, it almost looks fake, but it’s an easy wave to break and should be a piece of cake for you both to surf.”

“Perfect,” Maliah says quietly.

We continue to watch the camera crew set up until a producer approaches us. Her dark hair is tied back in a ponytail and loops through her baseball cap. She chews her gum obnoxiously as she looks down at her clipboard.

“Name?” she asks, tapping her pen on the paper.

“Koa.”

“Do you have a last name, Koa?”

“Foster.”

I watch as she checks off my name on her list and shuffles over to Maliah, asking her similar questions until she finds her name and checks her off.

“Follow me.”

We both glance at Gabriel who just shrugs and follows the producer towards the camera crew. I follow his lead and shake the hands of everyone there, Maliah following suit.

“This is your assigned camera crew. They’ll split up into teams of five and follow you individually whenever you’re not together,” the producer says, her Bronx accent more noticeable now.

“Thanks, Jackie,” a tall, slender man with sandy blond hair and brown eyes says as he smiles at her. “My name is David, I’m the headman for this team. If you have any feedback you want to share with me about the team over the next year, I’m your guy. How about we get started filming your intros?”

“Sure,” I reply cooly, not missing how his eyes roam over Maliah with too much interest.

Within seconds, we’re split up into our separate crews, shaking hands with each person and posing for B-Roll shots with the ocean behind us.

“You should smile, girls love a guy with a nice smile,” Vincent, the cameraman, says.

He’s a short Italian man with a staring problem. I roll my eyes and force a half smile while he circles around me. I’m not a fan of the idea that we’ll be recorded for the next year, but it was either that or drop out of the tour, and I wasn’t going to leave Maliah to do this without me.

I stare past my team to where Maliah stands with David, twirling her golden hair around her finger as she laughs halfheartedly. My fist clenches as I watch, recognizing that she always plays with her hair when a guy makes her uncomfortable. As much as I want to run over there and tell him to fuck off, I know that will only piss her off. Maliah can handle herself in this situation, so I bite my tongue and continue with the rest of the shoot, but by the end of it, I’m quieter than usual as I stew in my annoyance.

“I will never get used to this.” Maliah groans as we rejoin Gabriel, who’s been on his phone for most of the time.

“Well, you better learn because it’s only going to get worse from here.”

He’s always been the blunt, tell it how it is, type of guy and I respect him for it. Maliah rolls her eyes before glancing at me.

“You’re awfully quiet.”

“Is that satire?” I smirk as I look down at her.

“Quieter than normal,” she corrects.

I hold her gaze as my smirk fades away. I wish I could tell her how seeing her put into situations where she has no choice but to speak to people who make her uncomfortable makes me angry. It’s one of the reasons I fought so hard last season to make sure I’d be here with her.

But I don’t tell her that. I don’t, because I know it’ll just push her further away from me. We broke up because I’m not good enough for her. I can’t drag her back in, she deserves someone better. Someone who makes her happier than I ever could. Someone who can take care of her better than I ever would.

Maliah deserves the best, but that isn’t me.

I tear my gaze from her eyes and watch as the other surfers, who are leaving their introduction filming, begin introducing themselves to one another.

“I think we should go say hi,” I say.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I don’t believe you asked a question, Maliah.”

I begin walking towards the slowly growing group of surfers, leaving her standing in the sand behind me. The last thing I want to do is leave her side, but I don’t want to lie to her either, the worst thing I could do for us both is telling her how much I still love her.

“Well, look-y here. If it isn’t the famous Koa Foster,” a blond guy around my age says. “My name is Charles.”

He holds his hand out for me to shake and I begrudgingly do, forcing a smile to rival his own.

“Nice to meet you, Charles. Is that a French accent you’ve got?”

“Oui,” he replies, his lips curling into a smirk.

“Koa, I saw your qualifying surf, and man, I was so impressed,” a slim, dark-haired guy with an Australian accent says from beside Charles. “I’m Reese.”

“Nice to meet you, Reese,” I say, shaking his hand, “and thanks.”

He smiles kindly before his eyes catch on something, or someone, behind me. I let go of his hand and glance over my shoulder only to find Maliah approaching the group.

“Back in my country, we’d call her a magnifique femme ,” Charles says breathlessly.

I don’t blame him. Maliah has this special charm about her that attracts everybody. It’s not just her looks, though her blue eyes and golden hair are breathtaking, it’s how she carries herself too. Her elegance and confidence exude from her, and anyone within a twenty-foot radius of her can’t help but watch in awe.

Me included.

“Hi,” she says with a quick wave as she studies each person here.

“Bonjour,” Charles says, pushing past me until he comes to a stop in front of her and begins to lower his lips to the back of her hand.

It takes one look at her uncomfortable smile for my resolve to break. I take a step so that I’m standing next to Charles and causing Maliah to look up at me.

“Hey, babe,” I say in a dangerously low voice.

Charles freezes with his lips inches from her skin before rearing back as if she slapped him. He looks between me and her as I pick up the hand he dropped and bring it to my lips, placing a gentle kiss on her soft skin as I stare into her eyes.

The rich blue colour reminds me of the ocean and the blue sky. Deep and endless. The flecks of light and dark shades of blue add depth to her eyes and completely captivate me. Her eyes have always had a way of drawing me in, making me feel like I’m the only person in the world under her gaze, like it doesn’t matter where I come from or who my parents are.

Staring into her eyes makes me feel like I’m enough.

Even though I’m not.

Her lips part slightly, and I let my eyes drop down to them as I gently pull away from her hand. The pink plumpness drawing me in almost as much as her eyes. What I would do to be able to feel them against mine one more time.

I look down at our hands, my eyes snagging on her arms covered in goosebumps. I lift my eyes back to hers and see the moment she realizes she’s been staring too long. Her back snaps straight before she walks past me and introduces herself to everyone else in the group.

“She’s your girl?” Charles asks.

I clench my jaw before turning to face him with a forced smirk.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” I wink before walking towards the others and introducing myself after Maliah.

“The results of this competition will determine your partner for the remainder of your time here. So, if I were you, I’d surf with absolutely everything I have,” the Surf Sports Official shouts over the sound of the roaring waves.

I stand in between Charles and Reese as we face the ocean. It’s been a long day of waiting for my turn but it’s finally here. I plan to surf the best I can today, even though I know I’ll be assigned to Maliah regardless, to put some fear into Charles.

I just met the guy, but I don’t like him. He’s more invested in the girls here than he is about the tour itself. The Official holds a small BB gun into the air and begins to count down, so I position myself better and wait for the sound of the gunshot before I sprint towards the ocean, surfboard tucked under my arm.

The coolness of the water sends a chill up my spine, but as soon as the water reaches my knees, I throw down my board and hop on, using all my strength to paddle further out. I reach the lineup first and face the horizon, waiting for the perfect wave to swell, and it doesn’t take long for me to spot one.

I turn my board, facing the shore, and begin paddling again so that I’m just ahead of the breaking lip, but Charles has the same idea as he begins to desperately paddle beside me. I don’t let him distract me.

We both stand on our boards just as the wave lifts us up and shoots us forward, allowing us to drop in with the nose of our boards facing downwards at an angle. To my surprise, the wave splits right in between Charles and I, and he takes off in the opposite direction. I return my focus to my own wave and bend my knees so that I can get more momentum as I begin to carve through it.

Once I’ve reached the right amount of speed, I complete a bottom turn at the base of the wave to begin executing as many maneuvers as I’m able to, before jumping off next to my board as the wave falls away.

“Dude,” Reese exclaims, his eyes wide and his hands holding his head as he stares at me, “that was crazy. I’ve never seen anyone do that much in a single wave.”

I chuckle to myself as I come up next to him on the lineup just as another wave begins to swell.

“You should catch that if you want a decent partner.” I nod in the wave’s direction.

“Fingers crossed it’s Maliah.” He winks at me playfully before paddling off to surf his wave.

“That little shit,” I mumble to myself as I watch him pull off a decent aerial.

I glance toward the beach and search with my eyes until I find Maliah next to Gabriel. She’s stretching with her headset on, intently watching each surfer’s performance as if she’s taking mental notes.

She probably is.

I’ve never met anyone as dedicated to winning as Maliah is, and that dedication comes paired with an obsession to learn her opponents’ weaknesses and strengths from the inside and out. Her eyes move to mine and she holds my gaze momentarily, my heart ricocheting in my chest, before she turns to Gabriel to say something.

This year I plan to win her back, even if it’s just as a friend. I can’t imagine a life without Maliah in it, in any capacity, and because of that I know that if we both get kicked off The Saltwater Shredders team, she’ll disappear for good.

I catch a few more waves before our heat finishes, and I paddle back to the shore with the rest of the surfers. We were the last group to surf for the males and now the last female group is next, Maliah’s group.

When the water is shallow enough, I slide from my board and walk the rest of the way, tucking it under my arm. When my feet touch dry sand, I shake out my wet hair before sliding a hand through it and slicking it backward.

A chorus of wistful sighs catches my attention, and I look up to find a large group of the female surfers watching me with glazed eyes. I swear one of the girls is even drooling. Just behind them I spot my camera crew recording the girls and my reaction and I can’t help but roll my eyes and make my way to where Maliah and Gabriel stand.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself a fan club,” Maliah says, holding my towel out for me to take.

I smirk and lean forward so that we’re eye level, watching as her eyes slowly peruse my face and pause on my lips before rising back to my eyes.

“Jealous?” My smirk grows into a grin when she rolls her eyes instead of answering me.

Is she jealous?

It doesn’t matter, you’re not enough.

My voice of reason extinguishes any flame of hope her reaction gave me and I find myself standing up straight and taking the towel from her.

“Thanks,” I mutter before throwing it over my head and rub my hair dry.

“What was that?”

I lift the towel from one of my eyes to peek at her and confirm she’s talking to me, her ocean eyes piercing right through mine.

“What was what?”

She lifts her finger and waves it in my face in a circular motion. “That look. You went from a goofy smile to suddenly straight faced. What were you thinking about?”

For the second time today, I find myself staring into her eyes with the truth sitting at the tip of my tongue, but as usual, I swallow my words and drop the towel back over my face so that I can continue drying my hair.

“The fact that there are cameras recording my every expression right now.” It’s not necessarily a lie; I’m uncomfortably aware of their presence following me.

“Right.” She doesn’t sound convinced, but she also knows now isn’t the time to push for answers.

I slide the towel so that it drapes over my shoulders behind my neck, and I watch as she picks up her freshly waxed bright pink surfboard. She recently had it custom made by our team board shaper, after some green haired goblin of a woman tripped her at a competition a few months ago, and caused her to break her favourite board.

She checks her ankle strap twice, takes a deep breath, and straightens her back as she walks towards the remaining surfers lined up by the Surf Sports Official. Within minutes, the BB gun is shot into the air and the girls are sprinting into the ocean, Maliah leading the way. As she furiously paddles towards the lineup spot, I turn to face Gabriel.

“Did you actually rig it so that we’d be paired together, despite our rating?”

He turns to look at me with calculated eyes. I watch as he contemplates his answer before he returns his attention to Maliah.

“No,” he says, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. “I was just trying to take some of the pressure off you guys. I remember how nerve-wracking the first competition on tour can be.”

His answer shouldn’t surprise me, it’s a typical thing for Gabriel to do, but it leaves my blood running cold because that means Maliah might actually end up paired with someone other than me. I whip my head up to the scoreboard and see that I currently hold the highest ranking for the men, which means I’ll be paired with the highest-ranked woman.

I push my way to the front of the crowded beach and search until I find her paddling after a wave, while another girl paddles closely behind, chasing the same wave. I cup my hands around my mouth and do something I will probably regret later.

“Give it your best, Maliah,” I shout.

She raises her head when she hears me, and I watch as her brows raise slightly before she refocuses herself and drops into the wave first at the perfect moment. She cuts through the face of the wave and absolutely crushes the maneuvers. That wave alone is most definitely worth enough points to have her ranked highest for the females, but I refuse to get my hopes up so instead I continue to cheer her on as she surfs her final wave.

When she handles that one perfectly, I’m satisfied enough to return to Gabriel who is smirking as he watches me approach.

“That was cute,” he says.

“Shut up, no one else here can surf as well as she can, and I intend to win,” I say defensively.

“Mhm,” he mumbles with an annoyingly smug smirk as he watches her paddle to the shore along with the rest of the women from her heat.

When she reaches us, I hold out her towel for her and she wordlessly takes it and wraps her hair up before I pass her another towel for her body. Within minutes, we hear music play as images on the digital scoreboard begin to fly around the screen until a picture of my face lights up the screen for first place male ranking, followed by a picture of Maliah’s for women’s first place ranking. The words Team One float above our pictures and I feel a warmth spread in my chest.

That warmth quickly turns ice cold as Maliah turns to look at Gabriel and I over her shoulder, pinning us with frosty eyes that cause the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck to rise. Without a word, she picks up her board and marches over to the car that will take us to our hotel. I watch as the driver takes her surfboard and opens the door for her before securing the board to the top of the car.

Gabriel whistles beside me. “Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you, bud,” he says before walking towards the car.

I mumble a few choice words for him under my breath before I pick up my board and follow him. He’s not wrong. She isn’t going to make this year easy for me one bit, but I refuse to give up this time.

The cool air from my air-conditioned hotel room feels amazing after being out in the hot sun for most of the day. In five minutes, I’ll have to go back out there to join Gabriel and Maliah along with the rest of the tour attendees for a welcome dinner.

I stand in front of the mirror, staring at my all-black outfit: black dress pants, a black dress shirt, and an uncomfortably tight black bow tie. I’ve been wearing black for over a year now, ever since Maliah broke up with me. Every time I attempt to wear colour, I’m overwhelmed with memories of her, and I can’t bear the pain. Black is the only colour I can handle wearing, because it’s the only colour she hates and the only colour I never wore while we were dating. It reminds her of her mother’s funeral, and it’s been off-limits for her since day one.

With a sigh, I walk over to my queen-sized bed and fall back onto it so that I can stare up at the smooth ceiling. Maliah always loved that I still had both of my parents in my life. She always told me I had no idea how lucky I was. But even that wasn’t enough to keep her by my side.

A knock at my door has me bolting upright and readjusting my bowtie before grabbing my hotel key card off the dresser and walking out into the hallway where Gabriel waits. He’s wearing a white dress shirt and navy dress pants.

“At least one of you is ready on time,” Gabriel mutters as he looks me up and down and then glares at the door across from mine.

We wait five more minutes before Gabriel’s impatience wins, and he knocks on Maliah’s hotel room door again, more aggressively. I hear her curse on the other end before the door swings open and she steps out.

My breath is sucked right out of my lungs as I take her in. She’s wearing a fiery red dress that hugs her body in all the right places. Her blonde hair is curled and pinned to one side of her head, falling over her shoulder. She’s painted her lips with a red lipstick to match her dress, and her eyes are lined with a black liner, causing her blue eyes to stand out even more. My eyes trail down her body once more, unable to look away.

She clears her throat, and my eyes snap back up to hers only to find her watching me with a knowing smirk.

Fuck. This girl is going to be the death of me.

She raises her chin high and walks past me, her ass swishing side to side as she goes, my eyes hypnotized by the sight. It’s only until Gabriel smacks my chest that I begin breathing again and tear my eyes away from her.

“You’ve got it bad.” Gabriel snickers before making his way after Maliah towards the elevator.

I swallow back the drool that had pooled in my mouth and follow him, keeping my eyes glued to the floor the whole elevator ride down. When the doors open, our camera crew is waiting for us, and the cameramen quickly start their cameras and begin following behind us, as we make our way toward the outdoor terrace where the welcome dinner is being held.

Low background music can be heard as we enter the space, and all eyes turn toward us as we enter. The female surfers give Maliah a once over before their predatory gazes find me and I physically feel the energy in the room shift. The male surfers don’t even spare a glance my way as their eyes track Maliah’s every move, and I can’t blame them. Of all the women here tonight, she’s the most beautiful. Though I’m certain she could wear anything, and I’d still stand by that statement.

We make our way to the last three available seats at the long rectangular table and Gabriel grabs the first seat, leaving the last two chairs for Maliah and me, forcing us to sit side by side for the first time in months. She freezes and stares at the chairs, curling her hand into a fist, before begrudgingly taking the middle seat between Gabriel and me.

I lower myself into my seat and spare her a sideways glance as she lifts her wine glass to her lips and drinks the whole glass in one go. A nearby waiter quickly walks over and tops up her glass, which she brings to her lips again.

“Woah there,” I hear Gabriel mumble to her as he places a finger to the rim of her glass and forces her to lower it back down to the table. “Let’s try to avoid getting shit faced on the first night.”

The minute he turns his head away from her, she picks up the glass and chugs its contents again. I watch as the waiter returns and refills it. The night carries on this way until the end of dinner, and while Gabriel decides to retire to his room shortly after, I’m stuck at the table, keeping an eye on a very tipsy Maliah.

“So, mon chéri, how long have you and Koa been together?” I hear Charles ask.

I lift my gaze from my plate to find that he’s taken Gabriel’s spot next to her at the table. Maliah barks out a laugh as she shoots me a displeased look over her shoulder before returning her attention back to Charles.

“Koa? I barely know him.”

Her words cut deep, as usual, but I force the ache down and snake my hand up her thigh. She gasps at the contact and turns to look at me when I gently squeeze. Her eyes are lust-filled but the frown she’s pasted on her face shows me just how mixed her emotions are. I lean towards her, stopping when my lips are right next to her ear.

“Really?” I purr. “I thought we knew each other very well at one point.”

I watch as goosebumps crawl their way down her arms, and she visibly shivers. I pull away, just far enough to look her in her eyes with a knowing smirk. Even though I know she wants nothing to do with me, seeing how responsive her body still is fills me with a stupid amount of happiness.

I watch as she swallows before plastering the fakest smile on her face and placing her hand atop mine on her thigh.

“I think we can both agree that we’re both very different from the people that we once were.”

With that, she tightens her grip around my hand, yanks her thigh out of my grasp, and throws my arm back at me before turning her attention back to Charles with a flirtatious giggle. I stare at the back of her head for a moment, the rejection stinging, before I clear my throat and return my focus to my half empty plate. Any plans I had on finishing my dinner tonight are gone as I shove it away, a bitter taste in my mouth.