Fighting With Light (The Coldwell Brothers #2)

46. Liam

46

Liam

The water is thankfully perfect today. I’ve been catching waves left and right. It feels good to be out here again. When I don’t climb or surf for even forty-eight hours, it bothers me.

If I don’t, it’s like a constant state of wondering if I’m forgetting something. The rocks help me center my God-given purpose and the water calms me. I’m focused, and I’m ready for the competition tomorrow. I was a little worried about my arm and the stitches. They are certainly pulling, and it obviously burns, but I can work through it. I’ve been in much worse situations and still had to compete the next day. It’s amazing how much pain the body can work through if it has to.

I’m sitting on my board, enjoying the sun and the careful sway of the ocean, thinking about last night. Aelia is on the beach tanning, and she wore the red swimsuit. Luckily, there’s no one else out here, so I don’t have to gouge out eyeballs.

We changed last night, both of us. I was more vulnerable with her than I’ve ever been with anyone. She makes me feel safe enough to do that and I love that she feels the same way about me. It’s a welcome feeling knowing that she trusts me. She wants to be with me. The thought of belonging to her makes me believe everything else will work itself out.

For too long I have teetered back and forth between the dark and the light. The choices my brothers and I have had to make over the years to keep each other safe are not ones that I am proud of, but they had to be done. With Aelia, I don’t have to hide that dark part of myself that’s sort of okay with the deeply gray. They are justified in my mind, and I don’t feel all that guilty for any of it. It’s hard to feel sorry for someone who uses and abuses women and children or trafficks them to other sick, depraved humans to do who knows what. That’s just evil, and I’m just getting rid of it sooner rather than later. Aelia isn’t bothered by the gray. She doesn’t mind the blood, and that alone proves to me she is the one.

***

It’s the day of the finals. This is my year. Last year I lost by a few points, it was so thin. But a loss is a loss. It won’t happen again because I won’t let it.

Five of us are left to compete. There will be a series of three matches and then the last one standing against the number one seed with the best of three heats will win the title. Since I’m sitting number two in standings, I have to go through one additional match to get to the title heat. The fourth and fifth seeds will go in the first match, depending on what happens. They will go against the third seed, and then finally to me. After I win my heat, I’ll be facing the number one seed for the title.

I’m confident, but nervous. I know I have to channel it. I practiced my floater because I dropped the ball on it in El Salvador, and lost a few points in the way I maneuvered the waves towards the end. Today, the plan is to wow the judges.

Aelia listened to me for once and went with one of her floral swimsuits with tiny flowers that look good on her caramel colored skin that’s only been deepened by all the sun. “I want to ask you how you’re feeling, but I’m not sure if I should,” she says.

We’re on our way to the beach right now and I’m buzzing with energy. I reach for her hand and bring it to my mouth, kissing her knuckles. “I’m ready, baby, I can feel it.”

Keeping her hand in mine, I glance at her before putting my eyes back on the road. It’s early this morning and the surf from the rental house looked good. I’m hoping it’s the same where the competition is at. I don’t know how I’m going to handle things if I have a Portugal repeat. That threw me off, hence the reason I’m sitting number two overall .

“Good, I think you are, too,” she says, smiling.

The beach isn’t that far, so it takes twenty minutes to get there. My focus needs to remain on the waves, and what I have to do mentally to beat my competitors. Usually, compartmentalizing is simple for me, but I keep thinking about the case against our fathers. When I look at Aelia and think about the things we’ve said, I know we will never be able to keep what we have until both of them are put away for good.

I pull into a parking spot and take a deep breath pushing my sunglasses up to rest on my head. “Hey, you’ve got this,” she says. “I’m so proud of you.” Aelia cups my cheek, trying to get me to look at her. “It’s just you and the waves, baby.”

Leaning over, I capture her mouth with mine. She sighs into the kiss and I draw strength from her. If she’s good, I’m good.

“Plus, if you win, there’s a little something in it for you,” Aelia says.

I wiggle my eyebrows wondering what’s up her sleeve. “What kind of little something?” I ask her.

She taps her lips with her finger like she’s thinking about it. “Hmm, I think it will be a surprise, but I can promise you’re going to like it,” she says.

“Does it involve you and our bed? Because yes, I will love it, princess,” I tell her, grabbing her chin.

She drops a kiss on my mouth.

“I guess you better go out there and win to find out then, shouldn’t you?” she says with an eyebrow lifted.

I press my lips to hers again. “Now you’re just being cruel. What if I lose?”

She gasps, pressing her hand to her chest. “Now that’s just crazy talk and self-defeating. You’re going to go out there and win and then you’ll get your prize.” She wiggles her shoulders and smiles at me.

Staring at her for a moment, my heart thuds a little harder and my stomach flips. “I have the best prize of all, princess. I’ve already won.”

“You’re right, you have, but you need to win this one, too. Quit stalling, let’s go,” she commands .

“Yes, ma’am,” I say and push out of the Rover. Aelia grabs her beach bag and I throw mine over my shoulder while I hold the board with my other hand. The crowd here is much bigger, partly because it’s the finals and also because Lower Trestles, San Clemente is famous for its surfing and the history behind the sport. It also means there are more eyes on us.

We reach the sand and I have to go one way and she has to go the other. I hold on to her hand tightly, nervous about the crowds of people, not knowing who is here, who we don’t see.

Aelia tries to pull her hand from mine and I won’t let it go.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Will you come with me?” I ask her. I’d rather have her on my side of the beach than with spectators. Especially now, and especially because of what we did in Colombia.

“I thought I had to stay on this side,” Aelia says.

I nod. “You should, but I don’t care about the rules right now.”

“Liam, I don’t want to mess up your process, or affect your score or something. I’ll be fine on the spectator side.”

“Aelia, please?” I ask her.

She looks into my eyes and says, “Okay, if that’s what you want.”

We walk hand in hand to the competitors’ side of the beach and drop our stuff. “I’m going to go get checked in. Can you stay here?”

She nods again. I just want her close. They don’t usually like girlfriends or family members in the competition area, but I don’t care, and if anyone asks, she’s my physical therapist that just so happens to enjoy kissing me.

Girlfriend .

I’ve never had a girlfriend before.

After I get checked in and grab a pass for Aelia, I return to our spot. She’s sitting on the sand with her legs crossed looking around. Sometimes I almost trip over myself when I look at her because I still can’t believe she’s mine.

“You know…I’ve never had a girlfriend before.”

She smiles and lifts her sunglasses so I can see her eyes. “Well, I’ve never had a real boyfriend before, either.”

“I don’t know why, but I’m glad I can be your first,” I tell her and kiss her cheek. And I will be your only.

She leans forward and fixes the edge of my wetsuit shorts that flipped up at the knee. “I’m starting to like this wetsuit on you.”

I chuckle and lean back on my elbows. “You just like looking at my butt in it.”

She giggles and lifts her shoulders. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. So, do you know who your first match is?”

“Not yet, I have to wait for two more matches. I have a feeling it’s going to be Cooper Thompson from Australia, fourth seed. If I beat him, then I’ll be in the final against Antonio Oliveira for the title.”

“You’ve got this,” she says and kisses my cheek. I smile and start stretching. A couple of other surfers here to watch walk past us, saying hello. This sport is serious, but everyone is generally frothy about the competition. It’s hard not to be. The sun is shining, the surf is macking, and it’s a perfect day to go surfing.

I stand up, pull my wetsuit over my shoulders and pull the zip before I slip my shirt with my number over my head. I check my board again, and the next step is to wait. The judges have to determine if the surf is competition worthy, it is, but it still has to be approved. After that I have to wait until the first two matches to compete.

Aelia follows me to the edge of the water to watch. The surf is thrashing with big waves which will get bigger pay off. There’s low wave deterioration and some nice barrel opportunities, too. I just hope the ocean cooperates with me and she stays like this. The first match is called and the fourth and fifth seeds go out for thirty minutes.

Both performed well, there were some nice breaks, and they caught some air, too. Overall a good ride. Sure enough, Cooper beat his competitor and moved up to the second match.

After the short break, Cooper goes up against the third seed from the States, Damon Jones. He’s a good surfer, I competed against him in El Salvador.

The waves were judged acceptable for surfing, but they got punchy and ended up throwing Damon off his board. The change in waves can sometimes come out of nowhere which is part of the ability of a surfer, to sense the change and adjust accordingly. But sometimes you simply can’t adjust fast enough and Mother Nature throws you.

Unfortunately, that made him lose the match, which means Cooper and I will be going head-to-head. I stand and go back to my gear and Aelia quietly follows.

After the break I go back to shore and look at the waves. They settled a little compared to the second match, but they are still prime for winning.

Cooper comes up to my side and I hold up my fist. “Hey, good luck, man,” I tell him.

“Yeah, you too. Let’s go out there and shred,” he says excitedly. I grin and look over my shoulder at Aelia. Her sunglasses are up and our eyes meet. She winks and blows me a kiss and for some reason, that’s all the encouragement I need. I take a deep breath waiting for the okay.

The judge calls for us to enter the water, and Cooper and I jog in, leap onto our boards, and paddle out. Once we’re onshore, we wait for the horn to proceed. It takes a few minutes, and I smile to myself. It doesn’t matter what’s happening in my world; when I’m out here, everything feels like it’s going to be okay.

The horn sounds and I check behind me looking at what’s coming. Cooper seems to think it’s worth taking, so he paddles out and takes the wave. He finishes and I wait for another wave to come. I skip the next one and take the one after, feeling better about it.

I paddle hard, ignoring the burn in my arm, and let the pain fade away as I leap to my feet and the wave peels just right. I’m able to ride its length perfectly. Pumping my board, I gain speed and drop into the pocket of the barrel where the wave is steepest. I pull a few top and bottom turns arcing my board nicely riding into the white water and pushing to finish strong. I ride the wave out, bail, and we grab the Sea-Doo’s to go back out.

I hold my arm up and hit my watch calling for time and score. There’s still twenty minutes left and my score is eight point four, sitting ahead of Cooper. Sweet .

Cooper goes again, and then it’s my turn. I take the next wave hard, throwing some snaps and a snap turn reverse, catching air in grab rail reverse, spinning all the way around, and landing back on the water towards the end of the wave.

I smile, standing all the way up on my board, leaping into the air and punch my fist in the air. The horn sounds signaling the end of the match.

When I get back to shore Aelia throws her arms around my neck. I spin her around and kiss her cheek.

“That was amazing,” she says in my ear.

“Thank you, baby,” I say and wait for the score to be called. The highest and lowest scores are dropped then the rest is averaged for a final score.

“Liam Coldwell seventeen point one, and Cooper Thompson fifteen point nine eight.”

“You did it!” Aelia yells and hugs me tighter.

“You’re my good luck charm,” I tell her and kiss her cheek.

Cooper walks up to us and shakes my hand. “Good job, man, well deserved. It was nice surfing with you,” he says.

“You too, Cooper, I hope to see you next season.”

He grins a boyish smirk. “Yeah, man, me too. Good luck in the finals, I’m rooting for you.”

I shake his hand and hold my other out for Aelia to sit down and chill out before the final round.

***

The final match has begun. My competitor, Antonio Oliveira, is shredding. I know my work is cut out for me.

I look towards shore where Aelia stands watching me and take a deep breath. I’m going to win this.

My turn comes and I give it everything I’ve got, putting power into my turns and arcs as gracefully as possible .

I start to lose track of time and space, falling into the rhythm of surfing and feeling the waves. We take turns one after the other.

Olivera lifts his watch checking time and we’re down to five minutes. He’s ahead of me by only a point and I think I can grab it. He takes his last run at it and he takes it well until the wave starts to lose steam and troughs right before he can carve into the wave. I have no idea how the judges are going to score that. All I can do is hope my last ride is enough to pull it together.

A wave rolls towards me and it doesn’t feel right so I wait for that feeling, that this wave is the right one.

My board bobs and then I sense it. The change the water moves and I know it’s my wave. I take it hard and fast, pulling everything I can manage, gaining speed. I catch air a few times and the wave holds steady, giving me time to dip in hard. I cut back one more time and I know it’s about to die. Taking my last moment, I carve the edge in a last ditch effort.

I jump off my board pointing my hand to the sky. I think I did it. The world finals title is mine.

We paddle to shore and Antonio and I fist bump while we wait for our final scores. The beach is almost quiet and Aelia’s hand slides in mine while we wait.

“Breathe, baby,” she says.

I puff out my cheeks and keep looking towards the scoreboard. The few minutes that pass feel like hours and my heart pounds harder than when I was out on the water.

“Final scores. Antonio Olivera coming in at seventeen point nine eight and Liam Coldwell, our new title holder, with eighteen point two points! Congratulations, Liam Coldwell, the new world champion!”

I drop my board and Aelia screams jumping into my arms. I’m in shock as I hold her.

“Baby!! You did it! You won! I’m so proud of you!” she yells, planting kisses all over my cheeks. I hear the cheering in the background and feel her lips on my skin, but it all feels like I’m floating out on the water. I’m not actually here.

I won. I got the title .

“Liam!” Aelia yells, smiling so wide it breaks me out of my trance. I hug her, and spin us around.

“Yeah!” I yell.