By the Book (Meant to Be #2)(40)

She turned and stood with her back to him. Two weeks ago—even a week ago—she wouldn’t have done this. But everything felt different now than it had then.

She felt him step closer to her. “If you’re tensed up like this, you won’t be able to move with the waves.”

She stared out at the ocean. “I’m not so sure that’s possible.”

They were so close that she could feel his laughter rumble through him.

“Here,” he said. He put his hands on her shoulders and then almost immediately dropped them. “Is this okay? I mean, if you don’t want me to—”

“It’s okay,” she said.

His hands dropped back down, each one gripping one of her shoulders firmly. “Okay. Here, let’s see if this will help.” He held on to her shoulders and shook her side to side, back and forth, until she couldn’t stop giggling.

“What are you doing?” she managed to say.

He stopped and nudged her over to the board. “Try it again.”

She got back up on the board and turned to face him, trying to stand the way he’d stood before. He smiled and nodded at her.

“There we go. That’s better. Now, lie down on your stomach, with your feet really close together in back.”

This at least felt more stable than standing on the board.

“Great, perfect,” he said. “That’s how you lie on the board to paddle out into the water. Now I’m going to show you how to stand up once you’re out there.” At Izzy’s expression, he added, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you stand up on the board in the water today, but I still want you to practice. I’ll do it on your board so you can see.”

He lay down on the surfboard like she’d been doing. “Start on your stomach, then you just arch up like this, and pull up and slide forward, until you get into that stance I showed you. See?”

He slid up, in one smooth movement, until he was standing.

“It looks so easy when you do it,” she said.

He smiled at her. “You’ll be able to do it, too. Keep practicing it now a bit, just so you get the hang of it.”

It was a lot harder than it looked, but Beau smiled at her after she did it a few times.

“Now it’s time to get in the water.”

She looked at the ocean and bit her lip.

“Oh no. It happened again,” he said.

She swung around to see him frowning at her. “What? What happened again?”

“Your shoulders are like, touching your ears,” he said.

She had to laugh at that.

He bent down and picked up the surfboard. “Here, why don’t you watch me so you can see how it all comes together?” He grinned at her. “Don’t go anywhere.”

She stood on the sand and watched him walk into the water with the surfboard, slide up on top of it, paddle out into the water, and then, once he was far out, pull himself to standing and surf back in to shore. She couldn’t help but grin when he landed at her side, but she shook her head.

“I’m not doing that.”

He laughed. “You can do it. I have faith in you, Izzy.”

“Absolutely not.” Wait. “Are you…Are you giving me a pep talk?”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “What does it sound like?”

He grabbed the board and paddled back out into the water before she could respond. She watched him ride the water toward shore again, a smile on her face.

“Now,” he said, when he joined her on the sand again. “Let’s get you in the water. Today, we’re just going to get you comfortable on the board.”

Wait a minute.

“You said today—does that mean you’re going to make me do this again?”

He grinned at her. “I’m not making you do anything. Come on. I promise, you’ll be fine.”

She took a deep breath and followed him.

“Wait.” He stopped when they were about knee-deep in the ocean. “You can swim, right?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Of course I can swim! Do you think I would walk into the ocean with you if I couldn’t swim?”

He shrugged. “You were staring at the ocean like it was going to swallow you up, how was I supposed to be sure?”

She elbowed him. Even though she knew she’d barely touched him, he stumbled dramatically. She rolled her eyes.

“I was not staring at the ocean like it was going to swallow me up. I was just…surveying the terrain, that’s all.”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “Mmm-hmm.” He kept moving forward in the water, and Izzy followed him, until her feet didn’t touch the bottom anymore and she had to swim next to him.

“Okay.” He turned and set the board in front of her but kept one hand on it. “I just want you to practice getting on top of the board in the water a few times. For now, I’ll hold on to it so it doesn’t move anywhere. Don’t worry about that.”

“Mmm, I’m not worried about the board, I’m worried about me. Who’s going to hold on to me?” she said under her breath.

Beau just laughed. “Are you ready?”

Not really. But she pulled herself up so she was lying on it like she had on the sand.

“Good job!” he said.