THE TROUBLE WITH PAPER PLANES(75)

Like the fact that my favourite part of her was the hollow of her waist, and when we curled up together afterwards, my arm fit in there like it belonged.

None of this was any of his business, but it made me smile just thinking about it. He had no idea what a wrench it had been to climb out of bed this morning and leave her behind. He also had no idea that I had stood in the doorway for a good five minutes before I left, just watching her sleep.

Granted, we didn’t get that much sleep last night, but at least we got some. And, for all I know, she was still sleeping, and soundly, too. Good. She needed it. I felt a little hum of joy burning inside me. Maybe I had created the perfect environment. Henry, the waterfall, making love to her. I doubted we’d have any call for the sleeping pills.

“Oi!”

I looked over at Vinnie, who was grinning back at me across the water.

“Stop thinking about what you’re gonna do to her when you get home and get your head in the game!”

I flipped him the bird, trying to keep my mind on the waves rolling in. The truth was, for the first time in living memory, I would rather be at home than out on the water. I itched for her. My body ached, as if missing a limb. I wondered what she was doing now. Was she awake? Having coffee? Missing me?

“Yo, dude! Are we doing this or what?” Marlow called from further out in the line-up.

I waved him off. He knew something was going on, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Vinnie spilled the beans.

Joel was on the other side of him, grinning like a loon. Great. I felt like I’d just lost my virginity and everyone knew about it.

Cool points: zero.

Vinnie flicked water in my face, bunting me with his board.

I wiped it off. “Dude. Grow up.”

He shrugged, bunting me again. “I’m gonna keep doing this till you catch a wave.”

“Fuck, you’re annoying,” I mumbled, lying down on my board and paddling out of striking distance.

I sat up, spotting a particularly large swell making its way towards us. The familiar rush of anticipation flooded my system and I turned my board around and paddled slowly towards the shore, glancing behind me.

“Ride it like you ride her!” Vinnie called, whooping it up.

I was beginning to think one of us was most definitely adopted.





BY THE TIME I DROPPED Vinnie off and got back home, Maia was in the shower. I hesitated for a moment, then opened the bathroom door. She peered around the shower curtain, smiling as soon as she saw me.


“I hoped it was you.”

I dropped my wettie on the floor, vowing to rinse it out later, and peeled off my boardies, throwing them on top of it. Standing there, buck naked, her eyes were all over me. I put my hands on my hips and raised an amused eyebrow. She’d mentioned yesterday, at the river, that when I looked at her, she saw herself through my eyes. I knew exactly what she meant. When she looked at me like that, I felt ten feet tall and bulletproof. Combine that with a sunrise surf, and I was pretty sure I was one hundred percent invincible.

“Do I meet with your approval?” I asked.

She grinned, still holding the shower curtain so I could only see her head and shoulders. “I think you’ll do.”

“Glad to hear it. Now move that shower curtain before I rip it down.”

She giggled, and I climbed into the shower with her. She was wet and silky, and it was therefore impossible to keep my hands off her. I backed her up against the wall as she wrapped her arms around me, the warm water cascading down over both of us. If felt like the water was blending us into one body, and I wasn’t sure where mine ended and hers began. I just knew that I wanted her to stay in there with me until we had turned into wrinkly prunes and there was no hot water left. The rest of the day was going to be hell. It was only Friday. We both had work. A whole day apart. How the hell would we cope?

I was taking my time towelling her off when I heard a knock at the door.

“A bit early for visitors isn’t it?”

I shrugged, frowning. I wasn’t expecting anyone. “Maybe its Vinnie – he might’ve left something in the truck. He’s got a memory like a sieve.”

I draped the towel around her shoulders, pulled it tighter to draw her close, then kissed her quickly on the lips. I grabbed a dry towel for myself and wrapped it around my waist as I headed out of the bathroom for the front door. When I opened it, it wasn’t Vinnie but Alex who stood there.

Something was wrong. I knew it deep down in my soul, the way you know bad news is coming. It’s a vibe in the air, a collection of observations that you calculate in a mere heartbeat.