Page 108 of Under the Waves
When I reached the cardboard layer underneath, I wascompletely oblivious to Jasper as he picked me up and threw me onto his back. A gasp escaped my lips as I clung onto him in fear for my life, earning a string of laughter from his lips.
“Now you can reach the top, Wellsy,” Jasper mused, biting back more laughter.
I, on the other hand, was utterly unimpressed. “Is this your way of telling me I’m short?”
“Obviously,” he laughed, unable to hold back any longer. The sound of his happiness coursed through me like a wave that felt a lot likehome.“You were never going to reach it on your own.”
I was five foot eleven.
But next to him, I wasshort.
“Oh, so that’s how you wanna play it, huh?”
He smirked. “Oh yeah.”
“You’re such an asshole, Jasper Ridge.” I frowned, playfully whacking his shoulder as I shook my head.
“Yeah?” he barked another laugh. “You’re such a loser, Poppy Wells.” After a moment, he added quietly, “My favorite loser.”
“Aw, I’m honored,” I smiled sarcastically. “You’re my favorite asshole, too.”
“Yeah?” he asked, a hopeful note to his tone.
“No.” I grinned.
“Aw, damn it,” he shook his head, trying not to smile. “Should’ve seen that coming, shouldn’t I?”
“Oh, definitely,” I soothed sweetly before gently patting him on the head, his smooth curls tickling my fingers. “But don’t worry, darling, you’ll do better next time, won’t you?”
Jasper grumbled a response under his breath whilst I let out the laugh I’d been trying to hold in since the start.
“Just open it already,” he muttered.
Being piggybacked by Jasper meant that I was now a handful of inches taller than I normally would’ve been and could actually see the top of the cardboard box where all the four flaps interlinked. Uncoupling them one by one, I carefully peeled them back so I could peek inside the box, but before I got the chance to see what was inside, Jasper pulled me down off his back.
“What are you doing?” I squeaked as I fell backwards,landing back on the floor on my own two feet.
Jasper just grinned at me as he gripped the box and flipped it upside down, shaking it until a pink surfboard fell out of it. I stopped breathing as I looked at it. Jasper picked it up in his hands and held it out for me to take but I couldn’t move a muscle.
He’d gotten me a newsurfboard. He’d actually done it—
Not even that, it was anexactreplica of the one I’d lost that night when he’d saved my life for the second time like he knew how much easier it would be for me to pass this off as my old one to my mom. This pink surfboard, however, had little messages carved into the side of it. As I neared closer, I could see all the little notes that had been left by everyone for me.
Brave and unbreakable, Wellsy <3
You got this, kid!
Smash them all Pops :)
You’ll be okay, little Romanoff.
Never stop dreaming, Poppy!
I think I was sobbing as I held it in my hands, the weight of what Jasper had done for me—what they hadalldone for me—sunk into my skin like a knife through my heart.
“Jasper—” I barely got out his name before I felt my knees buckle and my voice break into a million shards. As soon as I said his name, his arms were around me, lowering us both safely to the floor. My whole body shook with years of pent-up tears as they all poured out of me like I was a goddamn fountain.
As much as I tried to hide my tear-stricken face from him, Jasper kept nudging me by dropping his finger underneath my chin, guiding my face back from his chest so he could look me in the eyes.