Page 14 of Under the Waves

Granted, they were the cutest little kids I had ever seen. Belle, the second eldest daughter, was an identical copy of Lia. From the long brunette hair down to those signature Davis blue eyes. Then came the identical twins, Lucas and Logan, who both shared their mother’s light blond hair, and lastly, baby Hudson, who barely had any hair atop of his little head yet.

There was one more Davis sibling, Gabriel, however, he hadn’t been seen in over four years now. He disappeared right around the time some other students from Hawthorne Hills Elite Academy did, but the police did fuck all to ease the minds of the student’s families, including Lia’s. It was one of the many mysteries haunting this quiet town.

I asked her about him once, and she looked at me blankly for a second like she’d forgotten who he was. I didn’t think she resented him for leaving her in that house alone to look after all her siblings since there wasn’t one bad bone in her body, but deep down, I did think she held a small flame of hope that he would come back. Someday. Despite knowing how unlikely that possibility became each day.

“I heard Poppy’s back in town, have you—”

I cut her off with a groan, “Why does everyone keep saying that to me? I don’t care whether she’s here or in fucking Las Vegas. We aren’t even friends so why do people keep bringing this up with me?”

I probablyshouldn’thave interrupted her because the glare she sent in my direction almost threatened to chop my balls off. I wouldn’t put it past her either—she may look innocent and small, but my God, she was the strongest person I knew.

Anyone who had ever pissed her off would agree.

“Jas, your rivalry with Poppy Wells was one of the most exciting things about the surfing competitions! No offense,” she smiled sheepishly, tucking a strand of her behind her ear. “You two are a whole other mystery! I mean, after she disappeared that night and no one knew what happened to her or her family, of course people are going to be buzzing knowing she’s back in town. They’re expecting your legendary pranks and snarky pre-competition back and forth, which if you ask me, definitely seems more like some kinky flirting thing you guys—”

“Lils,” I warned with widened eyes, to which she just grinned, knowing exactly how to make me smile. A small chuckle left my lips as I shook my head. “Sorry,” I groaned, “I just don’t want to hear about her anymore. Not tonight.”

Understanding shone in her eyes, and gratefully, she didn’t bring it up again. We spent around half an hour sitting there in the sand as I watched the waves fill up the little moat for the sandcastle she made in the sand. Although, you wouldn’t be able to tell that it was a sandcastle by looking at it as it resembled more of a crumbling pile of sand than an actual castle. I didn’t say anything, though. These small moments of peace we got together, where I got to see her smile and her shoulders drop, relaxed and unburdened, were incredibly special to me and I knew they were for her too.

“Are you training at five tomorrow?” She asked, digging up some sand to use for her bridge.

“Yeah, coach wants us up bright and early for our first summer session back.”

“How are you feeling about it?” She looked up at me then. “The new season?”

I opened my mouth to speak, then shut it again.

I didn’t know how to answer that—I mean, of course I was looking forward to it like any other of my teammates. We were all itching to get back out on the waves, but me and Jakson were now the only seniors in our team and this coming season was going to be the make or break of our careers as Pro surfers.

So yeah, I had a good reason to be nervous about it too.

Kai, Xander, and Lachlan were all in the grade below Jakson and I, whereas Lia was only a sophomore, two grades below us both.

“Ahh, come on Lils, you know me better than that.” I smiled before plucking up a small shell a wave had just washed ashore and handed it to her. “But yeah, I’m excited to finally be reunited with my beloved board.”

Her lips thinned as she surveyed me for a minute before plucking the shell from my hands and placing it on her castle. I didn’t miss the small shake in her hands, so I threw on a smile and poked her shoulder. “Hey, Taylor would be proud of this, you know? Now you’ve officially made castle’s crumbling merch.”

Iwasn’tthe biggest Swiftie, but Lia evolved from her songs and lived vicariously through each lyric, so I made sure to learn all her favorites. To be seen was to be known and all. Granted, I didn’t have much of a choice either because the little devil hacked into my Spotify account and made a playlist calledMILF:Man I Love Folklore, containing all her favorite Taylor songs from back when we were kids.

I acted like it bothered me back then but deep down it really didn’t. If anything, I was too busy laughing my ass off at the fact that she managed to hack my account rather than be annoyed at her.

I put the playlist on whenever she made me drive down to Sunny’s Hut at 3am in the morning to get her that stupid ice cream sundae she loved—and I meanloved. It wouldn’t be amovie night if Lia didn’t have her sundae, that was for sure. Jakson always had to have his favorite Soda mixed with some kind of alcohol from his parent’s liquor cupboard that was strictly prohibited to all of us, but that appeal of being unreachable just made him do it more.

Benjamin Buckley, orBennoas everyone knew him as, was Lia’s friend and was the newest addition to our occasional movie night group. He brought a tub of chicken and rice meal prep and refused any kind of snacks we offered him, but then again, he was the star captain for Hawthorne Hills Elite Academy’s ice hockey team. And from what I’d gathered, he was really adamant about sticking to his routines, despite his laid back nature.

I remembered him telling us that he picked up shifts down atBookmarked,the cafe and bookstore down on main street by the local ice rink—it was run by one of the figure skaters there, Emmeline, and I knew a lot of the skaters and hockey players, including Benjamin, picked up shifts to help her out.

Lia used to bake loads of treats, especially blueberry muffins, and donated them to the bakery to help out when their stock got low during rush hours. They did a lot of children’s fundraisers and campaigns there that Lia was always taking part in—a lot of the charities they supported were really close to her heart.

Jakson and I always went with her, carrying the multitude of cake containers filled with delicious goodies she’d spent baking the few days leading up to the event. Loads of the skaters knew her, and so did the little kids and their parents who came to support the many causes they were raising awareness of.

I could barely keep up with all of Lia’s friends—she seemed to know just about everyone in this town, but that was just the type of person she was: delicate, compassionate, and caring, especially when it came to others. Lia was always making sure everybody else was taken care of, even to the point of neglecting her own health.

But that was what she had Jakson and I for.

If not to annoy her, we always looked out for our girl.

Don’t get me wrong, the other guys on the team were my teammates and they had my full support, but Jakson and Lia were myfamily, the closest I would ever get to siblings. Being an only child my entire life fuckingsucked, but I was grateful that it was only me that had to grow up without a father—I didn’tknow what I’d do if I had little siblings who also had to carry that burden. Besides, Lia’s siblings were the cutest little kids ever, and they were enough for me.