Crashing Waves Read online

  "Sounds good." Austin grabbed her board and walked back towards the water as Rory sat down in the sand, with no clue as to what she was about to see.

  All Rory knew was this girl intrigued her with a lot more than just her surfing style and that scared her. She'd never let anyone get close to her, except Martie, and Martie had been like a sister to her for nearly half her life. No, the feelings Austin stirred in her were much different.

  Rory's nerves slowly settled as she watched Austin paddle out. She observed her waiting patiently for the perfect set. Austin began paddling like a mad woman, before popping up on her board and dropping on the face of a flawless five foot wave.

  Austin's body molded into perfect form as her board ripped smoothly along the wave. Her right hand hung low, dragging softly through the water as it rushed under her. She quickly jerked her body, throwing the board into a tail slide, grabbing the right rail as she cut back, riding along the face of the wave, carving left and right, before spinning a three-sixty, launching into an aerial nose grab. She landed it almost perfectly, turning into a one-eighty spin, slashing across the top of the wave, throwing a spray of water in her wake.

  Rory sat wide-eyed, amazed at what she had witnessed over the past half-hour as she'd watched Austin rip wave after wave with total insanity. Part of her wanted to jump up, screaming and shouting, because she was stoked at the limitless, free spirited way that Austin surfed, but the rational side of her wanted to call Austin in and explain to her the difference between control and chaos, mostly for the sake of the judges in a competition. I've never seen anything like her. How the hell do you teach someone to control their best feature? Wild and untamed is her style. You can't take that away from her. What are you about to get yourself into, Eden? This is definitely going to be one hell of a challenge. Rory looked back out towards the waves and was shocked to see Austin standing almost directly in front of her, toweling off her hair.

  "Cat got your tongue?" Austin said, shaking her hair out.

  "Uh…what…no I…" Rory stumbled for words as her blood raced south, abandoning her brain. "I was just thinking of something." Rory shook her head, trying to get her mind to refocus. She would be stupid if she lied and said she wasn't attracted to Austin. Anyone with a damn pulse would be attracted to her, but she needed to get her head on straight or she'd be in a world of trouble. She stood up, looking intently at a pair of gleaming gray eyes. "You looked good out there. Your style is so incredibly different from anything I've ever seen. You're extremely gifted, Austin."

  "Thank you, Rory. That means a great deal coming from you."

  "I know you're pretty beat since you've been out here for a while, but would you like to take a walk?" Why do I feel like I have a bloody schoolgirl crush? This has to stop or I'm never going to be able to do this.

  Austin was taken off guard, but recovered quickly. "Uh, sure. Let me go put my board in my truck and get out of these skins."

  Rory waited and Austin returned a few minutes later wearing warm-up pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Her wet hair had slowly begun to dry in the sun.

  "Shall we?" Rory nodded.

  Rory walked slowly and Austin fell in line next to her, reminding her of the night they walked along the beach on New Year's Eve. The memory of their brief kiss toyed with her mind. Their hands touched momentarily from the closeness, before both women inched away, avoiding further contact.

  "So, you really think I'm good enough?"

  "Of course, with a little guidance you'll be competing in no time. You have a gift, Austin; a very unique gift."

  "Wow, I don't know what to say to that. You amaze me. I can't believe you're basically telling me that you think I'm good enough to go pro." The smile on Austin's face was immense. It almost hurt to smile that hard and feel that happy inside. "Man, I could kiss you, Rory Eden."

  Rory stopped walking. She stared at Austin, slack jawed. "Excuse me!"

  "I said I could kiss you. Calm down, it's a figure of speech."

  "Yes. Yes of course it is, I mean, you caught me off guard." Rory's stomach did a flip.

  "The reason I asked you to take a walk with me is because I wanted to talk to you. I've been doing some thinking and well, I can't seem to match you with any trainers that owe me a favor. So, I've decided to uh…take it upon myself to train you."

  Austin threw herself at Rory, wrapping her arms around Rory's neck. Rory felt warm tears running down Austin cheek as it pressed against her own. She hadn't expected a reaction quite like that. She stood stiffly for a second, before threading her arms around Austin's waist, holding the young woman as she wept with happiness.

  As Austin pulled away, she wiped the moisture from her face, looking up into the most sincere baby blue eyes that she'd ever seen.

  "I…uh…I don't know where to begin. Wow, thank you so much, Rory. You have no idea what this means to me. It's like a dream come true. I promise not to fail you or make a fool out of you," she rambled.

  "I'm not worried about that, Austin. I believe you have talent and helping you with this is the right thing to do."

  ~ ~ ~

  It was after five p.m. when Austin arrived back at her apartment. Lori was passed out on the couch with a rerun of King of the Hill playing on the TV. She walked by, slapping Lori's foot that was hanging off the couch, on the way to her room.

  "Wake up, we have some cele-fuckin-brating to do!"

  Lori rolled over, yawning and stretching. "What the hell, Austin."

  Austin came back out of her room, half-dressed and on her way to the shower. "Wake up, we're going out!"

  "Since when?"

  "Since Rory Eden just offered to personally train me herself."

  Lori jumped off the couch. "Get out! You're fucking with me, right?"

  "Nope!"

  "What the hell? How did you get her to do that, Houdini?"

  "I have no idea. One minute I was surfing and the next she wanted to walk down the beach. Then out of the blue she said it. Trust me, I was shocked. I almost kissed her!"

  "Thank God you didn't do that. You'd probably need a dentist instead of a trainer."

  "No shit!"

  "Wow! I have no idea what to say. You pulled it off. I can't believe it. One day you're sitting here telling me it's your dream to know her and be trained by her and here you are basically making it all come true. You have a huge set of balls, Austin Claire Tinsley! I couldn't be happier for you."

  ~ ~ ~

  Twenty-four hours had gone by since Rory had stood on the sandy beach, basically making Austin's dreams come true. She still couldn't believe she'd actually done it. To top it all off, she was thinking of doing something even more extreme than she'd ever envisioned. She sat on the couch in her living room, dialing a number from memory.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey, this is Rory. How's it going?"

  "Hey!"

  "So, has it sunk in yet?"

  Austin chuckled. "Yes, I guess you can say it finally has. I had to pinch myself this morning to make sure I hadn't been dreaming. You're not calling because you've changed your mind are you?"

  "No." Rory laughed. "I'm actually calling because I need to meet with you either today or sometime tomorrow between my meetings; your choice. I need to get some information from you such as your weekly schedule."

  "I see, well I'm free this afternoon. My roommate Lori and I surfed the break at Hermosa this morning."

  "Nice. How was it?"

  "Close to five, but it closed out at mid tide so we weren't out long."

  "Ah, that sucks."

  "Yeah, so you want to meet somewhere or should—"

  "Where do you live? I don't think you've ever told me."

  "We have an apartment off Termino Avenue. We pay out the ass for the little two bedroom place, but it's worth it since it's in a nice area and close to everything, including the beach."

  "You're not too far from me then. For some reason, I figured you lived across town."

  "Nope."

&nbs
p; "I have some errands to run first, but we can definitely meet later today. I'd prefer that, since I have a hundred things going on this week at the office."

  "Sure, I know you're a busy woman. I guess we need to work out some kind of payment plan or something too."

  "We'll get to that. So anyway, it's what, one o'clock now? I should be done around five or six. Is that okay?"

  "Sure, where are we meeting?"

  "I'll be at Seal Beach. If you want to meet at the pier, we can have dinner at Ruby's."

  "Sounds good, I'll see you around five-thirty."

  ~ ~ ~

  Rory stood at the end of the pier, watching the small waves roll in and listening to them crash against the pilings. She turned to see Austin walking towards her, dressed in loose fitting low rise jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt that barely touched the top of her jeans, letting the tanned skin on her stomach peak when she moved. Her thick, wavy hair was pulled up off her neck in a loose bun, showing off the tiny gold hoop in the top cartilage of her left ear. Rory's chest burned with an aching need to reach out and touch her.

  "Hey you," Rory said, leaning her back against the rail, putting more distance between them as she crossed her legs at her ankles.

  "Hey." Austin smiled, looking into the gorgeous, clear blue eyes staring back at her. "Did you get all of your errands done?"

  "Yeah, finally," Rory replied.

  Austin moved next to her and leaned against the rail, peering over the side.

  "You going to jump?" Rory teased, turning around and placing her hands on the rail.

  "Ha, of course not. I might be dare-devilish, but I'm not suicidal." Austin laughed."So you wanted to know my schedule."

  "Well, it would be nice to know when we can train. I work such a hectic schedule, and right now, I'm in and out of town just about every week. I figured I could balance around your free time since I have none."

  "Ah, I see. I know you're really busy, Rory. I don't expect you to be with me every free minute that you get. I understand you're a corporate monster."

  "A what!"

  "You've joined the masses of the business world. They're a different breed of people. I'm waiting to see you in a pantsuit and heels."

  "Okay, that'll never happen. I guess I have changed though."

  Austin broke out into fit of laughter. "You should see the look on your face. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way. Honest."

  "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you want to go inside Ruby's and grab something to eat? We can sit down and discuss this boisterous calendar of yours."

  The women were seated in a small quiet booth next to one of the windows and placed their dinner order with the waitress who sat them.

  "So?" Rory questioned.

  "I'm a junior at Cal State, so I have classes during the week."

  "That's awesome. I graduated from UC San Diego. What's your major?"

  "Marine Biology. I work at the Aquarium full time and I get partial class credit for it, so I actually take my classes online. The only time I'm ever on campus anymore is for exams."

  "Wow, I'm definitely impressed," Rory said, looking at the young woman across from her. She felt like she was seeing her for the first time. She was not only talented and cute as hell, she was smart and sophisticated. Rory felt the connection between them pull her a little bit deeper.

  Austin smiled shyly. "Thanks."

  "What's your degree in?"

  "I double majored. BA in Design and BS in Engineering."

  "Damn! That must've been hard."

  "Yes it was, considering I moved back to the states after high school to go to college and surf the Pro Tour. I busted my ass. When I look at the degrees on the wall in my office, I don't remember how I ever got everything done, but somehow I pulled it off."

  "Where did you go to high school?"

  "Well, I lived in Santa Cruz until I was seven, then we moved to the Gold Coast. I lived there until I graduated from high school. I moved to La Jolla right after that, and stayed there through college. I spent most of my time going back and forth between La Jolla and Hawaii while I was on the tour."

  "Wow, I'd always thought you were Australian. I mean, I know you said you were born in California, but I was shocked when you'd told me that."

  "Yeah, I guess everyone sort of thinks the same thing. So anyway, do you work Monday through Friday or—?"

  "Well most of the time, I work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in two six hour shifts each day at the aquarium. My online classes are Thursday and Friday. Then, I spend my weekends catching up on sleep or extra school work. I surf pretty much every morning unless it's flat or the weather is bad and sometimes I go in the afternoons or the weekends if it's breaking over four feet."

  "Damn, I thought I had a rough week."

  "I'm almost done with school, so it's not that bad. If things go my way, I should graduate in the spring."

  "I thought you said you were a junior?"

  "I am, but I took college classes in high school and I started college a year early, because I graduated high school a year in advance with a scholarship. I went to Coastal Carolina University back home and transferred out to Cal State after my first year. So, I'm actually halfway through my senior credits and will be able to graduate early, hopefully, but Cal State has me listed as a junior. Working at the aquarium has really helped me out a lot. Luckily, Lori was able to transfer too, so she moved here with me."

  "Wow, you continue to impress me," Rory said.

  Austin smiled shyly. "I hope that's a good thing."

  Rory paid the bill after a semi-argument from Austin and they left the restaurant, walking along the pier. The sun had set, cooling the temperature slightly. Rory took a deep breath, leaning over the rail. She wasn't sure when she'd actually made the decision, but nonetheless here she was and she couldn't talk herself out of it. Too late to back out now.

  "Austin, I uh…I know you're very busy with school and all, but…well I want to do everything I can to help you and I think getting to know you better is a good start. We need a good foundation if we're going to build a working relationship."

  Austin had a questioning look in her gray eyes. "Okay…"

  "I'm leaving on Thursday morning for Stockholm, Sweden. I'm going to the snow events of the winter Olympics and I'd like it if you'd join me. I think…"

  "What!" Austin's jaw dropped. Did she…no way! Oh my God, she just asked me to go to Sweden with her. I must be dreaming.

  "You don't have to go. I just thought I'd ask you since I'll be gone over a week. I figure I can kill two birds with one stone. I'll be working, but I'll also have some time to talk to you and get to know you better." Way to crash and burn, Eden! I told you this wasn't going to work. Training her is a bad idea and becoming friends with her is totally out of the question.

  Austin was almost too shocked to say anything to the woman standing in front of her. Rory's soft blue eyes twinkled in the moonlight.

  "Wow, I uh…" She cleared her throat. "I don't know what to say. I'd love to go with you. Are you sure that's okay?"

  "Of course it is, on my end I mean. What about you with work and school and everything?"

  "Well, as long as I have access to a computer I'm fine with my classes and we don't have any exams coming up anytime soon. I'm sure work won't be a problem. How often does a girl get to go to the Olympics?" she beamed.

  "Not very often I guess, but you'll get to see the inside of things. It's going to be cold as hell and we'll be up to our assholes in snow."

  "Sounds like fun!"

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, I think it would be good for us to sort of get to know each other. Besides, I haven't seen snow in years!"

  "I'm glad you agree with me. I just didn't want to cross any ethical boundaries or anything like that. You have the fundamentals of surfing down, but I think if I can get to know you as a person and not just a surfer, then I can try my best to show you how to hone your skills. Surfing is as much mental as it is physical, and anyone th
at tells you otherwise, is full of shit."

  Austin smiled. "Once again, you've amazed me. I agree completely."

  "Good, I should probably get going. I'll call you tomorrow with all of the details and to make sure everything is okay with work and school. Austin, I don't want any of this to get in the way of your classes. If there is anything I can teach you, let it be the fact that education is the most important thing in your life. I will not interfere with that. Do we have a deal?"

  "Of course. What about payment. We didn't discuss that."

  "Don't worry about paying me. I'm not doing this for the money. I'm doing it because I see something in you and I want to see you succeed."

  "Okay."

  Chapter Eight

  Monday morning, Rory strutted out of the elevator, stopping at Alex's desk.

  "Good Morning, Rory."

  "I need to see you in my office to discuss my travel arrangements for Sweden. By the way, have you seen Martie yet?"

  "No, I don't believe she's here. It's still a little early for her."

  "Good, I'll speak with her later."

  Rory continued walking to her office. She'd just sat down in her chair when Alex knocked on the door.

  "Do you have my itinerary completed?" Rory asked.

  "Yes, I finished it Friday," Alex replied, sitting in the chair across from her.

  "I was hoping you'd say no. There are a few changes that I need you to make today."

  "Okay." Alex stared with a blank look on her face. She was completely confused. Rory had never changed her travel plans at the last minute.

  "I'm bringing a guest with me and she will be with me throughout the trip. So, please make sure she has an adjoining room. Also, make sure her name is on all of my official passes and guest invitations, since she will accompany me to the events and dinner parties." Rory paused. "I think that's all. If I'm forgetting anything please let me know."

  "I believe you covered everything, except for her name."

  "Oh." Rory laughed. "Austin Tinsley."