Just Good Friends?

Chapter 4 - Beach

Bex

As we reach the water, I notice a young boy trying his best to stand up on a foamy. He's struggling but looks very determined.

"You go on in Joe, I'm gonna check this kid out for a bit first"

"Always the master eh sis" he says with a smug grin. He jumps on his board and paddles out to the rest of the surfers.

I watch the kid for another 5mins, before popping my board on the sand by the Lifeguard stand, and heading over to him. I think I notice his Dad standing in the shallow watching. His eyes narrow slightly as I approach his son.

"Hey dude, lift your head up higher" the lad looks at me and smiles.

"Do you surf"? He asks shyly

"Yes, I'm about to head over there with the others. I can give you some pointers if you'd like, and if your dad's OK with that"

"Can she dad" he shouts over to his dad with a pleading face.

"Yeah kid, that's fine" "You sure you don't mind"? The guy looks at me with appreciation in his eyes. I think it's because I've offered to help his son, but others would say he's appreciating how I look. I'm really oblivious to male attention, I never notice when I'm being admired.

"It's cool, I wouldn't offer otherwise".

I take the boy out on to the sand and teach him how to jump up to a standing position. I find out that his name is Jake and he's 9 years old. His Dad's name is Ben and they have recently moved to the area.

Oscar, Cal, Nate, Em, Anna & Jess arrive in the sea. Oscar heads over to me as I'm leading Jake back in to the water. I think he's ready to start surfing.

"Hey dude, you got yourself a great teacher there, but I might be biased"

"Are you her boyfriend"? Jake asks Oscar with a smile.

"Yeah, she's alright isn't she" He says with a wink.

Jake laughs and starts paddling out a little bit.

"OK Jake, you ready to stand up"? I say as he's looking at me shakily.

"Yeah I think so"

"OK, just as we practised on the sand. I'll tell you when to paddle and when to jump ok"

"Ok"

I wait for the wave that I see coming. Its by no means big, just a great first time wave for Jake to build his confidence.

"OK paddle, that's great, now jump"

Jake jumps, and he's standing, riding the wave in to the shallows with a huge smile on his face.

"Amazing dude" I call as he jumps off. He wants to go again.

Oscar heads over towards his dad and I see them chatting as me and Jake get some more surf lesson in.

...........

Ben

"Hey, your Bex' boyfriend then"? Christ this lad is catwalk material. Blonde wavy hair and abs that show me up.

"Yeah, Oscar. Nice to meet you"

"Ben, you too. Bex is great for taking time out to help Jake. I can't believe she's got him standing so quickly"

"When she has something in her head, she doesn't stop till she's succeeded" Oscar laughs.

"How old are you lot then? You all look like you live at the beach. You two been together long"? I think they're around early 20s maybe, they look like the perfect couple so they must of been together a while I reckon.

"I'm 18, Bex is 17, we've been together almost a year now. I'm going to marry that girl one day" He tells me with a sparkle in his eye "don't tell her that though, I might need to mention it to her myself first before anyone else does" He laughs.

Oh my god, 17!! I've been eyeing up a 17 year old girl, 11 years younger than me! Oh christ, she could get someone in big trouble with those come hither rich brown eyes, black curly hair down her back, and killer body... shut up Ben you d**k, she's a kid! You're a dad, do not look at her like that, I curse at myself.

"Wow, you all seem older" is all I say.

"Ha, yeah, so we're told often. Joe can be questionable sometimes the way he acts" but I can tell he's fond of Joe whoever he is.

"Joe?"

"Ah sorry, Joe is Bex twin. He's in surfing now. You have one of the best teaching your boy. Bex and Joe are awesome. Competition winners all the way. They share waves if there's a lot of surfers out there, it's not a done thing sharing a wave, but it's like they read each other so don't get in the way"

Bex is heading over to us.

"Jake is doing awesome. I'm going to head in for a surf now, he's going to keep going with what he's learnt" she smiles at me and kisses Oscar gently before picking up her board and running off in to the sea.

We watch her throw her board down on to the water, lie down on it and start paddling out to where the rest of the surfers are. Jake comes over then with a huge smile covering his face.

"Did you see me dad, I can stand up, Bex is amazing!" He's so proud of himself, and so am I.

"Of course I saw you kid, you are doing so well, I'm so proud of you" I give him a quick shoulder hug.

"Told you she's the best teacher didn't I dude. You can see just how good she is in a minute. Watch" Oscar is looking out towards the surfers. The look on his face says everything. He really is going to marry that girl, he's totally head over heals in love with her, and not afraid to show it to the world.

"Here she comes" he says with pride.

And there she is, paddling strong. But I can't see a wave and I say as much to Oscar, he just laughs "you'll see. Bex has this knowing about her... she knows when the wave is coming before the sea knows its coming" and sure enough, there's the wave. It's huge, and I find myself holding my breath. Bex is 5ft4 at most, slim athletic sexy body. That's a huge wave for a slight girl. But there she goes, she's up on her feet with the smoothest of moves, gliding along the wave. Back and forth she moves her board, making it look effortless. She really is breathtakingly amazing. You can see the respect she has from the other surfers radiating across the water. I'm proud of her and I've only just met her.