"Alright, put your hands right here on the board" I pointed out the correct technique to Asher as we tread water in the turquoise ocean. Savoring the familiar feeling of the surfboard between my fingers, I couldn't resist smiling at the situation. Asher was a good learner so far, and I could tell that with a little practice, his natural athleticism would make him a great surfer.

The sun rose high above our heads, causing the waves to sparkle around us like diamonds. Cliffs covered in lush green rose on either side of the tiny beach, and there was a tiny waterfall trickling down on the right. I would never get over the natural beauty of Hawaii.

"Like this?" Asher's voice brought me back to the present. He gestured to his hands, which were situated just a bit too low on his board.

"Move them a little bit."

"Which way?" He slid his hands even further down his board, making me laugh. I sighed and swam closer to him before placing my hands over his and directing them to the correct location. His wet hands felt strong underneath mine. I quickly moved my hands away when I was done, but I felt his gaze linger on the spot where our hands had been connected, and mine did too. The waves softly lapped over his hand, diffracting the light to make it seem like his tiny snake tattoo was slithering around his hand. Or maybe I was going delirious from the beautiful boy wading next to me in the deep water.

"What next?" He asked. His voice sounded much deeper and raspier from the salty air.

"Now we wait."

"For what?"

"A wave, idiot." I laughed at him and he grinned good-naturedly. Luckily, the water was pretty choppy today so we wouldn't have to wait long.

I guided Asher a little bit deeper, until the waves were crashing right around us. "I probably should have taught you on land first, but you'll be fine." His cocky expression didn't waver, making me smirk right back. If he thought he would be a pro his first time, he was in for a treat. I couldn't wait to see him wipe out; that would take the cocky expression right off his face.

"When a good wave comes, lay flat on your board. Start paddling with your hands until the waves pulls you in. You have to be quick." He nodded. "You probably won't be able to stand up your first time, so just ride the wave laying down."

"I think I can stand." Asher chuckled to himself self-assuredly.

"Uh-huh. Good luck with that." His eyebrows seemed to raise in challenge, making me grin even wider. It's on.

It didn't take long to find a great wave, but I kept waiting for a smaller one. I had no problem riding the giant waves, but Asher needed something easier as a beginner.

"Okay, let's take this one. Get ready." I pointed at a tiny wave that was coming towards us slowly. It wasn't huge, but it was enough to get us to shore without being challenging.

"No way." He looked at me in disbelief. "That's practically nonexistent."

"You need to start off small." I protested. He rolled his eyes in response. The wave had passed by us, leaving us in still water again.

"Just wait, we'll find a better one." He declared.

Sure enough, the wind was slowly shaping a much larger ripple much farther out, almost on the edge of my vision. It continued gaining momentum as it came toward us, growing taller and taller. I knew even before looking at him that this would be the wave Asher chose.

I locked eyes with Asher as it pushed towards us, swimming a few feet away to give us each space. His eyes were lit up when he looked at me, and his happiness made me forget my worries about him.

"Okay, start paddling!" I shouted over the roaring of the water. Asher followed my lead, paddling frantically with his arms. I tried to ignore the way it highlighted the definition in his biceps. We probably should have been wearing wetsuits, but it was too late now.

"When it reaches you, push up! Keep your feet planted and knees bent." I called out again. He nodded in response.

Turning back quickly with my head, I saw the towering wave of water right behind me. "Let's go!"

I paddled my arms as fast as they could go until the wave took over, savoring the burning feeling in my muscles. It had been way too long since my last surfing day. I slowly gripped the board and hoisted myself up until I was standing, keeping my legs bent slightly in a balanced stance. The frothing white cap of the wave splashed around me as I soared towards the sandy shore. Using my legs and body, I jerked the surfboard around in a sharp turn before going into my favorite trick, a roundhouse cutback. This trick usually worked best in small waves, but I was able to execute it flawlessly. My board traced a figure eight in the rippling water before I continued speeding towards the shore at an angle. When I finally reached the shallows, I dove off my board into the foamy water of the crashing waves. My ankle strap caught the board so that it wouldn't drift away.

My head poked out of the water before I hoisted myself up to standing, quickly adjusting my bathing suit to make sure nothing had come undone during my ride. Grabbing my board, I jogged to the sand with water splashing around my ankles to meet Asher.

Oh shit. Asher.

I had forgotten about him in the high of surfing. I peered out against the waves, but he was nowhere to be found. I only saw the occasional stranger swimming around the uncrowded beach.

"Asher!" I screamed. For a few moments, all I could hear was the lapping of the waves on the beach and a distant squawk of a seagull. Asher was nowhere to be found.

"Yeah?" A hoarse voice called. Looking around frantically, I finally saw him. He was laid out across the sand in the shallowest part of the water with his surfboard dancing around beside him in the small ripples. His hair was a tangled mess on top of his head and his eyes were slightly red from the saltwater. "Hi." He smiled sheepishly.

"Are you alright?" I knelt down beside him, ignoring the knots in my stomach.

"You were right." He muttered. "I couldn't stand." He finally hoisted himself up, offering me a hand. I took it gratefully and he easily pulled me up from my seated position on the sand.

"I told you."

"I know. I wiped out." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, obviously a bit embarrassed.

"It's okay, everyone wipes out on their first time." He smiled softly in response.

"You were fucking incredible." He grinned at me, gesturing to my surfboard with his chin. "Holy shit"

I smiled, ignoring the slight blush that rose to my cheeks. I really needed to stop blushing everytime he complimented me. Shaking it off, I thanked him before picking my board up out of the sand.

"Maybe we should take a little break." Asher smiled gratefully and followed behind me as I walked towards our stuff, higher up on the sand. He shook out his wet hair, spraying me with tiny droplets of water.

"Ew, Asher!" I complained as I sat down.

"Are you hungry?"

"Sure." I responded, my stomach growling awkwardly. I hoped he didn't hear it, but judging by the way his lips turned up, I knew he did.

"I brought sandwiches, chips, fruit, and cookies." Asher pulled the items out of the cooler one by one. I accepted the turkey sub he handed me and immediately started eating it, unable to resist moaning a little bit. Surfing always made me starving. Asher grinned at the sound and teased me a little bit as we ate.

The sun had sunk lower in the sky, signalling that it was getting later in the afternoon. All the other strangers on the beach had gradually left until it was just the two of us in the secluded cove. Asher had pulled out a speaker and played music softly once we had finished eating. I lay on my back, with a towel underneath me, as I stared up at the cloudless blue sky through the dark tint of Asher's sunglasses. He laid on a towel beside me, his eyes closed. He looked so peaceful that I wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep.

"Stop staring at me." Asher's eyes didn't open, but he did lazily bring a hand up to cover his face.

"I'm not." I lied, smiling even though he couldn't see me.

"Yes you are." He finally opened his eyes and turned his face toward me with a slight smirk. This was somehow different than his usual cocky smirks, but I wasn't sure how. The sun bounced off his dark green eyes, making them sparkle like emeralds. For the millionth time today, his beauty took my breath away.

I thought back to Lu's words, and her guess that I had feelings for him. I tried to convince myself that she was wrong. Yes, he was insanely attractive, and I really liked spending time with him, but that was all it would have to be. My heart had been broken way to recently for me to jump into another relationship, especially with someone as volatile as Asher. He was fun and kind today, but I knew he had secrets lurking close beneath the surface. With the absences and mood swings, I would always be unsure of him.

"I told you to stop staring." Asher's eyes had closed once again, but he must have felt my inquisitive stare on his face.

I shook away my confused thoughts. "Ready for another round?" I gestured to the surfboards.

Asher peeked one eye open to look at me. "That sounded pretty bad." The smirk was back and full force.

I shoved his shoulder lightly. "You know what I meant."

"I know. Let's go." He hopped up from the ground, brushing some sand off his muscular chest and pushing the hair out of his eyes. It had dried even messier than normal, but it still looked good.

Stop thinking like that, Olivia, I reminded myself.

Asher started running towards the ocean while effortlessly carrying his heavy board.

"Last one in has to give me a lap dance!" He called over his shoulder at me.

"Pervert!" I screamed before sprinting after him. I had left my board by the water, so I was able to run without it hindering me. Catching up to Asher, I dove into the water to beat him. When I emerged from underwater, he gave me a disparaging look.

"You cheated." He muttered.

"Uh-huh. Good luck giving yourself a lap dance."

He raised his eyebrows. "Is that your way of saying you like to see me give a lap dance? Because I think that can be arranged." He dove towards me in the water and I screamed playfully, swimming away quickly.

He got closer again, and I responded by splashing him as hard as I could with the clear, salty water.

"Oh it's on." He narrowed his eyes. I giggled and swam as hard as I could in the opposite direction, but his hand caught my leg and pulled me back. I splashed him again and tried to use his surprise as an escape method, but he followed behind me easily, his muscular arms making broad strokes in the water.

We continued like that for some time, splashing each other and swimming away, until Asher finally caught me. His hands gripped my waist as I tried to swim past him underwater. Pulling me up, I found myself face to face with Asher once again. Our chests were pushed flush against each other. My hands were around his shoulders for support, seeing as it was too deep for me to stand in the water.

His face angled towards mine for a split second before he pulled away. I stayed facing him as he ran a hand through his hair and took a shaky breath. My heart thundered in my chest as I waited for him to say something.

"We should probably get home." He glanced up at the sky above us, which had transformed into a brilliant sunset. Peeks of sky blue still showed, but most of the sky was full of vibrant oranges and pinks. The wet sand on the shore, far away from our position deep in the water, reflected the pink clouds that had floated across the sky.

Even though it was beautiful, I knew the quickly-darkening sky meant he was right. I couldn't believe how quickly the day had passed, and I honestly wished I didn't have to say goodbye to Asher yet. Pushing that aside, I nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

We grabbed our discarded surfboards on the water's edge, along with the cooler and other things that Asher had brought. While he tied the surfboards back to the roof of his Jeep, I threw my shorts on over my still-dmp bathing suit and tried to untangle my knotted hair, which was crazy from the long day of swimming.

The drive home was silent except for the sound of Asher's radio. I honestly wasn't sure if the silence was comfortable or awkward. There was definitely some tension between us, but at the same time, riding home with Asher was peaceful.

When we got back to my house, Asher helped me take my surfboard down and put it back in my garage. He then walked with me up to the door.

"Bye, Olivia." He pushed his hair back with his hand, obviously unsure of what to do.

I walked forward and wrapped my arms around in a hug. He stayed stiff for a monet bt quickly warmed up, pulling me close to his bare chest.

"Thank you, Asher. I had a great time today." My voice came out weirdly because of my squished position against his chest, which made him laugh and let me go.

I grabbed my bag and fished around for the key I had grabbed, inserting it in the lock.

"Wait, that's weird." The key was stuck halfway in the door, unbudging as I tried to push it in. Pulling it out, I could tell that the grooves of this key were unfamiliar.

"What is it?" Asher sounded confused.

"My key- it isn't working." Asher gently grabbed it from me and tried himself. The key barely fit inside the slot, and definitely wouldn't be able to unlock the door.

"That's weird. Does this happen a lot?"

"No, never." I answered him.

"I think this is the wrong key." He muttered. I had to agree with him; there was no way this was one of my house keys, even though I had grabbed it from the door before I left this morning. How was I supposed to get inside without a key?

"Are your parents home or something?" Asher asked.

I rolled my eyes slightly in response, gesturing to the dark and clearly empty house in front of me. "No, they're on vacation for their anniversary."

"What about Mia?"

"That's a good idea. I'll call her."

After four missed calls and me leaving a bunch of frantic voicemails on Mia's phone, I came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to pick up. I would have knocked on her door, but there were no cars in her driveway.

"What are you going to do? You can't get into your house." Asher murmured behind me.

"I- I don't know." I tried to keep my voice even, but I was kind of freaking out on the inside. The sky was about to get dark, and I had nowhere to go.

Asher sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair again. His eyes finally met mine and he hesitated before speaking.

"Why don't you just stay with me tonight?"

***

This is the scene that inspired the new cover, so I put the cover photo at the top. I hope you like it! I had a lot of fun writing this scene.