“So,” Ross said, turning to Amber during a lull in the action. “How'd you like your first outing as a surf bunny?”
Amber looked quizzically at him. “What's that?”
He shrugged. “A girl who wants to be a surfer,” he informed her, to which she scoffed audibly.
“I don't want to be a surf bunny!” she declared, sounding offended as she sat upright. “I want to be a real surfer!”
He laughed. “You have to learn how to stand, first, to do that!” he teased.
In response, she gave a humph, narrowing her eyes at him.
She was very good at playing miffed (the round pout of her lips was as cute now as it had been that morning)...but Ross could also see a tinge of embarrassed color flush her cheeks, and so he quickly took pity on her, and recanted.
“Hey,” he muttered, bumping her with his hand; it wasn't normally in his nature to be apologetic, but every once in a while, it was warranted. “Everybody falls, especially their first day out. The point is, you had fun, right?”
That bright and pretty smile started to creep to Amber's lips again. “Yeah,” she said, and nodded. “Yeah, I did.”
“Then that's all that matters.”
She leaned forward again. “But I want to get better!”
“You will,” Ross assured her with a nod. “It just takes practice. Today might have been hard, but tomorrow, it'll get easier. And the day after that, it'll get even easier.” He grinned again. “Pretty soon, you'll be out there riding in the tubes with the rest of us!”
“Like a real surfer?” Amber prompted with a growing grin of her own.
He bobbed his head again. “Just like a real surfer,” he said.
She dropped back to her hands, smiling with supreme self-satisfaction. But a moment later, she looked back at him. “Can I ask you a 'real surfer' question?”
Ross blinked at her. “What's that?”
Amber giggled to herself, a warm blush returning to her cheeks and the top of her nose. She leaned toward him, that pinked nose very close to his so that her face nearly filled his vision, a most pleasing sight. Drawing a breath then, she chewed briefly on her bottom lip before murmuring to him, “How do you...wee?”
He blinked again, then laughed softly. “Just go in your suit,” he told her blithely.
She sat back of a sudden, pulling a face. “That is disgusting!” she scolded.
“Everybody does it,” he said dismissively. He chuckled again as he gave a shrug. “And when the water's cold, it can feel rather nice.”
She looked him over, wrinkling her nose at him. “...Are you sitting in your wee right now?” she asked dubiously.
“No!” he said, half-laughing and half-disgusted, himself. Then: “Look, if you're catching great waves, you don't want to paddle all the way back to shore, find a WC, and then peel off your suit just to do a wee. Not to mention, you've got to pull the whole thing back on before you can get out into the water again. That's just a waste of time.”
Amber sniffed. “I still think it's disgusting,” she muttered.
He snickered. “We'll see if you still think that way when you're a 'real surfer.'” And he flashed her a quick and chuffed wink.
I'm nearing the end of the second chapter, and while I was vacillating on one of the romantic events, I think I've come up with a pleasant middle ground that should satisfy both the plot direction as well as my own prurient interests. :)
On a side note, I did notice today that, when I plotted this story, the character of Sam was going to have a much more significant role than she's had, yet. Neville has actually picked up a lot of the character moment slack in that regard. I hope that Sam asserts herself some more in the later pages, though. She's one of the main reasons why I came up with this story in the first place.
If you're enjoying these little excerpts, let me know! I'd appreciate it. :)
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