Easton Moore is back...and I'm his fake girlfriend.
After leaving for the professional surfing tour the morning after we slept together, my childhood best friend became the person I never wanted to see again. Now he strolls back into Sandy Cove when...
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THE AIR IS tense.
Easton is bouncing his leg as the music pours through his headphones, blocking us all out of his area of vision as he tries to focus. It is the semi-finals of the competition, and to get this far had been hard for Easton. His scores were only just bypassing everyone else, and I can tell that agitated him.
Like he was only just scraping by.
He had been withdrawn mostly and with not being used to being around Easton when he isn't performing well, makes it hard to know what to do for him.
But although he was withdrawn slightly, sleeping in the same bed as Easton has provided us with a level of intimacy we hadn't had until now, before we were sharing a hotel suite with different rooms, but now we have gone to sharing a bed every night for the next few weeks until we head down to another city in Australia for the next competition.
The pillow wall came back into effect after I woke up cuddling him that morning, but even then, sometimes his long arm stretches over the pillow wall, connecting with my body or we will wake up facing each other. Even when we are getting ready in the morning, it feels very domestic and homey.
The kiss didn't help, but neither does being in close proximity with each other. Instances keep popping up and I have to remember to pull myself away.
"How do you even help when it's not going their way?" I ask Hallie, who am I standing with while Easton is sitting down on the couch. The females semi-finals are not until tomorrow, so her and Fiona, along with Ruby, who are here to support Chet are Hallie as well.
Hallie gives me a sympathetic look. "Getting a surfer out of his head when things aren't great is not the easiest thing to do. The most you can do is to be there when he needs you."
"I was worried you were going to say that," I mumble and she chuckles.
"What happened when you were kids and a competition didn't go his way?" Fiona asks curiously.
"We went for ice cream, but I doubt that is going to help," I say, chuckling and they agree. "It sounds stupid, but he actually went back on the waves. He and our friend Atlas would go surfing for fun and just goof around," I explain, smiling, before looking over at Easton.
"Like I said, the best thing to do is just be there for him," Hallie squeezes my shoulder before walking off with Fiona.
I sigh before walking over to Easton and sitting next to him on the sofa. He turns his head to me slightly as I do before he sighs as he leans back on the sofa, slouching slightly so his legs are stretched out. I reach out to rest my hand over his and squeeze in some form of solidarity and just letting him know I'm here for him.
I relax slightly as he squeezes back before turning his hand to thread his fingers through mine as we leave them resting on his leg. I don't interrupt his pre-competition ritual. I sit here scrolling through my phone and observing around me, while he listens to his music, but this time with his thumb rubbing against my hand.
