My Summer Love

Riding Double

I look at Zenith, and he shrugs with a smirk on his face.

"C'mon." I sigh.

He follows me over to the twelve foot deep bowl where my brother, Jacob, and five other guys all wait to see who will be the last man standing.

"Good luck." I tell Zenith.

"You aren't going to join?"

"Nah, I can already tell it's gonna get ugly out there."

"Zenith, let's go, man, c'mon." Xavier yells.

He walks over to Xavier, who finally gives him his board back.

"Okay, y'all know how this goes. Pushing and shoving is all that's allowed. Any illegal moves, and you're automatically out, doesn't matter if you stayed on your board or not. Everyone got it?"

"Got it!" Voices yell.

Zenith turns and smiles at me, and I can't help but smile back.

"Pay attention, man, or you'll be the first to fall off." Xavier shakes his head at Zenith.

"I'm winning this one for you, love." Jacob points at me and winks.

I roll my eyes and then look at Zenith, who looks anything but amused.

All the skaters go on different sides of the bowl in front .

"Once you drop in, you are in the game. If your feet ever leave the board, you're out!" Xavier yells. "Count us down, Rey!"

"Ready...get set...GO!" I yell.

Xavier is the first to drop into the bowl and ride it to the other side, grinding off the edge and then going back down into the bowl. Jacob follows soon after, and a few others drop in. Zenith waits. I see him taking in all of the skaters with his eyes. I smirk. He's strategizing. I watch as he drops in. He has the same smoothness and balance as he did when he was surfing. He weaves around the other skaters and dodges a shove that results in the other skater losing his balance and stepping one foot off his board.

"You're out poser!" Xavier laughs, and so does everyone else.

Ashley comes up to me and loops her arm through mine.

"GO ZAY BEAR!" She yells as she hops up and down.

Are my eyes deceiving me, or did I just see my brother crack a smile at the nickname he supposedly hates?

Now, the seven skaters who are left continue the game. A few more shoves, a few more tricks, a few more pushes. They all go at it for about fifteen more minutes until it's down to Xavier, Jacob, and Zenith.

Xavier goes to shove Zenith, but Zenith pushes his own weight back against Xavier, causing him to wobble on his board. Right as Xavier catches his balance and pumps a prideful fist into the air, Jacob comes from behind him, knocking him off of his board and to the floor of the bowl.

Everyone let's out a collective "Oof" while Xavier picks up his board and climbs out of the bowl.

"Zay bear, are you okay." Ashley pouts, wrapping her arms around his neck once he's out of the bowl.

"I'm good. Ash, don't worry bout me."

She kisses his cheek. And there it is, that small smile again, I knew I saw it. He catches me, staring and toughens up, turning around to speak to everyone watching.

"Aight it's down to Zenith and Jacob. Let's go!"

We all gather closer to the bowl as Jacob goes in pursuit of Zenith. Every time Jacob gets close, Zenith performs a trick, and Jacob barely misses knocking him off his board. He's toying with him. I smirk. I watch on as Zenith quickly becomes the crowd favorite. Everyone has started cheering him on. Xavier is over enthusiastic about it screaming his name in a high-pitched voice like a fan girl. It makes me laugh.

"C'mon Zenith, you got this!" I yell, cupping my hands over my mouth.

It's a race now with Jacob right behind Zenith at every second. He rides his board up the edge of the bowl and as he's in the air Jacob grips hold of his shirt and jerks it pulling hard causing Zenith to fall down the 12 feet drop into the bowl.

"Hey, that's illegal!" Someone yells, and all hell breaks loose as everyone watching rushes forward. Some yell at Jacob while others say it was a fair move. All I'm worried about is Zenith.
I slide down into the bowl, ignoring everyone as I make my way to him. He sits on his board with his elbows resting on his knees, watching everyone shouting.

"Are you alright?"

He looks up at me.

"Yeah, the fall probably looked worse than it actually was."

"Jacob's an ass for that." I glare in his direction.

"Well, I mean, I was taunting him?"

I look back to Zenith.

"What do you mean?"

"Just some smack talk no one could hear over the chanting of my name." He shrugs with a smirk on his face.

"Well, aren't you quite the instigator."

We smile at each other for a moment. I bite my bottom lip and tilt my head at him.

"Wanna get out of here?" I ask.

"To the beach?"

"To the beach." I repeat.

I help him up to his feet, and then we climb out of the bowl together and start to head out of the skatepark.

A/N
I've been super busy with work, but I'm trying to get more chapters out soon!