Surfs Up | B.R

A Seat At The Table

I open the door to the shop and see its quite busy. I look around and see Ari and Marlon talking to Bax in the corner. I make my way to them.

"Hey guys." I say to them smiling. Bax looks so attractive today with his sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. Marlon daps me up and Ari says hi quietly while Bax opens his arms for a hug which I ignore.

"I saw your insta, congrats Ari." I say loudly making him smile widely.

"Yeah thanks Cora. Do you have any advice on what to post? I don't really know how to do the whole insta thing." He says quiet embarrassed making me put my hand on his shoulder reassuringly which makes Bax roll his eyes.

"Yeah I can help you. Maybe I can come over sometime and show you how it works?"

"That would be perfect, thanks Cora." He says and walks over to Marlon excitedly. I look over at Bax and see him smirking at me.

"Dodging my hug and then offering to help him out. Looks like you're getting punished for that." He says and advances closer to me.

"Ugh what do you want? A burger, me to say something that feeds your ego?" I ask teasing him.

"I was thinking more like a kiss. Right over here." He says looking me dead in the eyes and pointing to his lips, making me get butterflies. I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks as he steps closer trapping me between him and the clothing rack.

"Not happening Radic. If you want a kiss from me you're going to have to work for it." I say patting his cheek and walking past him.

BAXTER POV

Cora walks away and I can smell her perfume and feel her touch burning into my skin. What is this girl doing to me. I quickly follow her out the store and see her walking towards the beach.

"Quit stalking me would ya?" She says with her back to me. I run up to her and pick her up from behind and spin her around making her laugh and scream with joy. Our little moment is interrupted when her phone starts ringing and our laughter dies down as she answers it.

"Aloha." She says cheerfully waving into the camera making me smile. I'm really starting to like her. I mean I have always admired her and growing up had such a crush in her, but this is different. It feels like the feelings are reciprocated and aren't one sided. Cora snaps me out of my day dream when she tugs on my top pulling me down to her height.

"Mami, this is Baxter. Hes the guy I told you about the other day." She says making me smile at the thought of her telling her mom about me.

"Um, Aloha Mrs Tetenui. Its lovely to meet you." I say smiling at her. I see her squeal in the phone and say something to Cora in Hawaiian making Cora blush and mutter something back to her.

I decide to be bold and wrap my arms around Cora's waist and hug her like that. She stiffens for a second but leans back and relaxes. We stay like this for a minute until she says goodbye to her mom and I wave at her.

"What was that about?" I ask staying in the position we are in.

"My parents are coming down to watch us at national and for my birthday." She says super excitedly as she turns around in my arms to face me with our faces inches apart.

"Lets get some ice cream." She says clearing her throat and pulling me in the direction of an ice cream store.

TIME SKIP

"So, what do you want for your birthday?" I ask her as we sit on the dock with our feet in the water.

"I don't know." She says quietly and continues eating her ice cream.

"Oh come on, I can see you know exactly what you want." I say pushing her making her almost fall in the water.

"Well, I really want a new board. One for here. I mean I have plenty boards at home because my dads a shaper and my mom has the surf shop, but I want one made specially for me in Australia."  I smile knowing exactly what I'm making for her birthday.

"Lets jump in." I say pulling my top off waiting for her to join me.

"What?" She asks laughing.

"Lets go for a swim, now." I say pulling her up as she laughs. She takes off her clothing leaving her in her pink bikini which doesn't leave much room for the imagination.

"On 3 we jump." She says holding my hand.

"One, Two." She says and I jump in pulling her with me. The cold hits my body and I swim to get some air. When I resurface I see her looking at me with those eyes. The sunset behind her and her smiling at me. I swim closer to her and our chests touch. I hear her breath quicken as I look from her eyes to her lips.

I lean in closer and she wraps her arms around my neck never breaking eye contact. I slowly lean in and stop asking for permission. She closes the gap and her soft lips meet mine. It feels as if a thousand fireworks have gone off. My body feels warm as I feel her smile into the kiss. We both pull away after a minute feeling breathless. We exchange no words and climb out the water.

We start walking back to her house and I feel a small hand grab mine. I intertwine our fingers and caress circles on her knuckles. Being in Cora's presence was my childhood dream, never mind kissing her and holding her hand. We arrive at her house and see only Prawnie is home. 

"Do you wanna come inside?" She asks nervously playing with her necklace. I smirk at her shyness and kiss her forehead.

"Only for a little bit. Elo expects me home soon." I say and she drags me inside.

We make our way upstairs to her room and its exactly what I pictured. Plain but with little trinkets and decorations everywhere. Her camera on her shelf with pictures of her and her family. I see fairy lights and plants hanging and a little disco ball by the window. In the center of her room is her bed and shes lying on it making her look so small.

"Are you gonna sit down or just stair?" She says looking at me with mischief in her eyes.

"Well I quite like the view." I say smirking and sitting down next to her.

"I had fun today." She says to me.

"I did too. We should do it again sometime." I say smiling at her. Shes really good at brining the soft side out of me.

"I have to leave before Elo has a fit." I say patting her exposed leg with my hand. I really don't want to leave but if my sisters find out where I am they might use Cora against me.

"Okay, see you tomorrow Baxy Boy." She says smiling.

"Bye pretty girl."