Surf's Up?

Trouble...

Ellis' POV

30 minutes later, we had all gotten at least 2 amazing waves. The water had suddenly become calm so

I sat on my board next to Steele. Reese and Cara were chatting about the upcoming Fall dance. I

glanced at Steele, who was contentedly staring at the horizon. “So… Steele, how do you know how to

surf so well?” He looked at me and shrugged. “I lived here for 16 years, then I got shipped off to

boarding school.” I nodded. “So does that make you a junior or…” He shook his head. “Nah, I’m a

senior.” I thought about that for a minute. He laughed at my expression. His laugh was smooth and

deep, but it made me feel good, not like he was making fun of me. “I skipped 8th grade.” I pretended to

look intimidated. “Oh no, not a freaky genius!” He shook his head. “Technically, a genius has an IQ of

140.” “What’s your IQ then?” He smiled. “I39.” My jaw dropped. He laughed and shook his head. “I’m

kidding! I don’t have that high of an IQ. I just skipped a grade because I was excelling in my classes.

Hill and I have never gone to the same school, my mom always thought the school would blow up.

That’s why you’ve probably never seen me.” I nodded but something tugged at my brain. He seemed

really familiar even if I had only seen him today. He did live here; I had probably just seen him around

before. But that didn’t seem right, I would’ve remembered a face like his… and his body. I glanced at

his bare torso quickly. He and Hill really were opposites. Hill was shorter and stockier. Steele was taller

and leaner, and in my secret opinion, more attractive. I shook that thought away. This was not going to

turn into a brother war kind of thing. I did want to be friends with him though; he seemed pretty cool,

even if Hill said he wasn’t.

We continued to talk and surf for another hour before deciding to call it a day. We swam towards the

shore and pulled in our boards. I took off my wet swim shirt to dry off and grabbed my towel. I dried off

and flung my towel over my shoulder. I pulled my hair into a messy ponytail and smiled at Steele.

“Need a ride home?” He nodded. “That’d be great, thanks.” My phone dinged and a new message

popped up. It was from Reese. I looked at her, confused, and she grinned like a maniac. I read the

message and rolled my eyes. It said

He was totally checking you out!

I looked back at Reese and mouthed, creepy. She gave me a, fine be that way, look and then walked

back to her car.

I hopped in the jeep and Steele followed suit. “You’re staying with your family, right?” He stared at me

for a second. I raised my hands in surrender. “Just checking.” I started it up and we headed towards his

house.

When we arrived, I smiled at him as he got out. “Thanks for the ride, and for the invite to surf. I have a

car, Hill just stole it for the day.” I nodded. “No problem. And Steele? My friends and I surf everyday