"Dreams we have don't ever fall away,
We can't leave 'em if we stay the same."
The Business - Tiësto
The annoying sound of my alarm screeching jolts me awake, and I pry my eyes open enough to blindly grab my phone to shut it off.
Groaning to myself, I squint at my phone that reads 5:30AM. I'm half tempted to go back to sleep, but I remember why I set the alarm in the first place.
Less than twenty minutes later, I'm sitting in my car, wearing a baggy t-shirt and shorts with my favorite red bikini underneath, my surf board in the backseat.
Just as when the early morning light starts streaking through the dark sky, I rev the engine and zip through the mostly empty Californian streets, because only the early birds like joggers and high schoolers are out this early.
I pull up in the beach's parking lot shortly later, shouldering my bag and kicking off my flip flops. I stuff them in my bag and take off in a jog towards the water.
The beach is deserted, but there are people on the boardwalk, cafe's and restaurants opening up for the day. The salty wind is cool against my skin as I halt a few feet away from the water, dropping my bag onto the sand. I peel my shorts and t-shirt off, shivering a little in only my skimpy bikini.
I grab my board, and fasten the leash around my ankle. Without a moment's hesitation, I run into the water, carrying my board over my head until the icy sea water reaches my chest.
Hoisting myself up onto the board, I lay on the cool wood on my belly, paddling away from shore. I stop a few feet away, straightening up to sit on the board, my eyes on the horizon.
It's peacefully quiet, only the sounds of the waves splashing and the seagulls surrounding me. The salty smell in the air and the cool wind soothes me, and I can't help the small smile that blossoms on my lips when the sun finally starts peeking from the horizon, casting it's gorgeous glow across the water.
I watch as the sun rises, bathing the entire city behind me in light, everything in my head calm and soothed. This is my therapy, this has been my therapy since I was fifteen. Watching the sunrise and sunset on my board, all by myself.
Thinking about my childhood, I glance down at my body before I can stop myself. The high waisted bottoms of my bikini cover my lower stomach, so I press my hand against it. A tinge of relief flows through me when I can feel my flat stomach and not a bulge.
My eyes flutter closed, a familiar dull ache threading inside my chest.
Not anymore.
Inhaling a deep breath, I let it flow through my chest, easing the tightness a little bit. I dip my hands in the water, feeling the chilly temperature on the tips of my fingers.
Once I've calmed, I'm about to go ahead and catch a wave when I hear splashing behind me.
"Damn. You stalking me, Rivers?"
My eyes almost pop out of my head, an annoyed groan rumbling out of me and I twist my body around to see Jace laying on his inky black surfboard, paddling his way over.
"This salty wind must be making your brain a little rusty, Parker, because the last thing I'd do is go all Joe Goldberg on you." I raise my eyebrow at him as he halts next to me, only in a pair of white trunks. "You're not even worth that kind of effort though."
Jace snickers, straightening up so that he's sitting on his board like I am. I narrow my eyes, suddenly wondering why the hell he's here.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, and his eyes look away from the sunrise and fix on me, his brilliant green eyes almost glowing under the fresh rays of the sun.
"I do this often. Surf at sunrise." He shrugs, and I blink in surprise because I expected a snarky response, not a proper answer. "What about you?"
I clear my throat, prying my eyes away from his toned upper body, deciding to give him a civil response. "Same thing."
Jace stares at me for a few more moments, eyes trailing down my body, until his gaze stops at my stomach.
"Nice chain." He clears his throat, his jaw tensing before he looks away from my body sharply.
I glance down at the silver waist chain that's wrapped around my stomach. Faith got it for my birthday last year, and I wear it often. It has a small charm of a black skull dangling right above my belly button, and it goes well with my tattoos.
When I look back up at Jace, he's already laying flat on his board again and paddling deeper into the water. Now, without any distractions and within close proximity, I can finally see his tattoos properly. My curiosity gets the best of me, and I let my eyes fan over his back.
A big, delicate looking pair of angel wings stretch over the backs of his shoulders. I tilt my head in admiration of the tattoo, it's beautiful. Peeking up from the hem of his trunks are the outlines of flames, circling his hips like a belt. Right underneath the angel wings, there are a few smaller tattoos. A sword wrapped in thorns, roman numericals and a yin-yang symbol.
All of these take up majority of his back, admittedly an impressive collection. I look down at my own arms, seeing the tribal patterns and roses running up both of my upper arms.
Thinking about my own tattoos, I suddenly remember the devil horns on the back of my shoulders. My gaze lifts towards Jace, who's paddling about a few feet away from me now, the angel wings on his back clear against his tanned skin.
God damn it.
He hasn't seen the devil horns on my back yet because if he did, he would've definitely made some comment by now. I'm chewing on my bottom lip, lost in my thoughts when I hear him call my name.
"Hey, Rivers! Up for a little competition?"
I squint my eyes in his direction, laying down on my board and paddling towards him with my hands. I don't know why I'm entertaining this, because he's the last person I want to surf with.
It's not like I have anything better to do anyway, might as well kick his ass for the fun of it.
As I paddle closer, Jace is sitting up on his board again, looking over at the horizon for approaching waves. My curious eyes drop to his chest and arms, where there are ten times more tattoos than on his back.
I note down some of them quickly in my head. The snake on his collarbone, thorns around his wrists. Bones and more flames on the backs of his fingers and hands, making his hands look like a skeletal hand itself, a pretty cool technique I've also wanted to try someday.
The outline of a head of a tiger right under his left pec, streaks of lightning spreading over his broad chest, along with a shattered heart on his stomach, a pistol on his forearm.
He has so many smaller, insignificant tattoos that you barely notice unless you look really hard. They're all beautiful though, precise and unique. When someone has this many tattoos, most of them usually don't have meaning, but something tells me that Jace has a reason behind every single one, even if it's small.
I have a fair collection of tattoos, but I want more. Thankfully, I've already found a good tattoo artist downtown, and I have an appointment next week.
I'm thinking of the tattoos I want to get again, losing myself in thought until I spot Jace moving from the side of my eye. Turning my head, I see him approaching a forming wave.
Damn it. I've been so distracted by tattoos I forgot that he challenged me.
Paddling faster, I survey for a forming wave. The water lifts slightly a few feet ahead of me and I swim towards it, determined to make Jace Parker kiss my ass.
• • •
"I wish there were more people here to witness the downfall of the oh-so-mighty Jace Parker." I snort, dragging my board out of the water, my feet finally hitting the sand of the shore.
The sun is high up in the sky now, and my muscles are sore from almost an hour of surfing, an hour of savagely competing against Jace Parker, and of course, winning.
We've given each other a point each for every surf trick done correctly, and we were tied until Jace fell off the board trying to do the final trick, leaving me the winner by one point.
Slim, but I'll take it.
"I can practically see your head inflating." Jace grunts from behind me, I turn to face him, still walking backwards.
"Didn't think you'd be a sore loser type, Parker." I scoff. I turn back around, fetching my bag, shorts and t-shirt off the sand and starting towards the car park, throwing Jace a middle finger over my shoulder.
"Hold up, Rivers!"
Exhaling loudly, I face him again, raising my eyebrows in question. Jace halts in his steps a few feet away from me, and his eyes lazily glide down my almost bare, wet body.
I'm about to ask him if he wants to take a damn picture, he speaks up. "Wanna work on that assignment together?"
I stare at him, taken back at the sudden request. "What?"
Jace shrugs indifferently. "Since we're here. I have my laptop in my car, and we can get it over with over some breakfast." He points to the rows of diners lined up in the boardwalk.
Staring at him, my brain whirrs over why he's actually asking to spend time with me.
It's just for an assignment. It's not like he asked me on a date.
"Bold of you to assume I trust you not to slip rat poison into my food." I retort, flicking my hair off my shoulder.
Jace laughs, a deep sound that free like thick honey dripping into my ear. "I was thinking more like horse tranquilliser. But unfortunately, I forgot to bring my stash with me today."
"Right." I sigh. Might as well get this stupid assignment over with. "Fine, whatever."
Jace raises his eyebrows like he didn't expect me to agree, before pointing to a diner on the boardwalk. "Meet there in 10?"
"Sure."
Ten minutes later, after returning to my car, drying off, taking off my wet bikini and pulling my clothes on, I walk towards the boardwalk. My hair is still damp, sticking to my white t-shirt as I push open the door to the diner Jace showed me, finding him at the very corner booth.
His eyes follow me as I approach him and drop down on the seat across him. He has his laptop open, and a notebook, twirling a pen with his tattooed fingers. His chain and rings are nowhere to be seen — he probably takes them off when surfing.
A woman that looks in her mid forties approaches us, a kettle and coffee cups in hand. We tell her our orders, and she leaves after pouring both of us warm cups of coffee.
"So..." Jace clears his throat, his eyes fixing on mine. I cock my head at him questioningly, waiting for him to continue, but he does that thing again, when he silently observes me from tip to toe like he hasn't seen me before.
"Why are you inspecting me like I'm some creature under a microscope?" I glower at him, picking up my cup of coffee.
"Ah, so you're aware that you're a bacteria?"
My hand itches with the need to throw my piping hot coffee down his tank top, but I place the cup down firmly, meeting those annoyingly pretty eyes of his.
"Do you usually ogle at bacteria then?" I smile mockingly at him, before nodding towards his laptop. "Start working or I'm leaving."
We start working, Jace typing away everything that we come up with on his sleek silver MacBook that looks like the latest version. Our food arrives and we work while we eat. I don't hold back from digging into my blueberry waffles, hungry from the long morning we had.
"That's all we can do for now." Jace says, munching on a piece of bacon. "We need our textbooks and shit for the rest of the work."
"Cool." I shrug, finishing off my pancakes and coffee. "Later, then."
The thought of having to sit across Jace Parker sometime soon makes me itch with annoyance, but I need this grade.
I'm wiping my mouth on a napkin, and Jace is drinking the last bit of his coffee when the waitress returns with the bill. Thrusting my hands into my pocket, I fish for my wallet, but Jace is already handing money to the waitress.
"Wait—" I start, but Jace cuts me off, smiling at the waitress.
"Keep the change."
The old woman walks off, and I look back at Jace. "You didn't have to pay."
"Why not?"
I rise to my feet, throwing him a flat look. "Because this isn't a date, and I could have payed for myself fine. See ya never, Parker."
And with that, I turn around and walk out of the diner, feeling his eyes on my back until I step out of the door.
I sit in my car, hating the way my stomach feels like it's full of angsty butterflies when he looks at me.