Sooo....I accidentally posted this in The Wishlist. 

It's gone now, but sorry for any confussion!

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Even though I was expecting someone to be awake early the next morning, I wasn’t expecting to see Trisha in the kitchen next to Che, chatting and learning while he showed her how to cook something. Che didn’t stop when he heard me come in, just raised his head and smiled at me before returning to his task. Trisha though frowned, like she was worried that I was awake this early.

“Leah...why are you half naked?” Glancing down at what I wore I suppose I appeared half naked but I did have my bikini on underneath but Trisha was only seeing what she wanted to see.

“I’ve got bikini’s on under this, I’m going for a quick surf. Che is used to me walking out like this in the mornings.” Poor Che, the first time I had walked out dressed as I was, he didn’t know which way to look or even what to say. Though that time I had only been in a bikini, I think I almost gave him a heart attack so had thrown on a large shirt over the top the next morning and that tradition had kind of stuck.

“But it’s so early? Won’t you catch a cold? Do you need someone to come out and watch from the beach?” Shaking my head at all the questions Trisha fired out I waited for her to finally stop before carrying on with what I was going to say.

“It’s fine Trisha. I don’t need someone to spot me on the beach, I only go out for an hour and if I’m not in by then someone does come out to look for me. You can come and watch from the beach if you want? If it’ll make you feel better?” Trisha didn’t even have to open her mouth and answer, I could already see the look in her eye as she slid past Chevron towards me and the door.

“Of course I’m going to come down and watch you! I want to make sure you’re safe,” rolling my eyes I motioned for Trisha to follow me out of the nearest door. It opened out onto the beach and was one of the best spots to sit when trying to admire the ocean.

After walking down a flight of steps we made it to the bottom of the beach, Trisha looked completely out of her comfort zone as she glanced around while awkwardly trying to keep her bare feet from sinking into the sand.

Though I should have explained a few things to her I instead chose not to and threw off my oversized t-shirt before heading down towards the water. “I don’t think I’ll be that long this morning!” I yelled back to Trisha, waving before diving in head first.

Even though I had only been out of the water a few weeks, the suddenness of being back in it kind of made me gasp...well that and it was cold. The summer temperatures on Montana had spoiled me rotten, I could tell that there would be very few early morning surfs in just a bikini.

There was a nice swell rolling in, forming neat sets of near perfect barrelled waves. They collapsed nearer to shore, which meant I would get a really good few rides in if I caught the best wave in a set.

Catching the first wave was like learning how to ride a bike for the first time, I face-planted right into the face of the wave and came up laughing like an idiot. At least the wave had been a small one but now I was completely awake and ready to surf properly. “Nice wipe out!” I heard someone yell from my side, looking over I smiled and began paddling my board towards him.

“Maxwell! Hey, didn’t think I’d see you out here.” Max gave a laugh; we had been surf buddies before we had been school friends. I actually think Max hated me right up until I started surfing good, we joked that he had only become my friend so that he could be a groupie on tour.

“Me? I didn’t think I’d see you ever again, you’ve been gone a while....where’d ya go?” Oh right, I forgot I hadn’t told many of my friends where I had gone or why.

“Montana, to my dad. I’m moving out there as soon as this comp is done, you competing?” Max didn’t look impressed with what I had just said but smiled all the same. I followed him back out past the break and we just sat there for a few moments, enjoying the bit of sunlight staining the sky.

“Nah, I actually think I’m going to throw the competing in, I did a comp a few weeks ago and wiped out bad. Got hung up on a reef and it scared the shit out of me, it scared a few years off my mom and Emma so I’ve decided to give it up.” Maxwell shrugged like it meant nothing, but I knew that surfing had been something he loved and looked forward to doing most days.

“Then what are you doing out here? Won’t your mom have a heart attack if she wakes and finds you sitting around in the water? Are you and Emma finally a thing now? It’s about damn time...why did you wait until I was gone though?” Max and Emma had been dating for god knew how long, but they were always cute and I always found myself thinking, ‘if I could have a relationship as good as theirs I’d be made.’ And I did.

“Well you know...it was after a party, we went and got something to eat and I kinda just said it outright to her. I told her, Emma, you and I have been friends forever and you know me about as well as my own mom. So why don’t we stop beating around the bush and make it official? She said no and walked off, I laugh now but I honestly nearly shat myself when she turned me down. The next morning she came over to my place, asked if it was the drunkenness that was talking and asked me to say it all again. I did, she cried and said yes a million times over and the rest is history. What about you? I heard you’ve got a little town of hicks staying at your place.” If Max hadn’t added that last bit on the end I would have leaned over and hugged him, instead I leaned over and smacked him upside the head.

“They are not hicks! They’re my family and yes, they’re here for the week. You might see them if you come down and watch me surf tomorrow.” I laughed, Max probably didn’t want to go and watch surfing but if I knew Emma she would drag him down just to see who wiped out.

“Yeah, once I mention your name there’ll be no stopping Emma. She’ll drag me down; even if I chain myself to a post she’ll drag that along as well. She wants answers, so I hope you’re ready to give them...anyway, are we out here for a coffee break or to surf?” Laughing at Max’s final question I nodded and glanced backwards to see a decent set of waves coming in. Max seemed to have the same thought and we ended up catching the same wave, we both didn’t last long as Max nearly ran me over.

We carried on like that for a while, until I remembered that Trisha was sitting on the beach watching to make sure I didn’t injure myself.

“Hey Max! I’m going to head in, want to come meet my step-mom?” It was probably a weird question to ask Max but I wanted him to understand that Declan and his family weren’t country hicks. They were used to a different kind of living that didn’t involve butlers and private drivers, a more real sort of living.

“Nah, but you can bet Emma will drag me down the street when I tell her I went surfing with you. Expect us for breakfast!” I waved Max off as he paddled off back towards his landing spot and I headed back towards mine.

When I reached shore I groaned, not only was Trisha sitting out on the beach but she had been joined by Declan, Devyn and Val. I assumed the kids were all still sleeping, as soon as I came walking out of the water Declan, Val and Trisha all stood and went walking off towards the house, Devyn held a towel out to me.

“Thanks, how long have you all been out watching?” I asked, taking the towel and dabbing at my face before wrapping it around myself and sitting down next to Devyn.

“Not too long, is it hard to surf?” Something about Devyn at that moment seemed a little off, was he suspicious of Maxwell? I guess if my boyfriend was surfing with a half naked girl I’d be screaming bloody murder.

“Not too hard. Oh hey! You can meet Max and his girlfriend Emma at breakfast! I think they said they would call in. Come on, I have to go and let Che know that we’re having extra company.” Yeah, so I cheated my way out of telling Devyn that Max was a friend but I was sure as he heard that Maxwell had a girlfriend that any negatives ideas would leave his mind.

Taking my board with me I trudged up to the house, half expecting Devyn to come with me. When I glanced over my shoulder though he was still sitting where I had left him. Frowning a little and feeling as if I’d done the wrong thing I left him there, went to take care of my board, used the outside shower and go and warn Che that we were having company for breakfast.

Trisha and Declan weren’t at all impressed that we would have company; Che though had suspected and had already cooked for more than was expected. It was at times like these that I appreciated having Che around as I wasn’t sure Trisha would have easily changed her plan.

The doorbell rang just as I was coming down from my morning shower; I beat Bronson to the front door and opened it. I didn’t have long to register who was standing there before she threw her arms around me, squealing happily. “You really are here! I thought Max was lying when he said he’d seen you this morning. Oh my god, I could so totally kill you right now for scaring me half to death! Where have you been?” Laughing, I ushered Emma and Max inside while Bronson shut the door behind them.

“Yeah, I’m really here. Come on, my dad and his wife and kids...and my boyfriend are here. I better introduce you before they beat me to it!” I felt Emma’s grip tighten a fraction when I mentioned boyfriend and hoped to hell that she didn’t say anything about my past to anyone at the table.

“Since when did you have a boyfriend? Is he cute? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you said yes to a guy. We all thought you were going to end up liking girls the way you kept shooting them down.” Thank god Emma dropped her tone a bit, so that not even Max could hear what she was saying to me.

“I’ll tell you later. Dad, Trisha...these are my friends. This is Emma and her boyfriend Maxwell; Max was who had been surfing with me earlier.” I watched as Declan stepped forward and held a hand out towards Max, I could just see in his posture the silent warning he was giving him and groaned, walking off towards Devyn.

He still didn’t seem to have recovered from earlier and was still a lot stiffer than I expected, but I dragged him towards Maxwell and Emma anyway. “This is Devyn, my boyfriend. Devyn, these are Emma and Max...two of my friends.” Finally, when Devyn saw Emma he seemed to snap out of whatever mood he was in.

“Emma? Holy shit, it is you! Leah, this is my cousin...Emma Dougal.” I don’t know who was more in shock, me being re-introduced to my friend or Emma, realizing that her cousin was my boyfriend.