I dipped under the water to smooth my hair out of my face before exiting the wave pool. The Championship Tour stop in June was one of the more unusual locations- a man-made wave pool in Lemoore, California. This afternoon was an opportunity to warm up in the pool, and Alani and I had just finished our practice time. She had earned a wildcard spot in the event thanks to her success on the Qualifying Series, and I was happy to have her along for the ride.

"You want to do something fun?" Alani asked, running up next to me on the artificial beach.

"What do you have in mind?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

She thought for a moment before grinning. "There's a mini golf place outside of the hotel, we could go play?"

Alani seemed to have a goal of playing mini golf at every surf stop possible. I laughed at her obsession before nodding in agreement. There wasn't much else to do around here other than a few museums.

Alani wasted no time in getting us there, our hair still damp by the time we landed on the course. She had even gone as far as grabbing a score card, which was slightly unnecessary in my opinion. However, her action made more sense after she sunk the ball in the hole in two strokes.

We worked our way through the bourse, Alani clearly beating me on every hole. "So, you got any good gossip?" she asked after the fourth hole, clearly bored while watching me on my fifth attempt at the hole.

"Uh, not really, do you?" That question was pretty much rhetorical; Alani walked a talented line of getting everyone to talk to without actually engaging in any of the related drama.

"I heard that Kaylie is marketing an intermittent fasting program in some mainstream magazine to 'get a summer surfer body'. Meanwhile, the girl eats whatever she wants and just still has the metabolism of a hyperactive child."

I sighed in relief after sinking the ball before giving Alani an obligatory chuckle. The next hole contained a spinning windmill over the path to the hole, and I groaned. My friend grinned as she dropped her ball down, masterfully weaving it through the windmill arms on her first try.

"So, how about you and Will then?" She smirked.

"Eh," I said, bouncing the ball of the spinning wheel ahead of me.

That got her attention. "Eh? What did I miss? I am too invested in this to see it go downhill!"

"The distance has been really hard. And with him gone this summer and apparently going for the draft next summer I don't really know when the distance will end. I mean, I love him and we're getting along well, it's just that I want to get married and have a life at some point. And right now I'm not sure if that life could start for us when he graduates, or if it's going to be a longer wait than I expected." I sighed, additionally frustrated that every time I hit the golf ball at the tunnel the windmill arm would come and push it away.

"That is hard. I obviously miss Daniel when I'm gone, but it's not the same at all. In the end I have faith in you guys and being able to push through, but it is your call. I just know that there's a lot of love between you, even if the distance makes it difficult."

I nodded. "That's the other problem. The more I love him, the more I miss him. But I'll see him in two days, so that will be good."

Alani agreed before slinging her arm around my shoulder, leading me to the other side of the windmill. "Let's give you a pass on that one, you can drop your ball where mine is. You've already lost this game anyways."

Begrudgingly I did as she instructed. She wasn't wrong.

△▽△

The morning's elimination round had brought an easy win against two women who were ranked much lower than me on the tour. I squeezed my hair out in the towel before waving goodbye to Alani and Coach John who were watching the rest of the competition. My Uber was waiting outside to take me two hours South, an unfortunate repercussion of being too young to rent a car in the United States.

After changing quickly I hopped in the car, confirming the address with the driver. It was starting to feel like I was always rushing from one place to another to see Will, but it wasn't like I was going to do anything else with my free hours in California. He was living three hours south, which wasn't a bad distance in comparison to my usual travel times.

The driver eventually pulled up to a warehouse that Will had directed me to. Not feeling like walking in alone and wandering around, I called Will. A door in the smooth gray concrete opened a second later, Will poking his grinning face outside. He ran over to me, ignoring the Uber driver who was trying to leave, and picked me up, kissing me on the cheek.

"Dang, you're tan," I laughed, looking down at his shirt with the sleeves cut off and athletic shorts.

His eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Just trying to even up the competition," he answered, nodding to my sun-bleached hair. "Come on, I'll show you around."

He led the way into the building, which opened up to a large turf-covered field inside. There were tons of baseball players inside, some on cages with mounds and others practicing their fielding in the open space. A large gym was set up on the side, all set with an area large enough for pushing sleds or running sprints.

Will nodded his head in the direction of a group of older men, some of which I was able to recognize as Nolan's dad and other retired major leaguers. Once in a while they would make a comment to one of the players. A few girls were there too, two of them playing softball but one working infielding drill with the baseball players.

I nodded appreciatively. It was easy to understand why Will would want to come here; it was a competitive environment with good coaching, and easy access to connections. Will lifted up the netting on one of the batting cages, showing me inside. His bat and batting gloves were already laying on the ground, along with a bucket of baseballs.

"Want to hit?" He asked, handing me his bat. I shook my head, glancing around the facility before handing it back.

"I think I'll throw to you first."

He shrugged and walked over to the plate, pulling on a headband to push his hair back. I stood behind the L screen and started tossing balls in toward him. He crushed each pitch, showing progressively more power. There was an intentionality behind his swing that I hadn't seen before; whether the ball was thrown inside or outside, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with it. The bat cracked loudly with each swing, except for one pitch where I got him to chase a pitch that was too high.

I lobbed the ball in underhand and he took care to pound each ball straight into the back netting. Sweat was starting to drip down his forehead, but I continued to toss the balls in as one of the men began to walk by.

"Good job, Will. Keep working on controlling which part of the ball you're hitting," the man nodded. He had dark hair and a look about him that made him look younger than he was.

"Thanks Christian, I appreciate it," Will answered before swinging again. After a few more he stepped out and began to take his batting gloves off. He handed his bat to me and moved in closer to my ear.

"That guy is a big deal in the Dodgers organization," he smirked.

I raised an eyebrow and grinned at him. "Okay, I see you. Now it's my turn to show off for these MLB folks, though. Don't try to hide my talents."

Will chuckled and obediently went over to the bucket of baseballs. His tossing skills definitely could have been better; I had to dodge half of them. He clearly spent more time having professionals throw to him than he did returning the favor. However, my form wasn't completely terrible and I was able to send a few to the back of the cage in the air. They weren't hit nearly as hard, but I could tell that a few people around looked mildly impressed.

"You're dropping your hands," Will noted after I popped a few balls straight up.

"Well, my arms are kind of tired, your bat is heavy," I complained, picking up the wooden bat off of my shoulder.

He laughed and made his way over to grab the bat. "Then I don't want to make you stop hitting, but you probably shouldn't tire your arms out before tomorrow. Want to go grab food though?"

I nodded and he picked up the rest of his equipment before leading the way to his car. Koa had leased the car in California so that Will could use it for the summer, as rental cars weren't an option. Will formally swung the passenger's door open for me, smirking as I hopped up into the truck seat.

"Where to?" I asked, still giggling slightly after Will raced around to climb into the front seat. He threw his arm around the back of my seat while reversing out of the parking lot.

"I mean it's pretty basic, but we could do a California classic," he said, looking sideways at me.

"In-N-Out?" I asked hopefully.

He nodded quickly and put the car into drive. Twenty minutes later we were seated in the bed of his truck looking out at the dry sunset.

"So, do you like it here?" I asked, turning so that I was leaning against one side of the truck bed and facing him.

He finished his bite before answering. "It's been really good for my development and making connections. The guys are cool, but it's definitely not the same as how my team is my family back at school. This is competitive, even if we all want to make it together. And I miss home a lot, but on the other hand, it's probably good for me. I never went far for college, so this has been a chance to figure out life without my parents or Evan right by my side."

I nodded, silently agreeing.

"What's your schedule like after this competition?"

"Mexico, Brazil, and Tahiti for the rest of the summer, and then we finish up in San Clemente in September. Then I'll be home for the winter, unless Rip Curl schedules me for a trip or two, which isn't unlikely."

Will frowned and looked out at the desert view. The red sun highlighted his brown hair with golden streaks, and he sat there for a minute before turning back to me and forcing a smile. A second later he was pushing himself across the truck bed and wrapping his arms around me. His lips pressed against mine gently before he turned around and pulled me to his chest. My head rested over the center of his chest, listening to the beat of his heart.

"Well, I guess that I'll see you at Christmas then. But for now, I'll get you back up North to destroy some wave pool waves."

hey gang this is almost 2000 words which is a lot for me, anyway, go Christian Yelich I love him, hope you enjoyed, vote if you feel the vibe, predict the ending if ur bad (we got maybe 5 more chapters idk dont quote me), and see ya next time ily lots