Rough Waters Read Online Free PDF Page B

with him. Theo and Jace work, so Kale started coming
around more. I don’t know why we didn’t hang out before.”
    Reed comes in through the kitchen door with a
bag from Crescent Cove Bakery. He puts the bag on the counter and
goes back to his Jeep for coffee. He’s already dressed in his
Strickland’s Boating shirt and a pair of khakis.
    “Soy latte,” he says, handing the cup to
Alston. “And vanilla frappe for the girl,” he says. “Please tell me
I remembered that correctly.”
    Yes, Strick is still the perfect housewife. I
nod, grab the frappe, and snatch a cheese biscuit from the bag
before Alston wakes A.J. I’ve never lived in a house of boys
before, but I’m pretty sure if I don’t eat while it’s there, I
won’t eat at all.
    “Let A.J. know I’m at Drenaline Surf if he
needs me,” I tell them. “Topher said there’s some big business
meeting going on this morning. If Colby shows, maybe I can
intervene before Vin gets to him.”
     
    Topher sits on his tailgate waxing a
surfboard when I pull up next to him. He tosses the board aside and
walks over to my car. He opens the door before I have a chance.
    “Sorry I woke you up this morning,” he says.
“I wasn’t thinking. I forget that people actually sleep past
sunrise. I’m glad you came. I hate my brother.”
    He says everything in one breath. Nothing
really matters, though, except that last sentence.
    “Why do you hate Vin?” I ask. I lock the car
behind me and slip my phone into my pocket.
    Topher sits back on his tailgate and motions
me to sit next to him. He slides his board between us and picks up
where he left off with the surf wax. He doesn’t say anything for a
minute, like he’s deep in thought. It’s weird to sit in silence
with him. He’s been blowing up my phone for the last year. He
always has something to say.
    “He signed Logan Riley this morning,” he
says. He turns and chucks the bar of wax behind us. It hits the
back glass and falls against the metal bed. “I knew he wanted to,
eventually, but I just thought he’d sign me first. I’m his brother . Shark wanted me to be Drenaline’s first surfer, but
he signed Colby because I was too young. Colby was practice to make
sure Shark knew what to do and not to do with me. I was supposed to
be Drenaline Surf’s star surfer.”
    Vin was so excited when he first told me
about Logan last summer. Logan was the answer to all of his
prayers. Logan was going to be the nice guy Vin always wanted to
represent Drenaline Surf, the polar opposite of Colby and a cleaner
image than Miles.
    I take a deep breath and try to come up with
a line that Topher might believe, but he’s not stupid. He knows
anything I say is just something to make him feel better. He knows
that I want him riding for Drenaline Surf more than I’d want any
surfer in the world to ride for them. Topher deserves it more than
anyone else.
    “I’m sorry,” I say. “It should’ve been
you.”
    “Exactly,” Topher says, standing up and
pushing his surfboard into the bed of his truck. “It should’ve been
me, but Vin expects me to go in there and smile and be all ‘nice
guy’ about the whole damn thing.”
    I stand up and push the tailgate up behind
me. “Where’s Miles?”
    Topher nods toward Drenaline Surf. “Meeting
Logan, welcoming him to the ‘Drenaline Surf family,’ because you
know, Miles is part of this whole deal too even though I taught him how to surf in the first place.”
    He kicks at a rock in the parking lot and
fixates his gaze on the pavement, but the disappointment reflects
in his bright blue eyes. I wish I could drain the sadness from his
face and toss it overboard to be lost at sea forever.
    “I can’t go in there,” he says. “I’m
just…not. I don’t care if Vin gets pissed. I know it’s selfish, but
I’m sick of it being about everyone but me.”
    I reach out and pull Topher to me. I wrap him
up in a hug and rest my head against his chest. I swear, he really
is taller