Chapter One
"Can I crash at your place?" Tanner asked, sheilding his eyes from the bright summer sun. "Lela and I are going through a bit of a rough patch."
"Of course," Brady said automatically. Mack was out of town for the week so he had the place to himself. Why wouldn't he help out his friend?
Brady squinted his eyes against the sun and glanced over at Tanner. His hair was slicked back with ocean water and his dark eyes glittered brightly in this light. Brady couldn't help but notice the dark circles that had appeared under his friend's eyes these past few days.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Brady asked.
He had been happy for Lela and Tanner when they got an apartment together, almost as happy as when he and Mack moved in together. Tanner was his best friend, aside from Mack of course, and Tanner's relationship troubles hurt Brady as much as his own.
Tanner shrugged lazily and ran a hand through his hair. "She thinks I'm afraid of commitment."
"Are you?"
"Yes. Maybe. I don't know. I'm just worried, you know? I was so sure Lela was the one for me but lately I've just been having doubts. I've only ever been with her. What if there's someone better for me?"
Brady ran his fingers through the cool ocean water as he considered this. "I think it's natural to feel this way. You two have been together for three years. You're Lela and Tanner. You're meant to be." Brady paused, then choked out, "You do love each other, right?"
"That's the problem. I feel like we're just following a routine. It's like the love's not there anymore." Brady's heart did a little flip at Tanner's words. "Do you know what I mean?"
Brady knew what Tanner meant a lot more than he'd like to admit. He'd recently been going through something very similar with Mack. In fact, she'd gone out of town because she thought it'd be best for their relationship if they took a break from each other.
"You guys probably just need some time away from each other," Brady said. "You'll be fine."
"I guess," Tanner agreed, laying on his surfboard and beginning to paddle. "I'll race you back to shore."
Brady grinned. "You're on."
Both boys paddled as quickly as they could in order to make it back to the shore before the other. The race was neck and neck until they reached the point where they could no longer paddle but had to run instead.
Tanner had always been faster than Brady, but Brady wasn't going to admit defeat just yet. He tossed his surfboard onto the shore then leaped at Tanner, sucessfully tackling him. Tanner let out a surprised shout as they fell down in a tangle of limbs.
Brady moved to push himself off of Tanner but froze when their eyes met. Brady felt trapped under the weight of Tanner's gaze, unable to move away even if he wanted to. Brady's stomach did a strange sort of flip as he focused on not staring at Tanner's lips.
"We should go," Brady managed.
"Yeah," Tanner agreed, a strange tone in his voice. For a moment, neither of them moved. "Dude, you're kind of on top of me."
"Oh, right," Brady choked out, scrambling off of Tanner.
Brady offered Tanner a hand up, which he took. The two collected their surfboards and headed back to Brady's place for lunch. Though things returned to normal, Brady couldn't help but feel he and Tanner had just shared a special moment.