"It happened the moment
When you were revealed
'Cause you were a dream
That you should not have been a fantasy, real

You gave me this beating baby
This rhythm inside high
Well, you made me feel good
And feel nice and feel loved
Gave me paradise
So

Shouldn't I realize
You're the highest of the high
And if you don't know then I'll say it
So don't ever wonder (Don't ever wonder)"

Maxwell – "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)"

Sabine held Erik's hand clasped in her fingers for the duration of the entire flight to Portugal.

Colin snoozed next to her with a blanket thrown over his face, and Erik had his nose pressed against her cheek instead of the window. Sitting between the two men, her mind grappled with Nazare and monster waves that could snatch Erik away from her.

Once they landed from their long flight in Lisbon, they rented a car and Colin drove them eighty miles into the small coastal village that hosted the event. The quaint lodging they stayed in together was cozy. Everything had been booked for the surfing event and Colin had to share sleeping space with them. They took time to unwind in their room then wandered together to search for a place to eat late in the evening. Finding a busy restaurant on the esplanade overlooking the beach, they ate a seafood meal that reminded Sabine of an Italian soup dish that was filled with octopus, clams, shrimp, and local fish.

Erik looked calm.

Too calm.

Nazare was jumping with professional surfers and tourist fans even in the cold weather. Sabine kept her puffy red jacket on inside the restaurant as they tucked into their food. When their bellies were stuffed and jet lag caught up with them, they meandered back to their lodging, turned on the heater, and tumbled into two beds. Sabine curled around Erik's chest and fell asleep the moment he stroked her back.

They all slept in until late in the afternoon the next day, allowing their bodies to acclimate before taking a long walk to go see the waves that brought them there.

Chills ran up and down Sabine's back as she stood next to Erik clutching his hand staring at the watery mountains moving toward land from the top of the Forte de Sao Miguel Arcanjo.

"Oh my God," she muttered under her breath.

YouTube videos didn't do the enormity of what she saw justice.

The sets were monstrous.

Being on the beach could be dangerous at that time. Sabine thought of the story that was told to her about a little girl and her grandfather walking along Salgado Beach and being swept out to sea by a freak wave.

"Hey…it's all good," Erik whispered to her.

His soft lips pressed into her left cheek making the skin there warm from the icy jabs of the wind striking her face. There were many others standing around them watching the colossal giants roll in.

"You stand up here near the lighthouse and I can see you—"

"You won't be able to see me—"

"With your red jacket on, just jump up and down and I'll see you."

"I don't think so."

Erik kissed her again and she turned her head so she could have his lips on hers. His larger bottom lip swallowed hers and she parted the sea of her mouth for him allowing his tongue to probe the heat inside.

Sabine squealed when a spray of icy water wet them and a few others as they stood close to the edge of the protective wall. The northwest swells were doing their job. Sabine giggled and wiped her face. Erik grinned and his dimples made her feel easy. When she glanced at Colin, that easiness dissipated. Colin looked worried.

"Colin?"

Sabine wrapped her arms around his as he wiped water droplets from his face.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

Sabine tried to make her voice sound cheery but Colin couldn't even muster up a matching tone.

"My work is cut out for me," he said.

Sabine rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're the best," she said into his ear.

Colin threw an arm around her and gave her a head rub with his knuckles.

"That I am," he said.

She could tell he was trying to perk up for her, but his eyes betrayed his bravado. Sitting on the wall, Sabine watched more waves crash forward and when she grew too cold and wet to stay put, she returned to Erik's side. He put both of his arms around her chest to warm her up.

"I'll stay in for the rest of the day. We can bring food inside and talk to the kids later?"

Sabine nodded and clutched onto his arms.

They took their time walking back into the center of the village and back to their room. Colin brought them fast food as Erik napped and when they finished lunch, both men slept on the beds as she wrote on her Maverick blog. She uploaded pictures of the fort and made her posts cheerful. Watching the men sleep, she took stock of her life.

One little girl.

That's all it took.

One little girl with an endearing sleepy eye and thin body standing barefoot in front of Sabine as she cleaned wetsuits.

Marina.

What if Sabine hadn't been there that day? Where would her life be?

In her gut, she knew she would become a decent professional, but there was no way she would be where she was that fast without Erik. His daughter was the catalyst. His fighting with Calista and that scuffle spilling out onto the outside in full public view brought him to her with the patter of Marina's feet running to stop Erik from feuding. He had been such a dick to her on that day.

But he saw something in her.

What if she had never kissed him?

She felt something kindle on a low flame between them after she kissed him. It was wrong to do that with a married man, but she couldn't help the joy he brought to her when he said she was a worthy surfer. The validation made her grateful and bold. That boldness sealed the deal between them.

Her eyes flitted over to Colin. He was curled into a ball with the covers of his bed tucked under his chin. Sabine's affection for him had grown over the two years of knowing him. She could feel his love for her sometimes, especially when she watched him work with Erik as they practiced for Nazare in Mission Bay waters. He was respectful with her at all times even when there were moments when he would look at her with a gentle longing. He dated often and she met a few of his lovers, but there was still a sweet affection among their interactions and she was happy that it didn't bother Erik at all.

Somehow the men had an understanding. Nothing would come between Erik and her, no matter what Colin felt. That was just the way it would be for all time. That understanding made their physical hugs and platonic kisses easy to enjoy in front of Erik. But it also left an unspoken tension of playful rivalry. They always tried to one-up each other in front of her in the water. It also helped that Colin had other women to spoil and show off.

Sabine watched TV, and after they had dinner together in the room, they sat in front of Erik's laptop and spoke to Deuce, Marina, Papi, and her mother at the trilevel. They were going to watch the event online with Erik's huge family room TV.

Bedtime came fast, and Sabine shared a bottle of red wine with Erik and Colin before they turned in. The air around them was charged with anticipation. They would sleep and the next morning they would be up early to face the unknown.

Sabine showered and tied her braids up. Sitting on the edge of the bed she shared with Erik, she rubbed her legs and feet with sesame oil allowing the emollient to be absorbed into her winter skin that looked a little ashy since she arrived in Portugal. Her legs felt strong and her body itched to be back in the water again. Erik rolled over in the bed and nudged his nose against her back. She stroked his neck and wiped the rest of the oil on her arms. She wore a thin silky baby doll slip and Erik ran his fingers against her side making the material rub soothing circles into her skin.

"Don't do anything wild out there," she said.

Colin snorted and Sabine watched him turn over in his bed to look at her and Erik.

"Good luck," Colin teased.

"I'm serious," she said glancing down at Erik.

"I'm a big boy—"

"You're a crazy boy," she corrected.

Erik kissed her hip through her slip.

"You be careful too," she admonished Colin.

Colin's stellar smile beamed at her and Sabine felt like they were too dismissive with her words.

"I'm just going to bring him to the waves—"

"And I'll shred those mofos—"

"Stop it!"

Her voice made them both pause.

The wind outside howled a bit and Sabine's head dropped forward.

"I know you're both trying to sound confident, but we all saw those waves today. Tomorrow is supposed to be bigger, stronger…massive…I want you to leave that water the way you go in…"

Sabine squeezed her eyes shut.

"I don't want us joking or being so nonchalant that…that…"

An image of herself falling off of her surfboard in Indo made her body go rigid. Sabine felt the brutal tearing of the coral reef into her leg and face ghosting her flesh and the pain and horror of that terrible time washed over her causing her breath to hitch in her chest. She squeezed her hands into tight fists trying to shake the memory away.

"Sugar…"

She felt Erik shift on the bed and sit up suddenly.

Two firm warm hands held hers and when she opened her eyes, Colin was kneeling before her cradling her fingers. Erik's lips kissed her face and Colin kissed her hands. Her right hand rested on Colin's cheek as her left hand caressed Erik's neck as he gifted her with more precious kisses.

"We hear you," Erik whispered.

Colin nodded and she felt a bit of relief.

"I want you both to do well and I want you both alive and in one piece at the end of the day tomorrow."

"I will," Erik said sliding his tongue in her ear before he nibbled on her earlobe.

Colin sat back on his bed and Erik hugged her.

"I'll bring his peanut head back to you," Colin said.

Sabine crawled under the covers next to Erik. Colin adjusted the lamplight on the nightstand that sat between the two beds. The book he had on his extra pillow filled his hand as he did a bit of reading.

With her head on his chest, Sabine relaxed into Erik's arms until she dozed with the sound of the wind growing less wild and squally. A few hours went by and Sabine awoke to Erik stroking her hair.

"Hard to sleep?" she whispered.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"Us. The kids. Where we are. Sometimes it doesn't feel real to me."

"What does it feel like?"

"Peaceful. Calm. Erratic sometimes. Wide-open to possibilities. Exciting. It's like the world is new and I'm eighteen again. I try to think of what more I need and honestly…I'm set. I never thought I could say that. At least not now. Maybe sometime in the future. It's a good feeling. The best feeling."

Sabine kissed him and his eyes took her in when she pulled her mouth away from his.

"It's real, right? It's not make-believe or something just in my head…" he asked.

She nodded and when his dimples popped out as he twisted his bottom lip between his teeth, her eyes watered.

"Baby…" he whispered dropping his head down to her.

His lips touched both of her eyelids kissing away her tears.

"You mean everything to me," he said.

"I think I would die without you."

"Love me that much, huh?"

Sabine wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her on top of him. Their kisses became slow explorations of mouths, ears, necks, and the hallow parts of their throats. Erik's fingers swept under her slip and up her back lifting the flimsy garment off of her body and over her head. She wiggled out of her panties as he snaked his hips to help rid him of his boxer briefs. He pulled her body closer to his and he lifted his neck so that he could reach her breasts. His teeth tugged on her nipple piercings and once his tongue slathered them with wet licks, the flesh above it pebbled, and Sabine moaned out loud. Erik lifted her in one fluid motion and planted her on her back. Her legs twisted under the covers and wrapped around his waist as he plunged inside of her.

Both of Erik's hands rested in her palms and his fingers threaded with hers against the mattress. Despite the gentle clasping of their digits, his lovemaking was desperate…rough. The deeper he sank into her stretching her walls with rapid thrusts, the more aroused she became. Her head thrashed about as she squeezed her lids tight trying to take every inch of him without screaming.

"Fuck!" he gasped dropping his face into the pillow.

He slowed down once he hit the bottom of her pussy. He was snug inside of her and she threw her arms around his neck to keep him pressed against her chest.

"Erik…damn…" she groaned into his ear.

He let out a raspy moan as he pumped into her and she lost the ability to say any more words as the friction on her ass and back grew stronger with his thrusts. Sabine turned her head to the side as he sucked on her neck ramping up the pleasure her skin was experiencing from his body heat, sweat, and aggressive lips.

"Oh!"

The gasp flew from her mouth as her clit ring rubbed against his groin and her eyes locked with Colin's.

She had forgotten he was in the room once Erik had her under his spell. Her man's fingers, hot steamy kisses, and thick erection erased a whole ass human from the world they were loving each other in.

The soft light of the lamp let Colin see everything they were doing and she saw the desire in his eyes and the arousal in his body as his hand worked his dick under his covers. The tugging on her clit made her lips fall open with an uncontrollable shout escaping her throat. Erik's head turned to the side and rested on hers and she knew he saw Colin watching them. He said nothing and continued long agonizing strokes. She grew agitated and embarrassed when her slick center made noise that Colin could clearly hear. He grunted and they both heard his fist beat down on his dick.

There was nothing she could do.

Erik wasn't going to stop.

She didn't want him to.

Colin wasn't going to stop.

She didn't want him to either.

Sabine sweated profusely from under Erik and her man tortured her with balls deep fucking. She thought she would overheat and pass out from their lovemaking until Erik threw the covers off of them so he could bend her legs back. Colin saw everything. Sabine felt no shame whatsoever because Erik was bringing her to complete ecstasy and Colin was going to witness it. Male ego. Claiming her body in front of a beloved rival. Pointed exhibitionism. It didn't matter anymore.

It was a different type of threesome.

It wasn't about the physical for there was no need to consummate a sexual union with Colin.

As Erik took her for himself in front of Colin, Sabine imagined that her man wanted to share this last bit of their love before he challenged the sea with his best friend. Perhaps if something happened to either one of them on what was predicted to be a historic day of surfing, then Erik would know they shared something beautiful together. It was purely accidental, but it was relieving them of fear, doubts, and unspoken things that facing possible death could bring.

Sabine's jeweled breasts rubbed against Erik's chest once more as he pressed his full weight back on her, his face staring at Colin's alongside hers as she reached her peak.

Erik sunk down into her over and over again, his hard grunts echoing in her ears.

"Come back to me…come back to me…come back to me…" she huffed back at him.

"Yes! Shit…I'll be here for you…fuck…fuck, baby…taking my dick so good…oh fuck do that again…yeah…like that…squeeze it…squeeze it…yeah…yeah…do that…fuck…keep doing that…that clit is on my dick…baby…"

"I'm cumming!" she shrieked.

"Sugar!"

Erik shouted her name as he swelled inside of her releasing hot spurts of semen deep down into her womb. Her pussy clenched along his length and his moans grew louder as he kept ejaculating. Their eyes were on each other.

"I love you…" Erik groaned as the chords in his neck strained from his release.

"Love you…!" she shrieked.

The rippling of her orgasm bloomed into the throbbing of her anal opening and trickled down through her legs and out of her toes that pointed to the ceiling.

Colin's covers fell aside and she watched him cum all over his hand in thick white ropes that dripped along his fingers like hot candle wax.

"Damn!" he yelled pumping out more semen until he collapsed on his bed.

The room was full of exhausted pants and drenched bodies untwisting from hunched positions. Sabine's eyes regarded Erik's with adoration and contentment. He was all grins and dimples and soft laughter as he stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

Colin removed himself from his bed and padded over to the bathroom. He returned draped in a towel and threw a clean one to Erik while shaking his head at them both.

Sabine allowed Erik to wipe them both and no words were spoken among the three of them as Colin returned to reading his book. She threw her slip on and plodded her way to the bathroom to urinate and clean up better. When she returned to their bed, Erik nuzzled his face against her chest. He listened to her heartbeat until he fell asleep. When she heard Colin snoring, she reached over and turned off the light.

###

Photographers stood posted up along the wall and Sabine stood behind them.

Erik took the first wave of the day.

Sabine's hands became tight balls again inside her coat pockets as she watched Colin tow Erik far out in the ocean. There were no shore breaks for them with waves that size. Drones buzzed above her and out across the water as a slim shimmer of sunlight broke through to join the wind and unpredictable sets coming through. Hanging near the lighthouse, she jumped up and down even though she knew Erik couldn't see her from that far away.

Breath stuck inside her throat and chest, Sabine saw him ride successfully and she exhaled loud along with a few other people holding their breath too. There was much hand-clapping and hooting for him. Other surfers began to crank up and Sabine found herself struggling to breathe as she saw the best of the best navigate size, speed, and execution. Colin and the others on jet ski patrol were kept busy and she nearly lost it when Colin's vehicle took a roll. He clung to it and sped away from incoming drag and she learned to detach from stress.

"Killmonger!"

A woman yelped her man's name and her eyes caught Colin dragging Erik in front of a fast-moving tower but he bailed out at the last minute. Another surfer, Bobby Littleton snagged the ride instead as his partner whipped him into the wave oncoming late. The peak rose behind him like a Lovecraftian shoggoth awakened from the deep. It carried Littleton high as his body was a streak of white watery lines in the liquid.

"Oh shit!" Sabine shouted when Littleton's board was clipped by the foamy white tendrils chasing after him.

He disappeared under a vast wall of water. Two jet skis were unable to get to him and his body was pummeled by another surge of liquid horror.

"Where is here?" someone muttered and they all heard the terror in the question.

It was bad.

Sabine couldn't see a trace of anything and the patrollers who were able to flit in and out of the pounding surf looked confused.

"Jesus!" someone yelped and they all saw a motionless body float to the surface as a desperate patrol team dragged the man onto the back of a rescue board.

Sabine held her hands to her lips as she silently prayed for Littleton. Her eyes darted out to sea checking for Erik, but he sat out there with the others watching and waiting. She hopped on her cell to listen to reports from the beach and sponsors online.

Littleton was dragged to the beach where paramedics waited with a stretcher for him.

"There goes Jenny!"

A woman with a long lens zoom camera shouted and they all turned back to the line and watched one of the few women surfers there take off on a rollercoaster ride that ended in success despite her falling softly into the shoulder of the wave. A collective sigh of relief rolled from the spectators. More surfers continued. None were Erik. A jovial reporter from an Australian news outlet spoke on his phone thirty minutes later and Sabine overheard Littleton's condition.

His back was completely broken. Bones shattered.

Sabine groaned deep in her throat as she closed her eyes thinking of her long recovery.

"Will he be alright?" Sabine asked stepping close to the reporter.

The man stared at her then recognized her face.

"Broken back is all we know so far. He's done," the reporter said.

Her own convalescence had been slow and painful. Littleton would have a full body cast and months of physical therapy ahead of him. That is if he didn't become paralyzed—

"Killmonger!"

Shouts of Erik's name flew about the wall again and Sabine positioned herself near a crop of photographers. One of them handed her a pair of binoculars and she kicked herself for not thinking of bringing her own pair.

Colin waved his finger and Erik gave a signal back to him and released the bar. Colin moved the jet ski along the peak of the wave until he ran along the side to watch Erik glide.

Erik was halfway down and driving the board away from the cloud-white foam curling toward him. He hit a bump and flew headfirst into the wall.

"Erik!"

Sabine nearly flew over the wall before a reporter held her back.

He had powerful lungs.

He could hold his breath longer than most humans.

He was strong.

Erik's head popped up, but he went under another pounding wave that crashed over him. Sabine knew he would relax his body to stay calm so that he wouldn't panic and use up his air too fast. Colin zipped in but couldn't reach Erik before a larger wave came down on him again. When his head broke the surface, he signaled to Colin that he was fine and to stay clear one more time.

Sabine's hands gripped the binoculars as she saw Erik go under again. Four waves. They battered his body and he was drifting toward the jagged rocks in a zone he wanted to stay out of.

"Get him, Colin!" she murmured.

A fifth wave covered him and she couldn't find him as the foamy water subsided. Colin drove in fast and hot circling the area where Erik was last seen. Erik's hand reached out and she saw that he had pulled the tabs on his vest. He was exhausted and couldn't take any more.

"Please…" she whispered as another incoming waved loomed nearby.

Colin reached for Erik's hand but her man was weak. He couldn't pull himself onto the tow rescue board and slipped back under the water. Dragging his hand into the icy water, Colin rooted around for Erik as the rescue tow was tousled and shoved away from her man.

"Erik…" she whispered.

He gasped for air and lunged for the cross webbing on the rescue board. Jamming his right arm in between the webbing, Erik hung on as best he could as Colin whipped them away from certain death. Erik couldn't take another underwater holding. His legs dangled and bounced on the water as Colin drove them toward the beach.

Sabine dropped the binoculars on her chest and covered her eyes.

He's okay. He's okay. He's okay.

Colin helped drag Erik onto the sand and another set of EMTs ran to him with a stretcher. Erik sat up then fell on the stretcher but the EMTs didn't move him. Colin knelt by his side holding his right hand and they stayed that way for a long time. Forty minutes passed and Sabine tried to get information from the same reporter who told her about Littleton, but his sources weren't relaying anything to him.

Her heart returned to the left side of her chest when Erik sat up on his own and shook his head. He stood up on his two feet without help and walked toward the water where he picked up his board. An eruption of claps and whistles rang out around her.

He was fine.

Strapping his surfboard onto the rescue board. He hopped on the back of the jet ski with Colin and they took a circuitous route back out to sea. Erik kept looking over his shoulder toward the fort and Sabine jumped up and down trying to get his attention as she followed his movement with the binoculars. He threw a hand up and she knew he did it just to let her know he was fine even if he couldn't see her.

Her chest puffed out as Erik dropped back into the water and attached his board to his feet once more. He bobbed in the ocean waiting for Colin to move. They seemed to be talking until Colin swept Erik back in front of an oncoming beast.

Sabine became a teenager all over again.

Her hero.

Killmonger.

Riding the biggest wave she would ever see in her entire life.

For a split second, Killmonger looked like Apollo clasping onto the reins of a great chariot and riding icy seawater equines instead of fiery horses across the sky. Colin towed him into the heaving gargantuan maw and Sabine's heart nearly thumped out of her chest again. Killmonger tossed the handle of the leash and Colin raced alongside him once more as they both were lifted by a mountainous wave. Once Killmonger headed down, Colin drove the jet ski above the lip watching his friend drop into the void.

All fear left her then.

This was her dream.

Her destiny.

Killmonger was once more a fast-moving streak of white breaking the surface fast like a finger scooping a trail of dark blue icing from a massive white cake. He stayed ahead of the curling until his tremendous speed tapered off and the whitewater caught up to him, covering him entirely. The tip of his board could be seen just ahead of the impact zone. He shot over the face still standing upright with his hands thrown above his head.

"…biggest…"

"…record…"

"…unbelievable…"

"….massive…"

Sabine shrieked as cameras clicked and flashed. Tossing the binoculars back to the owner, she sprinted out of the fort and ran down toward the beach. Another reporter saw her running from his car and offered her a ride. She took it barely able to contain all the emotions bursting from within. Hopping out of the compact car she ran past paramedics and observers as Colin brought Killmonger to land.

Her man dropped his board and took a deep breath as he looked up at the sky. Was he unable to process what he had just done?

When his head dropped down and his eyes leveled with hers, the biggest grin spread across his face and she tackled him. Wrapping her legs around his waist she hugged him tight and peppered his face with kisses until he slid his arms around her.

"Told you…I brought his peanut head back!" Colin quipped.

"Kept my promise," Erik whispered in her ear.

Sabine cradled his face in her hands.

"Don't cry…" he soothed.

"You did it!"

"I know—"

"When Littleton went down —"

"I'm not going out like that."

"You knew it was a bad wave?"

Erik nodded.

"Good…"

Sabine kissed him and he rocked her. Hopping down from him she ran up to Colin and gave him the biggest hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Nobody else but you!" she shouted poking him in his chest.

"As long as my boy wants to do this, I'll be by his side," Colin declared.

She ran back to Erik and they could see reporters, fans, and event organizers waiting for him above the beach. He glanced over at Colin.

"Whatchu think? Better than Rodrigo?"

"Guinness," Colin said with confidence.

Erik threw an arm around Sabine and pulled her in close.

"I'm still your favorite?" he asked.

"Always," she said bursting into tears.

Sabine buried her face in his chest. He was always going to be her hero.

###

Erik stood once more near the red lighthouse on the fort.

They had more than six hours to get to Lisbon and catch their flight back to the states. He wanted to watch the waves roll in one last time before they left for home. He could hear Sabine and Colin chattering away with some tourists as he scanned the horizon.

There was speculation that he may have ridden a behemoth near one hundred feet in height. It would take time to be verified. All Erik knew was that the moment he released the leash, his only thought was to ride down and ride out. His brain slowed down his thoughts and his body went into muscle memory and self-action. He was drained from the previous run and almost gave up the ghost while lying exhausted on the beach. His safety vest had burst and was unable to buoy him properly and he used all of his lasting strength to stay alive and not become a battered body. His woman had watched another man's broken body lifted into an ambulance and whisked away to a career-ending turn. Littleton retired immediately once he was out of surgery. He would never return to the career he loved.

That final drop had Erik barely using his rail to control his movement. He glided across a once in a lifetime wave and lived to talk about it.

Because of her.

Sugar.

How many times did he bypass riding big waves at Nazare over the years? He'd vacationed there and watched friends go at it, but the desire waxed and waned, and sometimes when he thought he was ready, the weather and waves didn't come together in certain years, or he was too late arriving once the ginormous swells had passed on to another part of the world.

This time, things were aligned, and he sat that at Sugar's feet. She had gathered up his messy life, shook it out, and straightened up all the lumpy wrinkled bits.

Erik watched her talk to Colin as he took pictures of the waves for his own Surfgeist website.

His best friend watched him make love to Sugar. The man stroked himself to an orgasm and Erik didn't care. Strange. The need to allow Colin a glimpse into an intimacy that he would cherish for the rest of his life was like bestowing a sacred gift. It would never happen again, and they would never speak of it. They were all feeling like fragile mortals that night and that glimpse into the eternal trumped everything in Erik's mind.

Stranger still, the act brought him closer to Sugar and his mind sought out hers.

"Baby," he called out to her.

She scurried over to him and linked her arm with his. Colin continued taking his pictures and they walked away from him to the other side of the lighthouse.

"I want you to live with me and the kids permanently," he said.

Her eyes studied his.

"I don't want you house-hopping or couch surfing anymore. I want all your things with us. We're your home base now."

"Serious?"

"I want to try new things, but I need you with me. Marina and Deuce need you too."

Her eyes took in the sea.

"I have all these ideas going on in my head. My production company is growing and I want to work with Colin more and travel less."

"Are you retiring?"

"No. Not yet."

"What about breaking Slater's record and going into the history books?"

"Don't need it like that. Not like before."

"Why?"

"Because of you."

He held her hand.

"You've given my life new meaning. Shit that I thought was life or death….they just don't matter to me like that anymore. I read somewhere that when your authentic life calls to you, you have to answer."

"You sound like mi abuela."

"She had a hand in my thoughts."

Sugar watched his face closely.

"So…what do you think?" he asked.

"All my stuff?"

"Yeah."

"That means my friends will be over all the time—"

"I like them-"

"My parents too—"

"Love them-"

"Our schedules may flip flop a lot when I start surfing again…soon."

"Bring it."

Her smile was all he needed and he felt himself soar deep in his bones.

Erik leaned in toward her and her lips smothered his before he could reach hers first. They heard music blaring from a car that drove away and she pulled back first.

"We need to get going," Colin said catching Erik's attention.

Erik held out his hand for Sugar. She rested her palm easy in his and he led her toward their future together.

###

"Wait…that's not a good one."

Sabine looked behind her as she floated on her board. The waves in Mission Beach were about three feet, nothing too impressive, but perfect for her and Marina to have a lazy surf day.

Marina lifted up from her board and sat back to bob in the water with Sabine.

"I should practice on bad waves so I can be good like you in any condition," Marina answered.

Sabine smiled. Marina sat her hands on her board. The sun burned down from behind them and with no strong breeze or protection, there would be burns when they stepped out of the water. They both opted not to wear rash guards since it was the first day of Spring.

"What do you want to do for your birthday?" Sabine asked.

Marina grabbed the top of her ponytail and pulled the thick curls to tighten up her hairband.

"Go to Baja."

"Again?"

"I love it there."

"You just want Abuela to spoil you."

Marina grinned.

"We just went there for Christmas and New Year's. How 'bout someplace new?"

"I'll be twelve so I want to have a fancy dinner party and dress up."

"That sounds like a plan."

"In Italy."

"Ooh, big time," Sabine teased.

"Sugar?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you and Daddy get married?"

"We haven't talked about that—"

"But you love each other—"

"We do—"

"So why not get married?"

"You want your father married?"

She nodded.

"He's happy. I think he wants to marry you," Marina insisted.

Sabine stared at the shore. She could see the tri-level and smoke coming up from the outdoor grill. Erik and Deuce were preparing dinner since it was their night to do so.

"How would you feel if we got married?"

"I'd feel happy. Happier. I would also make the best maiden of honor."

Sabine splashed water on her and Marina splashed her back and glanced over her shoulder.

"This sucks donkey balls—"

"Hey!"

"These are terrible surfing conditions."

"Better."

Marina smirked and tightened her hair again.

"Marina…thank you."

"For what?"

"Coming into my life. Being an awesome young lady. Being my friend."

The girl's thick eyelashes fluttered. She was so big now. A little pre-teen. Practically the same age Deuce was when she first met him. Her once thin body was heavier, more athletic, and she was taller too. Her parents were tall so she was bound to sprout into a little tree herself.

"I could say the same thing to you, y'know."

"Well say it!"

Marina giggled.

"I can do something better," she said.

Marina scooted her board closer to Sabine's and held out her pinky finger.

Sabine's breath caught in her throat.

"That's for you and your Dad, Baby Shark," Sabine said.

"It's for family. C'mon…"

Marina wiggled her finger toward her. Sabine linked her right pinky with the girl and they snapped their fingers afterward.

"Here's a good one," Sabine said.

"Let's go!" Marina yelled.

They paddled fast and caught a wave together and just rode it straight to the sand. No fancy moves. No one-eighties or shredding. Just smooth gliding. Grabbing their boards when they hit the sand, they walked to the house and joked together. The odor of grilled meat hit their nostrils and Sabine heard her stomach grumble.

Deuce jumped in front of her.

"Wait right there!" he said running into the house.

"Where's he going?" Sabine asked.

Erik turned over some steaks and wiped his hands on a paper towel ignoring her. Marina took their surfboards and leaned them against the house and rinsed them down with a hose.

"Check it!"

Deuce returned with a board covered inside a blue board sock. He handed it to her. Sabine had been working on the very first surfboard that she shaped all by herself and Erik promised to have it painted by the weekend.

"Is this my board?" she squealed.

"Sort of," Erik said.

Sabine took the shortboard from Deuce and unzipped it. The surfboard inside was not the pale canary yellow she asked for. It was a different board altogether.

"What is this?" she asked.

Turning the three-finned purple and silver beauty around to the front her mouth dropped open.

"Deuce designed the logo, and I'm going to run a limited series of them when you start the tour."

Fancy script in glossy royal purple and chrome lettering spelled out "Azucar!" along the deck.

"We have some other designs we're testing, but this is the first one we made," Deuce said.

His light eyes were framed by short carefree curls. A faint mustache was coming in to match the maturity of his face.

"I don't think Maverick can come at me for trademark infringement, but this is all you, Sugar. A future star deserves her own surfboard line," Erik said.

Sabine ran her left hand along the clean surface of her name. On the tail of the board was a silver three-cubed geometric shape stacked like a little pyramid. Deuce saw her checking it out.

"I'm trying to work on something like sugar cubes, but since this is the prototype, you're stuck with it."

"I love it, Deuce," she said.

Marina grabbed her board from the wall.

"Let's go test it!" the girl shouted running back toward the water.

Sabine kissed Deuce on his forehead and Erik on his lips.

"I love it! Thank you!"

She trailed after Marina.

"Wait! What about the food?" Erik shouted to them both.

"Later, dude!" Marina tossed back to him wiggling a shaka sign with her thumb and pinky finger above her head.

"Women. See how they left us to do all the cooking and board making?" Deuce whined.

"For them? Always," she heard Erik declare.

When Sabine and Marina popped up on their surfboards to ride fast and loose, the waves were much better.

So much better.


A.N.: Well this concludes the first book in the series! The second book, "Beyond The Waves" starts next month. I wanted this family to be happy for a little bit before I get into Sugar becoming the phenom she is destined to be and all that drama that brings. Thanks for reading! And please, feel free to comment. No one says anything about the story, so I'm just posting hoping it's doing okay, lol!