Chapter 86

Groaning, Sara rolled onto her stomach then half-fell off the bed and went over to the wardrobe, pulling open drawers as she tried to remember where she’d put her swimsuit. Jon sprawled across the bed watching her patiently, until she finally grinned in triumph, and pulled the swimsuit out. She turned to go to the bathroom, to change, but Jon stopped her.

“Where you goin’ babe?”

“To put my swimsuit on.”

He laughed at that. “Darlin’, it’s not like I’ve not seen you naked, is it? I promise to be good.”

He held up three fingers like a boy scout, but the naughty-boy grin gave the lie to his words. Sara dropped the suit on the bed anyway, pulling off her sandals and unfastening her jeans, letting them fall to the floor. Her thong was pale blue this time, and Jon squinted at it as he read the logo.

“Hey!” He sat up, pretending to be offended. “Nickelback? You’re wearing Nickelback panties?”

“Huh?” She looked down. “Yeah, so I am. What can I say? I like fun clothes, and it’s a cool design.”

“Nickelback are good, actually - we had a lot of fun out on the road with them.” He grinned suddenly. “I still win, though - they may be on your panties, but I’m the one who’s getting into your panties. I know which I prefer.”

Sara giggled. “Bad boy. I forgot you toured with them.” She gave a cheeky smile. “Is Ryan as cute as he looks in the photos?”

“Hey, hussy! Nah - he’s not your type.”

“Oh, and what’s my type, then?”

“I dunno. What was it you said? Devilishly handsome? Older, too - Ryan’s just a kid - he’s too young for you!”

“Aw, baby - did I hurt your feelings?” Sara stepped over to the bed and took his face in her hands as he nodded, pouting dramatically.

She held his head as she kissed him, not pulling back as she felt his hand hooking the side of her thong, pulling it downward.

“You were taking this off anyway, weren’t you?” He mumbled against her lips, and Sara just gave an ‘mmmmm’ of agreement as Jon pulled her onto the bed with him.

His hand was just pushing her t shirt up when there was a knock at the door, accompanied by a call of “Housekeeping”.

“Oh, shit.” Sara muttered, but Jon grinned.

“Just you stay right there.”

He stood up, just flipping the cover onto her, and walked to the door, opening it a fraction.

“Sorry - we’re just getting ready to go out. Can you come back later?”

“Oh, no problem. Take your time. I’ll start at the other end.”

Jon closed the door, smiling. “Now that’s a crazy accent!”

There was disappointment waiting for him, though, because when he reached the end of the short corridor, Sara was just pulling the straps of her swimsuit over her shoulders.

“Damn - you didn’t waste any time, did you?” He muttered, and she threw him a smile over her shoulder.

“Sorry, baby - but you did want to go surfing, right?” She reached for her jeans, pulling them on over the swimsuit.

“Yeah, okay.” With a swift movement, he caught her hand and pulled her hard against him, his tongue driving between her lips as he kissed her fiercely. When he let go of her, Sara looked slightly dazed, a hungry look on her face.

“Wow.” She whispered. “Maybe we should leave the surfing for a while.”

Jon grinned wickedly. “Oh, no. I want you so bad, but just think how sweet it’ll be after the anticipation…….we’ll have our fun later, darlin’. Right now, I wanna see you in that wetsuit!”

“You win. But, after waiting, I don’t know I’ll want ‘sweet’.” She blushed just a bit.

“Darlin’ - after waiting all day, I don’t think I’ll be able to do sweet. Not for the first go-around, anyway. It’ll be our last night for a while, too, so we’ll have to make it special.”

“Jon - every time I’m with you is special.” She smiled, then grabbed her t shirt. “Oh, let’s get moving before I get all sappy on you!”

“Get as sappy as you like, baby. But we probably should get going.”

Jon waited while Sara pulled on her shirt then they headed out, Sara bringing her little bag and a couple of towels. Leaving the hotel, they crossed the parking lot and headed on down onto the beach, finding the surf shop just before the wooden bridge.

Inside the shop, Jon turned to look at some boards, while Sara went to the counter to ask about hiring suits and boards. There was music playing, and she thought she recognised the song, but wasn’t sure, since she didn’t normally listen to current music, except for a bit of Nickelback. The young guy at the counter was singing along softly as he worked, stopping when Sara came up.

“Hey. Can I help you?”

“Uh, I hope so. We’re looking to hire some stuff?”

The guy reached to turn the music down, but Sara stopped him. “Let it play - I quite like that. Who is it?”

“Bon Jovi.” The guy said, his expression saying ‘what, you don’t recognise it?’!

“Oh.” Was all Sara could manage as she reddened, hoping Jon was still over by the surfboards. No such luck.

“I heard that.” He said right in her ear, and she covered her face.

“Crap. Now I’m in trouble.”

“Bet your ass you are.” Where the surf shop guy couldn’t see, Jon’s hand slapped gently against her ass, reinforcing his words.

The guy behind the counter stared a little as he realised who Jon was, but he managed to act like it was no big deal, the same way Alex had in the bar, and he continued talking to Sara, telling her the prices and details for hiring gear. Sara looked lost when he started asking if they wanted long boards or body boards or malibus, and Jon stepped in.

“Babe - have you surfed before?”

Sara shook her head, no.

“Okay - in that case I guess we want a body board and I’ll take a long board. There’s a blue one over there that looks about right to me.”

“I think I know the one you mean. Gimme a sec.”

The guy headed over to the rack of boards, leaving Jon and Sara by the counter.

“I guess I’ll have to teach you to surf, then?”

“Yes, please.” She glanced across, seeing the guy still wrestling a board out of the rack, and she stepped a little closer. “Are your lessons expensive?”

“Baby, you can pay me in kind. But, yeah, it’ll take you a while to work it off.”

“Oh good.”

Finally the guy came back, carrying a blue surfboard and a much smaller board, both of which he propped against the counter.

“Wetsuits?” The guy asked, going to a rail when Jon nodded, and glancing back at them, gauging their size. He pulled two suits off the rail and brought them across. “There’s a couple of changing rooms over the back there, and some lockers for your clothes - or did you want to take the stuff back to your hotel, change there?”

“Seems a bit silly,” Sara said, “to go back to the hotel just to come back to the beach. May as well change here.”

Quickly, the guy added the total and Sara handed over money, shaking her head when Jon made to protest at her paying. Grinning, the young assistant said they normally required ID and security, but in this case he’d make an exception!

They took the wetsuits and went over to the changing rooms. Sara went into one, closing the door as Jon tried to join her, and he laughed softly as he went into the neighbouring cubicle. It only took him a few minutes to strip off his jeans and shirt and get into the wetsuit - all those years of running off stage to change clothes and get back on before the next song paid off sometimes. Bundling his jeans and shirt with his shoes, Jon stuffed them into a locker and turned the key before knocking on the door of Sara’s cubicle.

“Aren’t you ready yet?”

The door opened and Sara came out, her body wrapped snugly in the black neoprene making Jon grin appreciatively.

“Definitely worth freezing my ass off.” He murmured, dwelling on the back view as she gathered her clothes and put them into a locker.

“Is it meant to be this tight?” She asked, and Jon nodded.

“Yep. Let’s go, then.”

At the front of the store, they left their locker keys with the assistant and picked up their boards.

“Have fun, guys. Just make sure and stay between the black and white flags - the surf patrol keep the beach under a pretty close eye.”

“Thanks.”

Walking down to the water, Jon explained to Sara that she couldn’t stand on the board she had, but it would let her get the feel for the water and some of the technique, and if she wanted to try more, she could use his board.

“I figured, since it’s the first time, you’d be better to just play and enjoy it, rather than stress about getting up on the board. That’s how I taught Jesse.”

“I’m in your hands.”

“I wish you were - but that’s for later. Right now we’re surfing!”

Down at the water’s edge, they strapped the buddy lines of their boards onto their ankles then headed into the sea, where Jon led Sara out to the breakline, showing her to lie on the board and paddle over the incoming waves as they got out of their depth. He talked her through ‘catching’ a wave, then yelled encouragement as he sent her to try. She was lucky, and managed to catch it the first time, and Jon sat astride his board watching her skim shoreward on the board, laughing as she eventually got her balance wrong and tipped over into the foaming surf.

Sara stood up laughing, amazed to find that, from starting in water so deep she couldn’t even try to touch bottom she was now barely calf-deep, all in the space of less than a minute. She dragged her board back to deeper water and paddled out to Jon, grinning widely, and he dropped to lie flat on his board so he was at her level.

“God, that’s fun!” Jon grinned back at her, the enthusiasm infectious. “It’s a bit like ski-ing, though - spend ten minutes paddling out, to get back in no time at all.”

“Guess it is. Ready to go again?”

“Oh yeah.”

After a few unsuccessful attempts, she caught another wave and rode it in. When she stood up, looking for Jon, she saw him gliding toward her, standing effortlessly on the board as he flicked it across the face of the wave, until he swung broadside and jumped off, unable to come as close to shore because of the fins on his board.

“Show-off!” She shouted, and he bowed mockingly.

“You wanna try?”

“Looks difficult.”

“It’s not so tough - just try coming up onto your knees at first. You just need to move fast, once you get up on the wave, and stay central on the board. Come on. Swap boards.”

Standing in the shallows, they switched boards, Sara struggling a little with the bigger board until she got into deep enough water to paddle. After a few tries, she managed to get onto her knees on the board, finding that the big board ran much faster than the smaller bodyboard, the water hissing beneath her. Another couple of runs, then she over-reached herself when she tried to turn to look back at Jon, the board tilting and tossing her into the water just as the wave broke, driving her deep underwater. A few moments of panic, then she managed enough rational thought to just put her feet down, standing up in waist-deep water, coughing and choking on the mouthfuls of salt water.

“Sara!! Are you okay?” Jon was paddling toward her, but she waved and nodded, still unable to speak as she coughed out the water.

Realising she was okay, Jon started to laugh, and after a second she joined him.

“Guess I got too cocky, huh?”

“Yeah.” Jon glanced at his watch, seeing that they’d been playing in the water for nearly four hours. “Do you want to head back?”

“I think so. I’m getting tired, and I can’t feel my feet. Actually, I haven’t been able to feel them for a while. Have you had enough?”

“I’ve had enough of surfing.”