Marie Sexton - Between Sinners And Saints by Marie Sexton Page A

don’t see clients on Saturdays.”
“You have any plans?”
“No.” Jaime never had plans. “Why?”
Levi smiled at him. “Perfect,” he said as he placed Jaime’s keys in his hand. “I’ll pick you up at ten. Bring your swimsuit.”
“We’re going swimming?” Jaime asked in surprise.
“No,” Levi said, still smiling. “We’re going surfing.”
* * *
    Jaime was both elated and terrified at the idea of learning to surf. He felt as if he barely paid attention to his clients all day. All he could think about was being in the water the next day. With Levi.
    He wasn’t sure what had prompted Levi to offer to teach him, but he wasn’t complaining. He’d wished many times he knew how, but he’d never taken lessons because he was afraid there would be physical contact involved. He also wasn’t sure where to go to avoid running into some type of surfer gang. He’d seen Point Break and while he suspected it was nothing but Hollywood bullshit, he didn’t exactly want to find out the hard way he was wrong.
    Levi picked him up right on time and drove them to the beach. “The waves are kind of small here,” Levi told him as he parked. “Which is good for us since you’re just learning, and it means there won’t be any knuckleheads in our way.”
    They carried the boards out onto the beach, and Levi laid them both on the sand. “We won’t get in the water yet. First, you’re going to lie down on the board and practice jumping up.”
    Jaime felt a little ridiculous, but he didn’t argue. He lay on his stomach on the board, then jumped to his feet.
“You have to go faster than that.”
Jaime tried again.
“You have your left foot back,” Levi said this time. “Try jumping up with your right foot back.”
Jaime did, but found it more awkward. “Will my weight be on my back or front foot?”
“Slightly more on the back foot, but not too much. Maybe sixty-forty. Try again.”
Jaime did, but it still felt awkward.
“You’re pushing on the board under your chest like a push-up. Some people think that’s awkward. You can try using the rails instead.”
Jaime looked down at the flat board in confusion. “What rails?”
“The sides of the board.”
Using the rails did make it a little easier, and a couple of tries later, he felt like he’d managed to stand up faster than before.
“You’re left foot is back again,” Levi said in amusement.
“Is that wrong?”
“Not necessarily.” He shook his head. “Leave it to you to be a goofy-foot. Are you left-handed?”
“Yes.”
“Not all southpaws put their left foot back, but some do. Go ahead and try again.”
“With my left foot back or my right?”
“Whichever feels best.”
It definitely felt more natural with his left foot back, and after a few more tries, Levi declared Jaime ready to try it in the water. He grabbed his own board and led Jaime out into the surf. The beach had a slow slope, and they paddled out to the point where most of the waves were crashing.
“We’ll start on the whitewater first,” Levi told him. “It’s easier than the swells. The trick is to be in the wave right as it breaks. You’ll paddle, but as soon as you feel the water grab you, stop paddling and jump up. Let the force of the water do the work.”
Of course, the first few tries were miserable failures. He could feel what Levi was telling him about the water. He knew when to paddle and when to stand. The problem was staying on his feet. The first couple of times, he came up too close to one side of the board or the other. Even once he got his balance centered between the rails, he kept tipping forward into the water.
“It seems like you want to put more of your weight on your front foot,” Levi said after his fourth face-first fall into the surf.
“Is that wrong?”
“Not necessarily, but you’ll have to compensate for it by moving back on the board a bit.”
Jaime was sitting astride his board and he scooted backward a couple of inches, while Levi scanned the