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

waves behind him. “There’s one coming now. You ready?”
“Of course not,” Jaime said, although he couldn’t keep himself from smiling like a fool as he moved to his stomach on the board.
“Here it comes,” Levi said. “Paddle, paddle, paddle!”
If Levi said anything else after that, Jaime couldn’t hear him. He was already paddling toward the shore. The sun beat down on his back and his eyes burned from the salt water. He felt the board lift a little and then cool water splashed over his legs as the wave broke. The force of the white water caught his board, pushing it on. Jaime quit paddling. He grabbed the rails and jumped to his feet, a bit farther back than he’d been before. He wobbled a little, but found his balance. And then…
He was surfing!
It wasn’t graceful, and he thought he probably looked more awkward on his board than anything, but it felt great. He could hear Levi whooping behind him. He made it halfway to shore before the force of the wave died away and he drifted to a halt, feeling triumphant.
Dismounting was even less graceful than the ride had been. He tried to step off the board, which threw his balance off and he landed on his back in the shallow water. Before he could get up, Levi was there. He grabbed Jaime’s arms and pulled him to his feet, laughing and pounding him on the back.
“Did you see that?” Jaime asked. “I did it!”
“You did.”
“Oh my God, that was great! I want to do it again!” He looked around for his board and realized it had washed farther into shore, along with Levi’s.
“You’re a natural,” Levi said, although he only sounded halfserious.
“Yeah, right.” Jaime laughed, turning to look back at him.
Levi was smiling at him. His wet hair was pushed backward off his tan face. His eyes were happy and bright. He was so at ease and so unbelievably gorgeous, Jaime found himself staring. Of course, Levi always looked great. But there was something about seeing him here, in his element, that was different. He seemed so much more real. So much happier.
Levi’s hand moved on his arm, and Jaime looked down in surprise at where Levi was still hanging onto him after pulling him out of the surf. He hadn’t quite realized how close he’d let Levi get, and it troubled him. He pulled away instinctively, and Levi let him go.
“Come on,” Levi said, as he headed toward their boards, which were now stranded on shore. “A few more like that and we can try some real waves.”
They surfed all day. They stopped once long enough to walk up the shore to a beachside restaurant where Levi ordered Coronas and the Captain’s Special, which turned out to be a basket full of unidentifiable deep-fried objects, and then it was back into the water. Levi led him farther out this time and tried to show him how to ride down the face of the wave as it was cresting, before it crashed. It was harder, but Jaime thought he’d be able to do it, with a bit more practice.
By the time Levi dropped him off in front of his house, he was exhausted and extremely sunburned.
“Thanks for taking me,” he said to Levi.
“You’re welcome.”
“I’ll see you Monday for your massage?”
“I’ll be there.”
Jaime closed the door to the truck and was turning toward his house when Levi called out, “Hey, Jaime?”
“Yeah?” he asked, turning back to peer through the open truck window at Levi.
“You want to go again tomorrow?”
Jaime couldn’t stop a giant smile from spreading across his face, even though he knew he probably looked like a fool. “I’d love to.”
“Good,” Levi said. “I’ll pick you up at ten.”

CHAPTER 10
    A weekend of surfing with Jaime erased Levi’s argument with his mother from his mind. But only until the following Monday when Ruth called.
    “Are you trying to break Mom’s heart, Leviticus?” she asked accusingly. “Are you trying to be a selfish jerk?”
“She started it,” Levi snapped, knowing as he did how childish he sounded.
Ruth’s silence