A Pirate's Crush

16. A Private Lesson

I know what you're thinking. Omg a new chapter so soon? Is this for realsies?  Well... yes. Lemme explain. This chapter plus what I published the other day was supposed to all be Ch.15, but I thought it might be too long since I was approaching 6k words, so I split it. In hindsight I probably should've kept it as 1 since chapter 15 ended up being super short, but whatever. So basically, I got an extra chapter for free, and I couldn't wait to post it because this entire thing was fun to write and I wanna share it. This won't be the norm, though. The wait for Ch.17 should be like any normal wait for the next chapter. This was just a side effect of the chapter becoming too long. I was gonna wait to post, but then I was like screw it, nobody will complain about new content this soon. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

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"Anyway, enough of that," I said. "I don't wanna think about work anymore. For the rest of the day, I ain't your secretary. I'm your coach. Ready to get started?"

"Heck yeah!" he said, eagerly reaching for my surfboard like a child seeing candy.

"Whoa whoa whoa," I said, pulling the board away before he could grab it. He looked confused. "Not so fast, buddy. This is your very first time, right?" I asked, to which he nodded. "In that case, gotta teach you some basic things first."

I gestured for him to follow me out to knee-deep water. Once we were out there, I placed the board in the water to show him how he should lay.

"Every board's different, but for this one your chest should be lined up with the middle," I said, laying on the board myself to demonstrate. "Just like this. You're taller than me, so it might be different for... h-hey! Focus!"

He's checking out my butt!

I snapped my fingers at him. 

"Ya wanna learn or not?" I asked. "Or is a girl in a swimsuit gonna be too distracting for ya?"

"I-I wasn't—!"

"I saw where you were looking," I said. "Don't make me slap ya."

His face went beet red. I'm honestly not sure how I feel. I didn't come out here to be eye candy, but at the same time... it's him. Even if it was a little crude, he was still enamored by me.

Crap, am I blushing again? Ugh... whatever. Probably best to just play it off for now.

"J-Just because I'm in a swimsuit, it doesn't mean you can stare, ya hear?" I said.

Ugh... stammering again. He really caught me off guard with that. Regardless, it looks like he got the message.

"I-I'm paying attention," he said. "Sorry."

I rolled my eyes. The threat of a slap probably helped.

"Good," I said, hoping he didn't see me blushing. "Anyway, you give it a try."

We swapped spots and I kept the board steady while he found his position. Not sure why, but it was kinda cute to watch him adjust himself.

"Feel alright?" I asked.

"Seems pretty solid," he said.

"Great," I said. "Lemme attach the leg rope..."

I gave instructions as I wrapped the leg rope around his ankle. Basically, take the board out to waist-deep water and get on the board when you see white water coming.

"Make sure it's a good distance out so you can paddle around," I said, showing him the paddling motion. "Don't stop paddling until the wave starts pushing you. And don't try to stand up either. Just bellyboard. Once you can catch waves reliably, I'll teach ya how to pop up. And remember, if you get caught by a rip, don't fight it. Just stay calm, and let the waves take you back to shore. If you're really in trouble, hold your hand up high and I'll come get ya. Got all that?"