A Year Around the Sun

t w e n t y - i'm probably being weird

it's whatever forever
and it just keeps getting b e t t e r . . .

🌊🌊🌊

Owen treating Brody and I to dinner meant that I had plenty of quality time spent with the man who acts as Brody's father figure. We got to know a lot about each other over fried food at a retro diner in town that the two of them always go to when they're in this area. Of course Owen is protective of Brody, but he also has his best interest in mind as well. He seems like the type of person to put everyone he cares about in front of himself. He's also the kind of person that you can easily get along with minutes after meeting him.

The following afternoon, I found myself right next to Owen on the beach. My nails digging into his bicep, my other hand covering my mouth as we watched Brody hit every move in his set. Owen was chewing on the nails of his free hand, anxious about Brody's last trick that he was having trouble with yesterday.

All of the surfers competing today had some extra time early this morning to practice a bit, which means I was woken up at an ungodly hour, hoisted out of my warm bed, and dragged to the beach. The sand hit my feet and my eyes weren't even open yet. I don't even think the sun was up, that's how early it was.

By now, I shook off the tiredness and was wide awake, watching Brody tear it up in the ocean.

"I haven't been this nervous in so long," I muttered into my palm, my eyes darting along with wherever my surfer boy went.

Owen let out a shaky sigh, taking a break from biting his nails to rummage his curls around. "He's doing awesome. I just hope lands that floater," he said in a strained voice. "Here it comes."

At Owen's rushed words, I stood on my toes to get a better view of Brody. I seemed to be at a loss today because of my height – there were a lot more people crowding the beach than I thought there would be. But then again, what do I really know about surfing competitions?

One of the announcers said something over the loudspeaker that I didn't understand, either because the sound sucked or I was too focused on Brody to notice anything else. I clutched Owen's arm a little tighter when Brody "floated" along the top of a breaking wave, then gracefully came down again without a problem, causing Owen and I to gasp.

"He did it! He fucking did it!" Owen screamed. He hastily grabbed me into a hug, lifting me up off the ground and squishing me in his arms. I let him go on for a minute, with me flailing around in his grip until he finally put me down again.

Brody's set ended and everyone clapped for him, Owen and I being extra obnoxious with our cheers which made everyone stare at us, as if they weren't already. A man stopped Brody after he came out of the water with his board tucked under his arm, and I knit my eyebrows as they talked for a few minutes.

"He's a sponsor," Owen answered my question without even having to hear it – I guess the confusion was pretty blatant on my face. "Whenever they see someone they like, or anyone that's really good, they try to snatch them up to represent their company. But since Brody's got his deal with Dive, he can't go with any other brands in the meantime."

"Dive?" I cocked my head to the side and looked up at Owen now. His eyes were still trained on Brody, calculating his every move.

"Yeah. They're a new company that sells surfing gear and shit like that. It's a pretty small brand that's just starting out, but they're really successful so far," he explained to me. "Brody got scouted by one of their guys when we were out in Cali sometime last year, and I told him to go for it since they're the first brand to really reach out to him and want him as a part of their team. He's on the road to being the brand ambassador for them."