Ollie comes out onto the balcony. He’s pulling on a T-shirt. He scrubs a hand through his hair, which is sticking out in every direction. It’s unfair, more than unfair, how he can look gorgeous even when he’s probably hungover and definitely only half awake, even when Tai is a strange combination of angry and confused and faintly, unexpectedly humiliated. Tai’s kept some things secret for so long. He and Ollie kissed and now he’s exposed.
Tai looks away, back out to the safety of the ocean.
“Hey.” Ollie’s voice is rough with sleep and the night before. It’s infuriatingly sexy.
“Hey.” Tai says toward the water, then sighs gustily. It’s not as though they can avoid one another, and this isn’t the kind of thing he can just let be. “Okay,” he begins, turning to Ollie and leaning back against the rail. In the sunlight, Ollie’s freckles stand out against his skin and his eyes are pale and blue and gray. “Okay, Ollie, I have to ask. What the fuck was that last night?”
It’s Ollie’s turn to look away. Tai watches his jawline shift as he thinks. He’s known Ollie for a long time. He knows how much he can get tangled in his thoughts.
“It’s okay,” says Tai. He’s giving Ollie an out. “You can tell me you were drunk. Just tell me that, Ollie.”
“I wasn’t that drunk.”
Tai is both irritated and secretly, intensely glad that Ollie’s willing to say it.
“It wasn’t just— I guess I wanted to see what the fuss was. I wanted to know what it was like,” Ollie continues.
“What? What it was like to kiss a boy?”
Ollie frowns. He speaks as if it’s all so very obvious. “No. To kiss you, you fucker.” He hesitates but then goes on. “I watched Ashton last night, the way he was with you. It hurt. It wasn’t jealousy. It was—look, this guy I’ve never heard of knows parts of you that I don’t know, and I wanted that too. To be important to you in a different way—to know that.”
“Okay,” says Tai. The thought of knowing Ollie that way is dangerously appealing. “I don’t know what to do with that.”
Ollie leans against the rail too, not close enough to touch. Not that Tai would reach out if he could. He’s always careful about Ollie’s edges.
The tide is coming in, and the noise of the surf is everywhere. Tai looks at Ollie: his familiar profile, his long arms folded across his body, his legs stretched out. Ollie lifts his face to the sky. Looking at the long arch of his throat, Tai can’t swallow.
Tai says, “We have a whole life already, Ollie. Your career, the Blue House. There’s a lot to lose. I’m not going to risk all that to be some kind of experiment for you.”
“No, of course.” Ollie turns back to him, struck. “I mean, that’s not really—”
Tai wants to smooth Ollie’s hair and trace his cheekbones. But more than that, he wants to redefine the space between them before everything explodes.
“Let’s forget it. Please, Ollie?”
Ollie opens his mouth as if he’s going to say something more. Then he shrugs. “Okay.” There’s nothing to say. At length, Ollie looks around. “So, we’re here. The best resort on the North Shore. Want to head down and take a swim in one of the pools?”
It’s a relief to say yes and finish this conversation.
The nearest pool has a palm-clad channel that runs by the force of underwater jets. There are a couple of fountains too. Ollie finds a deep point and dives in cleanly.
“Show-off,” Tai mutters and cups his hands around one of the fountains to direct it to shoot Ollie in the face when he surfaces. Ollie splutters, then springs through the water to exact revenge. Soon they’re both shaking water from their eyes and laughing. Ollie somersaults in beside Tai. Tai laughs. They can probably turn this around, turn everything back to the way it was.
Tai dives in and swims a lap underwater. Everything is quiet and aqua blue. Swimming is the best solution to confusion and emotion and last night’s lack of sleep.
* * *
Pipe Masters starts for real on a cloudy Tuesday morning the next week. Ollie’s nervous. It’s a strong field, the top thirty-four surfers in the world. But somehow, from the start, Ollie’s got this. It’s as if he owns the ocean. All of his heats go smoothly. The waves are perfect tumbling barrels, typical for this break. They’re everything he wished, and he knows them the way he knows himself.
On the afternoon of the fifth day, Ollie leaves Tai and the others up the beach and stands in the wet sand, facing the ocean.
This is it. The finals. His opponent is Marco Leederville, an American from the mainland. He’s third in the world. He’s both experienced and talented, and is one of Ollie’s heroes.
“I’ll go gentle on you, rookie,” Marco drawls. Ollie looks into his quick, crinkled eyes and is certain he’ll lose.
Early in the heat, Marco pretends he wants a wave while Ollie has position. Ollie’s fooled. He takes the wave, which of course falls flat, as does Ollie’s run on it. Marco laughs at him as Ollie paddles back out. Ollie’s frustrated. He should’ve expected that. “Pick your own waves,” he hears Tai say in his head. “Never watch what your opponent is doing.”
Ollie takes a breath and refocuses. And then his board becomes an extension of himself, as if, through it, he knows how every wave will behave before it even lifts from the ocean. He takes two nice rides and then holds position carefully until he sees a perfect wave come in. He grins into the sun. That wave is his.
As he shoots through the blue, everything is loud and bright and exactly right. The world’s just carrying him. He carves into the wave as it spirals over him in a tight tube. The wash chases after him, licks at the board, but he’s going too fast for it, and his board is soft and mobile against his feet. He bends to fit in the space left by the water and turns to stay right in the pocket. The green room opens up. When he exits the tube, he skims across the surface and then turns up the slope again before letting the board escape the wave.
Ollie’s paddled halfway out again before the horn sounds, signaling that the heat is over. The judges’ score for Ollie’s last wave is put up on the sign on shore. A wave rolls under his board. The last ride netted him a 9.4. Ollie adds up his scores. He adds them up again. It’s more than enough to win him the final.
He stays out in the ocean, bobbing halfway between the waves and the wash. The cheers carry out from shore. He shakes himself and looks around. Marco’s making his way in. He nods across the water. “Decent job, rookie. See you at the next stop.”
And that’s right. There’s a next stop now. It’s been a long time coming.
His body shaking, Ollie follows Marco in. He can see Jaime leaping around like a wild thing. Sunny and Hannah are hugging and dancing in circles. Tai is watching Ollie. His dark eyes are sweet even from this far away. They’re still far apart, but they beam at one another across the sand as Ollie stands at the edge of the ocean.
He steps out of the water, hoisting his board under his shoulder. Right away he’s crowded by photographers. “Top ride, Ollie,” calls one. “Look over here and give us the hang loose, Ollie,” says another. The camera shutters click and the flashes flash. Ollie tries to do as they ask.
“What are you riding, Ollie?” asks one guy.
Ollie grins at that. “My friend Tai made this board. Look out for him.”
“We’d like to have a word,” says a woman he doesn’t recognize. “I’m with Hurley.” Ollie glances at her, startled.
“Can you go up to the media tent first?” says a marshal of some kind. “You need to do some press.”
“Billabong,” says a tall guy. “Pretty sure you’ll want to chat with us, Ollie.”
From behind him, a voice says, “You want me to handle their questions?” When he turns Carise shrugs, but she seems a little nervous, as though she hadn’t expected to be so bold. Ollie doesn’t recall hiring her, but he probably will. He likes her. He needs someone to help with this stuff.
“Okay,” he says.
She smooths her hair and turns to the corporates and reps, smiling professionally as they surround her and demand her attention.
“Okay, okay,” she says. “I’ll get to all of you.”
“What do I do now?” Ollie asks her.
She grins. “We’ll talk later. Go and find your friends and then get up to the podium to collect that massive trophy.”
Ollie doesn’t need to be told a second time. He’s already looking through the crowd. He runs when he sees his family, gathers Tai and Jaime into his arms, and squeezes tightly until they’re soaking wet too. The photographers snatch a photo. Hannah and Sunny pile in. Ollie can’t stop smiling. He’s won at Pipeline. The Pipe Masters. It’s all of his dreams in one perfect, perfect day.
* * *
The win isn’t just a win. It’s enough to get him a place on the World Championship Tour. Ollie’s half shaken, half thrilled.
Ollie’s renown as a junior surfer is helpful. Carise convinces Rip magazine to put up the airfare in return for a front cover article. Some of the prize money for winning the round will go for accommodations, but the rest of it’s put straight into the household account. No one in the Blue House has seen that much money. Tai arranges for the car to be tuned. Hannah fills the kitchen with food and replaces the microwave. Sunny gets all the overdue bills paid.
“I can’t believe it,” she says, coming out to sit with them. She looks back at the Blue House with easy pride. “It’s pretty nice to know they won’t cut off our electricity for three whole months.”
Even after that, there’s still so much money it makes Ollie feel short of breath. He’s finally doing something. He’ll have to think hard about this sort of stuff; he needs to be responsible for everyone’s sake. He’s proof that, in surfing, you can be on top of the world and then slump and be no one. But now, for a short time, it all seems clear.
* * *
Ollie’s not going to go off on the world tour blind. He’s watched it for years, first on the television in his mom’s apartment, sometimes in the middle of the night. It’s different to watch now, though, knowing he’s going to be part of it. He keeps pausing the DVD to work out who’s who on shore. He sits close to the TV and watches the surfers, but he also watches the judges and the interviews. All the big guns thank a coach and a team. They seem to have people to carry the boards and the trophies and the surfers themselves, if they do well.
All the things he won’t know how to do buzz in Ollie’s head. He’ll need to navigate events and attitudes and heat times alone.
“Hey, want a lift?” says Hannah from the doorway. Ollie lifts his head, startled. She smiles. “Hey. Tai sent me back from Nalu. He thought I’d need to tear you away from the TV. We’re done with setup and people are arriving.”
“Okay,” says Ollie. He doesn’t stand. He’s still thinking.
Hannah says, gently, “It’s your party, babe, you can’t be late.”
They’re giving him a big send-off at Nalu Kua Loloa. Everyone comes along: the local surfers, Maile and Maribel, and some of the older crew.
Maile makes a speech. In the middle of talking about how long she’s known Ollie, how hard he’s been working, she tears up. “You can’t blame me for crying. I’m proud,” she says. “Ollie’s like my little brother. I’ve watched these kids grow.”
Sunny gives a speech too. “Here’s to our North Shore boy set to take over the world!” she finishes. There’s a cheer as everyone raises a glass.
Ollie smiles. It’s encouraging; he wants to do them all proud, but his stomach is churning and his nerves are fluttering.
Halfway through the party he finds himself alone with Jaime.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jaime asks, and though it’s his little brother voice, it’s still sweet that he noticed.
Ollie shakes his head. He doesn’t have an answer.
“It’s cool,” says Jaime. “Everyone’s scared about stuff like this. It’s a big deal.”
“Yeah.” says Ollie. “Yeah. But I wasn’t this worried until I started watching last year’s tour on those DVDs Webby loaned me. It’s all so professional.”
“That’s kind of the point of a pro tour?”
“But it’s more than that. I mean, they’ve got their crew, they’ve got a coach, sometimes a caddy. Some of the big gun surfers travel with physios and board shapers, Jaime. And I’m going to be among them all. Me.”
“You’ve done great without any of those things,” Jaime says. “You’ll be okay.”
Ollie sighs. “Plus, I’m not great with crowds.”
Jaime laughs. “I’d noticed, dude.” He eyes Ollie. Ollie glares back. Jaime says, “Okay. How about this. Take Tai with you.”
Ollie shakes his head. “Nah. Nope. Tai needs to stay here. I can’t.”
Sunny bounds over but slows down when she sees their serious faces. “What’s up, buttercups?” she asks.
Jaime answers. “I’m telling Ollie that he should take Tai on tour with him. He’s freaking out. Much to my shock.”
“Be nice,” says Sunny.
Ollie says, “And I’m telling Jaime that Tai needs to stay home.” Ollie can’t imagine going away and leaving Jaime alone. At least if Tai’s here—
Sunny narrows her eyes. She says, “We can handle it without either of you, Ollie. You know that, right?” She grabs Jaime around the head. “Jaime would be fine without you or Tai. He’s got Hannah and me.”
“I can’t just take Tai on tour,” says Ollie. But the thought makes every breath come more easily. “Can I?”
“Well… we can pay the airfare out of that ridiculous sum of prize money,” says Sunny. “Or maybe you can convince the magazine to pay for two coach fares. You’d never fit in with the business class people and all their fancy suits and laptops anyway.”
Ollie stands still, staring at her, then at Jaime.
“Go find him,” Sunny says.
Ollie goes. Jaime comes after him, saying, “Just a second, I’ll come with you. You’ll forget to tell him it was my genius idea.”
It’s not a huge café, but it is full. They find Tai behind the counter talking with some people Ollie barely knows. “Can I steal you for a second?” Ollie asks Tai.
“It’s important,” says Jaime. “Serious stuff.”
“Sure. Sorry guys, the champion calls.” The three of them head into the corner of the galley kitchen.
“So?” Tai prompts them.
“Ollie wants to ask you something,” says Jaime. He bounces a little on his toes. It’s endearing to see his excitement, though it might also be due to the thought of six weeks living alone with Sunny and Hannah, who have such an easy relationship with him. Even with Tai he’d have had an easy go of it. The worst thing is, Jaime might prefer life without Ollie in the house.
Ollie says to Tai, “Sunny and Jaime and I were talking and—we thought. Well, I was hoping you’d come on tour with me.”
Tai’s eyes widen. “What?”
“He wants you to go with him, Tai,” says Jaime. “He needs a coach and someone to handle all the people and stuff.”
“Oh…” There’s a pause. Tai frowns. “You’ll have Carise. And. I can’t, Ollie. I can’t just disappear . I’ve got stuff on and I can’t leave Mai in the lurch at the café, and the flights would be so expensive.”
Somehow it never occurred to Ollie that Tai might say no to him. “Oh,” he says.
Jaime rolls his eyes at them. “Dude,” he says to Tai. “We’re talking about a world surfing tour here. You need to go. You’ll get six weeks surfing on the other side of the Pacific. You’ll be in places you’ve been annoying me by talking about my whole life—places right across Australia, and that fucking terrifying wave in Tahiti. Think about it. This is a once in a lifetime thing.” He glances at Ollie. “Well, maybe not once in a lifetime, but you know what I mean.”
Tai nods, weakly.
Jaime goes on. “Anyway, I can help at the café. I need some money. Fashion isn’t free, you know,”
“But the flights. And—”
“Sunny has a plan, and you guys can share a room, easy,” Jaime says.
Tai still hesitates. And however much he wants Tai there, Ollie’s not about to push it. He says, “It’s cool. It was just an idea.”
“It’s an awesome idea. Fuck it, Tai,” Jaime says. “My brother needs you there. We all know he can barely cope as a human without you.”
“I can cope fine,” says Ollie. He presses his teeth into his lower lip. “Seriously, Tai. It’s cool.”
“And instead of being there, you’ll be watching from home as he messes up. You’ll feel like shit. You know it’s true,” Jaime persists.
Tai looks between them. He breaks into a smile. Ollie’s chest eases. “You’re right, Jaime. It’s an awesome idea. Fuck it. Okay.”
“I knew he’d see sense,” Jaime says.
Ollie meets Tai’s gaze as Jaime thumps both of their shoulders simultaneously.
“We’re going on tour,” says Tai. He grins, and things seem as if they could be okay. Better than okay. Ollie’s going on tour. He’s going on tour with Tai. This will be incredible.