Free Fight For You by J. C. Evans Page B

like a lucky man.

CHAPTER TEN
    Sam
    “Enjoy when you can,
    and endure when you must.”
    -Goethe
    We reach the beach just after two o’clock when the morning sun worshippers are packing up to head into town and the afternoon surfers are gearing up to hit the bigger waves as the tide comes in.
    The beach is breathtaking—white sand more powdery than what I’m used to, gently swaying palm trees, and a grassy area where locals are grilling and little kids are running around with kites the wind threatens to snap in two. The break is about a hundred yards from the shore, and the ocean floor between the beach and the best surfing is splotchy with coral hidden beneath the waves.
    To our right, the sheltered cove ends in a cliff that soars straight up from the sand. To our left, a series of dark, jagged rocks jut up from the ocean like a rotten set of teeth. They make it look like the shoreline is grinning at the surfers, daring them to glide a little closer and get chomped to bits.
    Danny rents a second board from a guy with dreads hanging out in the shade near the parking lot, and we head down to the ocean to paddle out.
    The warm water, bright sun, salty breeze, and the flash of Danny’s strong arms paddling in my peripheral vision, combine to give me a killer case of déjà vu. For a moment, I feel like the person I used to be. Like the girl who couldn’t wait to spend the weekend bumming around the beach with her boyfriend, eating too much calamari at the Fish House for dinner, and walking home with his hand in hers and the smell of sun-warmed skin and her favorite person swirling all around her, making her feel like any place she went with him would be home.
    But the moment fades, the way moments like that always do.
    No matter how good it feels to be with Danny or how much I’d like to go back to how we used to be, I’m still the new me, a woman who will never find peace until I finish what I’ve started.
    All the way out to the break, I can’t seem to pull my eyes away from the jagged rocks. An inexperienced surfer could get into a lot of trouble at a break like this. It would be so easy to get pulled right instead of left and end up surfing your way into a few broken bones, a concussion, or worse.
    I imagine what it would be like to watch J.D. and Jeremy wipe out on that evil, grinning reef though I know that isn’t the answer to the question of what to do with them. I’m not sold on Danny’s idea—though I hate to waste the day we spent digging that damned pit—but a surfing accident isn’t a good alternative.
    We need something simple. Simple, but nearly deadly, that will make sure they never touch a woman without consent again. I don’t care if Scott knows why he’s being punished—he’s too dumb to learn from his mistakes, anyway—but the rest of them need to know why they’re suffering.
    Danny and I reach the lineup and straddle our boards, bobbing up and down on the waves as we wait our turn to paddle into the break. I twist my hair back into a damp ponytail, pulling my gaze away from the rocks to find Danny watching me.
    The expression on his face makes me feel hot all over and the sun beating down on the glittering water has little to do with it. The love and longing in his eyes make my chest ache with regret for what I put him through, but it also makes my skin tingle. I’m suddenly aware of the wind caressing my damp skin, the taste of salt and Danny’s kiss lingering on my lips, and the fact that I fill out my swimsuit in a different way than before.
    I’ve always been in good shape, but now my body is a monument to willpower and revenge. I’ve only gone up one clothing size, but I’ve gained almost forty pounds of pure muscle and there is very little softness left on my frame. I know some men would find my broader shoulders and tightly muscled arms and legs unattractive, but I can tell Danny appreciates the view.
    He’s looking at me like he’d like to stretch me out on the sand and