Free Always Summer by Nikki Godwin Page B

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half-smile. I know he thinks I’m crazy. I sort of want to shake him
and scream at him. He doesn’t work at Drenaline Surf. He’s not the
one who is supposed to make their image look good, no matter what.
I feel like I’m failing Shark and I’m failing Joe and I’m failing
the store. I’m failing its surfers and its legacy. I’m just
failing.
    There’s a rattle on the window pane of the
kitchen door. Kale invites himself in, with Emily not far behind
him. I’m glad to see them. We need some cheerfulness around here.
Kale jumps into the video game fest with Topher and Alston while
Miles breaks away to see his girlfriend.
    I stay right where I am, planted next to
Reed and a few feet away from A.J., who hasn’t said a word through
all of this.
    “Alright,” Reed says, giving in. “Let’s talk
motive. Why would Liquid Spirit come after Drenaline Surf?”
    “Me!” Topher shouts. He turns around and
smiles all too happily. It makes me laugh.
    But all of this for Topher? Why drag Colby’s
parents into it? Why sue him? So much of it doesn’t make sense.
Liquid Spirit doesn’t need the money. They proved that when they
built the most massive surf shop in California.
    “Okay, Topher is an option,” I admit. “Maybe
they’re scorned, but they don’t need the money. Topher would be a
pride thing. Who would sell them information?”
    The room is quiet for a moment, aside from
the sounds of screeching tires and revving engines on the TV
screen. Then Kale says it.
    “Dominic.”
    The puzzle pieces begin to fit. He has all
the motive in the world. He didn’t get signed by Drenaline Surf. He
was somewhat kicked out of the Hooligans. He flunked out of
college. He arrived back shortly around the time Colby’s parents
showed up, and it was his party that Colby went to and ended
up on the Wall of Shame because of. He even invited Colby there to
‘get his mind off of things.’ It could easily have been a colossal
ploy to start unraveling Drenaline Surf, surf leash by surf
leash.
    “Where is he now?” I ask, hoping someone
actually knows so I can track him down, kick his ass first, and ask
questions later.
    “I heard he’s in Indonesia,” Miles says from
across the room. He hobbles away from Emily to fill us in. “His dad
sent him on a surf trip to get more experience, surf all the
massive waves of the world. Fucking lucky bastard.”
    Kale nods. “I heard something about that. He
was in Hawaii too, which pisses me off. That asshole doesn’t
deserve to surf my home breaks,” he says. Then he shakes his head,
actually mad about it, which is unlike Kale’s easygoing nature. “My
cousins sent me pictures from the last swell that came in. Amazing
waves. I can’t believe he may have been out there surfing it
instead of me.”
    I toy around with Dominic’s motive. Does he
just want to bring us down because he’s not part of us anymore? I
can’t see him caring that much. His dad can send him around the
world to surf anywhere. He can get noticed at any given moment. Vin
even said that Dominic was a great surfer, so he could easily grab
sponsorships. Maybe that’s what he’s after – a Liquid Spirit
sponsorship. The more he tells them about us, the closer he gets to
signing the deal. He has the right connections here to find out
what’s happening at Drenaline Surf. Crescent Cove isn’t that big. It’s still an ‘everybody talks’ kind of town.
    “We win, though,” Topher says. “We all have
each other, and we have Drenaline Surf. Who cares if Dominic is in
Hawaii or Tahiti or wherever?”
    Everyone nods in agreement, and another
racecar takes off.
     
    The chandeliers sparkle above us, casting
tiny dots of lights on the white marble flooring. I inhale and
exhale, as steadily as possible, keeping my legs crossed so maybe
my nervousness won’t show. Be a professional, Haley. Fake it for
today.
    “Will you stop stressing out?” A.J. whispers
next to me. “You’re making me nervous, and I’m