Breeze of Life (10 page)

“You owe me a story,” Harper murmured. Story? Oh, story! It was kind of hard to think right now. Somehow I managed to let my mind wander over my past in search of a Harper-worthy story.

“The day you and Sean thought you would saw the legs off your mum’s ironing board and surf down the stairs will always hold a special place in my heart.” Harper chuckled.

“That’s because it was one of your many I-told-you-so moments. You bet me ten dollars one of us would get hurt and Sean ended up with eight stitches in his head.”

“Good times,” I sighed.

“Wasn’t so good when my mum screamed like a lunatic at me for sawing the legs off her ironing board and at Sean for getting blood on her carpet.”

“What did you expect? You knew what your parents were like and you still did it. Anything to frazzle your mum. I’m surprised she lived past thirty.” The silence pressed in on us again.

“She almost died on the spot that Christmas I set Sean’s hair on fire,” Harper said with all seriousness. And just like that, the silence disappeared under our laughter. We continued to float for the longest time, my troubles feeling like they were an entire world away. Out here in the depths of the ocean, as long as I didn’t recall scenes from
Jaws
, my mind was at peace, my body was relaxed and in Harper’s arms I could pretend we had something more than just friendship.

Chapter 9

Making the Drop

Just after you have caught the wave, you are committed now so ride that sucker!

Once the camp site was packed up and we were stuffed full of bacon and eggs, we were on the road again. Harper cranked his iPod and Kid Rock’s
All Sumer Long
filled the car. I slid down my window and perched my feet up in the breeze, singing loudly and feeling better than I had felt in a long time, since well before my cancer diagnosis. It seemed like this freedom and joy had lain dormant for years.

“Let’s play a game,” suggested Harper, pulling me from my thoughts. I silently groaned. I had learned to be wary of Harper and his ‘games’. “Let’s play never have I,” Harper declared. I pushed my sunglasses down my nose to peer at him over the top.

“You and your damn games, you’re like an over-stimulated Chihuahua, Harper. You need to chill out a little,” I said seriously. Harper grinned and plainly ignored me.

“I’ll go first,” he continued.

“Nu-huh, explain the rules first.”

“No rules, it’s easy.” Harper thought for a moment. “Never have I danced a slow dance with a girl.” I must have looked both horrified and startled because Harper laughed as soon as he glanced my way.

“Seriously, never?” I gasped

Harper shook his head. “Your turn.”

“This isn’t really fair. I’m sure my list is a lot longer than yours.” Harper looked a little irritated.

“Come on, Breeze, stop being a killjoy.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “Never have I jumped out of a plane.”

Harper groaned. “Lame-o spaghetti-o.” I glared at Harper and he either didn’t notice or ignored me again. “Never have I had a boner in public.” A spluttered laugh escaped my lips. “Don’t go getting any ideas either,” he paused as if contemplating the idea. “On second thought, get as many ideas as you like, I’m game.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a devious way and I shook my head. Men!

“Never have I gone skinny dipping,” I confessed. There, that wasn’t lame-o spaghetti-o and it hadn’t been all that hard to confess. Harper’s shit eating grin told me he was happier with this little revelation than my last attempt.

“Okay, never have I had sex on the beach,” Harper continued the game and my mouth dropped open with surprise. I was under the assumption that Harper Somerville had sex everywhere.

“You’re shitting me?” I stammered.

Harper laughed loudly. “Damn you sound hot when you swear like that and no, never. The beach is kind of sacred to me. I don’t want just any girl in my sacred place.” I quietly sighed at that little revelation and found myself wondering if Harper would ever want to make love to me in his sacred place. I shook my head hoping to dislodge the thought.

“Never have I had sex on a washing machine,” I said with an easy blush. Harper laughed.

“You want to?” he spluttered. I shrugged and thought about it. It seemed like a spot for sex that popped up often in romance novels and movies, there must have been something erotically satisfying about it and I was curious.

“Interesting,” Harper murmured. “Never have I built a fort out of sheets.” I grinned, neither had I. It sounded like fun.

“Never have I played spin the bottle.” I knew Harper had. I had been there and sat like the sulking jealous teen I was as he kissed Rhona Barlow on a dare.

“Never have I gone eight consecutive months without sex, until this year.” My mouth flapped open and shut like an idiot as I stared at Harper.  “Wind will change and you’ll stay like that,” he grinned.

“Why?” I gasped.

Harper shrugged. “There was only one girl I wanted, she wasn’t on tour with me.” He gave me a knowing look and I turned to stare out the windscreen, completely shocked into silence. I was glad Harper had not been with anyone else, in fact, glad was too mild a word. I was ecstatic. A smile tugged my lips upward. “You look pleased by that news,” he noted. “For your information, my right hand is double the size of my left now.” Oh, too much information. My face was flaming red as I imagined Harper doing that. Instead of grossing me, out I found myself curiously turned on. “Your turn,” he simply said moving things along. I took a deep breath and decided to reveal something I never ever thought I would tell Harper.

“Never have I given a guy a blow job,” I whispered. Harper was so quiet I wondered if he had heard me. When I braved up enough to glance in his direction, his agape mouth and big wide eyes confirmed he had in fact heard. “Your response is making me feel really uncomfortable, Harper. Close your damn mouth.” He chuckled and the look he gave me was incredibly tender.

“You know, baby girl, it kinda makes me happy knowing that.” I blushed, again.

“Never have I taught a girl to surf,” he confessed and I laughed. He had certainly tried hard to convince me to take a surf lesson with him.

“Never have I jumped in a taxi and screamed, FOLLOW THAT CAR!” I giggled hysterically, now getting into the flow of Harper’s game.

“Never have I been on a road trip with a girl.” Harper grinned and I held my fist up for Harper to tap.

“One never crossed off the list,” I said smiling. “Never have I graffitied on the back of a toilet door.” Harper suddenly braked, merging off the highway and pulling into a highway rest stop. He parked the car directly in front of a toilet block and reached across to the glove box and pulled out a marker.

“Your first never is about to be crossed off,” he declared, jumping from the car and heading for the dirty looking concrete block before us. It took a moment for my mind to catch up and I scrambled from the car and caught up to him.  He made a beeline straight for the men’s toilets.

“I can’t go in there, Harper.” I stopped at the doorway. Harper glanced back in my direction and laughed.

“What, you’ve never been in a guy’s bathroom before? Awesome, two nevers in one!” I stood at the doorway bouncing nervously from one foot to the other as Harper entered. The rest stop we had pulled into was deserted and we appeared to be alone. “There is no one in here but me, Breeze, hurry up!” Harper ordered. My feet began moving before my brain could think of a reason not to and I was now officially standing in my first men’s room ever. And it reeked. Harper raised his fist and I bumped it with mine, all the while taking in the dirty surroundings. I was pretty sure I would catch tetanus just from standing in here.

“One never crossed off,” he said beaming at me as he pushed open the doorway to a stall. I scrunched my nose up at the brown stained toilet bowl behind him.

“That is just gross.” Harper pulled me in and shut the door. If the place didn’t smell like month old fecal matter, I would have found the confined moment with Harper perhaps a little erotic.  He handed me the marker.

“Let’s cross off another never.” I stared at the toilet door. It was already adorned with graffiti. “I say here right in the middle, a little lower. That way whoever is taking a dump will be able to sit and read and really take it in,” Harper suggested. I tapped the pen against my lip for a moment thinking of what to write.

“Should it be poetic or something?” I asked him in all seriousness. I had no idea what toilet door graffiti entailed. Harper indicated to the door in front of us.

“As you can clearly see, there isn’t much poetry or wisdom on this door. Mainly phone numbers and lots of people offering a good time.” I thought about it for a moment longer before squatting down awkwardly to write. Once I was finished I stood proudly to look over my work. Harper peered over my shoulder.

“Love is like a fart, if you have to force it, it’s probably shit.” We both looked at my graffiti for a moment before breaking into laughter. Stumbling from the toilet stall we were greeted with a scruffy looking man who seemed shocked as hell to find us in the men’s toilet together. Scarlett colored my face as I tried desperately to hide the marker, suddenly racked with guilt over my minor graffiti felony. Harper pulled me protectively to his side and gave the shocked stranger a subtle nod.

“Hey there,” he said casually as we passed by. The stranger was either unable or unwilling to reply. Once back in the car I threw the marker at Harper and cast him a furious look. “What?” he exclaimed.

“That was embarrassing,” I murmured.

“No, baby girl,” he chuckled. “That was called living outside the box, and it was fun.”  Although still slightly horrified that someone had found me in a guy’s bathroom…with a guy, I had to admit it had been fun. I hadn’t thought about sorrow, death or confusing relationships for a whole fifteen minutes.

We had been driving for about an hour in companionable silence, me humming along and singing to Harper’s somewhat surprising music selection. It wasn’t all impossibly raging heavy metal which was a nice change. As we approached a sign signaling the turn off for Coffs Harbour, Harper surprised me by exiting the highway. I looked around for a moment wondering where we were headed. Harper had seemed pretty keen to reach Sydney by nightfall with the swell expected to increase overnight.

“Where are we going?” I finally asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

Harper winked. “Surprise.” I was immediately nervous but stayed quiet as we navigated the coastal town that was Coffs Harbour. I had never been here before. I had travelled as far south as Sydney but it was always on a plane. The coastal trail that stretched between the Gold Coast and Sydney was a complete mystery to me. A sudden thought caused a big glowing smile to consume my features and damn if felt good to smile and it not be forced.

“Ohhhh, please tell me we are going to the Big Banana?” I squealed.

“Just chill out and wait and see. We are on a road trip, Breeze, which means unexpected and random detours in our destination. You are living outside the box, remember?”

Coffs was a gorgeous coastal town with a cute little harbor and beautiful beaches. Traffic moved at a lazy pace which I quickly grew to love. It was a far cry from the busy roads of the Gold Coast. Even the people walking around town seemed to be in no hurry, laughing and chatting with a peaceful leisure that I immediately fell in love with.

“I like it here,” I whispered as I admired the passing scenery.

“You haven’t even seen here yet,” Harper noted dryly.

“I already feel relaxed though.” Harper gave me a small smile as he drove to our surprise destination. Finally, he pulled into a large car park that was virtually empty. I glanced up at the sign and moaned loudly with both apprehension and excitement.

“Harper, you cannot be serious. I was just admiring the sleepy slow feel of this town and you bring me here?”

Harper chuckled. “We can do sleepy and slow when the sun goes down. Right now we are gonna race F1 go-karts. Hurry up.” He had already climbed out of the Jeep, his Ripcurl cap firmly in place and grinning like a damn kid. I laughed, he looked so young and carefree I found myself unable to deny that childish spirit that Harper radiated. I went to slip on my flip flops and Harper stopped me.

“Hold up, we need fully enclosed shoes.” He dug through our luggage until he found shoes and socks for both of us. As I tied off my last shoelace, Harper bounced around in front of me like a boxer gearing up for a heavyweight title match.

“I have a feeling this surprise was more for you than me,” I admitted as he grabbed me by the hand and practically dragged me to the entrance. “You know, I’m kinda nervous,” I admitted as he pushed the door open.

“Nothing to be nervous about, you’re a good driver. This will be like taking a lap around the apartment in George’s matchbox Capri.”   Harper was recognized immediately by two of the staff and after he posed for a couple of pictures and signed some autographs, we were given star treatment. Sam, a young boy who looked about half my age, patiently explained the rules to me and more importantly how to handle a kart. Once we changed into the safety appropriate overalls and gloves, I stood feeling mighty uncomfortable and ridiculous. Harper, however, looked pretty damn hot. I ogled him with open appreciation and he gave me a cheeky wink. He handed his iPhone to Sam who was still fussing over me and asked him to take our picture.

“You want to take a picture now?” I exclaimed. “You want to immortalize this moment when I look like a complete douche?” Harper laughed and dragged me to his side, wrapping his arm around me as he stood proudly before the F1 Karts.

“Well, make sure you send a copy to George and Mia. I certainly don’t want them to miss out on my douchery.” Harper sent the picture off before we climbed into our chosen kart. Our first lap was a warm up, thank God, because I stalled the kart several times before even leaving the start position. I don’t know if it was because Harper was a celebrity, or if they just felt sorry for me, but they gave us another two warm up laps. Once they were satisfied I knew what I was doing we lined up at the starting grid. Harper pulled off his helmet and called out.