6. Jasper Ridge

6

Jasper Ridge

T he raging noise of the party behind me was loud enough to deafen anyone within a twenty-mile radius. Tipsy students bounced from one end of the ping-pong table to the other, sloshing their drinks as they stumbled around.

The only reason I was here was for Jakson, we’d been good friends since kindergarten. He strolled in one day wearing an Anakin Skywalker costume without a care in the world and sat down next to me with the goofiest grin on his face, his messy blond hair falling over his eyes.

Since then, there hadn’t been a single day where the big idiot wasn’t glued to Lia’s side or mine. Together, the three of us made up the original troublemakers of Hawthorne Hills, wreaking havoc wherever we went. But after Jakson and I both joined the surf team at Hawthorne Hills Elite Academy, our little group expanded to include our three other teammates: Malakai Foster, Lachlan Kidd, and Xander Hawthorne.

It didn’t matter to any of them that Kai and I were the only on the team because of our scholarships. After all, we were Hawthorne Hills troublemakers, and we were damned good at it.

My dream was to get to the Pros. To have a good year, since the sponsors would finally be turning their gazes upon us. Sonny (Aka, Jakson, since he flat out refuses to be called Jak by anyone other than Lia) and I had always dreamt of going Pro together since we were kids, and this year, there was nothing to stop us from finally achieving it.

“Hey, Jas,” a voice slurred behind me, just as a dazed palm pushed against my shoulder. Recognizing the sound, I turned around to see Jakson swaying beside me.

“Sonny,” I replied, giving his hand a squeeze, but I doubted he even registered my action as his eyes were searching the crowd in front of us.

“Did you hear?” He whispered, a small smile creeping across his lips. “Your nemesis is back in town.”

I froze.

Poppy Wells was back in town?

No . No way. She left years ago after what happened with her family—it wasn’t like anyone didn’t know about it, because trust me, they did. If you lived in Hawthorne Hills, you knew about the Wells family, and not for good reasons. The accident that happened years back drove them out of town for good, and I had never been happier in my life to be rid of that woman.

Then why have all your surf scores dropped since she left?

Shut up, I mentally cursed myself.

Annoyance threaded through my veins. It wasn’t a lie, though—ever since she left my scores started dropping. Gradually at first, but these past few months, they had become more noticeable. Even Koa Steele, our youngest teammate, scored higher than me on the last practice heat before the competition rounds started. And when I tell you, I had never been more embarrassed in my life than when the commentators read out his score followed by an immediate: ‘ only a sophomore on the team, Hollis, can you believe he beat his teammate and legend Jasper Ridge by five points? This hasn’t been a great few heats from him, could he be slipping down the ranks this year? ’

I’d thrown my board against the sand and stormed off because I knew if I heard one more fucking word out of that idiot’s mouth, then I would’ve punched him—and that was something I could not afford to do. Not with everything that was at risk this year. With coach hammering down on me every single fucking chance he got, the last thing I needed for my image and sanity was for articles about me punching my teammate in a fit of jealous rage plastered around town.

Don’t get me wrong, coach had looked out for me since I was a little kid who was so afraid of failing that he never trusted his gut or the board beneath his feet. He’d helped me become the surfer I was today, and even I knew it was okay to admit that I was pretty damned good at it.

Or at least I used to be.

“I heard it from Saskia, you know the cute save-the-whales chick on the girl’s field hockey team? Well, she heard it from a brunette girl…Hailey or something, who heard it from her cousin, who heard it from her aunt’s friend, who saw them move back into that old house down on what street was it?” A rushed breath past his parted lips just as an annoyed grunt left mine.

“You could’ve stopped at ‘ she’s here ’,” I groaned, running my palm across my face. Why did she have to come back here of all places? Fuck . I couldn’t afford any distractions this year, my entire focus had to remain on surfing. I couldn’t even contemplate an outcome where I didn’t make the Pros because that wasn’t going to happen. My fists clench at the idea of it.

“Why don’t you ask her—” A hiccup left his lips. “To insult you more when were at practice—” Another hiccup. “Everyone knows you surf better when she’s there berating you—”

I snapped, shoving him against a wall, “don’t even finish that sentence.”

“That was sexy.” He winked. “You should do that to Poppy, I bet she’d be more willing to insult you if you—”

I punched him. Once. Twice.

I didn’t stop until someone dragged me off him—not someone, five different people, including Koa Steele. Dammit. I hated that guy .

“Get the fuck off me,” I growl at them all, shoving them away.

“Cap, I think— ”

“Fuck sake, shut your mouth, Steele, no one cares what you have to say.”

Okay, I knew that was unnecessarily mean, but I couldn’t care less. I’d apologize or whatever at practice in the morning. But right now, I just couldn’t have them near me, or anyone for that matter. Rage clouded my vision as I stalked past drunk students throwing themselves at each other and meandered carefully through the living room that led out onto the balcony. Taking the pearl-white marble steps two at a time, I didn’t stop walking until the calming notion of waves brushing against my toes hit me like a steam roller.

The ocean had always been my safe space—a place I knew would cradle my body when I could no longer stand. Saltwater and sand tickled my senses as I just stood there at the edge of the beach, where the sand met the waves, thinking of everything and nothing at all.

It felt like days were passing by me before I even had a chance to live them. I had to be the best, I had to be good enough for them to choose me out of every goddamned surfer in the country. Junior championships had been tough, but nothing like I knew I would face this year.

This was me trying to keep my head above the waves, but it didn’t seem to be good enough.

I didn’t seem to be good enough.

My shiny wheels were fucking rusting and now I was falling behind all my teammates, unable to catch up.

At least I was trying—I was always fucking trying, and maybe that was the problem.

I tugged my headphones out from my pocket and turned the volume up to full blast, needing to be anywhere but my own thoughts. All At Once by The Fray shot threw them, practically loud enough to drill through my skull, but I didn’t care. I needed this. Besides, I never missed an opportunity to listen to my favorite band play.

I stared out into the ocean, the blurred figure of a little boy with a board tucked tightly under his arm formed in front of me—brown curls tousled across his forehead, grains of sand clinging tightly to each strand. Rosy cheeks peeked up at the sun, blood rushing under his skin as adrenaline pumped mercilessly inside his veins. Awe and frustration fought in his gaze as he stared out into the waves.

Then, the glint of brown hit me like an arrow to the heart. That all familiar black and white wetsuit clung to her small frame with her signature pink board beneath her feet. Determination radiated off her, reaching me on the sand like it had been carried ashore by the waves.

As the memories evaporated in front of me, it made me realize that Poppy was there, though—she had always been there. We went through it all together. Since pre-beginners, she had been by my side for every heat, every comp—you name it, and she was there on the beach for me. Granted, it was to make fun of me, holding her twisted fingers behind her back wishing I failed, but she was still there .

In an almost weird way, it felt like we had grown up with each other, with this sport, and ever since she left, I felt like surfing had been slipping through my fingers and out to sea—like it needed two of us to be in balance for the fucking ocean Gods or whatever to allow us to have clean runs and good heats.

“ Fuck ,” I groaned, tilting my head back. What the hell was wrong with me? I didn’t need her to compete. I didn’t need her to be at my heats. I didn’t need her . She left.

But now she was back. And frankly, I couldn’t give two shits.

Except, I definitely did.

Despite my captain title and God-like treatment by the people in this small town, my mom, Vienna, had to work two jobs just to keep us both afloat. The first was taking night shifts at Buckley’s bar, a family bar run by one of Lia’s friends’, Benjamin Buckley, who was a thousand times more famous than I could ever dream of becoming, and the rest of her time was filled with early nursing shifts at the local hospital.

Guilt swallowed my mind every time I came home to find her completely unconscious on the couch, scrubs still plastered across her body. She had sacrificed so much for me, and I knew I would do anything in my power to show her that it wasn’t all for nothing—that I would be someone, someday, and in the end it would all be worth it.

It had to be.

Though, it did not help that my mom had me when she was in her early twenties because each and every single one of my teammates toed very closely towards the line of getting my knuckles in their face for the amount of times they mentioned how sexy they thought she was.

And it certainly didn’t help that she always offered to help them all the time with schoolwork, mental health, life…literally anything and everything . It was also partly how she earned the title Mama Vie among my teammates. Especially Jakson. I swear, with every passing day, he finds more ways to annoy the hell out of me by acting like a golden retriever puppy that wags its tail every time someone called him a good boy.

Apart from my teammates and Lia, my mom was one of my closest friends. Since my dad passed away when she was pregnant with me, I knew she tried to juggle both parental roles as best she could to make sure I never felt like I was missing anything. The topic of his death, however, was never mentioned between us—it was like a silent rule. Part of me feared bringing it up because I didn’t know how she would react to it. She hadn’t seen or dated anyone ever since, and part of me couldn’t tell how much of that was because of the grief or fear.

All I knew was that Nicolas Ridge was one of the best surfers the international European circuit had seen, and with every passing day, the need to live up to his legacy and make him proud thundered through my veins stronger than before.

I didn’t know much about my mom’s past either, except from the fact that she ran away from home when she was eighteen and never looked back. After some surprisingly thorough FBI hacking skills from Xander, of who I now never want to get on the bad side of, I found out that she came from a filthy, old-money, wealthy family.

Vienna Ridge, actually born Vienna Giuliana Caparelli, was the princess of an Italian dynasty who ruled every corner of the Amalfi coast, and now had ties in all corners of the tech and information world. And, according to Xander, some dark, shady shit too.

Every passing day, I wanted to ask her more and more about her past, about our family, but I knew deep down there had to be a good reason why she left it all behind to come to Hawthorne Hills, of all places. Though, the thought did nothing to ease the curiosity eating away at me from the inside out.

It had always just been me and her but now I knew there could’ve been more —I could’ve had fun cousins and cool aunts and caring grandparents. I could’ve had the whole complete package.

Except, I never would .

I just needed to learn to be okay with that.

“You put on quite a show back there,” a quiet voice spoke.

I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. I tugged my headphones off and stuffed them back into my back pocket.

“Jas…”

As soon as her hand caressed my shoulder, I forced myself to clench my teeth together, so I didn’t fucking cry like an idiot.

“Shouldn’t you be home by now?” I asked, turning my head slightly to see her midnight blue eyes. I remembered when she was little, her mom used to call Lia her little ocean because of how blue her eyes were—a soft, light blue in the center met with a dark ring around the edge.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I heard her mom call her that.

Biting down on her lip, she slid her steel gaze across to mine, “I’m already late, Jas. You know, might as well make the most of it.” Her nervous chuckle hung low in the passing breeze.

When I frowned, she just shrugged. I knew what being late meant for her. W ell , more like what was going to be waiting for her whenever she did walk through that door, but no matter how many times I wanted to pick her up in my arms, along with all other four of her siblings, and carry them away from that house, I knew I couldn’t .

Not after last time, I promised I wouldn’t.

For her siblings. Most of all and always, for her .

Granted, they were the cutest little kids I had ever seen. Belle, the second eldest daughter, was an identical copy of Lia. From the long brunette hair down to those signature Davis blue eyes. Then came the identical twins, Lucas and Logan, who both shared their mother’s light blond hair, and lastly, baby Hudson, who barely had any hair atop of his little head yet.

There was one more Davis sibling, Gabriel, however, he hadn’t been seen in over four years now. He disappeared right around the time some other students from Hawthorne Hills Elite Academy did, but the police did fuck all to ease the minds of the student’s families, including Lia’s. It was one of the many mysteries haunting this quiet town .

I asked her about him once, and she looked at me blankly for a second like she’d forgotten who he was. I didn’t think she resented him for leaving her in that house alone to look after all her siblings since there wasn’t one bad bone in her body, but deep down, I did think she held a small flame of hope that he would come back. Someday. Despite knowing how unlikely that possibility became each day.

“I heard Poppy’s back in town, have you—”

I cut her off with a groan, “Why does everyone keep saying that to me? I don’t care whether she’s here or in fucking Las Vegas. We aren’t even friends so why do people keep bringing this up with me?”

I probably shouldn’t have interrupted her because the glare she sent in my direction almost threatened to chop my balls off. I wouldn’t put it past her either—she may look innocent and small, but my God, she was the strongest person I knew.

Anyone who had ever pissed her off would agree.

“Jas, your rivalry with Poppy Wells was one of the most exciting things about the surfing competitions! No offense,” she smiled sheepishly, tucking a strand of her behind her ear. “You two are a whole other mystery! I mean, after she disappeared that night and no one knew what happened to her or her family, of course people are going to be buzzing knowing she’s back in town. They’re expecting your legendary pranks and snarky pre-competition back and forth, which if you ask me, definitely seems more like some kinky flirting thing you guys—”

“ Lils ,” I warned with widened eyes, to which she just grinned, knowing exactly how to make me smile. A small chuckle left my lips as I shook my head. “Sorry,” I groaned, “I just don’t want to hear about her anymore. Not tonight.”

Understanding shone in her eyes, and gratefully, she didn’t bring it up again. We spent around half an hour sitting there in the sand as I watched the waves fill up the little moat for the sandcastle she made in the sand. Although, you wouldn’t be able to tell that it was a sandcastle by looking at it as it resembled more of a crumbling pile of sand than an actual castle. I didn’t say anything, though. These small moments of peace we got together, where I got to see her smile and her shoulders drop, relaxed and unburdened, were incredibly special to me and I knew they were for her too .

“Are you training at five tomorrow?” She asked, digging up some sand to use for her bridge.

“Yeah, coach wants us up bright and early for our first summer session back.”

“How are you feeling about it?” She looked up at me then. “The new season?”

I opened my mouth to speak, then shut it again.

I didn’t know how to answer that—I mean, of course I was looking forward to it like any other of my teammates. We were all itching to get back out on the waves, but me and Jakson were now the only seniors in our team and this coming season was going to be the make or break of our careers as Pro surfers.

So yeah, I had a good reason to be nervous about it too.

Kai, Xander, and Lachlan were all in the grade below Jakson and I, whereas Lia was only a sophomore, two grades below us both.

“Ahh, come on Lils, you know me better than that.” I smiled before plucking up a small shell a wave had just washed ashore and handed it to her. “But yeah, I’m excited to finally be reunited with my beloved board.”

Her lips thinned as she surveyed me for a minute before plucking the shell from my hands and placing it on her castle. I didn’t miss the small shake in her hands, so I threw on a smile and poked her shoulder. “Hey, Taylor would be proud of this, you know? Now you’ve officially made castle’s crumbling merch.”

I wasn’t the biggest Swiftie, but Lia evolved from her songs and lived vicariously through each lyric, so I made sure to learn all her favorites. To be seen was to be known and all. Granted, I didn’t have much of a choice either because the little devil hacked into my Spotify account and made a playlist called MILF: Man I Love Folklore , containing all her favorite Taylor songs from back when we were kids.

I acted like it bothered me back then but deep down it really didn’t. If anything, I was too busy laughing my ass off at the fact that she managed to hack my account rather than be annoyed at her.

I put the playlist on whenever she made me drive down to Sunny’s Hut at 3am in the morning to get her that stupid ice cream sundae she loved—and I mean loved . It wouldn’t be a movie night if Lia didn’t have her sundae, that was for sure. Jakson always had to have his favorite Soda mixed with some kind of alcohol from his parent’s liquor cupboard that was strictly prohibited to all of us, but that appeal of being unreachable just made him do it more.

Benjamin Buckley, or Benno as everyone knew him as, was Lia’s friend and was the newest addition to our occasional movie night group. He brought a tub of chicken and rice meal prep and refused any kind of snacks we offered him, but then again, he was the star captain for Hawthorne Hills Elite Academy’s ice hockey team. And from what I’d gathered, he was really adamant about sticking to his routines, despite his laid back nature.

I remembered him telling us that he picked up shifts down at Bookmarked, the cafe and bookstore down on main street by the local ice rink—it was run by one of the figure skaters there, Emmeline, and I knew a lot of the skaters and hockey players, including Benjamin, picked up shifts to help her out.

Lia used to bake loads of treats, especially blueberry muffins, and donated them to the bakery to help out when their stock got low during rush hours. They did a lot of children’s fundraisers and campaigns there that Lia was always taking part in—a lot of the charities they supported were really close to her heart.

Jakson and I always went with her, carrying the multitude of cake containers filled with delicious goodies she’d spent baking the few days leading up to the event. Loads of the skaters knew her, and so did the little kids and their parents who came to support the many causes they were raising awareness of.

I could barely keep up with all of Lia’s friends—she seemed to know just about everyone in this town, but that was just the type of person she was: delicate, compassionate, and caring, especially when it came to others. Lia was always making sure everybody else was taken care of, even to the point of neglecting her own health.

But that was what she had Jakson and I for.

If not to annoy her, we always looked out for our girl.

Don’t get me wrong, the other guys on the team were my teammates and they had my full support, but Jakson and Lia were my family , the closest I would ever get to siblings. Being an only child my entire life fucking sucked , but I was grateful that it was only me that had to grow up without a father—I didn’t know what I’d do if I had little siblings who also had to carry that burden. Besides, Lia’s siblings were the cutest little kids ever, and they were enough for me.

Though, Jakson acted like a child half the time so he could definitely come under that label too.

Lia rolled her eyes at me, lightly smacking me back on the shoulder. “Yeah? And I could build a castle with all the sarcasm you throw at me.”

Placing my hand over my heart, I said melodramatically, “You can’t throw a New Romantics reference in there and expect me not to sing the rest of the song.”

Lia, of course being Lia, held me to that comment, and proceeded to sing the rest of the song. Occasionally, I joined in on the chorus, and obviously on the bridge because who didn’t like that part?

I loved it when she sang, her voice was heavenly—not that many people would know. Jakson, her siblings, and I were the only ones granted access to her Disney sing along nights—mostly because I knew that her youngest sibling, Hudson, could only fall asleep at night if she sung soft melodies to him. I didn’t blame the little guy. If I was two, I would definitely want her voice to be the last thing I heard before sleep claimed me.

“Oh, remind me to drop off the new recipe I found in my mom’s old cookbooks tomorrow before practice,” I said, after she’d sung the final lyric.

Her eyes lit up from my words, “Can you trade me for it at practice instead?”

“And, say, what would I get in return?” I teased, hoping she would say brownies.

Please say those delicious triple chocolate brownies.

“I happen to have some of your favorite brownies lying around at home.”

Fuck yes.

Now, it was my own eyes that lit up. “Deal.”

Abruptly getting up, she dusted the sand off her clothes before looking at me. “You know, I think you should talk to Poppy.”

“ Lil —” I started, but she cut me off.

“No, you listen to me , Jasper Ridge. You might not see it, God knows everyone else in this stupid town doesn’t see it, but I do. I know there is more to her than what you guys’ whisper behind her back. So please, trust me on this. Talk to her.”

As she walked away, I kept my lips tightly shut, because if I didn’t, a lie would roll off them and I refused to let that happen.

Especially to her.

Deciding that sulking wouldn’t get me anywhere, I jumped up to my feet and meandered my way back into Sonny’s house. It only took me a few minutes to find him, and to no surprise whatsoever, three different girls crowded around him. One blond chick held a dark ice pack just under his eye, whilst the other two brunettes sat perched on either side of him, draping their long legs over his.

“Look who has finally decided to apologize ladies,” he drawled, twisting a string of brown hair around his finger, to which the chick giggled and licked her bottom lip. The other two sent blazing stares in my direction.

I didn’t waste any time returning their glares.

Instead, I directed my gaze at Jakson.

“Well, go on,” he drawled, “I don’t have all day.”

I groaned, running my hand through my brown curls.

This idiot.

As one of Jakson’s many servers came by holding a tray full of beers, I pinched one from her tray and threw it at Jakson. Catching it in one hand with a smirk, the girls ogled him with fierce lust in their gazes.

“Don’t drink too much, coach wants us at practice at five.”

I didn’t wait for the idiot to respond before walking away, though I managed to hear him say to the girls, “alright ladies, you heard the man, we better get a move on. Don’t wanna be late.”

My pace sped up, not wanting the show of hearing him shove his tongue down their throats.

Fuck . What the hell was I doing?

I looked around for Lia, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I pulled out my phone and shot her a quick message asking her where she was, but after half an hour and still no response, I decided to sit down on the couch and put the TV on.

The end of summer break meant that the Formula One would be starting soon with the Hungarian Grand Prix. Since the race was next weekend, I opted to put on the highlights from the Silverstone qualifying a few weeks ago. A bright red streak shot past the camera, followed by a complete purple sector one for Samuel Bridger, a British 4-time world champion who drove for Scuderia Corsonito, an Italian-based Formula One team, alongside his new teammate Rafael Collettò.

Rafa was the season’s newest rookie, who also happened to be the older brother of one of Lia’s childhood friends from ballet, Nova.

It was a mighty small world sometimes.

Jakson, Benjamin, and I all shared the same mutual interest in Formula One and tried to watch as many of the season’s races together as possible. It was how I came to teach Benjamin’s little sister, Juniper, after he mentioned that she was having a hard time picking up ice hockey due to being born hard of hearing. Being a hotshot hockey legacy kid put a whole lot of pressure and eyes on her at such a young age.

I was asked by him as a favor to consider her for a place in my Sunday classes. They were a part of this new scheme I was running to allow kids who couldn’t afford lessons, or were experiencing disadvantages that would make it difficult to take part in the regular lessons, to be able to have the same opportunities as the other kids. In the end, I took her on. I tried my hardest to create a sensory friendly environment to cater to everyone as surfing should be available to everyone.

“You owe me a blowjob.” The couch dipped, followed by the annoying sound of Jakson’s laugh.

“What the fuck?” I turned to look at him.

Confusion must have been showing on my face as he said, “I sent them away to find some other guys dick to suck. You officially killed the mood. Not even that, you fricken murdered it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, blame me you asshole. You just knew that coach would kick your ass in the morning.”

“With this lovely beauty here,” he gestured to his bruised eye, “I don’t think I’m the one who coach is going to be mad at.”

Groaning, I threw my head back against the pillows and closed my eyes. I couldn’t wait to find out how many extra hours cleaning the equipment and stocking shelves I would have to do this week.

“Dude, I’m kidding,” he said, “I’ll tell him it was some gorgeous lady who mistook me for her crazy ex or something.”

“Yeah?” I said, turning to him.

“Yeah, I got your back. So long as Steele hasn’t rat you out already.”

My fists clenched. If he knew better, he wouldn’t say a word, but since his little victory over me, the guy has become so cocky and less inclined to follow my orders. As his captain and his teammate, I deserved respect from him, but I guess that went both ways. I made a mental note to talk to him before practice tomorrow.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it,” Sonny said, and I glared at him knowing what was going to follow, “but you can’t ignore her. She’s probably just back for the scholarship and sponsor opportunities, and you can’t fault her for that because you know she’s a damned good surfer, and it’s not like we aren’t doing the same, Jas.”

Okay , I admit, when he put it like that it did make sense, and as much as I hated the woman, the sponsors and scholarship opportunities were a one in a million shot that were incredibly difficult to get your hands on. He was right, I couldn’t fault her for wanting that because it was exactly what we have both been busting our asses off for years to achieve.

“Go on,” he mused, “say I’m right.”

“You’re an ass, you know that right?”

“Damn dude, I didn’t know you paid so much attention to my ass, but I do agree, it is a fucking amazing sight.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter.

“You’re right,” I said after a few minutes. The guy knew how to get on my nerves, but he was my best friend, and I would do anything for him.

“Now that is exactly what my bruised ego needed,” he grinned, before throwing a wink at a group of girls hanging out around the pool table.

“You were never really going to hook up with them, were you?” I asked.

Not with Lia risking everything to be here right now for you.

His lips parted slightly like he was going to say something, but instead, with a smirk, Jakson patted me on the shoulder and walked away .

Turning the TV off, I walked up the stairs to my room. I was so done with tonight. When I got to the top, Lachlan and Kai were arguing about who could ride a surfboard down the stairs for the longest time without falling off.

Kai sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Come on, Lachy. Your weight distribution is all wrong, you wouldn’t even last ten seconds.”

Lachlan smirked, stepping closer to Kai until they were mere inches apart. “Oh yeah? You wanna test how long I can last, Mali?”

Xander’s lips quirked upwards by only a fraction. He was leaning against a door frame nearby watching them with those cold, whiskey-colored eyes and a drink in his hand.

I groaned. “I swear to God, I am not in the mood to deal with this cra—”

The surfboard went over the banister.

“ Oh shit .”