The girl was wearing low-slung shorts and a skimpy bikini top that barely contained her ample breasts. She had a great tan and a model-type body, and she was definitely giving Tori the once-over.
“Heather, this is my friend, Tori. This is Heather.”
Tori held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Heather.”
Heather smiled. She had perfect teeth, too. “Nice to meet you, Tori.” She shifted her gaze back to Alex. “We’re going to take a little dip tonight over at the cove. You up for it?”
Alex wound his arm around Tori’s waist. “We’ll see.”
Again, Heather gave Tori a look. “Okay, then. Maybe I’ll see you later. Nice to meet you, Tori.”
“You, too, Heather.”
After Heather left, she turned to Alex. “Ex-girlfriend?”
Alex cocked a brow. “How did you know?”
“I’m a woman. I know the vibe we give off when our ex is with a new woman.”
“Oh. I don’t get that vibe.”
“That’s because you have a penis. It blinds you to the signals.”
He laughed. “Is that what it is? Come on, I’ll introduce you to people.”
They entered the fray. It was a wild party, but a lot of fun. Some surfers did, in fact, bring their entire families, so she not only met some of the competing surfers, she also met parents and brothers and sisters and in some cases, even grandparents. Wives and girlfriends were there, too. Of course, if she’d had a son who was a surfer, she’d have dragged her entire family to Hawaii to watch him compete. There was obviously a lot of family pride among the surfers, and as Victoria spoke to some of them she could tell they all supported their kids.
Some, like Alex, were there alone, and they formed their own family unit, hanging out together at a table, laughing and eating.
“Does it bother you to be here without your family?” she asked as they stood in line waiting to get something to eat.
“No. I mean, when I was younger and on the circuit my parents traveled a lot to these things. Now it’s kind of old hat for them. They’ll come to some of them, but they’ve got their own lives to live, ya know?”
“So they won’t be coming to this event?”
“Nah. They’re taking the RV up the coast for the holidays. They’re kind of into camping and all that. But they have a satellite dish on the camper. They’ll catch my event that way.” He grinned.
She smiled. “I’m glad they’ll be able to watch you. As far as the camping part? That sounds fun. In no way at all.”
He gave her a feigned look of shock. “What? You’re not a roughing-it kind of woman?”
“Not in the least.”
He put his arm around her. “Anyway, everyone here is my family. Some of the other guys’ families have adopted me. I’m never alone.”
“It seems like you’re all close.”
“We are. We support each other and root for each other in the heats. Unless we’re competing against each other. Out there it’s every man for himself.”
“I understand that. I have a couple agents I’m very friendly with, but we’re very competitive with each other, too.”
“Yeah, it’s exactly like that. You can be friends with people you compete with. That’s how it is here.”
They got food and made their way to a long table where some of his friends were already gathered, including his ex, Heather, who was friendly enough, but her gaze continued to stray toward Alex. Obviously Heather had residual feelings for Alex.
Which wasn’t Tori’s problem, but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with some young girl’s jealousy issue. She was way past that at this stage in her life. If it was going to be a problem, she’d back away now. She was here to relax, not deal with tension.
“Hey, girl.”
She turned around when Whitney slid in next to her at the table. “Hi, Whitney. I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
“Cade brought me.” She motioned to her right, where a very attractive surfer grinned at her. “Cade, this is Tori.”
“Nice to meet you, Cade.”
“Likewise. You with Alex?”
“I am.”
Cade shared a grin with Alex.
“No studying tonight?” Tori smiled at Whitney.
“I’m on break right now, which is perfect. I wouldn’t miss a minute of the competition, including the partying.”
Tori laughed. “This does seem like it’s going to be a wild night.”
“Well, it doesn’t get too wild. The surfers have to keep their heads in the game. But everyone likes to have a good time. And there are a lot of hookups.” Whitney kept her gaze on Cade, who’d moved over to talk with Alex.
“And Cade is someone you want to hook up with?”
Whitney laughed. “Maybe. I’ve had my eye on him since last season. He texts me all the time.”
“He’s very good-looking.” Tall and well built, with a surfer’s shaggy dark hair and amazing blue eyes, Tori could see why Whitney would find him attractive.