A Tragic Wreck Read Free Page A

for a run and then just sit in your house the rest of the day.”
    His statement caught Olivia off-guard. “How do you seem to know so much about me?”
    “You caught my eye. I have a thing for beautiful women.” He winked, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the water’s edge.
    “Holy crap, that’s freezing!” Olivia squealed when her foot hit the cold ocean, stopping dead in her tracks as Cam pulled away.
    “Come on. Stop being a baby!” he shouted back. He was already up to his knees in the water.
    She took a deep breath before running into the ocean, knowing that once she was fully submerged, she would feel better.
    “Here. Grab onto the other end of the board,” Cam said when she finally caught up to him.
    “Thanks.” They swam out to just beyond where the waves crested.
    “Hey! Cam-Bam!” a guy on a surfboard yelled.
    “Come here. I want you to meet the guys,” Cam said to Olivia.
    “Hey! Who’s this?” one of them asked.
    “Everyone, this is Olivia. Olivia, this is Chris, Benny, and Jason.” Cam gestured to the three men bobbing on their surfboards.
    Olivia waved with little enthusiasm. “Hi.”
    “Are you going to try surfing today?” Chris asked, trying to spark up a conversation with her.
    “Yeah. Might as well.” She shrugged. “I’ve surfed before so I’m not totally useless.”
    “Why don’t you catch the first one? I’ll hang back here on one of the guys’ boards,” Cam said as he swam over to Benny’s board and hung on to it. He grinned while he watched Olivia swim away with the board.
    “She’s hot, man,” Jason said, nudging toward Cam in the water. “Is she the one you’ve been talking about?”
    “Yeah. That’s her. I’m glad I worked up the nerve to finally talk to her.”
    “You’re such a pussy,” Benny laughed. “For a guy pushing thirty-five, you have no balls when it comes to talking to women.”
    “Suck it, man!” Cam joked back. “There's just something kind of sad about her. I couldn’t help it.” He returned his eyes to Olivia as she climbed on the board, throwing her legs on either side, getting ready to catch a wave.
    After a few minutes, she saw a wave coming in that was ideal for her. She positioned her hands and quickly hoisted her legs onto the board, balancing perfectly as she rode into the shore.
    Along the coast, a few people were milling about collecting shells. As the sandy beach got closer, she started to space out and thought she saw Alexander. She saw him everywhere lately. Her heart began to race and she panicked, losing her balance. The board slipped out from underneath her and she toppled off, hitting her head as she sank below the water.
    “Shit!” Cam exclaimed when he saw Olivia sink beneath the surface. He swam quickly toward where she went under, desperately searching for her. He was worried that, in the few minutes it took him to get to her, she hadn’t resurfaced. He dove into the water, his eyes stinging from the salt. A few feet away, he saw her, her eyes closed, bubbles coming out of her mouth.
    He reached her and grabbed her around the waist, kicking toward the surface. “Come on, Libby. Stay with me.” He pulled her toward the shore and laid her on her back. The rest of the guys finally joined him.  
    “I think she hit her head pretty hard.” Cam leaned his ear down over her nose and couldn't hear any breathing, but she still had a pulse. He started rescue breathing, frantic for her to cough up the water that appeared to be stuck in her lungs. After a few long moments, Olivia gasped, coughing. Cam helped roll her onto her side, getting the water out of her mouth.
    “You scared me there, sweetheart,” he said softly, gazing down at the woman lying on the sand.
    Olivia looked around, trying to get her bearings. She went surfing. She tried to make a new friend and now she looked like an idiot. She stood up, but her legs were weak, causing her to lose her balance. Cam caught her. “Hey. Take it easy,” he