Adventures in Dating - 3. A Day at the Beach

All of the Rangers had the day off from the Dino Bite, and since the weather was its usual California gorgeous they decided to make use of it and head to the beach. With work and Rangering, most of the Rangers from out of town hadn’t had much of chance to enjoy the beaches of Amber Beach, and the boys were looking forward to some time to relax.

When the team arrived everyone spread out to set up their own little spaces within the area they were all going to share. As expected, Tyler and Shelby set up a couple of towels that were separate from the rest of the group. Chase and Riley found they were doing the same thing, eager to have a bit of space away from the other couple, along with Koda and Ivan. The two temporally displaced rangers set down towels and the cooler between the two couples.

Everyone quickly got settled in to what they were doing at the beach, which for the most part was relaxing and catching some sun after another long week of fighting monsters and the lunch rush. Everyone was feeling sore in some way, so the chance to just lay back and relax was too good for any of the Rangers to pass up.

After a short while Chase noticed a couple of guys running by with surfboards. He followed back to where they had come from and saw there was a small building renting out surfboards and other beach gear to people, and an idea popped into his head. Chase nudged Riley on the shoulder, who was dozing off in the sun.

“Riley, look over there” pointing in the direction of the surfboard hut.

“Hmm? What’s going on?” Riley asked, half confused by what was going on and what Chase was pointing at.

Chase pointed more emphatically at the hut. “Look, just over there, it’s a place where it looks like we can rent surfboards and head out on the waves. Let’s go get some!”

Riley looked at the hut and then back at Chase, shaking his head in disbelief. “Chase, I don’t know how to surf, and I’m pretty sure you don’t either. They don’t look like they’re giving out lessons either, so how do you expect this to work?”

Chase grinned down at his lover. “How hard can it be love? I skateboard everywhere, how different can it be? Besides, you’re smart, you’ll pick it up quick enough I bet. Come on, let’s go!”

Chase got to his feet and offered his hand out to Riley, who sighed loudly and looked at the rest of the Rangers for help. No one was paying any attention to them, since Tyler was carrying Shelby into the waves while Ivan and Koda were both eyeing the cooler hungrily. Realizing no one was going to save him, Riley offered his hand to Chase and let himself get pulled to his feet.

The boys walked over to the hut and were given surfboards that they could use for the afternoon. Although neither of them had ever tried to surf before, now that they had the boards in their hands and were watching other people having fun on the waves, they were eager to try it. Besides, they both thought that with their reflexes enhanced by their Ranger powers they could do anything.

After watching a few of the other surfers for a few minutes, the boys felt like they had a good idea of what they were supposed to do. By now the other Rangers were crowding over to see what was going on and to see if Chase and Riley were going to be any good.

“That’s so cool! We should try it, wanna go get a pair Shelb?” Tyler asked, full of excitement over some of the team trying to surf.

“Haha, no. Good try Tyler, but there’s no way I’m going out into the ocean with you again. I’m still trying to dry off from when you threw me in a few minutes ago.” Shelby replied, trying to sound annoyed but mostly failing to keep the humour out of her voice.

Chase looked confident while Riley looked more apprehensive about their upcoming activities. Both of them realized the rest of the team was going to be watching and neither wanted to screw up now that they had a captive audience. They both decided not to go too far out into the water just in case they weren’t able to control their boards this first time they went out.

After giving each other one last hand squeeze, Riley and Chase separated so they would have enough room to catch a wave and start surfing without having to worry about crashing into each other. Riley let himself slide out further into the ocean, waiting for a lull in the waves crashing over him to push himself to his feet on his board. By the time he was standing up he saw Chase was already on his feet, gently turning back and forth in the water and looking like he was having the time of his life.

Riley was keeping his feet under himself, but he was struggling to keep from falling. As he got used to the way the waves would move him and the board, he started to get more in control and relaxed enough to start enjoying himself. He could hear the cheers and screams of his teammates on the beach watching him and Chase surfing, and he felt comfortable knowing that everything was going well for his first time trying to surf. Riley thought about how different it was from walking or even from skateboarding after Chase begged him to give that a try.

Chase was in his element now, this really wasn’t so different from skateboarding and he felt comfortable enough to start getting cocky about his abilities. Once he and Riley made it back to the shore, he started running back out and heard Riley following behind him. The boys got themselves back on the boards after going further out, and Chase was intent on trying to catch a wave and do some tricks like he saw the locals doing earlier.

Chase started to focus in on the wave and blocked out almost everything else around him, trying to get on top of the wave and show that he was just as good as the long-time surfers all around him and Riley. Chase was picking up speed, and when he hit the wave he didn’t think about how the change in speed and direction would have him move when the wave did hit him. The wave was stronger than he expected, and instead of riding the wave he ended up flying off the board.

Arms and legs flailing, Chase landed hard on someone and both he and whoever he hit fell into the ocean. They weren’t too deep, so the person Chase was on top of hit the sand under the waves and quickly popped their head over the water again.

It was Riley, who was now soaking wet and coughing up salt water after being flattened by Chase. Chase was still pinning Riley down into the sand, even after he made sure Riley could keep his head above the waves. Riley looked furious, and Chase just grinned.

“Sorry mate, guess I didn’t see ya there!”

Riley opened his mouth, ready to rant at Chase for crashing into him when suddenly Chase lowered his lips onto Riley and kissed him in the surf for everyone to see. Riley blushed, Chase smiled sheepishly and the team catcalled once they realized the two boys were okay.

“I really am sorry love, I didn’t mean to crash into you.”

Riley pulled Chase back down and whispered back at him. “I guess you’re not always such a hotshot are you?”

Chase looked down at Riley and winked “Maybe not, but you’re always going to be my Baby Raptor.”

Chase leaned down to kiss Riley again, and both went to retrieve their surfboards. The boys walked back to the rest of the Rangers, and everyone went back to where their towels were to dry off and have some lunch.

Later that afternoon, long after the end of the sandwiches and the drinks when it was time to go, and long after a few more runs into the ocean for the boys, Chase looked over at his completely exhausted boyfriend.

“Was it worth it Riley?” Chase asked, more than a little tired himself.

Riley tried to stifle a yawn and winced at the sore muscles he was developing. He gazed over at the older boy and smiled. “Yes, totally worth it.”