YA Indie Carnival - Spring Break

It's that time of the week again, and the YA Indie Carnival sponsors are sharingspring break scenes. This is a great topic for me since The Warrior Series is set inbeautiful Galveston Island, the perfect spring break location.  
Having worked as a nurse at UTMB (the Island's onlyhospital) for years and since I still reside near the very touristy destination, I'velearned more than some (less than others) about the gulf city's rich, colorful,and - at times - traumatic past. In fact, I have used (or will use) every single morsel of the place'shaunted history to build the paranormal world within which Allison La Crosse and The Disciples of the Cross live.
Because Galveston and its citizens have become silent and endearing characters within the series, fans of the books have embarked upontours to explore the unique places mentioned (see post YA Indie Carnival - Favorite Fan Experience).
Take a few minutes to enjoy Allison's weekend of swimming and body surfing with Brody while reading this excerpt from Warriors of the Cross  (The Warrior Series, #1).

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I dashedinto my room.  I forgot about James andhis sadness the second I thought about being in so few clothes in front ofBrody. 
I found ared and white two-piece with tags still intact and – as luck would have it – mysize.  Like every other time that I wentto the beach, I applied liberal amounts of sunscreen.  Diligent, I massaged it from the top andworked my way down: face, ears, neck, shoulders, arms, legs, and feet.
Once Ifinished proactively preventing skin cancer, I found a phenomenal whitecover-up with red embroidered stitching. I slipped it over the swimsuit, looked into the mirror, and decided itwas as good as it was going to get.  Ibraced myself and exited the room.
"We aregoing out the front.  That way we won'tbe stopped by James or The Sisters,"he said, intertwining his hand with mine and showing me how to sneak out thefront of the house. 
On thebeach, I had a renewed sense of confidence after discarding the cover-up.  Brody's approval was obvious as he inspectedme from my feet up to my eyes.  His scanwas as calming and gentle as the strokes to my arm the night before.
Ofcourse, seeing him shirtless for the first time, I performed my own quickglance.  With it, I appreciated hissculptured physique.  The accenting shadowsunderneath his bulging muscles were as much a part of him as his strikinglytanned skin. 
He tookmy hand, and we waded out into the waves where he began teaching me how to bodysurf. 
"Theperfect wave needs to come to your shoulders. Once you find it, let it hit you from behind and carry you all the wayto the beach," he coached, seriously. 
Making itinto the deeper part of the warm water, I swayed with the battering of a fewlarge swells.  With my wavering, Brodygrabbed my waist and give me time to stabilize my foot-hold.
"Better,"he said protectively.
He waitedfor my nod before releasing his hold.
This wasthe first time I had done anything more than walk through the beach sidewater.  Despite that detail, I had astrong sensation that I had spent my entire life swimming the foamy waves.  Brody and I rode them until the instant thatI saw someone mounting an elaborately designed surfboard.
Speakingwithout thinking, I asked, "Brody, do you have a surf board I could use?" 
"Yeah,give me a few minutes.  I'll go get acouple," he said, as if he had been inspired also.
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1.Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series2.Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series3.Heather Self4.T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series5.Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga6.Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy7.Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog 8.K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed9.Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series10.Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy11.Dani Snell's Refracted Light Reviews 12.Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey13.M. Leighton, Blood Like Poison Series, Madly, The Reaping 14.Kimberly Kinrade, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, Forbidden Mind15.Madeline Smoot, Missing, Summer Shorts, and The Girls16.Cidney Swanson, author of Rippler17.Gwenn Wright, author of Filter18.TG Ayer19.Melissa Pearl, Author of The Time Spirit Trilogy20.Heather M. White, author of The Destiny Saga21.Roots in Myth, PJ Hoover22.Courtney Cole Writes23.Four Seasons of Writing: Variable like the Employment