Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
JOHN PARR, “NAUGHTY NAUGHTY”
Eve
We met at the lake after dinner.
Kyle was already in his fishing boat when I arrived. I walked at double speed, clenched my fists, and told myself to slow down and chill out. But I couldn’t. He was taking me fishing on a lake that didn’t have another boat in sight.
“What took you so long?” he asked, offering his hand to help me off the dock and into the boat.
I didn’t need his help, but I liked how my hand fit into his. “You didn’t tell me which dock. And there are three at this lake. I drove to the other two first.”
“Oh, I thought there was only one.” He gave me a half grin. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, I can tell,” I said before nodding to the engine. “Okay. What’s the first step?”
“Oh, you're driving it today?” He narrowed his eyes.
“Yes. What did you think we were doing?”
“Fishing and filleting.”
I shrugged. “Well, show me how to drive the boat, and I’ll take us to the fish; then we can catch and fillet.”
“Okay. First, make sure the engine is fully tilted down like this.”
I nodded.
“Then you need to squeeze this priming bulb until it’s full.”
I squeezed it. “Now what?”
“Make sure the throttle is in neutral.” He showed me that. “Key on. Choke out. Pull the cord.”
I followed his steps. “Ouch!” I grabbed my shoulder after a failed attempt at pulling the cord.
Kyle chuckled. “You have to use your muscles. Do you have any?” He playfully squeezed my upper arm.
I batted his hand away. “It’s not funny,” I said, but I laughed anyway. “Let’s skip the starting part. I just want to drive it.”
“Eve, if you can’t start this boat, I won’t let you fire a gun. And there’s no way you can pull my bow back to shoot an arrow.”
I frowned. “Fine. I’ll try again.” I gripped it harder, and again, it didn’t start, but at least it didn’t hurt my arm as much.
“You’ll flood it if you don’t get it started soon.”
“Yeah, yeah.” On the third attempt, it started. “I did it!”
“Sit. You’re going to fall out of the boat. Let’s try less celebrating and more concentrating.” He showed me how to make it go, how to steer the tiller in the opposite direction from our intended direction, and how to stop when we reached our spot to fish. Despite his repeated eye rolls and smirks, I thought I did a great job.
“Do I need to show you how to put the worm on the hook?”
“No.” I wrinkled my nose. “I know how to fish. My grandpa taught me.”
“But he didn’t teach you how to drive a boat?”
I shook my head, putting the worm on my hook. “He just fished off the dock. Catch and release.”
Kyle cast his line. “That’s all we’ll be doing. I don’t think we’ll catch anything worthy of dinner in this lake.”
We reeled in our lines and cast again.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask what you and Josh did this afternoon,” he said.
“We picked apples, chased butterflies, and then he played in his room while I snooped around in yours,” I said and bit my lip to keep from grinning while my attention stayed on my line.
I felt his gaze on me briefly before he watched his line again. “I know you’re trying to get a reaction out of me, but I also don’t think you’re lying either. You just think I’m going to think that you’re lying. So, did you find anything interesting in my room?”
“Besides your Playboy magazines? No.”
Kyle paused his hands. “July is my favorite.” Then he resumed reeling in his line.
He was right. I tried to disguise the truth as a lie or a joke. I did snoop in his room, and I did find his Playboy magazines.
“I didn’t open any drawers. And I only looked under the mattress just to appease my ridiculous side. I honestly didn’t think you’d have magazines there.” I fought my smile. “I was wrong.”
“The articles are really good.”
I laughed. “Stop.”
He grinned. “It’s true. There was a recent article on AIDS that was well written and thoroughly researched.”
“Is that what you read to Josh at night? Thoroughly researched articles about a deadly virus?”
“No. He just likes to look at the pictures.”
“Coach Collins, you’re a pervert.”
“You mean a hot-blooded man.”
“Oh! I got a bite!” I pulled up on my pole and reeled in the fish.
“Nice one.” Kyle grabbed the fish.
“I can take it off,” I said.
He eyed me with surprise and held my pole while I removed the fish and gently returned it to the lake.
“I should have brought my camera,” Kyle said, handing me my pole.
“Why? So you could take a photo of me and my fish that I couldn’t show anyone because, according to you, this isn’t happening?”
“You’re right. This is our moment. I might not remember the look on your face when it tugged at your line, but I’ll never forget the look on your face when you tried to start the boat.”
“Oh, really? My pain is more memorable to you than my joy?”
“Everything about you is memorable.” As soon as he said the words, he got a look on his face that I would never forget.
Panic.
“I meant entertaining. I find your actions entertaining.”
“As entertaining as the magazines under your bed?”
“Did your parents forget to teach you manners and proper etiquette for respecting other people’s privacy?”
“I told you I didn’t open any drawers.”
“For someone with such a biblical name, you make me think Eve is just short for evil.”
“Stop!” I shoved him playfully just as he leaned toward the edge.
I repeat. It was a playful shove.
Yet, he fell out of the boat.
“Oh shit! Kyle?”
He emerged and shook his head like a wet dog. “What the hell, Eve?”
I cupped a hand over my mouth while my other hand gripped the side of the boat as it rocked from his body rolling out of it.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“Of course, I’m okay,” he grumbled. “Now, help me back in the boat.” He reached a hand toward me.
I don’t know why he thought the same arm that struggled to start the boat would magically have the strength to hoist his two-hundred-pound body into it without the whole thing capsizing. However, I had no choice but to trust him. So I gave him my hand.
“Kyle—” My words died as he pulled me into the water. I surfaced and wiped my eyes while he climbed into the boat without help. “You jerk! You did that on purpose! What if I can’t swim?”
He reached under the seat and tossed me a life jacket. Then he peeled off his T-shirt and rung it out over the side of the boat. “There was this article on boat safety in one of my magazines. Did you happen to read it when you were snooping?”
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of carrying on like a damsel in distress. Instead, I hugged the life jacket and floated on my back, staring up at the mountains of clouds in the distance. “Do you think my dad and your brother look at Playboy magazines?” I asked, even though I couldn’t hear his answer with my ears under the water. “I mean God probably appreciates them. Of course, He focuses on the articles, but while He’s flipping from one article to the next, I bet He appreciates the titty photos. After all, it’s just admiring His artwork. Don’t you agree?”
When I lifted my head, Kyle was still shirtless with his back to me while he fished out of the opposite side of the boat.
“You’ll be happy to know that I take much better care of your child than you take care of your brother’s best friend’s daughter.”
“You pushed me in the water. Maybe you were trying to drown me. That’s attempted murder.” He set his pole aside and turned, offering me his hand.
I didn’t trust him, but I was out of other options, so I swam toward the boat and flung my life jacket into it before accepting his help.
Once I was inside the boat, I held up both arms. Kyle stared at me with a wrinkled brow.
“Help me remove my shirt so I can wring it out.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “No way.”
“I have on a bra. Think of it like a bikini top.”
“No. Just wring it out the best you can without taking it off.”
“You’re shirtless. What’s the big deal? No one’s around here. We could skinny dip and get away with it.”
“We’re not skinny dipping, and you’re not removing your top.”
“Why? Worried you can’t control yourself?”
“Eve, I haven’t strangled you. I think I’m showing a lot of control.”
“Don’t be a square. Do you think I want to leave my clothes on after you got me wet?”
He gazed at the sky for a brief moment before tucking his chin and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Christ,” he mumbled. “Don’t say it like that. Just sit down. Let’s head back to the dock.”
I had other ideas.
Kyle stiffened, staring between his legs at my wet shirt when it landed next to his feet.
“If I were Adam, I’d remove my wet shirt, right? We’d crack open a beer, too, but you didn’t bring beer, which leads me to believe you don’t really think of me as that kind of friend.”
“Put your shirt back on,” he said, keeping his head bowed.
“No. Just look at me. My bra is on. You look at naked women in magazines. I’m not naked. Stop making this weird. You’re totally freaking out over nothing.”
Kyle lifted his gaze and stared at my chest like it needed to be studied. Then he peered out at the water. “What’s there to look at?”
“Jerk.” I wrinkled my nose.
“Snoopy perv,” he said.
I bit my lip to keep from giggling, then I twisted my hair and leaned to the side to wring out the water. “See. No big deal. We’re just buddies fishing.”
Little lines of distrust formed at the corners of his eyes.
“I wonder how many couples named Adam and Eve end up together. It would get exhausting dealing with the looks and snickers every time they introduced themselves. Can you imagine?” I asked, combing my fingers through my hair.
Kyle’s gaze stayed firmly on the water, but he grinned.
“How did you and Adam meet?”
“I’ve known him since kindergarten.” He squinted against the sun.
“That’s how long I’ve known my friend Erin. You must really miss him. Erin has decided to attend a community college for her first two years, so she commutes from home. I don’t know what I will do when she moves away to finish school. Maybe you’ll have to fill in as my best friend. We can fish, hunt, and drink together.”
Kyle kept staring at the sunset while scratching his jaw. “Think so?” He reached between his legs and grabbed my shirt, squeezing the water from it before tossing it to me.
“I’m looking at you, and you’re not even wearing a bra,” I said.
Kyle rolled his lips between his teeth, gazing at my feet. “This was a bad idea. You’re every kind of imaginable trouble.” In the next breath, he started the engine and steered us back to the dock.
He was supposed to let me drive, but I didn’t make a big deal out of it, surprising myself with my new level of maturity.
“I should get back in case Gabby’s having any issues with Josh,” he said, climbing out of the boat.
This time, I ignored his proffered hand since he still wouldn’t look at me. “Yes. I’m sure Josh is giving her fits,” I said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
Kyle loaded his boat onto the trailer in what I imagined was record time while I sat on the edge of the dock.
“Are you going home too?” he asked, threading his arms through his wet shirt.
“I’m going to hang out here until I dry off more.” With my legs dangling over the dock’s edge, I leaned back, gazing at the heavens.
“I can’t leave you here alone.”
“Why?”
“If anything happened?—”
“Bears?” I asked.
“Animals. Creepy people in the woods. Anything.”
I lifted onto my elbows and caught him looking at me. “You think there are creepy people in the woods?”
After a shrug, he tucked his chin and kicked at the gravel. “Anything’s possible.”
“Huh.” I leaned back again. “It might not look like it, but I was a late bloomer. All of my friends got curves and breasts before I did. Then, last summer, boom! I got ‘em. It made me think of Creation. In her seventeenth year of life, God gave Eve boobs, and it was good. Hmm … perhaps that’s more like The Big Bang Theory.”
My head lulled to the side as Kyle fought his reaction, rubbing his fingers over his lips to hide his grin. That was his thing. He did it a lot with me. Then, his body started shaking with laughter.
My new favorite thing was making him laugh and smile when he didn’t want to.
“Eve,” he shook his head, reeling in his reaction and regaining his composure. “You’re a handful.”
“You mean fun.”
“I mean evil . And I need you to go home so I can sleep in peace, knowing you’re nestled into your bed instead of alone on this dock.”
“I wouldn’t be alone if you’d lie next to me and trust that Gabby already has Josh in bed, and she’s probably talking to a friend on the phone.” I closed my eyes.
After a minute of hesitation, I felt him lie next to me.
“Attaboy.” I grinned.
“I’m older. I should be the influencer, but I fear you’re the bad influence on me.”
“Because I’m fun?”
He hesitated, and I wanted to peek into his brain to see everything I knew he wouldn’t say.
“You’re … something.”
I giggled. “I’m going to pretend you think I’m something good.”
He neither confirmed nor denied my assumption.
“Does Josh know his mom?” I held my breath, hoping he wouldn’t up and leave me.
“No.”
“Does he ask about her?”
“No.”
I waited to ask another question because I didn’t want to upset him by sounding overly anxious for answers. “And you weren’t married?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
Kyle chuckled.
“Do you have a good relationship with your family? I think my father would disown me if I had a baby out of wedlock. And since your brother is a pastor too, I bet he wasn’t happy. Huh?”
“We have an older sister who has been arrested twice and to rehab more times than I can count. And she’s had at least two abortions that I know of. My family loves Josh. And I have a good enough relationship with them. I can’t be responsible for anyone’s happiness but my own. Even Josh will grow up and find his own way in life, and his happiness will be out of my control.”
I couldn’t be with Kyle and not have my crush on him intensify. The problem was that no matter how hard I tried to convince everyone else that I was an adult, he made me feel like a young girl with hearts in my eyes and unrealistic dreams of falling for the guy who consumed my every thought. But my tenacity was bigger than all of that self-doubt. So I rolled toward him, resting my head on my outstretched arm.
His head lulled to the side, gazing at me.
“I want to live like you,” I said.
Lines formed along his forehead.
“I want to feel in control of my happiness. I don’t want to live my life for anyone else. And if I make mistakes, I want to find something good to take from them. I want to be fearless.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “You think I’m fearless.”
“Well, I think you seem fearless. You’re raising a child on your own. Maybe you’re just doing a good job of acting brave and mature. I’m trying to be brave by not attending college because I don’t want to conform. I don’t want to be part of the herd. I just want to be myself and go wherever that leads me. Maybe that means I’ll spend most of my life doing odd jobs like cleaning motel rooms. I might not have a big house or a fancy car, but I don’t care. I want my work to be an afterthought. Ya know? When someone thinks of Eve Jacobson, I want them to think, ‘Oh, yeah. Eve loves to fish, stargaze, skip rocks along the water, pick apples and bake pies, dance to good music, go to the movies with friends, and make love in fields of wildflowers.’ I don’t want them thinking, ‘There’s Eve Jacobson; she cleans motel rooms and never went to college.’ But that’s what they’ll think. So I want to be fearless like you and not care what they think.”
He chuckled. “What makes you think I don’t care what other people think?”
I smirked. “Duh. You’re a math teacher.”
“Which is an admirable profession.”
“Mr. Collins, I’m not sure admirable is the right word. I wasn’t an A student in English, but admirable implies people admire you for being a math teacher, like they think being a math teacher is cool and you make them want to be a math teacher.”
He snickered. “Miss Jacobson, you’re thinking of the word envy or inspiring. Admire or admirable means you regard someone with respect. It can also mean you look at someone with great pleasure. I don’t want to be an astronaut, but I admire them.”
I giggled. “And you probably look at those centerfolds with great pleasure, huh?”
“Well, putting yourself out there like those women do takes a lot of courage. If that’s not admirable, then I don’t know what is.”
My side hurt from laughing so much. His gaze slid to my shoulder, and my breath hitched when his fingertips brushed my skin as he slid my bra strap up my arm and back onto my shoulder. Then he let his gaze slip to my chest.
I swallowed, lips parting to accommodate an audible breath. Either I was a total idiot, or he was attracted to me. But it scared me to assume anything because I didn’t want to be wrong and feel like a fool—a naive child.
“What’s next?” I whispered.
Kyle’s gaze lifted to mine.
“Target shooting with a gun or a bow?” I asked.
Something akin to relief washed over his face. “This weekend, I can get out my bow.”
I grinned. “Need me to find you a babysitter?”
“Nah. Josh has a bow too. Just come over early Saturday morning if you’re not working. Tell your parents Josh wants to show you his archery skills.”
“Should I feel guilty that you’re making excuses for me?”
He looked at my chest again and mumbled a “no” before wetting his lips.
It sent goosebumps along my skin, and I tried to control my breathing, but my heart ran wildly out of my control, chasing a feeling that I wanted to be real.
“It’s not an excuse. If I ask Josh if he wants to show you his bow and arrows, he’ll say yes.” He cleared his throat and jackknifed to sitting, running his fingers through his hair.
I sat up, too, and threaded my arms through my cold, damp shirt before standing. When he reached for me, my heart almost stopped. He gathered my long hair in his hand and pulled it out from the back of my shirt.
His gaze followed his hands like he was mesmerized by my long hair as he let it fall down my back. The way he looked at me felt intimate and sexy.
He never would have done that to a student. I don’t think he would have done that to Gabby, either. I wasn’t crazy. His subtle gestures weren’t simply kind; they were more.
“So I’ll see you in the morning,” I said before my knees buckled.
“In the morning,” he echoed.
“Thanks for letting me drive your boat.”
Kyle grinned. “I think I’m getting the better deal, but you’re welcome.”
“Because I spent more time watching Josh than you spent teaching me to drive your boat?”
“Sure.” He winked. “That too.”