Chapter 7 Trevor
Trevor
“You can go a little faster if you want,” Kenzie calls from her seat near the bow of my boat where she’s white-knuckling her life vest.
“You sure?”
I’ve yet to take the boat out of no wake because I didn’t want to rock Kenzie too much. After unintentionally stumbling upon another vulnerable moment this morning, I want everything to go right for her today.
Kenzie had been mixing creamer into her coffee, doing her affirmations while holding Banks with one hand.
After dutifully repeating that she deserved good things, she’d torn off her headphones with a frustrated growl, thrown them across the room, and promptly burst into tears, apologizing to Banks for startling him.
All I wanted was to wrap Kenzie in my arms and never let go, but after last night, I didn’t want to overstep again.
It physically hurt to silently back out of the room and wait in the hall for her breathing to settle. Once it did, I cleared my throat loudly, stomped more than I ever have in my life, and burst into the kitchen with an upbeat, “Who’s ready for a day on the boat?”
Kenzie turns in her seat, the brim of her floppy sun hat nearly smacking her in the nose. “I didn’t choke down that bitter medicine for nothing.” When I hesitate, she points to a passing kayaker. “I don’t know much about boats, but I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen.”
“I don’t want you to get seasick.”
Kenzie fully rotates, kneeling on the plush cushion. “Though I’m usually thankful for your protective big-brother tendencies, today I want…” She closes her eyes, thinking for a few seconds. “Could we try…”
I idle the engine when she gets flustered, her hands gripping the back of the seat.
“Whatever you want,” I tell her, trying to keep my tone even. “Whatever you want, we can do it.”
Because I’d do anything for Kenzie’s nails to loosen their vise grip, for the tension in her jaw to abate.
She winces. “I might throw up all over your nice boat.”
My twenty-four-foot fishing boat is pretty basic compared to other models, and it’s tiny compared to my parents’ yacht, but I’d intentionally purchased a vessel that served its purpose without drawing attention.
Out on the water, no one knows who I am.
No one cares about my batting average or caught stealing percentage. Out here, I can just relax.
“I don’t care.” My words are a hard scrape. “What do you want, Kenzie? Whatever it is. I’ll give it to you.”
Her eyes widen slightly before she takes a deep breath. “Let’s go fast.”
“That’s easy. Just sit down first, okay?”
Kenzie rotates halfway before pausing. “No, actually…”
She pops up from her seat, running her hand along the gunwales until she’s standing beside me.
Her chin tilts up defiantly, even though there’s a tremble in her fingertips as she rests them on the helm.
The sea breeze pushes a strand of hair across her cheek, but Kenzie doesn’t brush it away.
Instead, her green eyes focus on me with an intensity that sends shockwaves to my toes.
“I want to drive.”
Her rapid pulse flickers in her throat, and she’s vibrating with anxious energy, but her words are clear.
So brave.
So brave and so breathtakingly beautiful.
“I made a list last night,” Kenzie tells me, biting her lip. “Before the cheese debacle.”
“You did?” It’s a struggle not to sound winded.
“Of things that I want to try but are completely out of my comfort zone. Like being on a boat.” Kenzie pulls back her shoulders. “Like driving a boat. Is…is that okay?”
“Sure.” I swallow the golf ball lodged in my throat. No need to tell Kenzie she could ask for my left kidney and I’d happily give it to her. “I’ll need to be here to help, though. You don’t have a boating license.”
She nods before placing one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the throttle. While I’m checking to make sure the kayaker is nowhere near us, Kenzie punches it.
“Whoa.”
Her body slams into mine as the boat jolts forward.
“Sorry.” She pulls back on the throttle. “That, um—sorry.”
I chuckle, shifting so that I’m bracketing her in case she loses her balance again. “It’s okay. Just ease into it this time.”
Kenzie shifts into no wake, keeping it there for several seconds before slowly increasing speed. She completely forgets about the wheel, so I keep one hand low on the center to steer us in the right direction.
“How far do we need to go in order to fish?” she asks.
“We’re not fishing today.”
“We’re not?”
Her hat brim knocks me in the chin as she glances back. I’m hovering like a helicopter, but it’s important for me to stay close—for safety reasons.
“I thought I’d take you to Wilks Beach for lunch. I know you said you didn’t want to celebrate, but you deserve it after all your hard work.”
There’s a little beach town that not many people from the city bother visiting because it’s such a long drive to get there.
By boat, it’s relatively easy to reach, just a few miles down the coast. I’m hoping Kenzie will enjoy its small-town charm and the crabcakes at its only restaurant—Bayside Table.
“Oh,” she says. “Thank you.”
Then it’s like watching the early sun rays break over her face. Kenzie’s smile shifts in dazzling degrees, genuine for the first time since her breakup. I grin back, using my hand on the steering wheel to anchor the weightless sensation in my chest.
I’m in so much trouble.
It’d been relatively easy to keep this crush under control when I kept a minimum six feet of distance between us at all times, but now, with her back bumping against my chest, with her smiling at me like that…
We hit a white cap, and sea spray mists us both, causing Kenzie to focus back on the task at hand. A delighted giggle escapes her lips as she cranks the throttle. When her mischievous eyes shift back to mine, I have to clench my abs to keep from doing something reckless.
Pulling a measured inhale into my lungs, I shift my attention to the sea stretching out in every direction.
The steady hum of the engine whirs as the tension between my brows eases.
Watching the subtle ebb and flow of the waves, the crisp salt air brushes against my face like a caress.
With nothing but the ocean and the sky before us, I feel my shoulders drop.
Being out here has always been my happy place, and with Kenzie between my arms, I can almost pretend that she’s here because she wants to be with me.
Though my brain cautions against that very dangerous thought, my heart decides to swan dive into delusion.
Kenzie nestled against me already feels like the most natural thing in the world, like she was made for me.
I dip my face to inhale the scent of her strawberry shampoo, wishing I could slide a hand over her waist and pull her fully to my chest.
My fingers twitch at my side, debating, when we hit a second white cap. This time, when Kenzie glances back, her face is unmistakably white.
“Oh no.”
I barely have time to slow the boat before Kenzie darts away, losing her breakfast over the side.