9. RJ #2
What the fuck is wrong with me? Why would I say that?
“Eww! Is that your ‘you can do this’ speech? It’s terrible. I thought we were having a nice moment.” When she smirks, my heartbeat relaxes.
Captain Tony whistles, getting all our attention. “Alright, everyone! Find a partner. This is gonna be your snorkeling buddy. It’s important that you stick with your buddy at all times.”
Logan and Lucas grab arms immediately while Lana looks between Summer and Sophie, before settling on Sophie. Turning to Summer, I say. “I guess that means you’re stuck with me, buddy.”
I cringe internally as soon as the words are out of my mouth. I don’t want to be this woman’s friend. I want to be her everything.
“Wouldn’t be the first time we got stuck together,” she mumbles.
“Thinking about our first kiss?”
She wrinkles her nose. “No, I meant how we’re stuck on this trip.”
My chest deflates a little. I need to do something to prove to Summer that I’m exactly where I want to be. It may have taken me a while to pull my head out of my ass, but there’s no place I’d rather be than by her side.
She places her bag on the bench, and I drop the sunscreen into it. Then we make our way to the back of the boat. I set a timer on my watch so we can check on Logan, and Captain Tony talks us through the safety steps. Then we’re in the water.
Summer tugs against me as she tries to keep up with her kids, but they’re lazily floating nearby. Even though we’re only holding hands, there’s tension in every inch of her body, as if she can’t turn off her mom brain and relax.
Releasing her hand, I grip her forearm, tugging her closer.
She turns her head slightly toward me, probably trying to prevent water from getting into her snorkel.
But through her mask, her eyes are staring daggers at me.
“I got you,” I try to say into my mouthpiece, but the words don’t carry.
Pointing to my eyes and then to her boys, I give her a thumbs-up.
Then I point to the girls and repeat the gesture.
Her eyes dart around before she nods slightly.
I want to tell her that I have her back, that I’ll always have her back, but given our history, I’m not sure she’d believe me. Not yet. But I’m determined to do whatever I can to convince her.
It takes some time, but she slowly relaxes when I point out a school of fish nearby.
We float for a bit, still clutching hands but otherwise ignoring each other when she tugs again pointing wildly to a turtle below us.
She looks around as if hoping to find Lana and pops her head out of the water for a second.
Then she calms and resumes floating, so I assume she must have put eyes on her.
My heart is beating rapidly in my chest, and it has everything to do with the woman squeezing my hand as each fish swims by.
She makes a fist and then opens it rapidly when she spots a puffer, and I stifle my laugh.
I get completely lost in the way she slowly lets go, gradually relaxing as we drift around.
There’s a vibration on my wrist, and I show her my watch. We pop our heads out of the water at the same time. I spot the boys about a hundred feet from us, so we grab them and make our way over to the boat.
I poke Sophie as we pass by. “Hey, we’re headed back to check Logan’s levels.”
“Can we stay out here? Lana saw a turtle, and I’m trying to make sure she doesn’t follow it and swim off.” I glance over at Lana who’s still face down in the water.
“Sure. Thanks for doing that.”
Sophie shrugs. “We’re having fun. You don’t have to make it into a big deal.”
I bite my tongue and smile at her. She’s never had any siblings and she’s always glued to her phone, so it’s nice to see her bonding with someone over turtles.
Logan climbs onboard first and is already kicking off his flippers when I swim up behind Lucas and help hoist him onto the boat so he doesn’t have to strain his ankle.
Then I motion for Summer to go ahead of me.
Looking out at the water, I’m desperate for a distraction so I don’t peek at her perfect ass as she climbs up the ladder and onto the deck.
Lucas picks up a flipper, hops on one foot, and swings it at Logan. “Sword fight!”
Quickly, Logan bends, narrowly missing Lucas’s “attack” and brandishes his flipper.
“Boys. Boys! Stop!” Summer shouts.
I’m barely out of the water when everything happens in slow motion. Lucas advances on Logan, pushing him onto the bench as he bumps the bag of supplies, sending it toppling into the water.
There’s no time to think, I know how important that bag is to Summer.
To Logan. I jump over the edge, ignoring the shouting from the boat as I swim down after it.
The water isn’t too deep, and I’m able to grab the bag as it hits the ocean floor.
Once I secure the strap around my wrist, I kick up to the surface.
There are a couple of items in Ziplock baggies floating in the water, and I collect them as I swim to the back of the boat.
Summer is in tears as she clutches a crying Logan.
Lucas wails as I emerge from the water and toss the bag onto the floor of the boat. “It’s not my fault. It was an accident.”
Summer doesn’t say anything to them as she rifles through the bag.
“The blood tester is destroyed. I have another one back at the house. The syringes were in sealed baggies, but they may not be sterile anymore. Everything in packs is sealed. This is why I buy so many Ziplock baggies.” There’s a hint of snark in her words, almost as if she’s arguing with herself.
I reach for a towel as I try to catch my breath, my adrenaline still pumping.
Logan plops down onto the bench. “This is all my fault. I ruin everything. I should’ve been more careful.”
Summer scrambles over to him, kneeling at his feet. “Baby, this is not your fault.” She pulls him onto her lap as she strokes his hair.
Lucas looks between me and her. “Am I in trouble?”
“No,” I start, not giving Summer a chance to speak.
It’s probably not my place to get involved, but I continue anyway.
“I saw it happen. It was an accident. And I don’t blame you for wanting to play fight, but there’s a time and place to do it.
You’re lucky it was just the bag that went over.
What if one of you went over the edge and bumped your head?
You could’ve been seriously hurt. You’re both smart kids, I can tell, but even smart kids make mistakes.
Let’s learn from this, okay? Everyone’s okay.
The bag was saved. That’s what’s important. ”
She looks up at me over Logan’s head and mouths a silent “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry,” Lucas says as he walks over and hugs his mom.
Reaching an arm back, she pulls him close. “I forgive you. But we need to cut this short and head back to the house.”
Logan’s head pops up. “Who’s gonna tell Lana she can’t swim with the turtles?”
“Not it!” Lucas yells.