by S. C. York
“Are you in, TJ?”
My head snaps up in disbelief by the unexpected invite, issued by the king himself.
“What about Vanessa and me? Surely you boys won’t mind finding room for us in your boat?” Eva asks.
“Sorry. It’s guys’ night out. See you at work tomorrow,” Blake tells her flippantly. “Are you coming?” he asks TJ while chucking his empty bottle in the trash.
“Next time. I have plans with my girls here,” TJ answers putting both arms around me and Eva.
“I can’t believe you’re going three miles offshore, half-cocked in a rubber boat. It’ll be dark soon. Safety first! Don’t forget your life vests,” I yell, trying to be cute.
“Vanessa. My Zodiac is just the tender to shore from my new Viking 95,” Blake responds gesturing with a fresh beer in hand behind us.
We all turn to stare, and I’m speechless at the sleek white yacht that sits in the harbor. The sun’s setting rays bounce off the glistening body of the vessel, almost blinding me, “HER MAJESTY” is scripted in gold across the stern—bold and unapologetic.
“Holy shit! The new Viking! I hear that baby can reach up to forty knots depending on sea conditions.”
I glance at TJ. He clearly knows what he’s talking about since he’s worked the past five summers at MYC, short for The Mystic Yacht Club.
“Forget it. I’m in.”
TJ’s arms drop from me and he steps away. “I would go anywhere on that beauty. Sorry ladies... I’m going to upgrade.” He turns to Blake, “Will you let me drive her?”
“No way, man. Not tonight. No one who’s had a drop of alcohol besides me, goes near my custom-designed baby and her twin MAN V12 engines.” All eyes are still on Blake Foster’s flashy sports yacht but the spell’s broken when his buddies start lugging the Zodiac back down the beach. Eva and I follow alongside, and I’m still in disbelief that TJ will get in and leave us
My feet are submerged in six inches of water again and I’m hurt. I just wish for one night to be aboard a million-dollar yacht; whisked away like a princess in a fairy tale. But that’s never been my life or my luck. I might resemble Cinderella in looks but I’m too rough around the edges to ever pass as her. I’ll just go back to reading about Blake’s life in the society pages with Mom on Sunday mornings. Sometimes I wonder if he just likes to be seen and put on Instagram. Last time I checked, he had six-thousand followers—portraying an image of non-stop jet-setting to them. Our worlds couldn’t be more different. My dad’s an electrician and my mom’s a nurse. They could only afford to send me to a state college. While I consider myself educated—yacht clubs, Harvard boys, ‘Her Highness’ motor boat…all that blue blood crap has never been part of my world and I never missed it.
Why try to fit into it now? Deciding to cut my losses early, I say goodbye.
“Have fun on Fisher’s. It was nice meeting all of you!”
They all look at me and Eva mouths, “What the fuck are you doing?”
Lost in my own thoughts— I didn’t realize that my sudden outburst stopped conversation. Embarrassed, I turn to walk away but trip over the stern of the Zodiac, falling head first. I scream in pain as my forehead cracks on the powerful engine. My sundress flies up and I feel the cool sea breeze blow across my bare-ass cheeks. I desperately try to recall what panties I put on that morning, but my pounding head won’t let me.
Ryan’s voice carries over the hysterical laughter, “Let me help you up sweet cheeks.” He leans down to pull my dress back into place. But his hand briefly palms one cheek and I feel his soft breath near my ear as he pushes back my honey-blonde strands and whispers, “You know I would’ve asked you for your number without all the gymnastics, but it’s good to know that you have a great ass before I take you out.”
What? I gingerly feel my forehead, relieved there’s no blood and my head isn’t the only thing on fire now.
He lifts me out of the boat and I put my arms around his neck. Our lips are close enough to kiss. I start to trail my fingers down the side of his cheek when he puts me down.
“Thanks for rescuing me,” I whisper, trying not to cry. I already feel a significant bump swelling on my forehead.
Carefully, I turn around. Everyone is staring and laughing at the hot mess that I’ve become tonight. I blindly fight my way through the crowd— just wanting to get away. But he doesn’t chase after me and I have no chariot waiting to whisk me away.
I finally meet someone who is smart, successful, and physically my dream man. And what do I do? I screw it up by drinking too much and mooning him.
I mooned the man of my dreams!
What moron does that?
I smack my forehead. Shit! Why did I just hit my already injured head?
“Idiot.” I mutter, finally reaching the top of the beach not far from where my evening began.
“Shit. I’m stuck,” I mumble, remembering that Eva drove me here. I grab my phone from my wristlet. It’s miraculously still dry after my free fall. “Daddy…it’s me. I’m at the beach concert. Can you come pick me up?”
“Vanessa? Are you alright? Have you been crying?”
“I’m fine. I just drank more than I thought and I want to come home.” I hang up and text Eva.
Made an ass of myself, literally. Going home...., I type.
Alright, Chica, be safe, she responds.
Walking toward the road to wait for my dad, I look up and see my ex directing traffic in the crosswalk.
Crap. I don’t need a run-in with him tonight.
Quickly pivoting, I huddle behind a dune and hope that the thick clumps of beach grass will conceal me.
“Vanessa? I thought that was you. What’s up?”
I don’t look at him. I can’t.
Pulling my knees into my chest, I bow my head. Even though I squeeze my eyes shut; the tears still find a way to slip out.
Please, God, this can’t be happening. After the night I’ve had already—he’s the last person that I want to see.
“Are you sick?”
“I need a minute alone. Is that alright, Officer O’Neill?”
Hopefully, he’ll get the hint and leave.
He doesn’t.
Instead, he bends down in the sand next to me. I take a deep breath, trying to find the strength to face him. Quickly dabbing my eyes— I look up into the face of the man who stole my heart last summer and tore it to shreds come the fall.
His shifty gaze scans my tear-streaked face then dips lower. His cloudy blue eyes look longingly at my cleavage.
I feel nauseous.
As I remember the details of how he betrayed me—I can’t help it. Every cup of wine that I drank comes up; all over his pant legs and shoes.
“Shit! Nessa! Are you drunk?”
I can’t answer. My head is on fire from the fall into Blake’s boat and now it pounds from the memories of Sean cheating on me with a forty-year-old woman.
I’m shaking—I can’t stop shaking.
The back of my throat fills with stomach acid. I fight it desperately and cling to the hope that Dad will be here any minute. Even with my eyes closed— I feel the force of Sean's gaze crushing me into the sand as he looms over me.
“I’m not drunk. It’s just… the sound and sight of you makes me gag. Sorry.”
“Don’t be like this. I know you’re shit-faced. I deal with drunks constantly. You know being intoxicated in public is against the law.” He taps the metal sign next to me with his nightstick. “This sign, right here... clearly states alcohol on the beach is prohibited. If you don’t watch that smart mouth of yours— I’ll have to arrest you.”
A total joke since he’s usually here drinking when off-duty.
“Keep dreaming about handcuffing me.”
“Why are you so uptight? Just meet me later on River Road and I won’t have to book you,” he tries to sexily whisper in my ear.
He’s such a pig. I just puked on him and he’s coming on to me?
“Sean. Are you dense? W
hat’s wrong with you? Did you forget the moment when you got caught cheating on me in your cruiser, on River Road?
Because I haven’t.
It wrecked me—you wrecked me. Just go.”
“That’s all in the past. Tonight’s the start of a new summer— I think we should try again. I still love you.”
He moves closer and before I realize what he’s doing—the tip of his tongue touches in my ear, as he half kisses and half stabs me with it.
He’s disgusting. What’s gotten in to him?
I vomit again and this time, it hits him full on. He screams, jumping back.
Feeling weak and with my head pounding; I sink in the sand and listen to him radio for backup.
I think this just might be— the beginning of the summer from hell.
***
Ryan
“What in the hell was that all about?”
“I needed to get her away from him. Do you think that I should’ve gone after her?”
I had texted Blake when we were at the beach to invite that guy, TJ, to come with us to Fisher’s island. I wanted to get him away from Vanessa since he was the one whose arms she fell into when Blake almost took her out. They seem like just friends, but I’m not taking any chances. I wanted to make sure she would be going home alone tonight and getting plenty of rest. She doesn’t know it yet, but her cute friend gave me her number and I plan on using it to ask her out tomorrow night.
“Nah, I’m sure she’s fine. If she was really hurt, her friend Eva would’ve gone with her.”
“I hope you’re right, Blake.”
Vanessa must have been drunker than I thought. When she fell and hit her head on the Zodiac’s engine, I was the first one to rush to her rescue. The moment I scooped her up and cradled her in my arms—it felt so right. For a split-second, I had an urge to climb into the boat and take off with her; kidnap her like a goddamn pirate. She is all the treasure that a man could ever want.
When I inhaled the sweet smell of her hair, it travelled through my body and settled in my soul.
She marked me by just existing.
I didn’t want to let her go, but I had to put her down when I noticed all the attention she was getting. The whole beach practically saw her half-naked.
When she fell, her dress flipped up and damn…I’m going to dream about that ass for days...weeks even.
Fuck.
I’m getting hard just remembering how round and smooth she was and where the tan lines stopped and the curve of her cheeks began. I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to calm down.
I don’t want to be here.
I want to stalk her like a lovesick fool.
I want to find out where she lives and climb a tree up to her window.
I want to get rid of anything and everything that might get in my way.
I don’t want to talk, or hold hands. I want her in my bed—for at least two days. Then maybe we could get around to dinner and a movie. Hell, I’d even cuddle with her.
Who am I kidding? I want my arms to be a cage and her body: my prisoner.
I sigh, and take another sip of my beer. Waiting until tomorrow to see her, feels like an eternity. It’s dark and my eyes strain on the bridge for any buoys in the water. It doesn’t help that I’ve had more than a few beers. “She was so goddamn cute. Shit Blake, I haven’t been this excited over a girl, in forever.”
“Or at all, you just stood there like an idiot— barely speaking to her.”
“I know. I kept saying stupid shit when I did, so I just shut the hell up. All I wanted to do was haul her drunk-ass up over my shoulder and slam her down on my bed. I’ve never been into kinky shit, but damn, that was a girl that I could tie up—for days.”
“Jesus, you’re gone. I’ve never seen you like this. I’m happy for you Ry. Finally, someone has gotten to you. But I don’t know what makes her so different. Sure she was good looking, but you’ve had more beautiful woman. She was piss drunk too— she could barely stand up straight.”
“Please Blake, it’s lust, not love brother. Don’t worry, I won’t let her slow me down. Besides, I liked that she was slightly messy. She won’t care when I kiss her lipstick off, or run my hands through her hair. There’s no expensive blow-out that will get ruined. I’m so sick of girls like Blaire, all glossed and glammed to the nines. They are so stiff; so afraid to let me see who they are underneath all that crap. This girl, this girl—shows you everything, with no pretenses and no shame. It turned me the fuck on.”
“Well, her ass was stellar, a grade A—ten!”
“Watch it Blake, you’re not going to get near it.”
His hand presses down on the gear, slowing the engines and we glide into the cove where we will drop anchor and take the Zodiac in to Fisher’s Island. Blake swears that on Thursday nights, every nanny will be out drinking. And after watching spoiled kids all day, they will want to relax. But my thoughts are back on shore, with the girl whose smile was full of sunshine and a heart that gleamed like pure gold. I don’t care that she was tipsy and a klutz. There was something special about her, and I can’t touch it. It’s intangible. But it’s there. I smile, knowing that tomorrow she won’t say no. I could tell that she felt the pull as strongly as I did. Maybe she’s what I needed: something fresh and clean, sunshine and smiles in the light, instead of drunk fucks in the dark.
It’s been a while since I actually asked a nice girl to dinner, but I hope that she’ll be up for some dessert after, because I’m already starving— to taste her lips and trace my tongue down those tan lines, the ones that I couldn’t see.
***
“Ry! Ry! I did it! I got into Colby!”
“I knew that you would Abbs!” I pick her up and swing her around. She’ll only be a few hours north of me now, in Maine. Close enough for me to go up there and kick some frat boy’s ass if I need to. I still look out for her, just like I did when we were kids. She’s more than just my kid sister; in a lot of ways she’s grown up to be my best friend.
She laughs, pounding on my back. “Put me down, you’re making me dizzy!” She falls in the grass and the sunlight shines through her hair. Her smile is guileless and full of pure joy. Abby is so goddamn sweet and innocent. Sometimes, when I look at her I still see the little girl who hid in my room when she was afraid of the dark. I hold out my hand to help her up, but something comes between us; an imaginary force field of sorts. She starts to disappear, her body almost becoming transparent. “Abby! Abby!” I scream, desperately trying to fight whatever is preventing me from getting to her.
“It’s okay, Ryan. Let it go. Let me go...,” her voice fades as she disappears entirely, right into thin air. “Abby!” I scream, waking up finding my face wet.
I’m shaken.
I haven’t dreamed of her, not once since she died.
Not because I don’t want to, but because she never comes to visit me. Sometimes, I feel like that gives me a license to not give a shit, because if heaven was real: Abby would be there and she’d find a way to tell me.
But she’s been silent.
Absent.
Until now.
Until the night I met her—Vanessa. Maybe it’s just coincidence, but either way I’m not going to be myself today, because that dream was just as fresh as the memory of the day when Abby received that acceptance letter.
“Bro? Are you alright in there?” Blake raps on the door to my cabin.
“Yeah, give me a second.”
I yawn, stretching my arms wide before dropping my feet on the floor to unlock the door.
I swing it open, finding Blake holding a steaming mug of black coffee. “I thought that you might need this. After all, you have a hot date tonight with the woman of your dreams.”
I smile and take the mug, “Shit. It’s only seven in the morning. I have to wait a few more hours before I can ask her.”
“As if you are really worried that she might say no?”
“No. I saw the way she was staring at me when she thoug
ht I wasn’t looking. Did you tell that guy TJ, to keep his mouth shut?”
“No. Well shit, why did you kiss those two girls at the bar right in front of him?”
“Old habits die hard, Blake. And they were twins. From Iceland—I think?”
“From what I hear, she’s a nice girl. Way too good for a dirty slut like you, Ry. She’s young too, I’m not sure that you should go for her.”
“What the fuck Blake? Since when are you the moral police?”
He shrugs, reaching up to stretch his arms over the door jamb. “Since Vanessa’s best fiend just started working at my father’s company. I don’t want to be hearing about this shit all summer.”
“The only thing that you are going to be hearing…is how many times I make her scream in that bed.” I point my finger behind me, “while you sleep in the next room, listening like a jealous bastard.”
“My god, you’ve got it bad. I hope for once she doesn’t come easy. Just so I can watch you burn for a change.”
“That’s never going to happen, Blake. Not to me. You forget who you are talking to.”
“I know exactly who I’m talking to.”
He heads back up to the bridge and I walk into the large stateroom bathroom. Turning on the shower, I can’t help but think about her as I grab the shower gel and lather up. I should probably take the edge off anyway before our date later. My eyes squeeze shut and I see nothing but her face, her fit legs, and those goddamn tan lines as I rub one out, coming hard.
Jesus, I almost faint from the force of my release and it was just a fantasy not the real thing. She’s going to rock my world and I can’t fucking wait.
***
I fucking blew it.
She looked so damn beautiful when she climbed up the stairs and entered the room. Although she still had an aura of freshness about her—she glowed with a fresh tan and her skin smelled like coconuts in the Caribbean. Thank god I was wearing my loose khaki shorts, because I was hard for her the instant she greeted me with a peck on the cheek. From my height, I could see straight down into her cleavage while sniffing her freshly washed hair. She left it down again; teasing me. I have a thing for girls with long blonde hair; long enough to wrap around my wrists, at least three times.
