“Scoot closer, Ally girl.” He started the engine. “And either hold on to my waist or the handle behind you.”
“Did you plan this?” I scooted closer until his hips were between my legs.
“Of course not, why would I do that?” he said in an entirely too innocent voice. “Just to have you holding on to me? Pssh.”
I smiled as my hands went to his life jacket. “You so did.”
“This is a safety clip that attaches to your life vest.” He held something up.
I looked around his shoulder to see it.
“If you fall off it shuts off the engine.” He clipped it to his vest. “Now, let’s catch up with the guys.” He turned his wrist.
I held on tight but we weren’t going fast at all. Asher was going pretty slow. “Um, is something wrong? Or are you the granny driver on the lake?”
He chuckled. “I’m not a jerk.”
I smiled to myself. It wasn’t lost on me that this would also take us longer to get to the guys. I debated for a few seconds before asking. “Why did you thank Zeke when he came back from making a call?”
“He called Jess and told her to stay at his place to keep Sylvie company,” he said. “I guess she didn’t want to be home alone.”
“Oh.” That was sweet of Zeke. But the bigger thought on my mind was that Jessica was at Zeke’s house. Probably staying in his room. Jealousy sparked in my stomach. I pushed it away.
Asher apparently decided that we were out far enough. “Hold on.”
I tightened my grip as he pulled the accelerator. The engine rumbled as the nose moved up as we started to move faster through the water. The seat vibrated between my legs as we leveled out over the water. I gasped as sparks shot along my nerves a heartbeat before I adjusted my hips. The fucking thing was like a giant vibrator... And way more expensive than mine. Hopefully, he didn’t hear me over the rush of the wind in our ears. The water sped by as we flew over the water. My hair streamed behind me as I held on tight to Asher.
“We’re going to turn,” Asher shouted over his shoulder. “Lean when you feel like you need to lean.”
I saw the bend in the lake coming up. Asher turned to the left. I automatically moved my hips to keep my center of gravity as we turned. When he pulled out of the turn, I moved them back.
“Just like that!” He accelerated even more. We were getting into the busier part of the lake. Several boats were out and leaving wakes. Asher slowed down a bit as we hit them. We hit the wake of a boat. The ski jumped, lifting my butt off the seat. Then I came down harder than I thought I would.
“Ow.”
“Sorry! Use your legs when you come back down,” he shouted over his shoulder. There was another engine close by. I spotted Isaac to our right in his lime green life jacket, jumping his ski through the wake of a boat. Catching at least four feet of air before slamming back down. I laughed as the others moved around us. Miles waved at Asher while Ethan held on to the handle on the back of the seat. Asher nodded. Miles sped up, everyone else followed. With Miles leading, we took another bend and accelerated. My heart pounded as a boat that was going in the same direction turned left in front of us.
“Shit!” Asher shouted. “Hold on!”
I did as he said while he slowed down a little. We hit the wake. The ski jumped, the seat was gone, my grip slipped and suddenly I was under water. I kicked to the surface and wiped the hair out of my eyes. The guys turned around and sped back toward me. I waved so they could see me. Zeke and Miles were the first ones to me.
“You okay?” Zeke demanded.
I laughed. “That was kind of fun.”
Zeke let out a breath as he relaxed.
“How’d you land?” Ethan asked.
“Feet first.” At least I think I did.
“Good, that’s how you want to land.” Miles accelerated out of the way of the others.
“Your back’s the worst,” Isaac added as he joined us.
Asher slowly moved up toward me. “Sorry, Ally girl. That guy turned in front of us without looking.”
“Or you were just too close.” Zeke shot him a look that would kill normally.
Asher glared back at him while I got to the back of the ski and pulled myself up.
“I’m not that breakable. Geeze.” I pulled myself back on the seat behind Asher. I reached into my hair and managed to find my hair tie, pulled the curly mass into a tight messy bun, then wrapped my arms around his waist. “Let’s go!”
The others laughed while Zeke and Asher glared at each other. Asher’s hand came up and squeezed one of mine drawing Zeke’s eyes to where I held onto Asher. Miles drove his ski between them cutting them both off.
It was another half hour of racing around the lake before I fell off again. Asher took a turn too fast and I flew off. I still came up smiling. This time Miles transferred Ethan to Zeke’s ski and came to get me. I climbed up behind him and found a comfortable spot against him. His hands squeezed mine on his life jacket before accelerating.
The afternoon was amazing. Nothing but fun, laughing and Zeke occasionally threatening to kill Isaac if he didn’t stop trying to jump wakes. Everything was perfect. It was as if I had never kissed them. When I fell off twice, Asher or Miles, whoever didn’t have Ethan, came for me. Zeke even smiled a couple of times. Everything from the past few months fell into the background.
After coming up again, I wiped the water out of my eyes.
“Red!” Isaac reached me first this time and gestured for me to get on the back. Smiling, I swam to his ski and climbed on.
“No!” Asher shouted as he came toward us.
“Don’t even think about it!” Zeke bellowed. “Not with her on the back!” But it was too late, my arms were around Isaac’s waist and he was accelerating back out to the busy part of the lake. The others were right behind us.
“You sure?” Isaac shouted over his shoulder.
I saw the boats crossing in front of us further up. “Do it!”
Isaac accelerated, going faster than any of the others had with me on the back. The wake was coming up. We hit. We went up into the air, the seat disappeared and we came down hard. This time, I caught myself with my legs, but I still hit the seat. I held on as he kept going. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as we turned and started toward the wake of a bigger boat.
The wind rushed by my ears in a roar as he accelerated. We hit. We flew, the seat disappeared. I hit the seat hard and bounced. The sky and the water switched places then I hit the water on my back. Pain radiated up and down my spine driving the air from my lungs. I kicked to the surface and fought to breathe. I finally got a lung full of air and started looking for Isaac. The ski was upside down in the water further ahead.
“Isaac!” Where was he?
“I’m okay.” Isaac answered as he swam toward me from the left. “You good?”
I nodded. “That one hurt.”
“Sorry, Red.” He reached me and tread water. “I thought it was smaller than it was.”
Engines rumbled closer.
“Still fucking fun.” I smiled a big smile. We both started laughing. By the time the guys reached us, Isaac already had the ski right side up again.
“Everyone alright?” Miles’ voice was worried.
“Yeah, we’re okay.” I continued treading water as Isaac climbed back on the ski.
Zeke came to me this time. “That’s it. You’re with me.”
I rolled my eyes before swimming to the back of his ski and climbing on. I found a good spot against him and put my hands on his hips. He accelerated back toward the less busy branches of the lake.
Then he drove into the shallows and stopped. “You’re going to learn how to drive.”
“I am?” I scooted back as Zeke got to his feet on the ski and dove into the water. As he came to the surface, he gestured for me to scoot forward. Holy crap, I am. I scooted forward until I was comfortable. Then I almost had a heart attack as the bow went up when Zeke pulled himself up onto the back. The b
ow dropped and he sat behind me.
His knees were past my hips as he reached around me. “Grab the bars.” I followed his instructions. “Always first look ahead of where you’re going. Make sure you’re scanning the horizon in front of you because we’re not the only ones out here. There could be a skier or swimmer in the water.” He tapped the right lever. “Now, it doesn’t take much to go so press carefully. The same goes for the brake on the left. Understand?” The others were ignoring us and started cracking jokes.
“Yep. Right go. Left stop,” I said in a cheerful voice.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s obvious, but I don’t want you getting hurt just because I didn’t mention it.” He reached around me and started the ski. It rumbled to life. “Now, pull on the lever slowly until you get a feel for it.”
I did as he said, we started going forward.
“Good, now a little more,” he said over the noise.
My shit eating grin moved across my face a heartbeat before I pulled the lever even more. The engine revved, we took off like a shot. Zeke cursed as he grabbed the back of the seat. The wind was in my face as the others caught up. Miles pulled ahead.
Zeke pointed over my shoulder at him. “Follow Miles.”
I did as he said. Miles led us on a rather tame route. Tame but it helped me get a feel for the controls. Hoping I wasn’t about to break the damn thing, I took a hard turn, leaning in to it before I even started. I barely managed to hold on as Zeke cursed and flew off. I let go of the lever as I turned back to face him. He came up and flipped me off. Everyone else started cracking up.
I doubled over laughing on the ski, my sides hurting as Zeke swam toward me. I was wiping tears from my eyes when he reached up, grabbed my arm and tugged me into the water.
I came up still laughing. “Worth it!” That just set the others off again. This time even Zeke was laughing. Zeke climbed back up onto the ski then waited as I climbed up behind Miles.
“Come on, guys,” Asher said, getting all of our attention. “It’s about time to start dinner.”
The twins and I groaned but everyone headed back toward our campsite.
When we got close, everyone shut off the engines and coasted into the shore. I got off the ski with a big smile on my face. Everyone took the keys out of the skis and pulled them out of the water and onto the sand.
Tara was sitting on the sand with another girl around our age and some guy. She didn’t acknowledge us even though we were right in front of them. Oh well. I found my sandals and towel before unzipping my life jacket.
“What’s for dinner?” Isaac asked as everyone started toward camp.
“Food.” Asher grinned.
I snorted as I took off my life jacket. Hades ran to me with his tail wagging. “Hey, baby, did you have a good nap with Rory?” I knelt down and gave him some scratches. He licked my cheek and sniffed my neck.
Miles took my life jacket along with Isaac’s. “Go get changed, I’ll put the jackets up to dry.”
Everyone split up as I got to my feet. I headed for my tent with Hades as I used my towel to dry and get most of the water out of my hair. I was slightly afraid of what it would look like when it dried. Screw it, we were camping. I changed out of my swimsuit into a pair of shorts and a simple gray slouchy boyfriend shirt. I made a point to grab my hoodie in case I got cold. I also grabbed my bag with my drawing supplies too.
Hades followed me out of the tent while I took a minute to hang my suit up to dry on the tree. I headed back to sit in my camp chair next to Ethan as he dried his hair with a towel.
Tara walked back from the lake with the two people she was with earlier. “Hey, guys.”
I sat down in my camp chair as everyone there said hi. “Where’s Rory?”
“He went fishing.” Tara’s fingers started twisting together as she turned to her new friends. “Everyone, this is Danielle and Dean. They’re camping a few sites up with their parents.”
Miles began tapping that staccato rhythm on the arm of his chair.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Asher draped the towel over his shoulder as he took charge. He pointed at each of us and introduced us. “That’s Isaac and Ethan, they’re brothers obviously. That’s Miles with the glasses. And the redhead is Ally-sorry Lexie.” He turned back to them. “I’m Asher.”
Danielle was a few inches taller than Tara with long brown hair and a shy smile as she gave a little wave. “Hi.”
Dean had the same brown hair, only short and a nice jaw. “How’s it going?”
Zeke was on his way back toward us in his usual all black clothes.
“And the giant mountain of muscle coming out of the woods behind you is Zeke.” I figured I’d better warn them. “He’s a grouch so don’t take it personally.”
Danielle turned and looked up and up. Her eyes grew wide as she stepped back toward her brother.
Zeke stepped into the clearing with a scowl. “Who the hell are you?”
I snorted. “Tara met some people. Be nice.”
Zeke shot me a look then muttered under his breath as he went to his chair and sat down. Puffft. What the… the twins burst out laughing.
Zeke was cursing as he got to his feet and pulled a whoopie cushion out from under a black towel on his chair. “You fucking little shits.” He threw it at Isaac as everyone chuckled.
Zeke sat back down and continued muttering under his breath. Danielle and Dean sat down with us while Asher headed back to the kitchen area to start dinner.
“So, where are you two from?” Miles shifted in his chair to face them. Danielle was holding on to a beat up paper back.
“Spokane, Washington actually.” Dean smiled at Miles. “We make a camping trip out here every year.”
I crossed my legs and balanced my sketchbook on my lap. “What are you reading?”
Danielle looked up as if surprised someone was talking to her. “Oh, um. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong.”
“Is it good?”
She shrugged. “If you like werewolf stories, yeah. It’s good.”
“I read everything.” I chuckled. “I love how authors have different interpretations of legends and myths. It keeps it fun.”
That was all it took and we were talking about books and authors. Danielle got animated when she talked about Sherrilyn Kenyon. We ignored everyone else and talked about our favorite characters, our favorite bad guys and whose book we were hoping for next.
We were laughing when Ethan draped his towel over my upper thigh. When I turned to him, Dean’s gaze darted away from me and back to Tara’s face.
I raised an eyebrow at Ethan.
Ethan leaned over and whispered, “He was staring at your scars.”
Oh…
I winked my thanks, turned back to Danielle and continued as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t long before the brother and sister headed back to their camp.
As soon as they were gone, I pulled the towel off my leg. “How often did he look for you to get mad about it?”
Ethan took his towel back.
“Enough that even I noticed.” Isaac said.
I snorted at that.
Rory pulled his truck into the lot and got out.
“How was fishing?” Zeke called.
Rory shrugged. “Not bad, but not great.”
“Dinner!” Asher announced.
After everyone was settled and eating around the picnic table, Rory looked down the table. “So, what are everyone’s plans after graduation?”
Everyone stuffed food into their mouths, except for Miles.
Miles sent us a censoring look before turning to Rory. “I’ll be applying for early admission at M.I.T this November.”
Rory finished his bite. “Good for you. Physics, I imagine?”
Miles started tapping his fingers in that staccato rhythm. “Yes. And if I don’t get in I’ll be applying to Harvard, Cal-tech, Berkeley. Anywhere there’s a great physics department.”
Rory nodded and turned to Ethan. “Ethan?”
&nb
sp; Ethan shrugged as he swallowed his food. “I don’t know yet, I was thinking of checking out a few music programs at universities. But it’s not set in stone. With the band and all four of us, well, we haven’t talked about it yet.”
Rory turned to Isaac. “What about you?”
Isaac’s eyes unfocused. “I don’t really know yet. I’m still figuring it out.”
Rory smiled. “That’s okay, you don’t have to know what you want to do when you graduate high school. Hell, Lexie’s dad was an underwater welder for several years before he decided to become a firefighter.”
“I didn’t know that.” I looked at him down the table.
Rory nodded. “He traveled all over the states doing it. Even had work in Hawaii before he met your mom.”
“Underwater welding?” I didn’t even know that dad liked scuba diving…
Rory smiled before he turned to Asher. “Asher? Culinary school?”
His mouth full, Asher simply shrugged. “I need to see how this year of football goes first.”
I rolled my eyes and repressed the urge to groan.
Rory turned to Zeke. “Zeke, what are your plans?”
Zeke kept his eyes on his plate as he answered. “I’ll probably drive to the community college in Missoula a couple of days a week while still working in the garage.” Something in Zeke’s voice bothered me and I wasn’t the only one.
Rory watched Zeke with narrowed eyes. “Well, by then Kita should be ready to be adopted, right?”
Zeke nodded, his gaze still on the table. “About then, if not sooner.”
“Hell, Tank loves Sylvie. You could leave him with her, he’d be a great guard dog for her.” Rory surveyed Zeke.
Zeke said nothing but his shoulders grew rigid. He wanted off this topic, now.
I turned to Tara. “And what are you planning to do?”
Tara caught on quickly. “I’m honestly thinking the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.”
“Pratt?” Miles head snapped up. “That’s a competitive school.”
“Yeah, but my grades are great and so are my extra curriculars.” She played with her food a little. “I might have a shot.”
“Are you sure you want to go to Brooklyn?” Rory asked. “It’s across the country?”
Tara rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything.
When the Dead Have It Easy Page 9