Devious Resolutions

by Ashleigh Giannoccaro

  “What time do you open?” he inquires in a friendly tone.

  “Well, we’re here,” Koenig says pointing between us, “at four in the morning. But you don’t work here, so you would come back at around seven if you need something.”

  He looks up at me, smiles, then turns his attention back to my obviously drunk buddy. I lean down and place a hand on Koenig’s shoulder to keep him from swaying on his feet as the guy nods.

  “I’ll be back at seven then. Thanks!” he says before he turns away, shoves his hands into his pockets and walks away.

  “I wonder what he wanted,” I muse under my breath.

  “Probably your junk,” Koenig teases.

  I laugh, but even these few moments spent between us makes me hope that the captain of the Carolina Blue is right for once.

  Chapter Three

  I bite my lower lip and draw blood, grunting in pleasure as I tug on my dick. I didn’t light up when I got home, because I had him on my mind the entire way back. His golden brown eyes, his boyish charm, and the way I felt him looking into my soul was more than enough for me to come home and find a different way to find relief.

  My mouth falls open as my breathing becomes labored. I reach down and place a hand firmly against the base of my cock as I keep stroking myself.

  I wish I knew his name.

  It would be fucking amazing to say it when I come and I could feel it happening soon.

  I wondered what his lips tasted like, what his hands would feel like on my body, and if he wanted mine on his. I wondered if he looked as beautiful naked as he did fully clothed standing in front of me and I wondered if he would get on his knees after I got to mine.

  Would you let me kiss you after you cum in my mouth? Would you let me suck your dick clean after you fucked my ass? Would you let me fuck your throat—your ass, your entire goddamn soul?

  Would you openly claim me as yours and let me claim you as mine?

  “Oh fuck …”

  The thought of being his is what drives me over the edge and in no time, the white, sticky fluid shoots freely from the head of my cock.

  I let out a shaky, happy breath as my heart races and I become lazy. The release of endorphins has killed the pain that I had been feeling earlier today and while I just want to go the fuck to sleep already, I know I should probably clean up a bit.

  As I made my way to the bathroom to wash my hands and go over my sweaty body with a couple of baby wipes, I chuckle to myself.

  It seems that I have a crush.

  I don’t know his name.

  I don’t know what he likes, what he’s into, how old he is, if he’s even into guys—the usual crush problems one encounters.

  I toss the wipes into the garbage can and turn the light off in the bathroom on my way out.

  Tomorrow at seven in the morning, I would find a way to still be on the dock if I couldn’t be in the factory itself, and I would do my best to find out some answers to my questions somehow.

  “Morning,” I greet Dillon as I walk into the building. She smiles at me tiredly and nods. I guess Koenig fucked her after all, which I’m completely fine with—especially if it gets her off my goddamn back for a while.

  “Koe here?” I ask as I punch in. She nods her head in the direction of the locker rooms and I give her my usual two fingered salute as I disappear into the back.

  I greet him with a grin when I see him. He’s sitting on one of the benches rubbing his face tiredly and I can tell that I’m right with my assumption.

  “How’d it go last night?” I ask as I open my locker and toss my backpack inside.

  “I have no fucking idea,” he replies with a tired laugh.

  “Huh?”

  I glance at him curiously around the locker door and raise an eyebrow when I see him shaking his head.

  “All I know is that we got back to my place, drank some more, and I think that’s it. I woke up on my bed and she was on the living room floor. I think I escaped a huge, potential fuck up by the skin of my teeth.”

  I let out a sigh and shake my head at him. The rueful, playful smile on my face lets him know that I’m teasing him, but the way my physical demeanor shifts slightly tells him that I wish he had.

  “Ready?” I ask after another fifteen minutes. I’ve pulled my heavy rain slicker and my lightweight waders out of the locker and I’m eager to start the day.

  “Don’t you wanna kill some time first?” he asks me meaningfully.

  My face flushes and I can feel the heat turn my cheeks to crimson, but I shrug and shake my head.

  “Nah. Let’s get out of here.”

  Koenig shrugs in return and gets to his feet as he leads the way out of the locker room. I assume the rest of the crew is already on board the Carolina Blue because I have a bad habit of being a little late each day. He hasn’t reprimanded me for it yet and I think it’s because he knows that sometimes I light up when I get home and I need the extra ten minutes in the morning to feel normal again.

  When we walk out of the locker rooms and head down the hallway, Dillon’s high-pitched, girly laughter reaches us all the way on the other end of the building and Koe and I exchange a curious look.

  I reach into my pocket and pull out a lollipop, fiddling with the wrapper while we continue our walk. I sometimes like to joke that this is the last mile because the sea can be a treacherous whore and who knows if we’ll make it back to shore each time we head out?

  I don’t care either way.

  I’ve lived a good life and the only thing I was ever missing from it was having someone to come home to, but that’s by choice. I don’t think it’s right to subject someone to that shit and so I don’t.

  “Good Lord,” I mutter under my breath as I dig one of my nails underneath the wrapper and finally manage to pry a piece away. Once I’ve got it open, I place the lollipop into my mouth, and instantly feel better.

  Stress always makes me want a cigarette and I’ve found a way to deflect that habit with another bad one.

  Sugar in the place of nicotine—the lesser of two evils.

  I grunt as I crack my neck and we walk the last few steps of the hallway before we make it into the front desk area and I almost end up swallowing my fucking lollipop.

  I glance up at the clock over Dillon’s head and raise an eyebrow at Koe who’s nudging me as imperceptibility as he can.

  “Hey guys!” Dillon says brightly. It seems that she’s found her customer service voice in the time that had passed and I can understand why. “This is Mills. Daddy hired him this morning. Can you take him out on the boat with you?”

  “It’s not even five o’clock in the fucking morning. I didn’t think Larry functioned before noon,” Koenig replied dryly.

  “I can be persuasive,” my crush responds with a sheepish grin and a shrug.

  “Come on, don’t be such a pain in the ass, Koe,” Dillon says with a scowl. “You guys are the best crew we have and Daddy wants to see if Mills is cut out for this or not.”

  Mills.

  A small smile curves my mouth up and I think about how perfectly our names go together.

  Denver and Mills.

  Now I just have to find out if he’s into me.

  I like to think of myself as pretty decent, even though I know that I’m imposing. I had a growth spurt during puberty that shot me up to six-foot-five inches tall and I know it intimidates anyone that doesn’t really know me.

  But for the most part, my quiet demeanor, permanently tired silver-colored eyes, and the severe look I can’t seem to shake from my face usually gets attention.

  Mills goes back to chatting with Dillon while she goes over some of the new-hire paperwork and I can see the bright colors of his tattoos peeking out from beneath his long sleeves when he leans down and places his palms on the desk.

  I smile when I find out that he’s left handed. The way he holds the paper and signs his name is kind of magical to watch. He’s an opposite—a paradoxical caricature waiting to be discover
ed and I’m pretty sure that I’m up for the challenge.

  At least I hope, I think with a loud sigh when he finally stands back up and glances at me.

  “Welcome aboard,” Koe says as he extends his hand. “I’m the captain of the Carolina Blue, and Denver here is my second-in-command. I’ll have you shadow him today and see if you can handle what he throws at you.”

  I swallow hard when Mills extends his hand toward me.

  Then again, maybe not, I think as my coarse and rough hand closes around his soft, unblemished skin.

  Chapter Four

  I clear my throat as we board the boat. I hold out an arm and let Mills on before me, choosing to ignore the snicker coming from Koe. He may be a great friend, but he can be a pain in the fucking ass when he wants to be.

  I get it, though.

  He’s never had the chance to tease over something like this before and he’s not going to pass it up.

  Whatever.

  I’d pay him back eventually.

  Koe claps me on the back as I finally get on board after untying the cleats before he heads up to the bridge.

  “Hey!” I shout up, cupping my hands over my mouth. My voice booms like a goddamn foghorn when I do that and I immediately turn red. Everyone on the ship is looking at me and I only wanted Koe’s attention right now.

  He grins down at me as he pulls the glass window to the side and leans out.

  “Can you speak a little louder, Denver? I don’t think the entire dock heard you.”

  “He said ‘hey’!” Mills booms when he sees how embarrassed I am.

  For someone that’s nowhere near as tall or big as I am, his voice seemed louder than mine and I glance at him in surprise. He grins at me and shrugs as he walks over to the far end of the ship and waits patiently for some kind of direction on how his day will go.

  “Gladiator,” Koe remarks with a smirk when Mills is safely out of earshot.

  “Fuck off,” I mutter, turning a deeper shade of red. I know what he means by that. We hang out and watch movies and shows for the most part, and he loves Spartacus. All of the blood and gore gets him going and I just watch it for the sweaty, docile bodies. I guess the history is a good reason to watch it too, but there’s something about those men tossing each other around violently that gets my libido going.

  I never talk about that with Koe, though. I respect his views on things and he never gives me shit about what my tastes are. It’s a mutual understanding between me and my best friend.

  “Did you need something, Denver?” he asks with a laugh.

  “Where are we going today?” I inquire, curiously. I never bothered to check the sheets for the day because I didn’t care if we were sailing into open waters or into another port to do some trading for Larry. My question was simply to know where to start for Mills’ sake.

  “Heading up the coast. We need Yellowtail, widow, Boccaccio, and canary rockfish…” his voice trailed off as he checked his clipboard, “crabs. Oh, and lingcod.”

  I look up at him in honest surprise and he raises his forefinger to his lips.

  I can’t help but roll my eyes.

  Leave it up to Larry to see if we can pull off some illegal fishing pulls without getting popped by the Coast Guard.

  I run my hand back through my hair as I head over to Mills and clear my throat nervously to get his attention. He’s been leaning over the side of the boat, seemingly mesmerized by the waters below, and I actually think it’s an endearing thing.

  “Do you have waders or a slicker?” I ask him when I reach his side.

  “Hm? Oh, sorry,” he replies with a distracted laugh. “No, I didn’t think I’d be working so soon. Not that I’m complaining.”

  I nod and motion for him to follow me. We walk in silence to the stairs that led into the underbelly of the boat. I usually crash down here until it’s time to do some work, and Koe allows it because once it was time to get started, I put in the most work of anyone in the crew.

  “Watch your head,” I tell him when we reach the bottom of the stairs. Once we step into the small room, I walk over to a storage locker and pop the lid open, fishing around for some appropriate work gear for Mills.

  “What size do you wear?” I ask him distractedly.

  “I would think those things are one size fits all,” he replies with a chuckle.

  “Not for me,” I say, pulling out some gear that I think will fit him. “Here,” I say turning to face him, “these should do you just fine.”

  He takes the gear from me, his fingers brushing slightly against mine, turning me crimson yet again. I know it wasn’t intentional on his end, but the slightest touch from Mills already has my heart racing.

  “You can pull that on over your clothes,” I mumble as I make my way back toward the stairs. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

  I don’t wait long enough to answer the question he asked me. Partly because I didn’t make it out and partly because I was worried that I would stare at him while he dressed.

  Once on the deck, I made my way up to the bridge and knock once to let Koe know it’s me before I push the door open and step inside.

  “What’s up, Denver?” he asks without turning around. Koe’s doing the log right now and I know it’s a bad time to ask for a favor, but if we want today to go smoothly, then I have to.

  “Any chance he can shadow someone else today?” I ask quietly. Koe glances at me over his shoulder, curiosity lingering in his eyes. “I’m not feeling so hot and I wanted to lie down until we were on open waters.”

  “Those are called butterflies. You’ll get used to it,” he replies with a smile. “I can’t have him sitting around doing nothing while you take a siesta, Denver. I’m gonna need you to take one for the team today.”

  I let out a miserable sigh as I turn to leave the bridge.

  “Just tell him to follow Jessop around until you’re ready,” Koe says distractedly.

  “Thanks, brother.”

  It’s a weight taken off my shoulders and a chance to get my head back on straight. There’s no way in hell I’d be able to do my job today without getting some time alone to myself before being forced to cohabit the ship with Mills, and I think Koe knows that as well I do.

  Once I’ve delivered the captain’s orders to the new guy on the boat, I head back down into the underbelly, lock the door, and lie down on the bed.

  Whether I like it or not, I knew that by the end of the day, I’d probably know more about Mills than I do myself.

  Chapter Five

  The waves begin to push the boat violently from side to side, and that’s what wakes me up. Koe didn’t stay on course, but then again, he never fucking does.

  I guess he wants to impress Mills, or maybe test his resilience in the eye of the storm. Either way, I’m pissed off at not being woken up before we got this far out into the Pacific.

  I get to my feet, using my hands to steady myself as I struggle to get up the stairs then let out a holy shit when I see the waters raging around us. I don’t know where the fuck Koe steered us, but it’s obvious that we’re in trouble.

  It takes me more strength than I care to exert right now to push the goddamn door open but I know I have to get on the deck. Being the biggest guy on the crew, I act as a human anchor for the rest of them, keeping them from getting swept into the unforgiving waters while I move them to safety.

  “Jesus Christ!”

  The wind almost blows the door back into my face, but I manage to push it open after a bit of struggling. I pull myself onto the deck, grip the side of the boat and start moving toward the front. I have no idea if anyone is still out there or if they’re inside, but that’s the most dangerous place to be right now and I refuse to lose a brother if I can save them.

  I hear the frantic shouts as I work my way around the side and am almost instantly slammed to the floor by another high and angry wave that crashes into us.

  I grunt, dig my nails as deep into the wood siding as I can, and keep pulling myself
along.

  “Denver!”

  I don’t stop.

  I can hear Koe calling for me, his voice barely above a whisper against the roar of the waves. I don’t know if everyone is safe, but until I see it for myself.

  I have to keep going.

  I’m out of breath by the time I reach the front of the boat and I can feel my strength starting to waver. I hold a hand over my eyes to try and keep the ocean from temporarily blinding me as I do a quick scan and then breathe as much of a sigh of relief as I can when I see that the deck is empty.

  “Denver! Get your ass inside!”

  Koe’s voice is an octave higher, a little more frightened, and a hell of a lot more pissed off.

  I get it.

  As the captain, he’s responsible for his crew, but he also knows that there would be no one to answer to on my end because I don’t have a family.

  My parents died years ago and I was an only child. There would be no one to mourn me or even pay for me to be shoveled into the ground. I’ve always been fine with that, though. I belonged on the open waters and I’d be fine with being pitched over the side of the Carolina Blue and being left for the sharks to eat.

  It seemed romantic to me in a way.

  I hunted for fish and after my death, they would be able to hunt for me.

  “Goddamn it,” I grunt as I turn my head and begin to claw my way back. I didn’t know where the rest of the crew was but at the very least, I knew that my best friend was safe.

  That would have to do.

  The saying is true that going back the way you came is always faster and it’s the same now even with nature working against me.

  I hold the handle of the door that leads back down to my room, take a deep breath, and let out something that would resemble a battle-cry as I manage to pry it open and step inside.

  I drop onto the top step, my back against the door, hands shaking, and let out a tired laugh.

  Always the hero, never the bachelor in a bind.