“What do you mean?”
“Well, you obviously have feelings for him. I bet you don’t even think about John. You fell kinda fast. Except Will’s not on the same boat with you. Find someone else to fall for.”
Fall for? Had it come to that? Already? She groaned. Did she think about him all day long? Check. Did she find simple petty things which reminded her of him? Check. She had fallen for him like a tree crashing to the floor of a forest. Damn, I’m pathetic. And he thought she was a body to poke like any other female in the world.
“But he’ll be on the same boat with me tonight.”
“That’s the spirit!” Heather said.
“No. Literally. We’re going on a boat ride with a group.”
“Kelly, you’re worrying about nothing. It’s a crush. You’ll survive.”
Kelly didn’t doubt she would survive the boat ride. And it started out well. Joking and goofing off with the guys. Ignoring Will as much as she could without seeming like a brat. The girls had given her snotty looks but they were expected since she was the girl who was also one of the guys. She might have been shyer and quieter than her usual quiet and shy but she had dissected it enough to be calm about it.
A boat ride. With the sunset. On the lake. Water skiing. She had always loved water skiing. From the corner of her eye she watched Jaycee stand close to Will.
Serve you well, Will Parker. Kelly imagined Jaycee had a whole slew of STDs to share.
And with such thoughts, Kelly knew she had no right to act so immature. It was the smartest thing she had done in a long time to cut him loose before it went any further.
***
In the cabin of Randy’s boat, Will stared mutely at the wall in front of him. Boredom was the runner-up to his irritation. Jaycee snuggled at his side like a leech. His temper itched at him. Claustrophobia swelled in the cabin. And he was pissed.
Randy hugging Kelly so tight. It felt a lot like jealousy and he detested himself for it. Will had gotten used to Clay’s behavior around Kelly. He knew Clay didn’t matter to her.
Neither do I. Not enough, anyway.
Will fidgeted on the couch, recalling how Kelly’s body was so lean in her bathing suit instead of obese like Daisy’s, or too plump like Jaycee’s.
“Why don’t you take your shirt off?” Jaycee said and traced her finger down his arm.
Because there’s an ugly scar that will freak you out. On second thought, maybe she’d leave him alone if he showed her the scar. It wasn’t pretty. Jaycee was probably a squeamish girl. Kelly hadn’t been. She hardly noticed it when he had taken his shirt off, had hardly flinched when she cleaned up the cuts on his knuckles. Blood, gore, she could handle it.
Jaycee stood up. “I’ll be back in a sec. I’m going to get a couple more beers.”
Take a couple hours.
As he regretted coming on the boat, they lurched to a sudden stop. He wasn’t sure who was driving. They had all been taking turns. But whoever had been at the wheel last was speeding, slowing, turning sharply, and speeding again. Joy riding. Goofing off. Everything stilled from the whiplash of the jerky stop and yells shouted overhead. Will climbed up top.
“What the fuck?” Clay yelled from the speedboat idling next to them. Will looked out from Randy’s boat and wondered what the commotion was about. Clay had been driving for whoever had wanted to ski. Randy’s boat was the limping-along yacht Matt had willed to him. They had a group of twenty or so peers drinking and mingling on the crowded deck.
“Where is she?” Clay sounded sick and Will scanned the surface of the water.
“What’s going on?” Randy said as he came out of the bathroom.
“Who the fuck was driving?” Clay’s face was taut in fear and fury and worry.
“What’s going on?” Will’s instincts sent his heart racing. Clay had been pulling the skis. Everyone else was on the yacht, drinking and relaxing. Everyone except one sweet little sassy face…
Will’s pulse thudded with adrenaline at the stress written on the men’s faces.
“I don’t know.” Clay’s voice strained and he started to turn the boat around, away from Randy’s. “I don’t fucking know! Who was driving?” he shouted again at Will on the yacht’s deck.
“I don’t know. We all were. I was down below. What’s going on?” Randy’s confusion was a duplicate to Will’s as he came to stand next to him.
Clay shook his head furiously. “You went right for her.”
“Clay!” Will stepped to the edge of the boat. “What happened?”
Clay swore and shook his head as he started the cruiser away slowly. “She fell off the skis. You went right for her.”
Someone quieted the music and a nervous apprehension claimed the atmosphere of the party. Heads pivoted as people viewed the water.
Will didn’t bother to take a head count. With the queasy uneasiness in his stomach, he knew who before he noticed her absence. “Kelly!” he yelled out to the water and strained his eyes to see, his lungs not pumping fast enough.
Randy turned the boat around, the engine low and the propellers off as they searched. Everyone called out for her as the sun set.
***
“Bastard.” Kelly clenched her teeth as she swam. “No wonder his mom left him. He’s the spawn of the devil.”
She didn’t mean it but she had to focus on something before the shock and fear took the better of her.
“Asshole. Selfish, womanizing, irresponsible imbecile.” Her teeth chattered every syllable.
Arm after arm, she stroked for the shore, ignoring the pain in her leg as she tried to survive. She’d be damned if she went near the boats again. Drunken stupid idiots. Every one of them. She’d never make it to shore but she wasn’t going near the boat. It was getting darker, but it wasn’t night yet. She was still visible. Maybe another boater would find her.
Are there really gators out here?
She fell off the skis and what did they do? Drove right for her. Thoughts sprouted in her mind, reminding her how close it had been. What if she hadn’t reacted fast enough? What if she hadn’t dived deep enough? What if…
Shaking, the shock started to take over and she tried to focus.
Marine, my ass. She didn’t really know if Will had been driving. Didn’t know who’d been driving. Since he was a Marine and should know the ways of the water, she doubted he had been. He wouldn’t drive like an old lady on speed. And he wasn’t drunk. In fact she had hardly ever seen him drink. It was amazing how half the town was convinced he was a raging drunk. His label most likely constructed on the usual gossip and heavy assumption on account of his dad.
But he had been on the boat. He could have been watching the drunk idiots and be responsible. But no, he had been too busy getting his precious casual sex with a slut somewhere.
Kelly didn’t know who had been driving. She didn’t want to know. She blamed Will and tried to hate him for it because if she didn’t, she would have to imagine who had accidentally almost killed her. And whoever he or she was, well, she’d have her brothers kick his ass after she did.
“Cock-serving, arrogant, angry, ego maniac bastard!” Her teeth chattered like a wind-up toy. Water stung at the slash on her leg. How bad is it?
“Kelly!” Will’s voice bellowed from a distance.
“Go to hell,” she muttered, shaking again. Her eyes rolled at the irony. “Incinerate in hell.” She turned around and experienced a sensation of déjà vu as Randy’s boat approached her, everyone on the deck yelling her name.
“Idiots.” She spat the lake water out of her mouth and checked how far away the shore was. Hours of swimming. She wasn’t strong enough. And if she didn’t make herself known, the drunks would run over her again. No. She tried to stop shaking, annoyed that she couldn’t. I am the idiot for coming along.
Kelly knew when to fight her fights and admit her losses and she was never going to make it to shore by herself.
“Kelly!” It was Clay.
She didn
’t want to face Will. “Over here, Clay!” Even though he was a doofus, he had had the common sense to not run her over.
Randy’s yacht drifted closer than the cruiser. Increasingly closer. Too close for her comfort.
“Coming back for the kill?” she yelled back.
“Shut the fucking boat off,” Will ordered Randy. They pulled up to her and she glowered at Will leaning over the edge. If he hadn’t looked so worried, she would have thought he was smiling.
“Hang on.”
“To what, dumbass? I’m treading water.”
He hoisted his leg over the edge of the boat, ready to jump in.
“Don’t be stupid. It’ll hurt your knee. Throw the ladder over.”
“Kelly!” Clay said as he rounded the cruiser close.
“Are you okay?” Will asked after he tossed the ladder down. Brent, the barista from the coffee shop, leaned over to watch the commotion and Will shoved him out of the way.
She climbed up the ladder and took consolation in the fact her limbs still worked.
“Marine my ass,” Kelly said as she stood up on the boat. She still shook. A bold slash of red streaked her calf, the diluted blood streaming steadily from the gash.
“Fuck.” Will wiped his hand over her mouth.
Kelly realized her lips were trembling. “Drive for shore,” she said to Randy. He paled and went to do so.
“Ah, come on. It was an accident. We’re having a party out here,” Jaycee whined.
“Shut up,” Will and Kelly said in unison. He stepped forward, eyeing her cut.
She pointed at him angrily. “Back. Off.”
“Oh my God. That’s disgusting.” Alyssa grabbed her stomach as though she was going to puke.
“Kelly, take it easy,” Will said and followed her.
She had a slight limp as she made for the mini bar. She left a slick trail of blood in her wake on the old wood decking. “Take it easy? Piece of cake, asshole. You get run over by a boat and tell me how easy it is.”
“Eww.” Kendra squirmed at the blood.
“Don’t be a baby now,” Kelly muttered. “Some Marine you are.” She glowered at Will.
“I wasn’t driving!” Will reached out to steady her.
“Just as bad,” she mumbled and poked her hand in the cooler.
“What’d you say?” He came to her side.
“Nothing. Don’t touch me.”
“Maybe you should sit down,” Randy said from the wheel.
Kelly ignored him.
“You’re going to have to get amputated now.” Daisy winced at the blood on the floor.
“What happened?” Brent came closer before Will pushed him back.
“I can see your bone.” Jaycee ogled the cut.
“The hell you can.” Kelly rooted through the ice. “It’s a superficial compound laceration which will only need a first-degree closure.” With vodka in hand, she leaned over to inspect the wound. “I’m lucky it didn’t hit the tendon.” She stuck her foot on the table and opened the bottle with her teeth.
“What are you doing?” Daisy jumped up with alarm.
Kelly trickled the alcohol on the cut, and winced with a hiss at the sting.
“You’re going to infect it!” Jaycee shrieked.
“Eww.” Alyssa again.
“It’s to prevent infection.” She tied a decorative scarf from the cushions at her knee as a tourniquet. “I worked in the fucking ER. Leave it to me, huh?” She put her foot down and took a healthy drink from the bottle. Coughing at the burn of the liquor, she screwed the bottle shut then faced Randy at the wheel.
“This is close enough.” She shoved the vodka bottle in her bikini bottom at the small of her back.
Will frowned. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Oh. The drunk wants his vodka? I’ll reimburse.” She limped to the edge of the deck. “Don’t want to end the party.”
“What the hell are you doing?” He grabbed her arm and she twisted free.
“I’m going home. Far away from you IDIOTS! You could have killed me!”
“Kelly—”
“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” Jaycee said. “It was an accident. Kinda dark out now, if ya’ll hadn’t noticed.”
Kelly glared at her. Will took her arm again, and she yanked it away. “Don’t touch me! I said I don’t want to end the party. Go back to screwing with your little, your little, whatever. Don’t mind my inconvenient near-death experience, which”—she leaned around him to smirk at Jaycee—“was only a mere accident.”
“We’re done?” Kendra pouted from Brent’s lap. He was high and she was whiny. “Because she can’t figure out how to ski we’re done for the night?”
“This is my fault?” Will focused on Kelly.
“More or less.”
“I wasn’t even at the wheel!” Which was something Kelly didn’t want him to elaborate on.
“We were kind of preoccupied.” Jaycee licked her lips.
“Precisely.” She met Will’s eyes before stepping on the edge. “Pardon the interruption.”
“Kelly!” Will said with his jaw clenched.
She jumped in and started swimming the remainder of the distance to shore.
“Can we go back out now?” Alyssa asked Randy.
“What the hell are you doing?” Will yelled at Kelly.
“Funny. I never noticed you were slow before,” she yelled back. “I’m going home.”
“You think you can swim the way back?”
“As long you idiots keep the props and anchors away from me!” She stroked further from them as the sound of hip hop resumed on the radio. Minutes later came the patterned splashes of Will swimming towards her. It would have kicked ass if I made it all the way without him catching up. Bruise his ego. It would have been the highlight of the night. But her arms were tired. And she hadn’t stopped shaking. The booze helped, but she couldn’t stop.
She appreciated he at least seemed smart enough to not say anything when he met her stroke for stroke. He gets me. Will was intelligent enough to give her space to vent in silence as she swam and worked out her shock and anger.
Kelly rejoiced when she finally touched sand and slimy algae with her toes, relieved to be on the ground again. She walked in the direction for the duplex, some, oh, four miles away. What a hell of a night.
“Stop.” Will rushed around to stand in front of her, not even out of breath.
She stepped around him.
“Stop!”
She stepped around him again, but he caught her at the waist. She squirmed out. “Go away. I’m walking home.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“I’m stupid?” She smacked her hand on his chest. “YOU were stupid. Too busy getting some to care if you killed someone!” Her eyes burned. “I was this close, you moron.” She held her thumb and finger apart as her voice broke. “This close. If I had been any slower the anchor would have killed me.”
“I’m sorry.” While he showed little emotion on his granite features, it seemed as though he meant it.
“No, you’re not. You wouldn’t have even known.” She punched him without moving him. “You wouldn’t have even known or given a damn!”
He wrapped his arms around her in a bear grip. It wasn’t gentle or fun or romantic or nice. Nothing like a hug. More like a containment.
“Let go of me.” She wriggled to get free.
“Easy.”
“No.” Stubborn to the end, she eventually stopped fighting him, realizing there was no point. He was stronger. Maybe more stubborn. What a scary thought.
Will held her until she stopped shaking, her breathing calmer. “I’m sorry. I should have paid attention to who was driving.”
“Anyone could have gotten killed out there.” Even if he didn’t care about her personally, she hated to think of the troop of drunk Churchston fools killing anyone.
He didn’t answer for a moment, agreeing with silence. “Are you okay?
“If you put me do
wn I will be.”
“Are you going to kick me?”
“Maybe your nuts.”
He put her down and looked her over.
“I was a nurse. I can do my own inventory.”
“Nothing bruised? You didn’t hit the bottom of the boat?” He held her elbow as she put a hand on his shoulder.
She leaned to pour more vodka on the cut then tossed the empty bottle into a nearby trash can. “No. I was fast enough to be away from the props. But the idiots had the anchor half-down while they were speeding all over. That’s what caught me.”
“Come on.” He started in the opposite direction, towards the marina.
She didn’t move.
He swore and turned back. “You’re not walking. I’ll drive you home.”
Kelly shook her head. She wasn’t taking the knight-in-shining-armor crap from him. How easy it would be to cower, surrender to his strength and commanding presence. Nope. He didn’t believe in love, she recalled. One thing would turn into another, she’d probably start stripping because of a heated glance, he’d respond, then… No. Nip it in the bud, she instructed herself. Heed your distance.
“We both know I’ll end up picking you up and carrying you over my shoulder if I have to.”
She scowled at him. His hold would be too close for comfort. All those muscles. His chest felt pretty damn good on her cheek when he had held her. She sighed and followed him to the bike. “Didn’t think you’d be able to swim so far with your knee.”
Chapter 21
The same gang at the bowling alley the next night, much to Kelly’s annoyance. She still didn’t know who had been driving. Did they even know? Were they too drunk to keep track of who had been driving? It had been a close call and she was guarded by nature. Yeah, she’d enjoy a drink or two every now and then. But mature while still youthful, Kelly appreciated a fine line between “accidents” and stupidity. Drunk-driving a boat when people were skiing nearby fell under the category of really stupid.
Shutting it out of her mind, she focused on her chores. Not on the fact that Will had come to the bowling alley. She’d never seen him there before.
It was a busy night, with some kind of a class reunion going on. She had opted for jeans so people wouldn’t stare at her leg like motorists slowing down to gawk at car collisions for the hope of a head rolling on pavement. And it wasn’t a horrendous wound. She had decided she didn’t even need stitches, only some bandages. Heather agreed after Kelly had texted her a picture, and it was the extent of medical reasoning she deemed pertinent. But it still would have been nice to stay off her feet for the night.
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