I move back on my heels. "What was that for?" she asks.
"Because it's my new favorite thing," I tell her with a wink. "So, get used to it."
She bites her lip, and it damn near kills me. I groan, "I'm going for a swim." My skin is on fire, and I need to cool down. Before moving towards the back of the boat, I remove my phone from my shorts, then proceed to the back and dive off. The cool water is much-needed relief. I swim underneath before breaking the surface.
"Chase!" My name is yelled out, and I turn to look at Talia and her friend on the rafts, who are wiping their bodies down.
"My bad," I yell. Whoops. In my peripherals I can see Vance swimming our way. His head disappears under the water, and I already know that those little droplets I splashed them with won't matter anymore. Talia shrieks out as her raft is abruptly flipped over.
She reappears, shouting, "You asshole!"
"I'm ready for some tubing!" Vaughn calls out.
"Yes!" Vance punches the air.
"Alright. Where's Victor and Melissa?" I ask.
"They're coming," Vin informs me.
Vance pulls himself onto the boat. "Let's go, ladies, pack it in!" He begins to pull in both tubes--including Jenny--but when she gets close, he tugs hard and sends her flying into the water. He is an asshole, and the girls still flock to him. Vaughn and Vin climb on, then help the girls up. Vin and Melissa join us.
"Hey, we're gonna do some tubing," I inform them, swimming towards the boat.
"Nice," Victor says to me but pulls Melissa to the ladder at the end of the boat. "Babe, you gotta try it," he directs this to Melissa.
"I don't know," she says, looking uneasy.
"I won't go fast on your turn, I promise," I tell her, and she gives me a weak smile.
We tube for a good two hours, and I’m sad it’s over. It's always a really fun time. Vaughn quit after slamming into the water so hard that a glob of wax came out of his ear. Melissa surprised me by trying, and as promised, I took it easy. So easy that she tells me she found it relaxing. Jenny managed to lose her bottoms and give everyone a full moon. Vance lost his trunks but wasn't as embarrassed as Jenny about it. V and Talia had a full-on battle that lasted a good while until V hit a huge wake and flipped off. My protective instincts wanted to make sure she was okay, but I had to reel it in and fortunately Victor made sure she was all good.
Everyone is officially beat and ready to head back to the docks. Once everything is put away, we make our way back. It’s extremely hard to focus with Veronica sitting in the front this time. My eyes keep roaming to her on their own accord. It becomes easier once we hit the no-wake zone, and I can only go so fast. I need to focus. "V?" I ask, and her head snaps in my direction. "Can you move towards the back and help guide me in?"
She looks at me quizzically. "Yeah, sure."
I don't need much help. I've done this a million times since the age of fourteen, but I need her out of my line of sight. I throw out some questions to her, in which she responds to the best of her knowledge.
Once we are feet away from the assigned area, I allow the boat to idle into the slip, not touching the throttle. When I feel it's parked perfectly, I shut off the engine and drop the anchor before hurrying to remove the ropes. I quickly jump off the side and onto the dock. "V, throw me that rope!" She does as I ask, and I catch it, pulling the boat closer and fasten it to the cleat.
I move to the front and ask her to throw me that rope as well. "Perfect," I tell her, climbing back on the boat. "Thank you for your help."
She smiles and nods. I move around the boat, making sure there's no garbage and put away anything that was pulled out. "All good?" I hear a deep voice ask, causing me to look up at Victor. "Yeah, seems good," I tell him.
Melissa hands Victor their things, and then he helps her off. Vance helps Talia then slaps her ass as she steps onto the dock. They wander away, and Vance is mauling her like she's his last meal. Vaughn and Vin help the remaining ladies off, and they walk away. This leaves Veronica by herself, who moves to jump off. I grab her arm before she steps up.
"Wait, I'll help you."
I jump off and reach out for her. She grabs my hand and jumps down. Her body’s close to mine--just the way I like it. She looks up at me with a smile, her green eyes shining brightly, "Thank you."
Her head just reaches my chin. I love that she's so small but so amazingly tough. A walking contradiction, this girl is.
“Yo! What the fuck you guys doin'? Let's go!" I hear Vance's voice yelling from down the dock.
"Damn. I guess we need to get moving," I tell her.
"Yeah, I guess so. Or, maybe, we should tell him to fuck off?"
I groan.
"What?" She laughs and moves past me.
"You said fuck."
"Yeah? And?"
With my head thrown back, I sigh loudly. Hearing her curse like this is doing something to me. Anything she does makes me all kinds of crazy. I have to think of my grandma in her underwear to keep my excitement from showing.
Veronica looks over her shoulder, a small smirk forming, "You coming?"
"Evil. Evil, sexy woman," I mumble to myself and catch up with her.
Victor and Melissa thank me again for a fun day, and head home after Veronica tells them she won’t be able to come out because of school. She promises to call and set something up for the following weekend. Vance keeps us waiting in the truck while he has a five-minute make-out session before jumping in the cab.
"Finally," Vaughn mutters.
"Don't hate."
"Please. I got Jenny's number."
"Don't you three look cozy." Veronica jokes at the three brothers sitting closely together because of their size.
"Yeah, what the hell, V? Why do you get the front?" Vance complains.
"Because I'm your sister and a lady."
Vance scoffs, "Since when do ladies burp and fart the way you do."
"Shut up," she grunts, and hastily turns forward.
"Yeah. She can clear out a room," Vaughn chimes in.
"Kill me now," she mutters, covering her face while her brothers pick on her.
I listen while the guys talk about their plans for tonight. Vance is planning on meeting back up with Talia...leaving my night wide open. My thoughts instantly turn to Veronica. We may be able to spend some time together, without worries, after all.
My tank is near empty, so before getting on the highway, I turn into the gas station near our entrance. The guys head inside, and Veronica remains in the truck. When I have the nozzle in my gas tank, I lean over the seat to tell her, "Don't make any plans later."
She looks up at me, "Why?"
"Cause, tonight, you're mine."
Best Day Ever
I can't stop myself from smiling. I can't even find the right words to describe what I feel like. I'm so happy I could burst. His words replay in my head. Cause, tonight, you're mine. Today turned out to be so much better than I could have imagined, and I feel slightly guilty for judging Talia’s friends-- they weren't bad at all.