I snuggled closer to him, resting my head on his chest, as his arms wrapped around me. He closed his eyes and held me against him as his chest rose and fell with each inhale and exhale, falling asleep after a few minutes. I pressed my lips against his neck, kissing him softly. I grazed my mouth against his, and he stirred a bit. I took his bottom lip between my teeth and nibbled it gently. His eyes awakened, sleepy and dazed, but he smiled. He always smiled when he looked my way.
I kissed him once and then met his stare. I kissed him again, and he pulled my body on top of him.
“Yeah?” he whispered.
I nodded.
I loved him.
I loved him, and he knew it. Even if I couldn’t say the words, he felt them in the way I touched him, the way I kissed him, the way I held him.
And wasn’t the best kind of love the kind one felt?
“I love you, too,” he said softly, his lips resting against mine. “I love you, too,” he said once more.
We started undressing one another, slowly, with ease, with care. That night we made love for the first time. With each touch, I fell more for his spirit. With each kiss, I tasted a part of his soul.
In my mind, I whispered back to him, time and time again. With every tear and every heartbeat, I spoke to him. So quiet, yet so loud.
I love you, too. I love you, too. I love you, too…
“Are you ready?” Brooks asked, walking into my room with his acoustic guitar on his back a few days later.
Don’t you have band practice?
He nodded. “Yeah, but not with The Crooks tonight. Tonight I’m starting a new band called BAM.”
Oh?
He bit his bottom lip and walked over to me, kissing my forehead. There was always a tenderness that he had whenever he touched me. I loved that feeling. “Yeah. It stands for Brooks and Maggie.”
What?
“It’s on your to-do list—play in a band. I figured why not start crossing things off your list right away? No reason to wait when we can do some of the things now. Now come on. I’ll teach you how to play Bettie.”
Bettie?
“Named after my grandma.”
Swoon.
He placed his guitar in my hands and as I went to strum, he stopped me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t play her like she’s just here to be used, Maggie. You need to introduce yourself. You need to learn about her, her parts, like her beautiful headstock, and her neck, which is home to the fretboard.” He went on explaining the different parts of the guitar for a good thirty minutes, and I listened selfishly. I loved how much he loved music. I loved how he wanted to introduce me to his world. When it came time, he had me practice fretting the strings, then later on, we went over the first position chords.
Whenever I messed up, he still cheered me on. “That’s good, Magnet! You’re literally one hundred times better than me when I started playing.”
After a few hours of playing, Daddy came and told Brooks he was never allowed back into our house after he caught us kissing. “I better get going anyway, seeing as how you’re yawning.”
As he stood, I grabbed his arm, making him pause. Rushing over to my books, I picked up one of my favorite books.
“The Kite Runner?” he questioned, taking the book from my hands. Khaled Hosseini’s novel was one of my favorite reads that Daddy had given me, and I wanted Brooks to know that part of me—the same way he wanted me to know music. The book was marked with small pink tabs, indicating my favorite sections. “It’s one of your favorites?”
Yes.
“Then I’ll read it twice,” he replied, kissing my temple. As he leaned in, he whispered against my ear. “I’ll sneak back into your room tonight after your dad’s asleep for a sleepover.”
“GO HOME, BROOKS!” Daddy hollered, making us both chuckle.
“Um, Earth to Brooks. You still there, dude?” Rudolph asked, tapping me on the shoulder as I sat on Oliver’s stool in the garage. Rudolph kept waving his hand in front of the book I held with an apple in his grip. “Normally when we are on a break from rehearsing, you’re strumming a guitar, but now you’re like…”
“Reading!” Oliver said, walking out of Calvin’s house with two apples in his hand. He bit into both at the same time and chewed loudly. “I didn’t even know you knew how to read. Are you sure the book isn’t upside down?”
I shushed them, waving my hands at them as I flipped the page. My forearm was filled with small yellow tabs I was using to write notes back to Maggie. The twins kept trying to get my attention, but I was too far deep into the book.
Calvin came into the room, holding three apples in his hand and biting out of all three. Dramatic. My friends were dramatic. “Dude, don’t bother. He’s too much in love to focus on anything else.”
“Ugh. Not more of this love shit,” Oliver whined. “First we had to deal with Calvin wanting to write the name Stacey into every song we make, and now we have Brooks reading. READING!”
“For the first time in my life, I agree with my brother,” Rudolph said.
Oliver thanked him by giving him a wet willy.
“God! I take it back. You’re disgusting.”
I went back to ignoring them. It was interesting to see where Maggie put her tabs, and if any of mine overlapped them. I loved discovering the parts that made her laugh and cry, the parts that made her angry and happy. It was the best feeling.
“So, my dad was thinking of getting rid of his boat,” Calvin said. “He wants to sell it in a few weeks, and wanted to see if we want to have a farewell dudes’ trip and go fishing before we all head off to college in the fall.”
“He’s selling the boat?” I choked out, looking up from the book. “But, that’s like…our boat.” We’d spent so much of our youth sitting out on the lake. I knew we hadn’t done it in years, but the idea of Mr. Riley selling it made me pretty sad.
“Is this the same boat you two chicks are always reminiscing about?” Rudolph asked.
“The same boat you wrote a song about?” Oliver jumped in.
“Yup. That’s the boat.”
“Well, hell. I’m in. If this boat had the power to make Brooks stop reading, then it must be something worth experiencing.” Oliver tossed his apple cores into the trash can, and Rudolph rushed over, picking up the cores with a paper towel and putting them into a paper bag.
I cocked an eyebrow at my weird friend, and he shrugged. “What? I’m helping my mom make a compost in our backyard. Apple cores are primetime for it. Anyway, if we can get organic fruit and I don’t have to physically harm a fish, then count me in.”
“The apple you ate isn’t organic, brother. Mom told me not to tell you—which is why I’m telling you.” Oliver smirked as Rudolph’s face turned red.
It was mere minutes before they started hollering again.
So I went back to reading my book.
A few weeks later, Mr. Riley took the guys, including my dad and my brother, Jamie, out on the boat for one last ride. It was the perfect day. We ate a crap ton of junk food—except Rudolph, who brought organic grapes and homemade organic banana bread he’d made with his mom. Surprisingly, when he offered it around, everyone chose chips instead.
“You’re missing out on the huge health benefits of flax seed and chia seed, but okay, by all means, eat your genetically modified corn chips,” Rudolph said.
Oliver took a handful of Fritos and shoved them into his mouth. “Don’t mind if I do.”
We sat out there for hours, talking about our future and how even with college approaching, we were still going to keep band practice as a priority in our lives. Just because we were going to school didn’t mean the dream had to die; it simply meant the dream had to shift a bit with the changes of life.
“Brooks, can you grab me a beer from under the deck?” Mr. Riley asked from across the boat.
I hopped up and did as he said. “Here you go, Mr. R.”
He thanked me and then invited me to sit next to him. I sat.
; He opened his beer and took a few sips. “So you and Maggie, huh?”
I swallowed hard, knowing that it was about to happen—the girlfriend’s father conversation. “Yes, sir.” Sir? In all my years of knowing Mr. Riley, I’d never called him sir. Heck, I’d never called any person sir.
He pulled in his fishing line and then cast it farther out into the water. “I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, if I’m honest. Maggie’s my little girl. She’s always going to be my little girl.”
“I get that completely.”
“And Maggie is unlike other girls, so you can understand my reluctance on the subject of her being in a relationship. I’ve actually gone back and forth on the subject with Katie. Part of me was going to come out here on the boat today and ask you to break things off with her—because of Katie. She truly thinks it’s an awful idea.”
How could I reply to that? Knowing Maggie’s own mother didn’t support our relationship felt like a punch in the gut, but before I could reply, Mr. Riley spoke again.
“But as I was getting my fishing rods from the upstairs storage closet, I heard you two. What I mean is, I heard her. She laughs with you. She actually laughs out loud, and I can’t for the life of me think of the last time I heard that sound from her. So, as long as you keep my little girl laughing, you’ll have my blessing.”
I swallowed hard. “Thank you, sir.”
“No problem.” He chugged the rest of his beer. “But the moment she stops laughing with you, we’re going to have a serious talk. If you ever hurt my daughter”—he looked me dead in the eyes and crushed the can in his hand—“well, let’s just say, don’t hurt my daughter.”
My eyes widened with fear. “I won’t hurt her, and you were right about what you said—Maggie’s not like other girls.”
He released the threatening stare from his eyes, and his old happy-go-lucky smile was back. He patted me on the back. “Now go have a good time.”
“Thanks, sir.”
“Brooks?”
“Yes?”
“Call me sir one more time and we’ll have to have another talk that won’t have such a happy ending.”
After the boating trip, Calvin and I convinced Mr. Riley to let us come with him when it was time to sell old faithful. We pulled up to the coastline, where James’ Boat Shop was located right off of Harper Lake. Even though it was the same lake that we fished on, it was still a good twenty-minute drive around the coast, seeing how the lake was that large. James’ Boat Shop had a big wooden sign out front that read: We buy, sell, rent, and trade.
On the front porch was a dog that barked and barked as the three of us walked up the steps to meet up with James.
“You’re a loud pup, huh?” Mr. Riley smiled at the dog who still howled, but wagged his tail.
The screen door opened, and a tall, buff man stepped outside, wearing jeans and a shirt that looked too small. “Quiet, Wilson! Shh!” The man smiled at us. “Don’t mind Wilson, he’s all bark and no bite. I’ve been trying everything to get that mutt to shut up for the past eight years, but I haven’t had any luck.”
“No worries,” Mr. Riley replied. “I’ve been trying to get these two kids to shut up for the past few years, too, with no luck.”
The guy smiled and held out his hand. “I’m James Bateman. I’m guessing you’re Eric from our phone conversation. So that must be your baby,” he said, gesturing toward the boat hooked up to Mr. Riley’s truck. He walked over to the boat and started rubbing it down. “You sure you don’t want to do a trade maybe? I could get you something real nice for this girl.”
Mr. Riley grimaced. “No, thanks. We could really use the extra cash—at least that’s what the wife told me.”
“Ah, it’s best to always listen to your wife.” He laughed.
Mr. Riley chuckled. “The great struggles of marriage.”
“I know the struggle too well. That’s why I’ll probably never do it again after my wife left me.”
“I thought the same thing after my first wife left, but here I am again.” Mr. Riley smiled, looking down at his wedding band.
“No regrets?” James asked.
“Never,” Mr. Riley replied. “Even on the hard days.”
James snickered, nodding. He patted Mr. Riley on the back. “You give me hope that maybe someday my situation will change. So, how about we head inside and talk numbers?” He turned toward his shop and shouted, “Michael! Michael, get out here for a second.”
A young guy came outside. He looked to be in his early twenties. “Yeah?”
“Can you show these two boys some of our top of the line boats while I work with a customer? Boys,” James redirected his words to Calvin and me. “My son will take care of you and keep you entertained. Michael, how about you show them around Jenna for a few?”
“Sure thing.” Michael smiled and waved us over to him. “So, interested in seeing the best yacht that no one in Harper County can actually afford to buy?” he asked.
“Heck yeah,” Calvin replied. “Is it the kind of yacht Leonardo DiCarpio would party on?”
“Sure is. My dad and I actually went out of our way to get a boat like Jenna. She’s not for sale because she’s our pride and joy, but a few people from the north side of town rent her out every now and then for weddings, or retirement parties.” The north side of town was where all of Harper County’s money was located. A person had to have a nice sized wallet to live on that side of town.
When we walked around the corner there were dozens of boats docked up. There were workers running around caring for the boats. I’d never been in a place with so many different sized water vehicles, and I wanted to take them all home with me. My top three favorite things in the world were Maggie, music, and being out on the water. Someday I planned to have all three of those things happening at the same time.
“Holy crap,” I muttered, staring at Jenna. It had to be Jenna. She was the biggest and most beautiful boat out there. Maggie would’ve probably slapped me for staring the way I did.
“She’s something else, huh?” Michael asked.
“Oh, she’s more than something.” I rubbed her side as we walked over to her.
“Wait until you climb aboard.” Michael laughed.
When we were on the yacht, I felt as if I were Leonardo—rich and cool as hell.
“So, this babe comes with all kinds of water sports equipment. We have a Yamaha WaveRunner Jet Ski, a Kawasaki Ultra 250 Jet Ski, and one Kawasaki Super Jet stand up Jet Ski. There’s snorkeling gear, fishing supplies, and all that jazz, too. As far as entertainment.” Michael walked us below deck and smiled before opening a set of doors. “We only have the best. We have this area, the main saloon with a sixty-five-inch plasma television. Over here we have the sky lounge with two full bars. Then there are the master stateroom, the VIP cabin, and the three guest cabins which all hold fifty-inch plasma televisions and the most comfortable beds you’ll ever sleep on. What do you guys think?” he asked.
Calvin’s eyes were bugged out the same way mine were.
“So, this is what royalty feels like.” Calvin sighed. “I love royalty.”
“We’ll take it,” I bellowed.
Michael took us to the top deck, and we stood at the nose of the boat.
“So, Michael, you and your dad just run this business together?”
“Yeah. He took on the business from my grandpa. I plan to do the same someday. There’s nothing I love more than this, the boats, the water.”
“There’s nothing else you’d ever want to do?” Calvin asked.
Michael’s eyebrows grew closer as he thought on it. “No. Nothing else. After my mom ran off with another man Dad had a hard time moving on. He went into a deep depression. I was fourteen and remember there being days when I had to force him to eat. He blamed himself for her leaving.”
“Why did he blame himself?”
“I really don’t know. He worked long hours, and I knew it bothered her, but that wasn’t a reason to leave him. Yeah,
they fought, but they laughed more. Yet sometimes people aren’t always who you believe them to be, and it turned out we were better off without her. He’ll never say that, though. He still keeps a picture of the three of us on his office desk. Some days I feel as if he’s waiting for her to come back. The only thing that helped him heal was being out on the water. It cleansed him, I think. If it weren’t for this place, I probably would’ve lost my father, too. This place is home to me. What about you guys? What do you want to do?”
“Music,” we said in unison.
Michael laughed. “Well, don’t stop until you make it. Then, you come rent out Jenna from me and my pops.”
“I apologize ahead of time for my childish actions that are about to take place, but I have to do it,” my best friend stated. Calvin jumped up onto the railings and held his arms out.
I laughed. “I always knew you’d be Kate Winslet and I’d be Leo in this situation.”
“Shut up and hug me!” Calvin said mockingly.
I hopped up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I’ll never let go, Cal!” I shouted as he held his arms out.
Michael chuckled. “I wish I could tell you the amount of Titanic bromances I’ve witnessed on that railing.”
“Bromance?” Calvin questioned. “Oh no, we’re in a committed relationship.”
Michael’s eyes widened with guilt. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t…”
“Don’t mind Calvin, he’s a liar. I’m actually banging his sister.” I smirked, watching Calvin grimace as he shoved me away from him, forcing me to hop down.
He jumped down, too. “If I ever hear words about my sister being banged again from you, there’s a good chance you won’t be alive shortly after.”