The Art of My Life (15 page)

The boat rocked and Aly grabbed the
bulkhead to steady herself.
Oh, God.

She sunk onto the bench. What in
flippin’ hell had she done? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

She still loved him. That kiss had
obliterated any doubt. She’d never forget what it felt like to have
Cal hungry for her. If they’d kissed like that when they were
teens, they’d be married now with a couple of kids. Maybe there
never would have been an Evie.

But there still might have been jail,
under-employment, excess marijuana. Her IQ plummeted ten points
just thinking about a relationship with Cal. There was probably
some psychological reason she fell for a guy who would ultimately
hurt her.

Just as well Cal was upset.

But part of her didn’t regret kissing
him. Cal needed to know she believed in him. She wasn’t happy with
Cal’s marijuana consumption either, but Starr’s criticism would
completely crush Cal if someone didn’t step in. And kissing him had
patched up his confidence—for a few minutes. She wasn’t sorry she’d
done it.

She sucked in air and emptied her
lungs, lost in the taste of Cal. Wanting. She had no one to blame
but herself.

Her phone vibrated. A text from
Cal.

I’m sorry I got pissed. Not
your fault. Let’s work it out. I want to earn back your
trust.

A coal deep inside heated red, blue,
white like it had been infused with oxygen.

Cal had wanted to kiss her since they
were in high school. What if he loved her, really loved
her?

The wake from a passing speed boat hit
the
Escape’s
hull and jostled her off balance.

She gripped the dining table as the
boat continued to bob in the diminishing swells.

She texted.
Let’s focus on the
business now, r drama when the business is good.

Cal scanned the horizon trying to spot
Fish’s boat headed for the inlet—anything to take his eyes off the
honeymooning couple on the bow. At three-thirty in the afternoon,
it would be quitting time for Fish’s charter. The boats were too
far away to recognize. He brought the
Escape
about and
tacked toward land.

The lovers dangled their feet over the
side of the fore deck, their arms looped around each other. The
wind whisked away their conversation before it reached Cal. Thank
God for small favors. Every so often they kissed. The current kiss
closed in on epic. Did they even notice they were sailing? He’d
felt like a middle schooler taking notes behind a conjoined couple
in a movie for the past two hours.

They made him want a repeat of
yesterday’s mind-blowing kiss from Aly. He glanced through the
companionway at her.

He shook his head to clear it. He had
to think about something else. The business hadn’t turned around in
the month Aly had been at the helm, but at least they weren’t going
to lose the boat. They’d done a birthday party cruise, a school
field trip which had been great PR, but no money, and a few tourist
charters.

Aly didn’t seem worried. But she only
had money riding on the business. If it failed, he was out of
skills to break into real life. He’d be marooned in the
counterculture with his grandparents. His self-worth depended on
the
Escape
’s success. His future depended on it. Asking Aly
to marry him depended on it.

Whoa, he was coming in hot, too close
to shore. He headed into the wind to slow the
Escape’s
progress.

The grainy crunch of the keel sliding
across sand registered in his brain a second before the boat slid
to a halt.

Aly climbed into the cockpit. “What
happened?”

“
Ran aground,” he said
through clenched teeth.

He fired up the engine and threw the
boat into reverse, gunned it.

The
Escape
held fast to the
sand bar.

What a boneheaded thing to do. He
couldn’t even get sailing right. Had he damaged the
keel?

Aly glanced at the newlyweds who had
barely taken notice of their stalled state. “What are we going to
do?”

Cal gunned the engine
again.

No movement.

A boat wasn’t like a car you could
push out by hand. Nor could the
Escape
be dug out. Any kid
who built sandcastles could tell you sand rushed in as fast as you
shoveled. “Tide’s going out. We’re screwed.”

“
How screwed?”

“
We could be here for
twelve hours till the tide comes back in.”

“
What about calling the
Coast Guard.”

“
They only pull you off if
your life is endangered.”

“
Sea Tow?”

“
Got two hundred dollars?
And who knows if they’d get here before we’re totally
stuck.”

Aly forked out her palm. “Hand me your
phone.”

Cal passed it to her.

Aly scrolled through his contacts, hit
the call button, squinted at the horizon. She jerked the phone away
from her ear, and Cal recognized Fish’s trash talking.

“
It’s Aly. We ran aground.
Can you pull us off on your way back to the marina? We’re on the
lip of the Intercoastal, north side. Great. Thanks. See you in
ten.”

The couple moved down the deck toward
the cockpit, their fingers still linked.

Cal focused on their matching
I
heart Kinsey, I heart Josh
T-shirts. He wiped the scowl off his
face and explained what was going on.

The guy laughed. “Whatever.” He
snagged his bride’s hand and headed back to the bow.

Sooner than Cal was ready to face him,
Fish roared up, smashing his wake against the
Escape
’s hull,
shoving the boat further onto the sandbar.

Cal clamped his teeth down on the
inside of his cheek and caught the tow rope Fish hurled at the
Escape’s
transom.

He secured the line and signaled
Fish.

Zeke’s Ambition
roared to
life.

Cal held his breath and watched the
white water boil between the two boats.
Come on.

A second attempt.

Cal’s stomach knotted. They would have
to send the honeymooners back to shore with Fish, maybe refund
their money.

The boat budged a few
inches.

Cal circled his arm overhead,
signaling Fish to keep gunning his engine.

The
Escape
scraped off the
sand. Floated.

Relief sloshed in his gut. Cal loosed
the towline into the water, and Fish hauled it back onto his
boat.

Cal raised a hand over the rumble of
Fish’s engine. Thanks. Annoyance that Fish had rescued him doused
his relief.

Fish eyed him, turned away, and
planted himself in the pilot’s seat.

The six fishermen looked on,
oblivious.

Fish shoved his throttle to full and
arced into the channel.

Cal swung wide from the shore and
aimed for Fish’s wake.

After docking, Cal donned his wetsuit,
mask, and snorkel and inspected the keel. Some scratches in the
paint, but nothing serious.

As the sun set beyond Canal Street,
Cal walked Aly down the dock toward her car. A trickle of water
from his hair snaked under his sweatshirt collar. He shivered and
dug his hands into his pockets. He’d need to scrub the hull clean
this week or he’d be looking at barnacles and a premature trip to
dry dock.

“
Aly, hold up.” Fish
bounded off his boat. “Give me your phone.”

Aly pulled it from her pocket and gave
it to him.

He punched in a number. “For next
time.”

“
Thanks.”

Cal swallowed his pride. “I appreciate
your hauling us off today. I owe you.”

“
Got that right. But I did
it for Aly.”

“
Whatever. Thanks.” Cal
nudged her with his elbow to keep walking. At this moment he hated
Fish with the intensity that he’d loved him the day Fish vomited a
gallon of Aqua Park chlorinated water after being pulled from the
bottom of the pool when they were ten.

Fish of all people knew he loved Aly.
If Fish stole Aly, he’d get what he wanted—the end of their
friendship. Forever.

Aly glanced at him as they neared her
Honda. “You don’t need to look so disgusted. We made money today.
Fish towed us for free. The keel is intact.”

“
There’s only one thing
that will salvage this day.” He backed her up against the driver’s
door, pinning her with his hips.

Aly’s eyes widened.

He lowered his mouth to hers. His lips
found hers. Desire oozed tonic onto every annoyance of the
day.

Her hands settled on his
waist.

The tentative touch flashed the chill
from his body, and his hands left the cool metal of her car and
cupped her shoulders. He needed her.

Fish’s truck rumbled past, and Aly
shoved Cal away with her palms on his chest. “Is this all about
Fish and your little man-war?” Her eyes spit fire. “He humiliated
you by pulling you off the sandbar, now you stake your claim on the
girl?”

“
It crossed my mind.” Cal
arched his brows. “But Fish is gone now.” He leaned in.

Aly straight-armed him. Her eyes
searched his. “I wanted to talk to you about” —she dropped her arm—
“touching, kissing.” She met his gaze. “Something changed between
us the night I spent on the
Escape
.”

“
Nothing changed for me. I
feel the same way I’ve always felt about you.”

“
Well, I feel… confused. I
know you used to touch me to make me feel cared about, that you
valued my friendship. But… this is more.”

She looked down at her hands, then
over his shoulder at the Hummer behind him. “I finally have my
dream of owning a business. I need to concentrate on it. I don’t
want to freak out about our relationship every day.” Aly bit her
lip. “You’ve always been my friend. I want to hang onto that.
Anything more….”

Hope sloshed out the bottom of her
words like a fist-sized hole in a bailing bucket. Whether she’d
been mistaken when she thought she loved him or he’d killed her
love by sleeping with Evie, the end result was the same. She didn’t
want more than friendship with him.

“
Like I said in my text,
let’s focus on the business right now. First things first,” she
said.

Cal squeezed her arms. He gazed into
her eyes, willing her to believe him. “You. Will. Never. Lose. My.
Friendship.”
Or my love.

Aly sniffed. “Thanks. Same
here.”

Cal kissed her temple. “I—we’ll talk
about it another time.”

Aly gave him a small smile. “Okay,
then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She got into her car and drove
away.

Sadness hung in the twilight. Was it
all his, or had Aly left some of hers, too? He’d almost told her he
loved her. But he would have to put the words on hold, too. He was
back in the same place with Aly that he’d been for years. No, that
wasn’t right. Now he was worse off.

He’d keep her request. As much as he
hated to admit it, a cease kissing edict was probably for the best.
How many kisses like yesterday’s could they survive without having
sex? And Aly needed him to prove he loved more than her body. He’d
used Evie and felt all kinds of guilt about it. He’d only feel
worse about Aly because the other guys had used her and not loved
her. He’d love her and not use her. He’d stake his life
trying.