Wet: Part 2 (20 page)

“Listen to me. I’ll put you down if you promise not to run away from me again.” She didn’t respond. “Rhees, Baby? Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

“Stop calling me
Baby
!” she blubbered. “Don’t you see? That’s the problem. Put me down.”

He complied, but he hooked two of his fingers in the waistband of her shorts. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she turned and tried to put some distance between them, but he pulled her back. He considered himself lucky she didn’t fight him. She wiped her face, but continued to snivel, unladylike for Rhees.

“No . . .
Rhees
.” He sighed. He had to think, hoping he wouldn’t choose the wrong name to call her again, not understanding why she suddenly hated him calling her Baby. He felt helpless, almost panicked because he had no idea what bothered her.

“I don’t
see
anything. I’m trying—I’m really trying, but I don’t know what’s wrong. I thought you were upset with me for trying to protect you—this isn’t about the zip line, right?”

She shook her head and then covered her face with her hands. She sniffed again.

“I’m so stupid—all this time.” She dropped her hands to her side, dejectedly. “I seriously thought I was growing up. I’ve been
so
proud of myself. I thought, ‘Look at me. I’m all grown up, overcoming fears—taking care of myself’. Ha!” She raised her hands in the air and made a
duh
face. Her tone changed to scorn herself. “But I’m right back where I started. No, wait! I never left. Different country, same big baby—I’m still just the stupid, helpless idiot I ever was. I have nothing to be proud about.

“I didn’t grow up. I’m not taking care of myself, you are—I just found myself a
new daddy
!” Tears spilled from her eyes again and she looked at him with a haunting expression before she sank to the ground to weep.

“Don’t say that.” Paul covered his own eyes as he squatted down next to her. He outlined his eyebrows with his thumb and index finger and massaged his temples.

“Why not,” she shrieked, snapping her head around to look at him. “It’s true.”

“No. Calm down,
please
? Let’s just think this through, okay?” he begged as he sat next to her. She wept quietly while he took a minute to collect his thoughts. “I only call you Baby—it’s not a description. It’s a term of . . .
affection
.”

“Pretend affection. Don’t forget that,” she sobbed. “I know I embarrass you.”

“What?”

“The other guys, your friends, they all brought beautiful girls. I don’t compare. You’re embarrassed, ashamed to be stuck with me. You could have brought anyone else, someone beautiful like Liz, Jeannie, and Ashley, but you’re stuck with me because you can’t let me out of your sight for five minutes, because I’m a baby who can’t take care of herself.”

“No.”

“Yes. Since we arrived here, you’ve been trying to distance yourself from me. When you’re with the guys, you’re happy and carefree, but you get in the same room with me, and suddenly you’re sullen, standoffish—grouchy even. You cringe or recoil every time I try to touch you.”

“Shit.” Paul massaged the back of his own neck. “That’s not it. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed, not by you.”

“It’s all right, I understand. This whole thing that we have—it’s just pretend.” She sounded so practical, spitting the words out in spite of how hard she was actually crying, talking over his attempt to explain what had been going on with him all week. “We decided to pretend to be together because you knew a long time ago that I’m not capable of taking care of myself. Taylor said you were protective. You felt the need to protect me, and I, apparently, will always need a babysitter.” She tried to wipe the tears from her face with her arm.

“I’m never going to grow up. I’m always going to be a big, fat, hopeless baby, and you’re nothing but my new daddy.”

“Not only no,” he finally yelled, “but
hell
no! That is
nawt
what I am.” He looked out over the jungle, shaking his head at how she could say such a thing. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself so he could bring the tension down to a normal level. “Rhees.” He shook his head again.

“Somewhere along the line . . . I stopped pretending. I know we started out that way, but maybe—” He paused, struggling to say what he needed to say—he’d never said anything like it before. “Maybe I never was pretending. I don’t know.” He licked his lips and ran his mouth through a few of its nervous contortions. “I only know that
now
, I’m not pretending anything when it comes to you.”

She stopped crying and held perfectly still, but didn’t turn to look at him yet.

“I don’t want to be your babysitter—and I sure as hell don’t think of you as a daughter.” He rolled his eyes. “Pfft! I have thoughts about you. I assure you, they are
nawt
the kind of thoughts a dad should have about his—that’s just—really sick.” She finally turned to see him, trying not to smile.

“And it really bothers me to think—shit, Rhees, I’m
nawt
that
old
.” She laughed a quick breathy laugh and followed with a smile as she let the humor begin to heal her. It was all he needed to know they’d made it through the worst, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He kept her smiling by launching into one of his quick-witted rants about being only six years older than she was, and how, even though he’d started young, the math didn’t add up.

“You look
nothing
like me, and I’m pretty sure I never even met your mother. Yeah, I’m sure of it, at least, reasonably sure.”

They both laughed quietly for a few seconds.

“Rhees?” He leaned over and rested his chin on her shoulder, serious again. “You’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“I don’t know about that,” she said softly, dropping her head.

“I do.” He leaned even farther so that his face was right in front of hers. “There’s got to be a way you can still by
my
baby, and not be
A
baby. Do you think we can work on that?”

She nodded, and then threw her arms around his neck. He welcomed the embrace with a relieved sigh.

“My feelings for you aren’t pretend either,” she said, and it surprised him how good it sounded to hear her say it.

oOo

They returned to the path and made their way to the next station.

“So, I need to be clear on something.” Paul sounded cautious about bringing up the subject. “When you said you were going home, you meant the island, not Utah, right?”

“Of course. Why would I go back to Utah? There’s nothing there for me anymore.”

“Your note.” He pulled it out of his pocket and unfolded it so she could see it.

I’M GOING HOME. I’M DONE. RHEES

“I worried you were done with me, and you were going back to Utah.”

She stared at the note for a few seconds. “I knew that girl didn’t understand what I said. There was a definite language barrier when I asked her if I could get a message to you. I wanted her to let me write it, but she didn’t understand that either. It’s supposed to say, ‘I’m going home
when
I’m done’. And I meant the island. The island is my home now. How many times do I have to say that?”

“I’ve heard you. I just felt the need to make sure.” He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

oOo

They finished the last station, eighteen in all. They’d taken turns going first so they could get pictures of each other leaving and arriving. Paul wanted to make sure she had proof she’d crossed another goal off of her list. The attendants were surprised she’d never rode a zip line before, calling her a natural. She didn’t brake until the last moment and gave a little bounce at the end to right herself, landing on her feet every time. Paul tried to copy her moves but never mastered it.

When they reached the bottom, they made their way to the cafeteria to wait for the others to finish. Paul had only eaten a couple bites of his breakfast and was starved. They were in line at the lunch buffet and didn’t see their friends come in.

Taylor sneaked up behind them and enthusiastically threw his arms around Rhees, lifted her up, and planted a big kiss on her mouth, unleashing the mother of all panic attacks. She screamed and thrashed against him irrationally as if someone had grabbed her on a dark night and was attempting to drag her into the bushes.

Taken by surprise, Taylor froze, with her still in his arms, not knowing what to do.

“What the fuck, Taylor! Get your hands off her!” Paul yelled several other choice words as he pawed at Taylor, trying to get him to let go of her. Taylor finally regained enough of his senses to set her down and back away, while Paul stepped between them, his arms outstretched as if barricading everyone from her. 

Taylor, as well as everyone in the cafeteria, stood and watched in shock as Rhees fell apart. She clutched at herself, and swatted the air, screaming and begging, “Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me.”

“Rhees?” Paul whispered. He reached toward her but drew his hand back when she shied away. He turned on Taylor. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I wanted to thank her for making this the best zip line trip we’ve ever made,” Taylor said quietly. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She doesn’t like to be touched. Could you guys just get some lunch? Leave us alone for a minute. She needs some space.”

“You touch her all the time—and since when do you call me
Taylor
?”

Paul gave him a dirty look, but ignored his questions, too worried about Rhees to argue.

“It’s all right. No one’s going to hurt you.” Paul slowly moved a little closer. “It’s me.” He held his hands where Rhees could see them.

“I’m sorry. I—it—he just surprised me.” She stepped back. Her voice sounded as shaky as her body. She turned away from him, not wanting him to see her that way.

“Rhees? I’ve never seen you react this severely before. I’m really worried. Have you ever seen anyone about this?” He stood behind her, not knowing what to do. He still didn’t dare touch her.

She spun around and forced a smile, but her voice sounded a little too animated. “I’m fine. I told you, he just took me by surprise. It’s just a reflex.”

“A reflex reaction to being strangled by an axe murderer, maybe—not getting surprise hug bombed by a dopey friend.”

She smiled and slid her arms around his waist, looking up at him. He watched her warily, but carefully returned her embrace. He felt her cringe, even though she tried so hard not to. Her body still trembled.

“Don’t worry about me . . .
dad
.”

He glared at her with a pretend stern expression for her comment, but he couldn’t help his concern.

“Come on. You know I have issues with abrupt physical contact. Taylor just
really
surprised me. That’s all.”

oOo

They grabbed their food and sat down with the others to eat.

“I’m sorry, Rhees. I didn’t know,” Taylor apologized.

“That I’d go bat-crap crazy on you?” Rhees laughed. “I’m the one who owes
you
an apology.”

“Look, I just wanted to show my appreciation for making the zip line better. If it weren’t for you, Liz wouldn’t be here.” No one could follow Taylor’s logic so he continued. “Liz kept braking the whole way.”

Liz interjected, “I didn’t brake that much. They said I was too light.”

“They
said
people who didn’t weigh much didn’t need to brake every three seconds. She stalled out mid-line and the attendant had to go get her, hand over hand. I was so embarrassed.” Taylor rolled his eyes at Liz. “The second time it happened, I was next in line and already hooked up. They were just about to let me go when they realized she’d over-braked . . . again. They told me to hold up until they could get her, but I didn’t wait. I jumped off the platform and went. When I reached her on the line, I did the hand over hand thing and got her to the next platform.” He looked so proud of himself. “I’ve always wanted to do that.

“The attendants at the next station said they couldn’t send her alone anymore.” Taylor gave Liz a sideways glance. “They decided they’d have to get her down, tandem style, but they were short-handed and argued about how they were going to manage being down yet another man. I volunteered, and they actually agreed.” His tone grew more and more excited, and he used more and more spicy words as he explained what happened. “Who would have thought that extra hundred and twenty pounds would make you go
so
much faster? We were
ska-ree-ming
down those lines, and I have Rheesy to thank for the most exciting zip line I’ve done since the first time.”

“I do not weigh a hundred and twenty pounds.” Liz sounded offended. “And I didn’t brake every three seconds.” She smiled sheepishly. “It was more like every five, at the most. And Taylor didn’t brake, at all,
ever
! I was scared to death the whole time.”

“You survived. I would never let anything happen to you.” Taylor leaned over and gave her a big kiss. “I vote we bring the girls every year, from now on. Tandem’s the way to go. WOO!” he howled like a banshee.

“No way, I’m never doing this again. This was the most miserable experience I’ve ever had in my life.” Ashley crossed her arms and glared at David with a scowl on her face.

The three other men stared at him too, watching to see how he would handle his date. None of them ever brought the same girl to Testosterfest twice, but they’d started to suspect David and Ashley might be a real couple—to their dismay. They all hated her negativity.

“She’s pretty loose with the way she categorizes her misery. Hasn’t everything so far been the most miserable thing she’s ever done . . . in her life?” Bryce whispered to Paul. Paul covered his mouth to hide his smirk.

“Okay, don’t worry, Sweetheart. You’ll never have to do this again. This was the worst experience
I’ve
ever had too. Next year, I’m bringing someone else,” David said as he kissed Ashley’s cheek, showing the guys he did have a spine. Ashley’s mouth dropped open and she glared at him again. He ignored her as he and the guys all turned their attention to Paul and Rhees, wondering what Paul would have to say about bringing Rhees next year.

Paul grinned and glanced down, his shy, embarrassed look. He shrugged his shoulders before he stood. “I think we should go find our shuttle back to the beach house.”