Page 107 of Endless Depths

“Hurry up, bait boys!” Lawrence calls. “We’re playing buoy dodgeball.”

“No, we aren’t,” Morgan says.

Lawrence hurls the buoy at Morgan, who snatches it out of the air and nails him with it.

Javi ties off the last bag. “Gabi’s pregnant.”

“Holy shit.” I swing toward him, keeping my voice low as I add, “Congrats, brother.”

He doesn’t smile.

“Does Lawless know?”

Javi shakes his head, eyes on Lawrence laughing at Alejo’s ridiculous barrel roll to avoid the buoy. Alejo lobs the buoy back. Lawrence catches it and hurls it toward Javi. It lands at his feet.

“No dodgeball on deck,” Javi yells.

“OSHA doesn’t have jurisdiction on the ocean,” Lawrence yells back.

Javi ignores him, and the buoy rolling in front of his feet. I can tell I’m losing him, and if Lawrence comes over, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get him this vulnerable again, so I take the buoy, and throw it wide so Lawrence has to fetch it like a dog.

“Are you going to marry her?” I ask.

“I love her.”

“I didn’t ask if you loved her.”

“Marrying her is the right thing to do.”

“Not if you love Lawrence too.”

Javi glances at me.

“He didn’t tell me, but I know my friends.”

“Hey Cole!” Lawrence shouts. “Catch.”

I swing back toward the deck, but not in time to catch the buoy before it hits me in the stomach.

“Lawless, what the fuck?” Morgan shouts.

“Asshole,” I mutter.

Javi picks up the buoy and throws it at Lawrence’s dick, landing his mark. Lawrence doubles over.

Morgan takes the buoy and slaps Lawrence on the back. “You deserved that.”

“First marker coming up,” Wes says over the PA.

Javi grabs the bait bag and a fresh cod and heads for the rail.

“Javi, wait.”

“Yeah?” He stops and turns, dark eyes guarded.

“Don’t get back together with Gabi yet. Tell Lawrence. He deserves to know. Then, maybe you guys can try for real. You’ll both be fishing for bairdi, so it’s the perfecttime. And if you’re still not sure how you feel, see how you react to staying home while he does opilio. You already know how to live without Gabi, but you’ve always had Lawrence. Well, except for when he was locked up.”

There’s no need to elaborate. We both know Javi barely survived that separation. The only person who doesn’t know is Lawrence.