“It’s easy to look good when you’re on the ground instead of in the saddle. Anyway, play nice,” he warned, “or you’ll be sailing this beast back to Sydney solo.”
“Nah, you love me too much, man.”
“Deeply,” he deadpanned. “Against my will.” He stood and stretched.
“Bro, grab us some drinks? And while you’re up, can you crank up the A/C before we melt?” I asked.
“On it.” He disappeared.
After a few minutes, I wandered into the galley in search of my drink. Instead, I found Dyson, shoveling a spoonful of ice cream straight from the tub into his mouth.
“Seriously?” I shook my head as he loaded his spoon. “Did you forget your mission?”
He shrugged. “Got distracted.”
“You had one job.” I smirked, grabbing a drink from the fridge. It was bursting with enough food and snacks to feed a small army.
“Let’s check out the cabins.” He took off. “First one I claim is mine!”
“You’re dreaming,” I said, already on the move.
I leaned against the doorway of the better cabin across the hall from Dyson. He let out a shriek, pushed past me, launching himself across the room, before face-planting onto the center bed.
“Comfortable? Don’t hold back on my account.”
“Sleep,” he mumbled into the mattress. “I just traveled tens of thousands of miles.”
With a laugh, I moved toward the window, searching beyond the glass. I exhaled slowly. I needed this. Drake had been all pressure. With little release.
For years, kickboxing had given me somewhere to put the anger. Anger toward my father, but it wasn’t enough anymore. I needed something beyond uppercuts, jabs, and hooks.
This trip… is the start of that something.
When our trip was over, Dyson would head to San Francisco to step into the companies he’d built while the rest of us were just trying to survive high school.
And I’d step straight into my father’s business world… SolStar. No choice, no escape.
But not yet… right now, I’m free. And I’m going to make the most of it.
After kicking Dyson out of my cabin, I explored every square inch of the new boat. The controls, the engine room, the deck, and every hidden corner, until I knew it inside out.
When there was nothing left to discover, I stretched out on the bed and let the cool air wrap around me. Within minutes, I drifted into a deep, satisfied sleep.
***
“Karson, get your lazy ass out of bed. Let’s hit the go-kart track before it gets too hot.” Dyson yanked the blanket off me.
“All right, all right,” I muttered, dragging a hand over my face. “Can you make some coffee? I’ll be up in a minute.” I rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
A blast of cold water hit my face, yanking me into the day. I pulled on shorts and a T-shirt, tugged my cap low, shoving my sunglasses into my pocket before taking the stairs two at a time.
By the time I reached the galley, Dyson had coffee waiting.
We demolished breakfast, drained a second cup, before heading out to the car he’d organized for the island.
A few minutes later, we pulled up at the track, taking in the tropical surroundings as we walked into the office.
“Man, we gotta hit the beach after this. It’s paradise,” Dyson said after we went through the safety protocols.
