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“Dude, you gotta not besooobvious about it. You look like a lovesick puppy. Chill out for a bit and have some fun. You’ll get the chance to talk to her, promise,” Max wagged his eyebrows, and I immediately felt a bit queasy. Max's plans never worked out the way they were supposed to.
I straightened up so I was taller than him. I did have a few inches on the guy, but lately, I’d been leaning over on my crutches a lot. “I’ll chill… But only if you promise you won’t interfere,” I warned him.
“Me?” He feigned innocence. “I’d never!”
I took an uneasy breath and started to argue, but he ran off as soon as he noticed a jetski was moving fast toward his dock.
I slowly but surely crutched after him, but my mind couldn't move forward. My brain kept repeating on a loop:Claire Kessel has a tattoo. Claire Anne Kessel has a tattoo and I saw it with my very own eyes.
“Fuck!” I almost tripped and fell down the hill. His damn lawn was super lumpy and hard to navigate on crutches. I’d have to be careful not to ingest too much alcohol through this day or else I really would fall. “You need lawn care!” I frustratingly yelled at Max, to which many of the hockey guys started laughing at my expense.
By the time I made it to the edge of the water, I could easily tell that it was TJ and Ellie waving from the jetski. TJ had a deep summer tan going, thanks to his Italian roots, and Ellie’s pretty auburn hair always stood out. TJ carefully navigated the jetski onto the lift, then quickly hopped onto the dock, making the whole thing shake.
“Careful!” Max warned.
Ellie jumped onto the dock after him, holding her hand over her mouth to stop from giggling. She gave Max a quick hug, then started walking toward me.
“Hi Duke!” She wove her long, wet auburn hair into a messy bun on top of her head and regarded me with a bright smile. “How ya feelin?”
“Could be better.” I forced myself not to look back at Claire and Tyler. “Kinda bummed I can’t do much,” I mumbled, using my broken foot as a cover up for why I was really upset.
“You don’t have to do much to enjoy a lake day.” She rolled her eyes playfully at me. “Take off that shirt, get some vitamin D,” she urged. “We’re going tubing in a couple minutes. You can’t do that, but you could still go for a boat ride! I’ll go get you another beer and lifejacket, okay, bud?”
I laughed at her use of bud. She pronounced it ‘buad,’ just like TJ. He was definitely rubbing off on her.
“That doesn't sound bad I guess.”And hopefully Claire would be done hanging out with stupid Tyler by the time we got back, I mentally added.
TJ sprinted past us, yelling, “Sup, Callahan! Bathroom, sorry!”
Ellie rolled her eyes and scurried to follow him up to the house, while shouting out to everyone their intentions: “Be on the boat in five minutes! Five minutes if you'd like to tube today, people!” She was used to ordering us hockey guys around. She was one of our power skating coaches back in Detroit. I think she got a kick out of rounding us up and making us do figure skating stroking exercises that whooped our asses– like physically– they actually really made my butt sore.
I watched as two of the guys, who had the tube lifted on their shoulders, walked down the dock to the boat, followed by a group of others carrying life jackets, towels, and drinks.
Just as I expected, Claire was one of the people walking toward the boat. She’d never skip out on tubing. She was a daredevil who loved speed. She’d be the one out there on the water constantly putting her thumb up, urging the driver to go faster.
And while I couldn’t go tubing, Ellie was right– I could still go for a boat ride…
I started making my way down the dock, holding my breath and praying that Tyler wouldn’t be joining the whole group on the boat. There was currently an open seat right next to Claire… That seat was mine. She could lean against me, and I could hold her as we watched the sunset while cruising on the open water. It honestly sounded like paradise.
I was about to push open the pontoon’s little door to let myself in, when Max made a loud, “Errrr,” noise and used his forearm to block my chest from moving forward. “You may not enter the boat.”
I ripped my sunglasses off and gave him a death stare. “Says who?”
He lifted his hands in innocence. “Dude, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but think about it– you might get your cast wet. I’m not too sure if that’s a good idea. Plus, it’s super choppy out, what about your brain?”
Now everyone on the boat was watching us, including Claire. I felt like a little kid who was just told he was too short to ride a rollercoaster.
I leaned in a little closer to him so no one else could hear. “I don’t care,” I whispered sternly. “Help me out, c’mon,” I pleaded. I could feel my face heating up.
“Grey!” he called over my shoulder and waved him over from the lawn. I instantly felt betrayed. “Rookie here wants to go on the boat!”
“I’m not a fucking rookie,” I ground out.
That made him, as well as some of the older, retired guys on the boat laugh out loud.
“‘Round here ya are, bud,” Max said with an arched eyebrow.
Grey came up behind me and patted my shoulder with his thick hand. His St. Christopher medallion caught the sun and shone brightly. He had stripped his shirt to play a skins vs. shirts game of spikeball, and now he was getting his gross sweat on me. I tried to shrug his arm off my shoulder, but he was stronger.
