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“Shoot him in the dick,” Ellis said.
Mum whacked Ellis’ arm but smiled at Jeremiah. “Ignore them.”
“Why did you tell Jeremiah to ignore them,” I asked her. “I’m the one they’re telling him to shoot with a flare gun.”
“They wouldn’t actually shoot you, Tully,” she said.
Ellis imitated holding a pistol. “It’s really simple, Jeremiah. Just hold it away from your body, unlock the safety, and aim. At his junk.”
I tried to push him off the dock. Fucker was stronger than he looked.
When I gave up and turned around, Jeremiah was already on the boat. “Hey,” I said. “I was going to help you across.” I grabbed my bag and Jeremiah held out his hand to help me as I crossed the gangplank instead.
“Aww,” Ellis cried. “Princess.”
Dad shoved him for me.
I stepped into the boat, turned around, and flipped Ellis off. “It’spretty womanto you, nut sac.”
Dad squinted, confused. Mum sighed. “I don’t want to know.”
“Thank you for everything,” I said to them. “But we should head off if I’m going to get this handsome doctor to his destination before the tide changes.”
Dad nodded. “Be careful. Call us if you need. Radio the coast guard if you get into trouble.”
“Will do.”
“Life jackets,” Mum reminded us.
“Yes, Mum.”
I took two life jackets and helped Jeremiah with his. I slipped it over his head and fastened the clips, cinching them in at his waist, making him jolt toward me. “Mmm,” I hummed, low enough for only him to hear. “New kink unlocked.”
He glanced over at my parents to see if they’d heard. They mighta done, given Ellis was grinning at us. Jeremiah shoved me away. “Thank you again,” he said to my family. “Ellis, please look after Mr Percival for us.”
He gave a salute. “Shall do. Just me and the bird all weekend.”
“If you treated your girlfriends better, that wouldn’t be the case. Maybe you’ll treat Grace right this time,” I said, then had to pull the gangplank onboard before he could cross it.
A few minutes later, we were unmoored and ready to go. Jeremiah was sitting down, gripping onto the seat under him as if his life depended on it. He was excited underneath the nerves, and I knew the best way to help with that was to put him to work. “Okay, Navigator, you’re up.”
He looked around as if I was speaking to someone else. “Um, what? I thought you said you could drive this thing?”
“I can.”
“Then what do you need me for?”
“Just come up here.”
He grimaced, and after considering his options for a few seconds, he came over to me. He was a bit wobbly, and this wasn’t even the open sea yet. I had him stand in front of me, putting my arms around his waist to hold the throttle.
“This is all very high tech,” he said. “This navigation system is better than anything in my office. Well, when I had a working office.”
I pointed to the screen. He knew how to read this information. He knew maps and graphs and weather charts better than anyone. I took his hand and put it on the throttle, then his other on the wheel. “Okay, keep her under five until we clear the break wall. And see those buoy markers?”
He nodded.
“You gotta keep port side of those.”
