AllFreeNovel
Share Us
JEREMIAH
I’d never experienced ineptitude.I’d never failed at anything. Well, social situations aside. I’d excelled at all academics. I’d excelled in my career. I’d excelled in any task I’d set my sights on.
But I felt as if I was failing Tully.
I was not a good boyfriend. I wasn’t capable of reciprocating his affection declarations, and it was hurting him. He needed it, very clearly thrived on it, and I fell woefully short.
He tried to laugh it off, but I could see the hurt in his eyes.
He’d told me he loved me, as he had declared many times. And I’d replied with, “Same.”
Same.
I hated that I was like this.
Before I could make things any worse, he stood up and held out his hand. “Come on, let’s go outside and see.”
He helped me to my feet. “See what?”
“See what we can see, see, see.”
The way he sang it led me to believe it was a nursery rhyme. A child’s song I’d never heard.
“Never mind,” he mumbled.
Clearly, I’d failed at that too.
Outside, much like the direction my mood had taken, was getting dark. “Does this boat have lights?”
He nodded. “Yes. But we have an LED lantern. Better to use that than the battery on the boat.”
He found the lantern and, opening the door, went out to the stern. There was still enough daylight to see, barely though. The skies were overcast and grey, clouds low, but no rain, and the water was dark. It wasn’t as rough as before, but it wasn’t calm by any means.
He turned the lantern on, holding it out and scanning the beach.
I was almost afraid to ask. “Any visitors?”
“Not that I can see. No eyes staring back at us anyway.”
“It’s not necessarily the ones you can see that bother me.”
He turned and rubbed my back. “We’re safe here. If you need to pee, go stand on the bow and aim with the wind, not into it.”
“I’m not peeing off the front of the boat.”
“Would you like to fill an empty water bottle again? You could give this one to the crocs too. We should absolutely patent Croc-ade. Pee-coloured electrolytes with crocodile teeth punctures on the label. Could be the new Red Bull.”
I ignored that and didn’t even bother rolling my eyes. “I’ll be fine.”
“If you gotta pee, you gotta pee. And if you should require a bathroom for any other reason, I suggest you do it now before we lose all light. There’s a camping shovel, the kind that folds up, for you to go into the bushes and dig a hole.”
I stared at him, and he tried to keep a straight face but failed. I gave him a playful shove. “You’re not funny.”
He laughed. “There’s an enclosed head.”
I squinted at him. “Is that a boating term I should be familiar with?”
Tully snorted. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
