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When he’d shown up, I’d been nervous that Scout was coming too. Turned out, I had nothing to worry about.
He’d given me a chin raise and a “What’s up?” before he followed Alex to the back of the boat. My uncle and aunt’s pontoon was huge with a whole sitting area in the back. The middle had a table, a couple chairs, and a couch, and then the front had another seating area. There was a gate in front of me that blocked a small standing area. But the guys didn’t launch themselves from there. They stepped on my bench and sailed over me.
“Douches,” I yelled after Cohen jumped in.
Clint laughed as he swam back. “Don’t be dumb. Jump in. You like swimming.”
“Not today.”
He shook his head.
Trenton hit the water with his hand and a good wave jumped up to splash me once again.
“Trent!”
“Come on! You’ve never been lame before. Don’t start today.”
No way. No effin’ way. I knew my cousins, and they were going to gang up on me—pulling me under or jumping on me, and I’d barely have time to take a breath before someone else yanked me by the ankle back down. They were wound up, but I didn’t know why. Maybe from Scout’s fight last night?
Alex and Cohen swam over to the front end of the boat and climbed up. They grabbed towels from a pile and began drying off. Stepping over the gate, Alex sat across from me, tossing his towel back on the floor. Cohen plopped down at the end of my bench, both guys eyeing the adults.
My uncle had dropped the anchor twenty minutes ago so the guys could swim and was sitting at the table with Aunt Ailes and my mom. All had coffee thermoses, which I knew didn’t have coffee in any of them. They were laughing and didn’t look like they were paying us much attention.
Cohen said to Alex, leaning forward, “Think we could sneak some booze?”
Alex shot me a grin, also leaning forward. “Thinking there’s a good chance. Your mom’s drinking? I didn’t think she normally did.”
I shrugged. “She doesn’t. Maybe she wanted to blow off some steam.”
Cohen laughed, sitting back and kicking his leg out. “I don’t blame her. It’s been a week, huh?”
He watched me as the boat dipped and Clint and Trenton climbed back up. They walked through the gate holding towels.
I got all cautious, not sure what Cohen was referencing or if he was testing me, seeing if I’d say anything or not. He’d been fine at Scout’s fight. I chose to play dumb. “I guess. It’s my first week here. It’s a lot in general.”
Cohen kept watching me, solidifying my suspicion that he was testing me. Something flickered in his eyes, and he eased back.
Clint dropped to the floor on the other side of where I was sitting. Trenton took a seat next to Alex. He hit the side of Alex’s knee, watching the adults. “Go grab the cooler.”
“Like that’s not obvious.” Alex frowned.
Clint shrugged. “I put water in there. If he says something or if he’s watching, just grab the water first. It’s not like you don’t know how to sneak, dude.”
Alex shrugged and stood, going to grab the cooler.
“Grabbing water, Pops,” he explained over his shoulder
My uncle kept watching for another second as Alex lifted a water bottle. What he didn’t see was that Alex shifted, his front half blocking his dad’s view as Trenton grabbed the rum. As soon as that was hidden on the other side of Trent, Clint leaned forward and nabbed a soda.
With that, my uncle returned to the conversation.
“Rams?” Alex held out a soda for me.
But Clint snagged it, opened it, and drank a third of it. He handed it to Trent, who filled it back up with rum before holding it out to me. “You’re welcome.”
I glared at him but took it.
A part of me was digging this. I felt like a normal teenager, sneaking booze. And I was with my family, so it was safe. That was like a double bonus.
Trent went back to filling the rest of the sodas.
We kept sneaking drinks over the next hour, and I finally joined them swimming. Another hour after that, my aunt and mom brought out the food. While we were eating, I noticed Cohen checking his phone. He nudged Alex. “Where are we? We far from Eagle Peak?”
“Oh, yeah! What time is it?”
“He’s finishing up now. It’s eight.”
My chest sank because I hadn’t realized that much time had gone by and I also knew who he was.
Before I could think of something to say, Alex scrambled up. “Dad! Can we swing by Eagle Peak and pick up Scout? He’s done at the gym.”
“I’m surprised he trained today. Didn’t he have a fight last night?”
“He helps out his uncle sometimes,” Cohen responded.
