Finding Solace (51 page)

 
"Laughing
at the people down there, you want to join us?"

 
"Hell yeah."

 
And that was
it. No need to hash over what that girl was doing. I knew Ash was mine and I
was his. That's all that matters. The rest of the night at that bar was a
blast. Mike ended up joining us and we laughed hysterically at all the females
still trying their hardest to get a chance with him. Tony even brought in a
girl and she was kind of cute. I was impressed and very glad to see that he
found someone to have a good time with that night. Neither brother brought a
girl home with them but they had fun, that’s all that matters. When we finally
got back to the house, we were all exhausted. From the drive down here, to the
partying, it was time for everybody to go to sleep knowing we had a long day
ahead of us. I curled up in bed next to Ash and just as we were about to fall
asleep I said, "Do you want to know what happened between me and
him?"

 
"I
think I understand enough, Sadie. But honey, if you need to tell the story, I
will always be here for you to have someone who will listen. What I really want
is a name. But I won't force you to tell me. Right now, all you need to know is
that I love you exactly the way you are."

 
"I love
you too, Ash"

 
We fell
asleep shortly thereafter and my dreams were nothing but bliss.

CHAPTER
43

 
The
next morning was interesting. We all had been so excited to come here, yet not
one of us thought it was important to discuss who could drive a boat. The guys
were arguing back and forth while Heather and I sat back quietly. She knew I
grew up going to my grandparents’ house. They still live on a private lake and
my dad taught me young how to drive. It was funny how the guys, who didn’t have
a clue how to operate a boat, were all saying that it was going to be them
driving it. Heather and I devised a plan and snuck out with
Mike’s
car keys without any of them knowing
it. Navigation led us to the
closest boat rental marine dock. I used my credit card for the security deposit
and Heather drove Mike's car back while I brought the boat to the house. She
was waiting next to the dock when I pulled up and she helped me get all the
buoys out and park. When we walked back into the house, the boys were still
going at it. Unbelievable was the word that came to mind. We had been gone over
an hour, and they still had not stopped. Eventually I cleared my throat and
they shut up long enough to look at me.

 
"If you
guys are done already, I would like to get out on the water sometime
today."

 
Tony looked
at me and said "Sadie, we still have to figure out how we are going to do
that."

 
That was
when Heather piped in with, "Sadie and I already took care of that. Now
let’s go."

 
A stream of,
"What are you talking about?" "What do you mean?"
"What did you do?" and so forth came from all of them.

 
"I know
that devious smile means it's you, Sadie. Did you do what I think you
did?" Ash knows me well.

 
"Look
out back and see for yourself."

 
The boys ran
at one time to the back deck to see the thirty five foot Baja I rented. Then
the "Oh my God", "You really did that" and "You guys
are awesome" came next. The one comment that didn’t surprise me in the
least came from Mike.

 
"There
is no way I'm riding around with a girl driving."

 
"How
about I teach all of you in a back cove so you will never have to deal with a
girl driving you again?"

 
That seemed
to shut him up. All the coolers got packed and carried down to the dock to be
loaded into the boat. Once we were all in and everything was secured, I started
to back the boat out. Ash came up beside me and said, "You have never
looked so sexy."

 
"Then I
really need to work on that. I was hoping being laid out on your bed completely
naked would trump me driving a boat."

 
"Well,
since you put it that way, of course I have to say I'd rather have you naked than
driving this boat. Sadie, I think I just discovered my new fantasy."

 
"Do you
want to remove my suit or would you like me to?"

 
"Don't
tempt me, chick. If it was just the two of us out here, it would already be
off."

 
Apparently
everyone heard us and Tony said, "Please stop. You’re making me
sick."

 
I knew what
he was talking about but I had to play around a little with him. "The
water isn’t that choppy, but if you’re sea sick already, we can go back and I
can drop you off at the house?"

 
Everyone
started laughing. Ash went back to sitting down, I’m sure due to slight
embarrassment. I giggled at that as well. Someday soon he would understand the
banter between all of us. I pulled us out of the main channel and then I cut
the engine.

 
"Alright
boys, this is going to be really easy, so who wants to go first?" Mike, of
course, jumped up in front of everyone.

 
"In
fact, why don’t all of you guys come up and watch me demonstrate how to do this,
and then you guys can take turns doing it yourselves."

 
They all
came around me and watched carefully as I went over the depth finder, the point
of a buoy and finally the mechanics of forward, reverse and kill the engine.
They all seemed to comprehend it pretty well. In fact, every one of them during
their turn did fantastic. We toured around on the main channel, but we were far
enough away that there weren’t a lot of boats to deal with. Jason spoke up
after a while about him hearing some people talk last night of a place called
the Party Cove. We were all down to find it and participate. I knew from
renting the boat earlier, that mile markers went down the more south we went.
With that information, it made it easier to find than I thought. Once we
started getting closer, the traffic became crazy. Mike was of course driving,
but soon he was handing it back to me with no problem. The sizes of the boats
on this lake were insane. Speed boats, house boats, there was everything you
could think of out there. I felt so happy that I didn’t go with a smaller boat
or a pontoon. We would have capsized or sank. I followed the rest of the
traffic around the last turn and I believe every one of our mouths fell open.
The entire cove was nothing but row after row of boats tied off together.
Hundreds of boats! We all started hooting and hollering at just the idea of how
much fun this was going to be. I went around the front and idled to the back
end. We pulled up and tied ourselves off.

 
It was
impossible to describe. People just walked from boat to boat. In the amount of
time it took to tie off and look, another four boats had tied onto ours.
Heather and I had made some Jell-O shots before we left and it sounded like the
perfect thing to start this day off. Mike and Ash decided they were diving in
the water to cool off before I got a chance to tell them what I suspected.
Jason and Tony were next. The four boys were so cute to watch. At one point
Jason screamed for Heather to join him.

 
"Not a
chance in hell."

 
I completely
agreed with her. There was no way. You couldn’t even pay me to get in that water.
I was laughing at Jason because he wouldn’t give up. I was about to tell them
why, when all of a sudden Ash’s wet arms wrapped around me. He grabbed on to me
tight and dove backwards into the water. I was screaming "NO!" the
whole way until we hit. I made sure to close my mouth and pinch my nose. When I
came up for air I was so grossed out I could puke. None of the guys understood
why I was acting so wimpy. I got back on the boat, grabbed a towel, leaned over
the side and said, "Where do you think all of these people pee and
shit?"

 
Their faces
were priceless. Each one looked at the other. Eventually Mike said, "Well,
we are already submerged in it, and we aren’t the only ones. Fuck
it,
I'm having fun no matter what."

 
How stupid
can men
be
? They all stayed in! Heather and I decided
we were going boat hopping.

 
 
No one treated you like a stranger. It was
like everyone was old friends. Six boats down there was a house boat. The
people were older, but partiers just the same. They offered us drinks and barbeque.
Too bad the boys wanted to swim in the nasty water. Four more boats down we ran
into something neither of us wanted to see or experience. The boys that we left
in the water apparently swam up the alley between the
row
of boats and climbed onto another house boat. Only this particular one was
occupied by topless college girls. I can't blame them. If I was a dude, I would
want to be there also. But I’m not, and my man is currently in the arms of one
of those topless college girls. He looks like a model between the board shorts
riding low and the eight
pack
he has. His chest and
arms are swollen with muscles, add to that his perfect face, killer tan and
spiked hair. He is every girl’s wet dream come true. I know he’s definitely
mine in every way. I stop Heather from advancing when I see Jason is in the
same position as Ash. So are Mike and Tony the more attention I pay. She didn’t
accept my hold on her and brushed past me in a hurry, knowing I was keeping her
from something she wouldn’t want to see.

 
"Jason
Harrison!
You asshole.
What the fuck do you think
you’re doing?"

 
All eyes
turned to Heather and all the girls immediately fell off the guys. I stood back
and let Heather have the floor.

 
"Have
you lost your mind?" She was getting closer by the second. Before I knew
it, she was in front of a very scared fighter. I know, right? Who would have
thought? I could hear Jason trying to back pedal when my attention went to Ash.
He was standing there with his hands in the air like he was being held at gun
point. Mike and Tony had already grabbed their girls, so they could get back to
where they were when we interrupted them. I stayed where I was. There was no
way I was going to him. He knew my stance was firm. Ash slowly started toward
me with his hands still raised. I stood still. He finally was in front of me
but I waited for him to speak.

 
"I can
explain."

 
I just
tilted my head waiting for more.

 
"I uh,
um, uh, I was um, uh, I swear I wasn't going to do anything with her. She just,
um."

 
"Ash,
shut up."

 
He knew he
was screwed. He closed his mouth and looked at me like a sad puppy dog. I gave
him a peck on the lips and said, "You see something you like more than
me?"

 
"Not
even close."

 
"Good,
now let’s go have fun."

 
He grabbed
my hand and we walked over the tramp mobile and onto the next boat, then five
after that one. We eventually found a group about our age that rented a party
boat for the weekend. They were from Missouri State University. Some school
about an hour and a half from where we were. Most were in the Master’s program
which put them a little older than the 19 year old nasty chicks back there. Ash
had made conversation with one of the guys about firefighting. It was something
he didn’t talk a lot to me about. I always asked, but he said between school
and volunteering he needed to think of something else for a while, and I was
the best distraction he had. Listening now, I got to hear about a car fire he
helped with and a family he kept comfortable while they lost their home. It was
amazing to me that he had this whole life outside of us, but I hated that I was
kept from it.

 
"Ash?"

 
"Yeah, princess?"

 
"Why
don't you ever tell me these stories? I would love to hear them."

 
"Truthfully?"

 
"Of course."

 
"I
don't want you to worry. It’s a dangerous job, Sadie. I love it but I would
hate to worry you so much that I would change my mind."

 
"Change
your mind about what?
Us?"

 
"Not
us.
The job."

 
"Ash, I
would never ask you to do that. You know that, right?"

 
He turned it
around in my head. “What if it were you? Doing something that could cost me
you. I would hate every minute of it."

 
"But
would you ask me to quit?"