Page 36 of Rum Sips and Salty Lips

fourteen

ORION

Once we’reat theTwisted Rigging, Haley heads for the galley and one of the ice chests she brought. I hand her a roll of plastic wrap and she wraps the fish before placing it in the cooler.

“There’s plenty here. I’ll be too exhausted to cook when we get back, but how would you feel about having everyone over tomorrow to grill it?” she says while washing her hands.

“Did you just ask me if I want to throw a party at my place?”

“I’d offer my place, but it’s tiny. Carina has enough on her plate. She did Christian’s party. Plus, we’re dying to see what you’ve done with the house.”

“Sure, my place works.” My home is my sanctuary, but it’s built for entertainment too. I want to fill it with friends. “You’ve known her forever? You were little kids running around the beach together?” I ask. Carina has told me a little about her friends. I want to know more. Even if we’ve been getting along today, we haven’t talked nearly enough and I’m a little afraid if we do, we’ll end up fighting.

“Yep, she used to come every summer and winter break. She was making a sandcastle by herself and I asked if I could help. We were ten. From then on, it was cartwheels in the sand. The Lawsons—you bought their house—used to let us watch movies at their place when it was raining. They had grandkids so they had an awesome video game setup.”

I can’t imagine even tiny Carina playing video games or not being productive all the time. “Where were your parents?”

“My mom was glad for me to be out of the house, so she only had to entertain my little brother and sister. Carina’s parents were around, I guess. They worked.”

The conversation cuts off because we hear everyone else moving around the deck.

“Let me get lunch started.” Haley pulls food from the small fridge. Carina comes down and sets the table. We had planned on a beach picnic. But we’re sunbaked and need a break.

Haley lays out the food. “This is cold avocado soup, summer melon salad, and fried chicken.”

“Fuck me, this is delicious.” I moan taking my first sip of the soup.

Haley blushes a little and Carina rolls her eyes. We’ve gathered around the table in the galley. It’s a tight fit with six of us. But I won’t complain with Carina pressed up against me.

“Do we have to eat in silence, or can I put on music?” Bristol asks.

No one has the energy to make idle conversation. I want a nap and a beer, but I can’t drink if I’m sailing. “Sure. There’s a Bluetooth speaker system.” I point next to where she is sitting.

She’s able to connect her phone, and the familiar piano chords of an Ashley Ferris song play.

“You’re just fucking with me now,” Christian says to his sister.

Our eyes pass between the two of them. Bristol smiles mischievously and explains. “He promised to get Autumn and me tickets to her concert in Tampa but wasn’t online when they went on sale. They sold out.”

“I was four minutes late!”

“They sold out in three! Autumn warned you!”

“Hey! No fighting on the boat,” I say firmly. If the rule applies to Carina and me, then it applies to everyone. They grumble under their breath in the way only siblings do.

Bristol notices the same books Carina did on her first time here. I answer the same questions. No, I haven’t circumnavigated the world. Maybe one day. But today, it’s not some hypothetical partner I would do that with. I’m wondering what it would be like to be with Carina that long of a time. But she refuses to meet my eye when I talk about it.

We finish eating and Carina jumps up to help with the dishes, surprising no one. I stare down Alex until he offers to do them instead. She looks a little lost for a moment.

Everyone reapplies sunscreen and heads into the water or back to the beach, leaving Carina and me sitting on the stern with our feet dangling in the water. Again.

“You okay?” I ask her. “You look tired.”

“You should know better than to tell someone that,” she asserts.

“Normally, yes. But we’ve been out here all day, and you’re a little pink. The cabin is free. Take a nap.” I’m annoyed with her and with her friends. When she was spraying sunscreen on her back, she turned down my offer of help and struggled for a full minute before Haley jumped in. I hate that no one thinks to help her.

“I’m sweaty and covered in seawater.”

---