Page 49 of Reckless Girls
“No shame, little girl, no shame. I’m just saying, when it comes to beating Meroe, I’d put my money on you every time.”
With that, he pushes past me, heading up the stairs, and I hear a splash as he dives over the side.
I’m still shaking, and I almost drop the bottle of wine I pull out of the fridge. As I finally reemerge on the deck, I see Jake and Eliza standing on the shore, looking toward the boat. They must’ve seen Robbie on deck, and I lift a hand, letting them know everything is okay before climbing back down into the dinghy.
Robbie is still there, treading water and looking up at the sky, and when I motor past him, he actually smiles at me again, like nothing happened.
I look away, keeping my gaze on the beach.
Jake, Eliza, and Nico are waiting for me in the shallows.
“Why was that asshole on our boat?” Jake asks. He’s got his sunglasses pushed up, his eyes as blue as the sky above, but his expression is furious. I’ve never seen him like this before, and I shake my head.
“He was snooping around.”
“Motherfucker,” Jake mutters, looking over at Eliza, and now that I’m back on the beach, now that I’m safe, I suddenly remember Robbie’s words—–what those two must be doing to have a boat like that.
It was bullshit, just a creep who was trying to fuck with me.
Jake turns, striding back to our lean-to. He fishes around in there for a second, and then he straightens up, heading back toward us. Sunlight flashing off metal.
The gun.
“Whoa, man,” Nico says. He’s still got one hand on my elbow, steadying me. “Isn’t that a little intense?”
“I’m just going to talk to him,” Jake says, but his mouth is set in a thin, hard line.
“Jake, for fuck’s sake,” Eliza says, and he looks over at her sharply.
“What? Do you want him snooping around in there, Eliza? Really think about that before you answer.”
“I don’t,” she snaps back, “but I also think this macho shit is unnecessary and frankly a little embarrassing.”
Jake scoffs at that. “Terribly sorry to embarrass you, darling. How will you ever cope?”
“Can you two cut it out?”
That’s Amma now, her hands fisted at her sides, her gaze darting between the shore and the rest of us. “He’s coming.”
Robbie is making his way into the shallows now, water running off his skinny body, his cutoffs dark with it, and Brittany steps closer to me.
“Did he say anything to you?” she asks. “On the boat?”
I don’t know why I don’t tell her—or any of them—all the shit he said. Maybe I don’t want this tense situation to escalate more than it already has. And it’s not like he hurt me or anything. I held my own, and even now, I remember how it had felt, holding that knife on him. Seeing that littlest bit of fear in his eyes.
I don’t want to tell them that part, either.
I shake my head. “Nothing important.”
Robbie is in front of us now, his hands on his hips, that same grin he always wears on his face.
“Y’all having a party without me?” he asks, and Jake steps forward.
“What were you doing on my boat?” he asks, and Robbie’s grin never slips. He just shrugs.
“Checking shit out. I thought this was a wholemi casa es su casascene, you know?” He gestures at all of us, flinging one hand toward the lean-to.
“Well, it’s not,” Jake says, “and if I see you on my boat again—”
