Page 16 of Gideon
“You know what I mean,” she scoffed. I wasn’t looking at her, but I could feel her eyes roll. I would bet my life on it.
“Fair enough. I like the freedom of it. I love being on the water and being away from everything,” I started, hoping it would spark the conversation I knew we needed to have. I didn’t want to push her. She had expressly stated she did not want to talk about Zion, and there was no way to have this talk without talking about Zion. It was at the center of everything.
“What sparked your love of the water? What made you decide to get a boat in the first place?” she asked with genuine curiosity.
“Malachi, actually. When we were kids, we would go fishing in the local creeks and on this very lake. When we got older and Levi and Kai struck out on their own to an extent, Malachi got this little dinghy of a boat to go out fishing further out here on the water. The first time he took me out, I was hooked. There was just something about it. The peaceful tranquility of it, the quiet. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. I needed that kind of quiet and peace in my life.” It was a pale version of the truth, but truth nonetheless.
“How do you know it was the water and not just fishing?” she asked.
“Because I don’t give two shits about fishing,” I laughed. “It got boring really quick, though Kai loves it. Just not for me. It was the water, being on the still water, the breeze in my face. It was heaven.”
“Kai. That’s a weird nickname for Malachi. And you call Leviticus Levi? Do you all have nicknames?” she asked, changing the topic of conversation.
“Not all of us. Actually, come to think of it, all my brothers do except for me. Not really any good options for Gideon,” I chuckled.
“What are their nicknames? How do you shorten Bartholomew? Oh, please tell me you call him Bart,” she giggled, and I couldn’t help but guffaw at the thought.
“That’s rich, and I completely think you should call him that from now till the end of time. But no, he goes by Ollie. Though only us brothers use the nicknames. Doesn’t really go over well for everyone else,” I replied.
“Not much does,” she mumbled under her breath. I could barely hear her over the sound of the waves crashing into the boat’s hull.
“What was that?” I asked, pushing her to admit what she had said.
“Nothing,” she pushed off, shrugging. “What’s below? On the Ataraxia, where you were earlier?”
“Just the cabin. A decent sized room,” I started, unsure of what all to say. I couldn’t exactly come out and say,Oh, that’s where I keep all my kinky shit and often sleep when the weather permits.Something told me that wouldn’t exactly go over well. I may be a bit tactless on most days, but I wasn’tthatstupid.
“What were you doing down there?” she asked.
“Nothing much,” I shrugged, hoping she would let that line of questioning end. Kink was not where I wanted to start the conversation. “I’m pretty sure I heard you say that nothing much goes over well in Zion. What did you mean by that?” I questioned her, turning the conversation away from myself and my particularly kinky predilections.
“I thought I already said I didn’t want to talk about Zion,” she sighed. “What were you doing below that you don’t want to say?”
She was too intuitive, a touch too insightful. And she was absolutely stunning. The moonlight lit up her face, making her red hair appear almost golden as it shone down on her. I pushed the thought away, needing to focus.
“Nothing much,” I reiterated, digging my heels in. If she wanted to be stubborn, then I would meet that stubbornness tenfold.
“Tell me,” she pressed. Christ, how I wanted to put her in her place. But I had already pushed too far, taking our little sexual escapade a touch too deep into kink without proper negotiations.
“You first. Tell me what you meant by your comment and I’ll tell you what I was doing below deck,” I challenged.
There was silence for a long moment as she pondered my words.
Rise to the challenge, spit fire. I dare you.
“I think I need to get some sleep,” she finally stated, faking a yawn horrendously. But I would not push her to talk when she so obviously didn’t want to.
“Very well,” I stated, trying my hardest not to sound dejected. I wanted her truth. And I wanted her to hear mine. I guess it would have to wait until tomorrow.
The return trip took a bit longer, tacking this way and that into the wind in order to return to the dock. As we approached, I furled the sail quickly, letting momentum carry us the rest of the way. In a move I had practiced innumerable times, I caught one of the dock’s pylons, quickly looping a length of rope around it, and simultaneously pulled myself up onto the dock. I ran alongside the still moving boat and secured it to the next pylon, and then a third. It thudded gently against the protective bumpers and came to a stop. After double checking my knotwork to ensure she was secure for the night, I helped Naomi step off onto the dock, noting with amusement that she had already stripped off the offending life vest.
“Goodnight, Gideon,” she said, handing me the vest with the barest hint of a bratty smile.
“Goodnight, Naomi,” I returned, offering her a smile of my own, choosing to let her think she won this round. At least for tonight, we weren’t going to bed at each other’s throats. That was progress, I supposed.
I watched as she made her way up the dock and across the driveway to the house. Waiting until she had closed the door behind her, I breathed an enormous sigh, half of relief and half of aggravation. It shouldn’t be so hard, talking to her about all of this. I’d had the perfect opening while we were out on the water, but something held me back. It was the fact that I had already pushed boundaries earlier in the evening when we had sex. I couldn’t justify pushing her when she had explicitly stated she didn’t want to talk about Zion. That would have been adding insult to injury.
The conversation could wait just a little while longer. There was always tomorrow. But it already felt like my tomorrows were quickly coming to an end. At the very least, tonight had shown me that we could get along in some semblance of peace. I was glad she had enjoyed the boat ride. It was short, but it was something of mine I could share with her. That was a start. Tomorrow, I just needed to build on that. I just hoped I could get through to her. I hoped we could both keep our tempers in check long enough to bring the truth to the forefront and settle this whole thing.
