Page 46 of We're One

“I know there are sharks here, but we haven’t seen any signs of them today, so I wasn’t too worried.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t jump in,” Jess says with a shudder. “I watched The Meg. It was terrifying.”

“Those are way deep down. We don’t have to worry about them,” I assure them. “It’s Jaws you want to worry about out here.”

A shudder goes through both Jess and Emily as they look out over the water as if Jaws is going to appear at any moment. This makes me laugh even harder.

We all settle back into our seats then laugh and call out as Callan puts the boat to full throttle and the wind whips through our hair as we make our way back to the shore. Our laughter is carried away in the wind. We have a cooler full of fish, and even more memories to add to a book of a lot of good times.

Jess, Sasha, Emily, nor I are willing to clean fish. It’s gross. Nikki’s more than happy to clean our share for us. She, Callan, and Zach get busy at the fish cleaning station cutting the meat out, cleaning it, and stacking it in the cooler. We gather around Nikki and cheer her on as I get some good videos of her getting splashed and really getting into her cleaning. She’s wearing a smile and doing a little dance the entire time, impressing Callan and Zach. She finishes her last fish, then tosses the skin my way. I scream and run backward, nearly landing on my butt, sending Nikki into a fit of laughter.

Nikki stands before me, holding her last fish filet, which happens to be the biggest one. She’s dirty, wet, has smudges on her face, and her hair looks like it’s been through a tornado, but her eyes sparkle, and her lips are turned up so big, she looks absolutely stunning. I focus the camera on her, even though I haven’t forgiven her for throwing fish skin at me quite yet.

“And this is how you catch your meal, filet it, and get it ready for a perfect fish fry,” she says. She holds her hard work up for all the vlog world to see.

“Cut,” I say with a grin. I can never stay mad at her. She tosses her last filet in the ice chest, then washes her hands before taking her camera.

“I can’t wait to put all of this together. I hope you got great pictures along with the video.”

“I took the pictures,” Sasha says. “I’ll send them now, then send dinner ones after that’s over.”

The boys take the cooler and we all go back to Callan’s vehicle. He drove down with the cooler. The rest of us are walking. Nikki offers to ride with him, and he laughs as he shakes his head. “No way is fishgirl stinking up the rental car,” he tells her.

“Ah, come on, Cal, don’t you want a big hug?” she asks as she holds her arms wide.

He runs from all of us and jumps in his car... then locks the doors, sending us all into another fit of laughter.

“I’ll meet you at the house. I’m going to run home and change,” Nikki says. She and the boys are the only ones who stink, and Nikki’s worse than the boys as she managed to get fish gunk all over her. The guys were a lot more careful in cleaning the fish than she was.

The rest of us arrive at my parents’ house, and soon the kitchen is in full swing as chairs and tables are set up in the backyard and music is on. It doesn’t take more than an hour before a few dozen people are at the house, including Mrs. Jones from next door who avoids my mother, which I find hilarious. Eileen, Vivian, and Martha all show up with side dishes. It’s crazy how quickly word gets out about a fish fry. Good thing Nikki caught so many fish.

Nikki comes with her parents, Betty and Paul, and since the diner’s closed, even Amelia stops by with some fresh bread. The fire chief shows up with a couple of his men and big appetites, and soon the party is in full swing.

Everyone is having a great time, and I make sure to get some footage of Nikki in the kitchen with my mom and hers as they bread and fry the fish, then make taco stuff so people can have their fish over rice or in tacos. Fish tacos are one of my absolute favorite foods if the fish is done right. Most restaurants butcher it. I might be biased because I grew up in a coast town where it’s done right.

It’s getting later, and after everyone is full, the crowd starts to clear out. Zach pulls me to the side, takes me into his arms, and gives me a sweet kiss that instantly curls my toes. “You do realize we can have this and so much more all the time,” he says before giving me another kiss. I sigh against his mouth.

“Just let me in, Sia. I want to give you the world.”

I pull back and look into his eyes, feeling the certainty of his words. “I don’t know if I really have a choice anymore,” I admit. “It scares me, but I’m involved now.”

He beams as I say these words. He kisses me again, this time harder. We aren’t as hidden as we think.

“Hey, this is a G-rated party,” Nikki calls from about twenty feet away. I pull back from Zach, completely embarrassed as I turn and see all eyes on us.

“Not your boyfriend, huh?” Mom mocks me.

“Mom,” I gasp.

She shrugs. “Looks like a boyfriend to me,” she mumbles. Then everyone loses interest in us and gets back to visiting.

As the party winds down, Zach takes my hand. “Let’s sneak out of here and watch the sunset from the cabin.”

I feel like my eighteen-year-old self again. I giggle as I take his hand and we sneak out the side gate. I don’t think we’re fooling anyone, but it’s still fun. We jog to the beach, then run down it until we reach the cabin, both of us out of breath.

I collapse on the swinging chair with him, and he quickly lifts me into his lap, his arms wrapped tightly around me. He nuzzles my neck as we gaze out at the perfect sky, painted in hues of pinks, oranges, and purples. In this moment, all is right in the world. There’s no chance of our bubble popping.

Tomorrow we’ll head back to Seattle, but I don’t want to think about that right now. Today has been all about us, and it couldn’t have been better. I’m determined to make these last moments in my favorite place last for a lifetime. I like this world better than the world I came from a couple of days ago. I don’t want that world back.

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