Page 20 of The Pact

“Dude!” I grin. “Your jibes and your jumps today were insane! You were a fucking demon on the water.”

He chuckles in response, turning off the hose and beginning to dry the sail. “Yeah, you know the competition is way harder once we’re out of the junior races. We need to be prepared if we want a chance at the Olympics.”

I nod, taking off my wetsuit. For Kelley college is his plan B, his safety net. He wants to make windsurfing his career, his life.

“Where’s Holden?” I ask. “I need to talk to him about this new board I saw.”

He starts folding his sail without looking at me but I don’t miss the way his lips quirk up in his usual smirk. “Dunno. He said he had an errand to run and then he’d drop off a couple of kegs for tonight.”

I shake my head. “Are you for real?” Only Kelley could convince our coach to buy booze for our parties. We don’t even need to use our fake IDs.

Kelley shrugs. “Yeah, what’s your problem? Holden’s just a couple of years older than us, he understands that we want a fucking drink. What kind of lame party would it be otherwise?”

“You’re right. Holden’s cool.” So cool that he even understood that I needed something to take the edge off last year when I got hurt when I wiped out after a jump. He’d gotten me some weed using his own prescription. “But did you notice how lately he’s always going somewhere? We barely fucking see him at practice.”

Kelley suddenly looks worried. “Do you think he’s being scouted by another team?”

“Not that I know of, guys,” Ashton intervenes, entering the shack helping Shep carry his board. “Dad just offered him a raise and he signed a contract for next year with an option for three more if we place at nationals.”

I place my board on the rack, clean and ready for tomorrow. “That’s awesome. Thank your old man for agreeing to sponsor us now that we aren’t under the high school team anymore.”

Ashton winks. “Nah, Dad didn’t make a fortune by letting a great opportunity pass him by. He knows that at college level, Shell Cove can’t compete with bigger schools like Bridgeport. But he knows that we have what it takes to make it to worlds and to the Olympics. And he also knows that to do that, we need Holden. But why did you think coach could be leaving us? Did he say anything to you?”

I shrug. “Not really. He’s just always gone lately, always in a rush to get somewhere but he won’t tell us where. Haven’t you noticed?”

Shep’s the one to shed light on the mystery. “He has a girl. That’s where he goes all the time. I saw him buy flowers yesterday.”

Kelley barks out a laugh. “One girl? I’ll believe it when I fucking see it. Holden is my fucking myth when it comes to getting pussy. But I’ve never seen him chasing one. It isn’t his style.”

Shep explains. “Yeah, I told him the same thing. He said this one’s special. Something about the one that got away, whatever the fuck that means.”

We all think about it for a second. Holden was the one who suggested to just have fun and enjoy the perks of our popularity when we all got our hearts broken, one way or another, a couple of years ago. He even suggested competing for girls like we compete on the water.

“Talking about girls,” I start, looking at Kelley. “Did you ask Ausra out?”

He hasn’t said a word about her this morning and since he called dibs, I was surprised. Kelley normally doesn’t beat around the bush when he wants something.

A smile begins spreading on his face but he freezes mid-action, hitting his forehead with his open palm. “Fuck! I was gonna. But I kinda forgot. Shit! I got fucking carried away with—”

“With?” we all ask.

He sighs. “I kissed her last night.”

Shep folds his arms over his chest, his perpetual smile suddenly gone. “What the fuck did you do, Kels? The poor girl almost got raped, don’t tell me you jumped her and made it worse!”

Kelley flinches as if he had been punched in the face. “Fuck no, dude! I didn’t jump her. I kissed her and she kissed me back. I made sure to go slow and to give her every opportunity to say no.”

Ashton looks skeptical. “Then why didn’t you ask her?”

“I kinda forgot? I mean, I asked her if she’d consider going out with me and she said yes. Then we started kissing and—”

It’s my turn to look at him in disbelief. “And what? Don’t tell me you fucked her?”

Kelley looks offended by my question, but if you knew him as well as I do, you’d have asked that too. “Hell no, I didn’t fuck her! It was just a couple of kisses on her doorstep. I didn’t even fucking get to second base. I fucking swear I was gentle.”

Yeah, now we’re all skeptical. Kelley would never try to force himself on someone but he isn’t known for going slow. That’s why sometimes he gets turned down, dude knows he’s hot and he’s way too aggressive.

“You, slow?” Shep chuckles.

---