Page 32 of Necessary Roughness

I couldn’t blame her. We were on a boat with waves crashing violently around us. It wasn’t a fun place to be.

I knew I should say something calming. Something to ease the tension of the moment and help us both relax while the storm passed over.

“Does Brett ever talk about me?” I asked.

Wow. Stupid.

“What?” she asked.

Not the right time, Luke, I scolded myself.

“I mean…,” I continued, but I had no idea how to recover.

Claire rolled her eyes. “Well, I can’t hear much over the thunder, but I’m pretty sure he’s shouting your name between lightning strikes!”

Ouch. That stung.

Claire could see through me as clear as day. She knew that I had become obsessed with her best friend.

Before I could reply, we both heard a loud thud from the deck.

Claire screamed, shocking me from my ridiculous thoughts about Brett.

I scrambled to my feet and rushed through the door.

There, several feet away from me and struggling to keep his footing on the wooden deck, was Brett.

The sky had turned completely dark, rain was pouring, and the boat was swaying much more violently than it had before. Thick, black clouds roiled over our heads. Wind whipped across the unrelenting water, stirring gentle waves into furious swells that crashed against the hull with angry intensity.

Each drop of rain stung my face as it landed, like giant marbles pounding me. Lightning forked through the sky, briefly illuminating the chaos as I began to make my way toward Brett.

I couldn’t stand by and watch him get injured—or worse.

Gripping the railing, my knuckles turned white as I fought to maintain my balance. Behind me, I could hear Claire screaming through the doorway.

I turned and shouted loud enough that she could hear me over the wailing wind. “Close the door, it’s not safe!”

But she ignored my warning. She obviously couldn’t tear her eyes away from the terrifying scene even for a moment. Especially since her best friend’s safety—in fact, hislife—was in jeopardy.

But not on my watch.

The boat rocked violently, tilting at precarious angles and threatening to throw either of us overboard at any moment.

Despite my fear—my gut-wrenching, mind-numbing fear—I pushed forward.

It was as if every muscle in my body wanted me to turn back; to return to a position of relative safety amidst the storm. It was only human nature to want to survive.

But the horrified look on Brett’s face forced me toward him.

As I neared him, the storm raged on. Leonard’s yacht felt like a tiny vessel lost in the chaos of an angry sea.

Brett let go of the railing and slowly walked toward me, the wind raging and pushing him back as he attempted to move.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind knocked Brett off balance. I leapt forward and grabbed his shoulders before wrapping my arms around him and throwing us both to the deck for temporary safety.

We hit the deck with a thud.

Slowly, I began to inch us back toward the main door which was still open with Claire screaming inside. Leonard had joined her and was waving us over with ferocity.

---