Page 73 of Knockin' Boats
It was too much to hope it’d ever be more than that.
But getting my friend back? That was the best gift I could have expected. Getting my friend back with some red-hot action on the side? That was sweet icing on the cake.
“Hey, Saw,” I said. “What do you think of ‘Holy Crab Cakes!’”
He laughed. “Now, that one I like.”
“Really?”
“It’s almost as good as ‘Holy Shi-take Sandwich.”
I flung an oven mitt at him. “No shit in my food, thanks.”
He laughed. “My bad. I thought you were going for tasteless.”
“Tacky, yes. But never tasteless. I’m a goddamned great chef, and don’t forget it.”
“How could I when you remind me every five minutes?” he teased.
“I could remind you of something else I’m good at,” I said with a wink.
He rolled his eyes. “We both know I’m the one who’s good at that. Don’t worry. I’ll serve you the best meal you’ve ever had real soon.”
My gaze flicked to his crotch of its own volition. When I glanced up again, he smirked. “Knew you wanted my dick.”
“Youarea dick,” I shot back.
We continued bantering and trash-talking the rest of the day, all through cleanup, packing up, and hauling everything inside the resort. I wasn’t sure when I’d had so much fun. It reminded of the playful taunting we’d given each other when we competed in the same sports in high school.
Before we’d become true rivals.
Before I’d fucked up everything and gotten only silence in return.
“Want me to wait and give you a ride?” Sawyer asked as we made our last trip back into the kitchen. I still had to check in with Vera and give her a rundown of the leftovers we had that she could incorporate. I was happy to say I had fewer to share today, but still more than I’d like.
“Tempting,” I teased. “But I’ll be here a while.”
I’d love to invite him back to my place for some more fucking around. But I’d already made plans for Mel to take me by parents’ place to pick up the rest of my stuff. Knowing Rick, he really would throw it out if I didn’t. He hadn’t been very pleased that I couldn’t take everything on the last trip over there.
If Mom hadn’t insisted he chill out, he probably would have made good on his threats. I didn’t know what took me so longto get out from under his thumb, but now that I was, I couldn’t remember how I’d coped with his shit day after day.
Now, I just needed Mom to get the hell out of there too.
I followed Sawyer into the hallway. “Hey, before you leave…”
He turned, eyebrows raised. “Already missing me?”
I chuckled. “I just wanted to thank you.”
“For offering you a ride? It’s no big deal. It’s on the way.”
“Not just that. For helping me this week when it was the last thing you wanted to do.”
He shifted, looking uncomfortable. “It’s not like I had a choice.”
“You could have refused.”
“Eh, well, I didn’t want you to drown out there and give the resort a bad name.”
