Page 151 of Knockin' Boats
“Morning, sleepyhead.”
Ash held out a cup of coffee. I took it and breathed in the beautiful smell of my favorite hazelnut roast.
“Morning.” I took a careful sip. “Why aren’t you in bed with me?”
“We had an early morning visitor,” Ash said.
I caught sight of Shua at the foot of the bed. Of course, the camper was so small the foot of the bed was also the kitchen…and the dining room…and the living room.
“Hey, Shua,” I rasped, casting a quick glance down to make sure all my X-rated parts were hidden beneath the sheet.
Last night, I’d given Ash cuddles as promised. But those cuddles had morphed into a full-body massage that had morphed into both of us getting a little overly excited.
Happy endings were had by all, and then we’d showered—separately due to tiny-ass camper life—and curled up in bedtogether. I kind of expected us to wake together and repeat the happy endings part.
“What’s going on?”
A pan on the stove sizzled, and Ash returned to the kitchen to attend it.
“I wanted to see if we could go wakesurfing again,” Shua said eagerly.
“We just went yesterday, you little fiend!”
“But not for very long!”
“Sorry, kid. I’ve got to head over to the resort soon.”
Shua’s shoulders slumped. “Okay. But we can go again soon, right?”
I still remembered the excitement of discovering new water sports as a kid—and the frustration of waiting on the adults in my life to take me out.
“Very soon. I promise.”
“Is Sawyer a good teacher?” Ash asked as he dished up what looked like an omelet onto a plate.
“The best!” Shua enthused. “I’ve gotten so much better. Sawyer always knows exactly what I’m doing wrong when I wipe out.”
“I bet he does.” Ash met my gaze. “Sounds like you’ve already got one very happy customer if you decide to lead water-sport tours. Maybe you could incorporate lessons into it too?” He paused. “You know, if you decide to do it.”
“Hmm.” I took a swallow of my coffee, well aware of what Ash was doing.
But I already knew I’d love doing it. I was good at it, and it’d be a lot of fun feeding off the thrill my tourists got from the experience. That was why I’d pitched it to Hudson in the first place.
Running the tours sounded great. But being a business owner was a totally different matter.
“You should totally do it!” Shua exclaimed. “I don’t have much money, but I’dloveto keep learning.”
“Your money is no good here,” I said. “You’ll always get the friend discount.”
“How much is that?” Shua asked.
Ash chuckled. “He’s saying it’s free.”
Shua’s eyes widened. “Oh! Cool. So, when can we do a lesson?”
“I’ll have my regular days off later this week.”
“Yes!” Shua fist pumped the sky. “I’m gonna go tell Mom and her new boyfriend to plan on me being goneallday.”
