Page 77 of Knockin' Boats
Ash and I exchanged a grin, and memory punched me in the gut.
Me and Ash, younger even than Shua, hopping up and down with excitement on my dad’s boat.
“Me next!” Ash said.
“No, me! It’s my dad’s boat so I go first!”
“You get to go out with your dad way more than me! I should go first!”
My dad had turned to both of us. “Boys, there’s plenty of wake for everyone. Now, I’m going to give you the secret to settling an argument like this.”
“What is it?” Ash asked eagerly.
“Rock-Paper-Scissors,” he said decisively.
“But that’s just a dumb game,” I’d said.
“It’s more than that, Sawyer. You can use Rock-Paper-Scissors to settle any dispute. Trust me, it’s fail proof.”
At the same time, as if we were mind linked, Ash and I said, “Rock-Paper-Scissors for it!”
Shua looked between us. “What?”
“Everyone wants a turn,” I said. “But you and Sky are our newbies, so you two Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who goes first. Cash will just have to wait until everyone else takes a turn.”
Cash pouted, and Skylar looked uneasy. “Oh, I don’t need to go yet. Or at all…”
Ash made a loud buzzer sound. “Nope. Rock-Paper-Scissors is our code out here. It must be done.”
“It’s true,” I said gravely. “It must be done.”
Brooks and Cash exchanged a look.
“Wow,” Cash said. “That iseerie.”
Brooks smirked. “It sure is. I mean, I knew they used to be friends, but…”
Cash mock shivered. “I didn’t know they were creepy Jedi-mind-trick friends.”
Skylar and Shua gamely did a round of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and Skylar looked way too relieved when Shua won.
“You don’t have to do this, if you don’t want,” I said. “It’s supposed to be fun.”
Skylar chuckled. “I know. I just worry I’ll crash and look like a fool.”
“Oh, you definitely will,” Ash said. “It’s all part of the learning curve. But we won’t judge you if you mess up that pretty boy hair.”
Shua got into the water, and I called out advice before starting up the boat.
“Remember, don’t try to rise up on your own. Let the boat pull you, and dig your heels in?—”
“I got it! Let’s go!”
I eased the throttle forward, and Shua fell over. I cut the engine, and since we didn’t go far, there was no need to come back around to pick them up.
Shua scrambled back onto the board and took hold of the rope they’d dropped.
“What were you saying?” Cash teased. “You got it?”
