Page 38 of Meet You in the Waves
“That is an enormous motherfucking snapper,” Rob returned. “How the hell did you catch that on your first go, Tassie?”
“Must be in your Tasmanian blood, huh?” I grinned, sharing a smile with Ajay.
“Here, you gotta get the photo with it otherwise it didn’t happen,” Rob said, pulling the fish off the hook and handing the massive thing to Ajay. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a couple of shots and then Rob grabbed my phone and pushed me into the shot too so it was me and Ajay grinning at the camera, the huge fish flapping between us.
“There. You’re the real deal now,” I said to him, still with that huge smile on his face.
We put the massive fish on ice, the commotion dying down a little after all the excitement.
“I’m going for a swim,” Mateo announced, probably a little put out by the three of us as he executed a perfect dive off the edge of the boat into the crystal clear water. I couldn’t help glancing at Rob, wondering if he might have been right about how Mateo was feeling about Ajay. So many boy emotions to manage these days. It was becoming hard to keep up.
Rob and I both managed to catch a few more fish to add to the ice bucket, none anywhere near as impressive as Ajay’s but at least Rob was happy. We dove into the water when the sun was baking down on us at the height of the day and I floated alongside Ajay in peace until Rob divebombed right in between us and then it descended into an all in tussle. Well, except for Mateo who maintained a little distance from the rest of us the whole day.
We ate lunch, fished some more, swam some more and then I ended the afternoon lying beside Ajay on the bow cockpit as the sun warmed our skin. Ajay’s eyes were closed as he relaxed in the sun’s rays, a peace about him that had been missing when he’d first set foot on our patch of the coast.
My eyes trailed down his body, smooth skin bronzed from the summer sun, little droplets of water sliding from his skin. He opened his eyes, that depthless brown I had fallen into and I knew I’d been busted looking. He smiled and stretched out a little more, not seeming to mind having my eyes on him.
Rob and I took turns steering the boat back home, chasing the sun as it dipped low on the horizon. Ajay eventually stood and pulled his t-shirt on, my eyes tracking every ripple of his softer muscles as he covered the golden view.
“Dude, you have got it bad,” Rob muttered, shaking his head where he stood beside me. I said nothing, not much I could really say to that. I couldn’t deny his words and I didn’t really want to admit out loud exactly how much I seemed to have fallen into this crush for Ajay.
The sun had all but disappeared beneath the horizon by the time I steered us into our berth in the marina and we made quick work of tying the boat to the dock and carting all our gear to the Jeep.
Ajay climbed up front beside me again and we headed back towards town. I stopped at the little beach house Rob and Mateo shared and they both climbed out of the car.
“Don’t forget we have our safety course tomorrow,” Rob reminded me, hands on my doorframe.
“I haven’t forgotten. Pick you up at half seven?”
“Seeya then,” he grinned, tapping the frame before turning and following Mateo who was already on the porch.
“They live together?” Ajay asked, eyes on the cute little beach shack the three of us used to share.
I hesitated before answering. “Yeah, they do.”
“What about you?”
I swallowed. “I used to live with them but I moved back home after …”
“After you broke up with Mateo?” he guessed.
“Yeah.” He was silent, eyes out the side window as I turned the car towards home and I wished once again I could know what he was thinking.
Ajay helped carry the fishing gear back to the boat shed once we were home, the dark already descended on the beach. I put the fish we had caught straight into the freezer and then we rinsed out the eskies.
We both stood back once everything was done, a pause in the activity. I wasn’t quite ready for the day to be over and it seemed Ajay felt the same.
“Want to go for a walk?” I asked, nodding towards the sand.
“Sure,” Ajay replied.
I led the way out onto the sand, Ajay right beside me, wishing I could reach over and take his hand in mine. I didn’t, instead ramming my hands into my pockets to stop myself from touching him.
The night was warm and the moon extra bright, not a cloud in the sky as it shone a silver lit path along the water. The whole setting felt a little romantic if I was honest. I wondered if Ajay could feel it too.
“So, you have a work thing tomorrow?” he eventually asked, breaking the slightly strained silence.
“Yeah. We have to do this worksite safety course every year and the boss decided to sign us up for one in our holiday break.” I’d actually been really annoyed about Brad, our foreman, springing this mandatory training course on us but I was coming to think that maybe a day away from Ajay would do me some good. He’d gotten himself into my head way too deep and a little bit of space from him would not be a bad thing.
