“That can’t be true.”
“Total truth, princess.” He walked over and took the tequila bottle from me. “Drowning your sorrows?”
“I don’t have any sorrows.”
“You looked pretty pissed when she blabbed about your little secret.”
I clenched my jaw. “So we’re talking about this?”
He looked at me for a second and then grinned. “Have you ever been fishing?”
“Fishing? How did we get from my virginity to fishing?”
“Come here.” He took a swig right from the bottle and then walked over toward the back of the ship. I followed, curious. “Sit,” he said, pointing at a chair overlooking the ocean.
“I’m not a dog,” I muttered as I sat down.
He disappeared for a minute or two before reappearing with two large fishing rods and a tackle box.
“Are you serious?” I asked him.
“Used to do this in the Navy,” he said. “Spent some time on a destroyer, this enormous fucking boat. We’d fish off the back for hours. Granted, the people I fished with were way uglier than you, but it was still fun.”
“Uh, thanks, I guess.”
He went to work setting up the rods. When he finished, he handed me mine. “Know how to cast it?”
“Not really.”
He stood behind me and put his hands over mine. “Here, I’ll show you.”
He proceeded to move my hands and arms, showing me how to set and cast the rod. It was such a cliché from a bad romantic comedy, but I had to admit that I loved his warm, hard body pressed against mine. I felt my wetness return in spades, and that only made things way more confusing.
I cast my rod out and he moved away, giving me space to breathe again. He sat down next to me in the other chair and cast his own rod.
“What now?” I asked.
“Now, we sit here and not catch any fish.”
“Why is this fun again?”
“Usually, me and the guys would make fucking bad jokes until we got yelled at by our commanding officer.” He picked up the tequila bottle. “Instead, we have tequila.”
I laughed as he took another sip from the bottle and handed it over to me. I took my own little sip, enjoying the warm bite of the alcohol.
“Do you spend a lot of time on boats?” I asked him.
“Surprisingly little, considering I’m in the Navy.”
“What’s it like? Being in the military, I mean.”
He was quiet for a few minutes, looking out over the ocean. “Tough question to answer,” he said finally.
“You don’t have to.”
“It’s good. I like fighting for my country. I like fucking fighting, period, actually. But there’s a lot of boring shit, a lot of uncertainty. Tough to put down roots and all that crap.”
“I can imagine. You’re basically on call, right?”
“Not right now. I’ll be called back up eventually, but I have some time off.”
“Why?”
“Got shot on my last mission.”
I took a sharp breath. “Shit, sorry.”
“It’s okay. Part of the gig. I’m fine now.”
We were silent again for a few minutes, just us and the boat bobbing up and down.
“Sorry about Lydie,” I said finally.
“Why are you sorry?”
“She can be obnoxious.”
“Like when she told me you’re a virgin.”
I turned red. “Yeah, like that.”
“Surprised me.”
“Why?”
“Because of the way I got you off behind that club. Didn’t seem like a virgin.”
“Yeah, well, that was a one-time thing.” I crossed my legs, hoping he couldn’t somehow sense how wet I was already at the mere mention of what had happened.
“Was it? Shame. You may be a virgin, but I’m pretty sure you’d be a freak in bed.”
“I’m not a freak!”
“You definitely are,” he said, teasing. “The way you rubbed that wet little pussy up against me? The way you moaned for it? You’re a freak, Claire, pure and simple. I know a freak when I see one.”
I felt my blush grow deeper as another thrill ran up my legs, my pussy growing soaking wet all over again. I was glad I was wearing a bathing suit underneath my clothes at least.
“You barely know me,” I said.
“That’s true.”
“So you don’t know what I’m really like.”
“I do know. I’m a good judge of people, believe it or not.”
“You seem to get along well with Lydie,” I said pointedly.
“She’s harmless. And a little stupid. But you should reconsider telling her secrets in the future.”
“She wants to fuck you, you know,” I said quickly, not really knowing why.