Chapter Twelve
Nick
“Jesus, Nick. It’s a lot bigger than I was expecting,” Dan comments.
Kayla giggles. “I bet he’s used to hearing that,” she cracks.
Both Anna and I shoot her a glare at the same time, then our eyes meet. I smile at her, and she grins back. If the situation weren’t so dire, I’d probably find this whole thing pretty funny.
We load the last of our stuff onto the boat while I look around at the faces, each one telling a different story. I start with Anna. Out of everyone, she looks the least relaxed. Dan looks way too excited. His girlfriend, Mandy, just looks bored, like she had a much better week planned than spending it with us. And then there’s Kayla, who I’m sure is only here in hopes that everything blows up.
And I’m pretty sure it will.
“I guess we’re set, then,” I grin.
I nod at the captain, then I stand next to Anna, taking the chance to be alone with her while I can. I had to admit the boat was impressive. I stare up at the three levels and thank God that I don’t have to drive this thing. Hiring the captain to drive us cost me a packet, but there was no way I was going to enjoy myself if I had to spend the entire trip trying to figure out how to move this thing. Not that that wouldn't have been a bad excuse to get away from things if they got too bad, which was bound to happen.
The kids have run off to watch the water kick out from under the motor as we take off, and Dan and Mandy have gone to explore the boat. Kayla pretends to be busy checking out how sturdily the railing is at the front of the boat, but every few seconds she sneaks a glance in our direction.
“Could your friend be any more obvious?” I murmur to Anna.
She rolls her eyes and laughs. “We are talking about Kayla, right?”
“Good point.” I wince. This is probably Kayla’s idea of subtle.
“So… How are you feeling?” I ask her.
“Fine,” she says, forcing a smile. I laugh because she looks like she’s about to throw up.
“You sure about that?” I ask. “If you’re worried about your dad, try not to be. He won’t find out.”
“It’s not that.” She makes a face and takes a deep breath. “I kind of have this unnatural fear of boats,” she whispers. I stare at her and then laugh.
“Are you kidding me?” I ask her. She decides to tell me this now?
“Nope. Not kidding,” she says, shaking her head.
“Why the hell wouldn't you tell me that when I told you I was hiring it?” I ask. I only went with a houseboat because I thought it could be fun for the kids and romantic for us.
“Because you were so excited about it,” she mumbles. “Like when my dad used to take me camping. Besides, it's too late now. I'll be fine. I'll just get a little sick if it gets too rough.”
“Unless it's in the bedroom, then you’ll be fine, hey?” Kayla chuckles from behind us. I groan while Anna hides a smile. I knew she was listening.
“Dad, come look at this,” Max says excitedly. I smile and walk up to the end where the kids are laughing as they watch the water spill out from the propellers.
“Having fun?” I ask him.
“Yeah,” he says with a smile. “But when can we start fishing?” he asks.
“How about we get out of the lake first?” I suggest with a grin.
He makes a face but seems to be okay with that idea. I watch as he goes back to join his sister, then I wander over to where the rest of the adults have gathered, near the entry into the living quarters.
“So, where are the rooms?” Dan asks, rubbing his hands together.
“Two up top and two down the bottom,” I explain. “The kitchen and a living area are on the middle level.”
“Okay, so why don't Dan, Mandy, and I take the two bedrooms up top, and Nick and the kids can have one room, and Anna can have the other?” Kayla suggests.
Everyone seems okay with that, and I have to admit, Kayla is already showing her worth. It wasn't exactly an arrangement that Anna or I could’ve suggested without arousing suspicion.
“Sounds good to me,” Dan says, hoisting his luggage onto his shoulders. “I’ll take all this up now, and then we can get onto some fishing.”
Ten minutes later, everyone is unpacked, the boat has moved out onto clear water, and we’re ready to catch some fish. Max jumps around excitedly, while Milly looks horrified at the idea of killing fish.
“Anna, remember the last time we went fishing?” Dan chuckles.
Anna rolls her eyes. “Yeah, if I recall correctly, I caught ten, and you caught…wait, how many did you catch again, Dad?” she asks sweetly.
Dan chuckles. “That would be a big fat zero. What?” he protests. “You were fifteen, and I wanted to boost your confidence.”
I laugh and sit down on the bench seat circling the front of the boat, helping Max thread his line.
“Let's see if we can improve on that today, hey?” I joke while Dan scowls at me. I finish helping Max set up his line, while Milly watches from a safe distance with her nose screwed up. Touching fish is yucky and killing them is cruel, so I was pretty sure Mills would be having no part of this. Once Max is set, I work on my own rod. The mood quickly changes to somber, because everyone is concentrating so hard on catching something.
I take that moment to watch Anna, impressed at how expertly she handles her rod. Almost as well as she handles mine. Her soft hands glide up and down the handle, her fingers gently turning the reel. Before I know it, I've managed to get myself in a bind when my pants begin to constrict. I groan internally. This is not what I need right now. I quickly sit down to hide my erection. Dan glances over at me, his eyes narrowing.
“Taking a break already, Nick?” he chuckles. “Maybe you need to work on your stamina.”
“No point standing there waiting for fish to jump on the line,” I retort. “And my stamina is just fine, thanks for asking.” Ask your daughter if you want proof. A few seconds of eye contact with him and there is nothing about me that is hard anymore. I stand up, stretch, and then walk back over to my line.
Kayla and Mandy watch from the side with Milly, neither of them wanting to get their fingers dirty, either. I couldn’t think of anything more boring than watching other people fish when you weren’t fishing yourself.
“I hear you’re a pretty amazing cook,” Kayla comments, directing it at me. I shrug and wonder what else Anna has being telling her.
“Since when?” scoffs Dan. “Old Nicky boy can't even cook an egg properly. Remember?” he says, roaring with laughter. I groan. You burn one egg, and you never live it down.
“I might have improved marginally since then,” I retort with a frown.
“So, are you offering to cook dinner, then?” he says with a grin. “How about I catch, you cook?”
“Fine,” I say with a shrug. “Though with your track record, we might be starving tonight if that’s the only plan we have.” I wink at Anna. “Unless you’re relying on your daughter to get your count up?”
Dan laughs and lets out a low whistle. “Harsh, Nick. Harsh. How about you get in the kitchen like the good woman you are and cook?”
“Fine,” I say, shaking my head. I leave my rod in Max’s hands and start toward the door.
“So, should someone give Nick a hand to cook, then?” Kayla pipes up.
“Are you offering?” Dan chuckles.
“God, no,” Kayla shudders. I narrow my eyes, and she blushes. “It’s the fish I don’t want to touch, not you,” she assures me. This gets Dan laughing even harder.
Anna rolls her eyes. “I’ll give him a hand.”
She stands up and steps over her rod, brushing her hands off on her jeans. Something inside me stirs, watching her as she walks towards me. My gaze flickers to Dan, who is frowning at her. For the briefest moment, I wonder if he suspects something. No, that's ridiculous. He'd have absolutely nothing to base that on. The only way he’s going to find us out is if I keep acting like a paranoid idiot.
I keep my distance as I follow Anna inside, taking the short flight of stairs up to the kitchen. The moment we’re alone, I take her hand and pull her into my arms. I press my lips against hers and kiss her roughly.
“Fuck, I've been wanting to do that all day,” I mutter.
She sighs as I tilt her head and run my lips along her neck. We make out for a few minutes longer, but she keeps glancing over at the door like she's terrified of someone walking in.
“So,” I say with a grin, “I’m guessing you’re probably not up for anything more than kissing?”
“Why not?” she laughs. I’m shocked but not about to argue. I glance around for somewhere safe and spot the freezer. Anna follows my gaze, her eyes widening. “No fucking way,” she growls.
“Come on. Where’s your sense of adventure?” I tease her, slowly coaxing her toward the freezer. Finally, she sighs and follows me inside.
She closes her eyes as she kicks off her shoes and starts to unbutton her jeans. She laughs again, her eyes sparkling. I pull her into my arms and wrap them around her waist.
“I can't believe you’re making me get undressed in a freezer,” she says, shaking her head.
“I’m not making you do anything,” I grin. I press my lips against hers, kissing her softly. My body goes crazy just from touching her. As I creep my fingers underneath her to feel her skin, she slinks away.
“You’re crazy if you think that's coming off, too,” she laughs. “It's freezing in here.”
“You’re exaggerating just a little bit,” I grin, lifting my shirt over my head. “See? It’s not that bad.” Holy shit, I’m freezing my tits off. I undo my jeans and free my cock, while Anna mumbles something under her breath about it not being fair that I didn’t have to take my pants off while she did.
“If it makes you feel better…” I shrug out of my jeans and kick them aside, then lift her onto my waist. I slam her against the wall, pressing her back against the freezing cold metal bars. She gasps, her eyes widening in shock.
“Holy shit, that's cold,” she mutters.
I press my lips against hers as she gently rocks against my erection. With one hand, I roll on a condom. She tenses as I position myself at her entrance and gently push myself inside her.
“Holy crap,” she breathes.
“Is that okay?” I mutter, pressing my lips against hers. She nods and wraps her arms around my neck, gently bouncing herself against me as I drive deeper inside her.
I guide her face to mine and kiss her passionately, while gently thrusting further inside her. I worry about hurting her, but then she moans and locks her ankles around my back. The way she’s clenching her thighs together to lock me in begins to make me think my worry is unwarranted. That’s the only encouragement I need. I bury my face in her neck as I thrust back and forth.
“Oh, god,” she gasps, her screams muffled into my neck. She bites down, breaking through the skin, but the sensation of her pussy around my cock is all I can focus on. I pump harder, so close to coming, and then explode inside her. She gasps and grips my neck, her body shivering as she climaxes.
“Shit,” she whispers, her eyes wide with panic. “Did you hear that?”
I stop what I’m doing and just listen. Sure enough, there's a rustling sound in the kitchen and footsteps. I quickly pull out of her and tidy myself up while she hurries to get dressed.
“Grab something,” I urge her. I throw my hands around a handful of vegetables while Anna randomly starts grabbing milk, cream, butter and whatever all she can reach.
We walk out of the freezer, talking bullshit about what we’re going to cook. I'm doing my best to act natural, but when I see Dan standing there with a bucket full of fish, I'm ready to pass out.
“I was wondering where you two were.” He grins. He glances from Anna to me and then down at the fish. “Do with these what you will, but I'm expecting a Michelin Star-quality meal,” he warns. He turns around and walks out of the kitchen, whistling a tune along the way. I glance at Anna, who lets out a laugh. Before we know it, we’re both in hysterics.
Holy shit, that was close.
After dinner, Anna offers to put the kids to bed, to which Max responds he can manage to do that himself. But when Kayla offers to help Anna, suddenly Max needs all the help he can get. I chuckle and shake my head because that kid is becoming one hell of a handful and reminding me a lot of myself at his age.
The two girls disappear with the kids, leaving me alone with Dan and Mandy.
“I’ll clear up since you two did the hard part,” Mandy says. She piles the plates on top of each other and disappears up the stairs. I frown because I get the feeling she was asked to leave us alone, by Dan. That makes me extremely nervous.
“So, are you having fun?” Dan asks, tossing me another beer. I catch it and twist the cap off, drinking half the bottle in one mouthful. Something in his expression is making me uncomfortable like I’m about to be lectured.
“Yeah. The kids seem to be loving it,” I mumble.
“They do,” he says slowly. “Listen, Nick. This is hard for me to say, but I wanted to talk to you about Anna.” He glances around while I silently shit myself. I’m contemplating jumping overboard when he continues. “Have you noticed that she seems to be getting quite attached to you?”
Holy shit. I cough, nearly snorting beer through my nose.
“Attached to me?” I repeat as if the idea has never occurred to me. Dan looks embarrassed that he’s even suggested it.
“Yeah, for lack of a better word. It’s just something I've noticed. I don’t know. It’s not obvious, so I'm not surprised you haven't picked up on it. I just thought that maybe you could make yourself less available to her?” he flushes and glances down at his bottle. “I trust you completely, man. I know you’d never do anything even remotely shady; I'm just worried she might be developing a bit of a crush on you.”
I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure that the definition of shady is fucking your best friend’s daughter in a walk-in freezer.
This is not the conversation I want to have in the middle of nowhere, on a houseboat. “Yeah, sure,” I say, trying to sound natural. “I haven’t noticed anything, but if it’s something that worries you…”
“Great, thanks, Nick. I really appreciate that I can bring this up without it being weird.”
I stifle a laugh because this is beyond weird. Where the hell did that come from?
Anna and Kayla walk back over to us, deep in conversation.
“Hey, did you know that we’re docking in a town for the night?” Kayla asks.
“Really?” Dan muses. He walks over to the window and looks out. “Huh. I know this place. I came here for a work thing last year. They have a few really cool bars,” he murmurs. He turns back and slowly smiles at me. “Maybe we can go out have a drink? Like old times.”
“Yeah, that sounds great. If the girls don't mind watching the kids,” I say, turning to look at Anna and Kayla. I see a flash of hurt in Anna's eyes, and I cringe. The last thing I want to do is upset her, but if I don't at least pretend to be taking on Dan’s advice, he’s going to get suspicious.
“Let me just see if Mandy wants to come or stay here,” he mumbles. “I’ll be two seconds. Hey, maybe we can even find you a chick for the night.” He chuckles as he disappears upstairs.
Anna glares at me, then narrows her eyes. I shrug helplessly, wanting nothing more than to explain, but not wanting to risk Dan walking back out and see me talking to her. She mutters something too low for me to hear, and then stalks upstairs, with Kayla right behind her.
Well, shit. Why do I get the feeling I’ve royally fucked up?