Page 37

Chapter thirty-four

Robbie

“Thanks,” Charlie says with a grunt. He’s standing in waist-high water, reaching up for the beer I’m leaning over the side of the boat.

“Don’t forget your sunblock,” I say, saluting him as he wades in the water toward shore where he, Luke, and Rachel are starting a game of sand volleyball.

The sun is sticky hot and the sky is clear, which means Gull Lake is buzzing with boats today, along with plenty of jet skis that are whipping around on the water.

I look up to the front platform of the boat where Naomi is lying, shielding her face from the sun as she sunbathes. We made the obvious decision to forgo the volleyball match in favor of some quiet alone time on the boat.

“Lemonade?” I yell to be heard above the roaring motor of a ski boat that passes by a little too close to shore.

“Yes, please!” she shouts back. With two of them in hand, I turn the radio on and step over a pile of beach towels to get to her.

“Thank you.” She smiles widely as I approach.

“At your service,” I say, setting our drinks in the nearby cup holders. Then I lower flat on my back with my entire right side pressed to her left. Even on this hot, humid day, I can’t bear to not be touching her.

“So, when’s your next gig again?” she asks.

“Not until next week. We had two shows slated for this week, but there was an issue with the venue, so they bumped those shows out to next month.”

“Oh, really?” She perks up.

“Yeah. Remind me to start writing my schedule into your calendar, okay? So I can keep you in the loop…unless you’ve been lying to me this whole time and really don’t care about me or my whereabouts,” I ramble.

“Wow…that spiraled.” She snorts.

“I’m just kidding.” I nudge her leg with the base of my palm. “I know you care.”

“Well, I’m glad I get you all to myself for a little while.

” She rotates her head to smile at me, and I can’t resist leaning in to steal a sweaty kiss.

When I pull back, I run my thumb down the swell of her cheek, soaking it all in, soaking her in, and feeling incredibly grateful that I made the step to come back.

We lie quietly for a while as I tuck my hand behind my head, the burn of the sun scorching directly onto my forehead.

The boat rocks gently as waves crash against it, lulling us into a comfortable lazy summer trance.

My gaze snags on an eagle that flies overhead, dipping and swerving before ending its flight on the perch of a tree in one of the more remote stretches of shoreline.

“Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live on a boat?” she asks out of nowhere. As I do often, I marvel at her imagination, wondering how her thought process brought her there.

“Like on a cruise ship?”

“Sure. Or any kind of boat. A cruise ship. A houseboat. Crab-fishing boat. Do you think you’d get sick of it?”

“Are you telling me you want to live on a boat?”

“Not even in the slightest. I’m just thinking out loud. I love that some people do that.”

A lazy smile plays on my lips as we fall quiet again. I imagine her mind wanders to the next random topic, but mine goes directly to thinking about the effort I made today and am still coming to terms with.

“I sent Steven a message today,” I mutter quietly, noticing how saying the words out loud makes my voice feel foreign and unnatural.

She whips her head to me. “What? You did?”

I nod while rolling my lips. “I did. This morning. You inspired me to do it, actually. After all the strides you’ve made, fighting for yourself and your dreams, I figured I could at least make a baby step.”

“I’d say that’s more than a baby step.” She shifts onto her side, squeezing closer to me while her hand finds the one I have resting on my stomach. She intertwines her fingers through mine, and I squeeze back.

“What did it say? Did he say anything back?”

I blow out a steadying breath. “I told him I’d be willing to talk to him.

He’s going to let me know when he’s free.

” She looks about as surprised as I feel.

I still can’t believe I offered to see him face to face.

I’ve spent the last eight years avoiding that exact situation, and here I am initiating it.

“That’s a really big deal, Robbie,” she gushes.

I nod silently, letting the reality of the situation sink in, all while trying my best to not regret it.

“We’ll see what happens, I guess.” I don’t have high hopes about it, but I’m willing to try. For the sake of my relationship with Naomi, I have to.

I release the hand that’s wedged behind my head and reach across to slide it through her hair, resting my palm against her cheek.

It’s a move with no intention or purpose behind it.

No end goal or attempt to get anything from her in return.

It’s a simple automatic response to her being next to me.

A need to feel her again under my fingertips.

I’m not sure what will happen with my family, but I’m getting to the point now where I’m finding that it doesn’t affect me like it did before.

Once I made the decision to come back to Naomi, I set myself free from a large chunk of the weight of my past. A lot of it is still there, obviously, but she’s more important to me than any possible outcome with my family.

Period.

I lazily admire the subtle smile on her lips as she closes her eyes to soak in the sun.

My thumb softly traces the skin of her temple, watching as goosebumps spark in its wake.

An aching grip clutches my heart, and I try my best to breathe through it, to not be completely knocked over with the force of feeling like the luckiest man on this planet.

Naomi’s phone buzzes from inside her boat bag that’s on the other side of me. She slides up onto her elbows while I retrieve it.

“Huh,” she says, examining the screen with raised brows.

“What’s up?”

“It’s from my mom. She wanted to let me know that she finally signed up for a flower-arranging class on Wednesday nights.

It’s a class she’s been wanting to take for years now.

She says I inspired her to do something for herself.

” I watch as her smile slides into a full-grown one.

“And she didn’t even ask my dad’s permission first.”

“Good for her.”

“It’s a small win”—she smiles to herself—“but a monumental one too.”

“Look at you, inspiring people left and right.” I jab her with my elbow.

“Stop.” She waves me off with a playful eye roll.

Rachel calls out from the beach, “Hey, you two lovebirds want to join us?”

We twist our bodies up onto our elbows to get a view of where they’re gathered on the sandy beach court.

A haphazard gathering of flip-flops is piled off to the right and a few beach towels lie crumpled on top of a picnic table.

With no other beach dwellers on this stretch of sand, the three of them are spread out wide.

“I’m dying over here.” Luke waves, stretching his arms out to showcase his lack of teammates.

Naomi smirks. “Should we go help him?”

“It’s up to you.”

“Let’s go show them how it’s done, huh?” She stands first and offers her hands to help me up. I follow behind, maneuvering to the back of the boat where I help her climb onto the edge.

She jumps with a squeal off the side of the boat, her legs splashing as they land in the water. I follow her immediately, not regretting for a single second my broader decision to do just that.