Trevor
“You can go a little faster if you want,” Kenzie calls from her seat near the bow of my boat where she’s white-knuckling her life vest.
“You sure?”
I’ve yet to take the boat out of no wake because I didn’t want to rock Kenzie too much. After unintentionally stumbling upon another vulnerable moment this morning, I want everything to go right for her today.
Kenzie had been mixing creamer into her coffee, doing her affirmations while holding Banks with one hand. After dutifully repeating that she deserved good things, she’d torn off her headphones with a frustrated growl, thrown them across the room, and promptly burst into tears, apologizing to Banks forstartling him. All I wanted was to wrap Kenzie in my arms and never let go, but after last night, I didn’t want to overstep again.
Itphysically hurtto silently back out of the room and wait in the hall for her breathing to settle. Once it did, I cleared my throat loudly, stomped more than I ever have in my life, and burst into the kitchen with an upbeat, “Who’s ready for a day on the boat?”
Kenzie turns in her seat, the brim of her floppy sun hat nearly smacking her in the nose. “I didn’t choke down that bitter medicine for nothing.” When I hesitate, she points to a passing kayaker. “I don’t know much about boats, but I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen.”
“I don’t want you to get seasick.”
Kenzie fully rotates, kneeling on the plush cushion. “Though I’m usually thankful for your protective big-brother tendencies, today I want…” She closes her eyes, thinking for a few seconds. “Could we try…”
I idle the engine when she gets flustered, her hands gripping the back of the seat.
“Whatever you want,” I tell her, trying to keep my tone even. “Whatever you want, we can do it.”
Because I’d do anything for Kenzie’s nails to loosen their vise grip, for the tension in her jaw to abate.
She winces. “I might throw up all over your nice boat.”
My twenty-four-foot fishing boat is pretty basic compared to other models, and it’s tiny compared to my parents’ yacht,but I’d intentionally purchased a vessel that served its purpose without drawing attention. Out on the water, no one knows who I am. No one cares about my batting average or caught stealing percentage. Out here, I can just relax.
“I don’t care.” My words are a hard scrape. “What do you want, Kenzie? Whatever it is. I’ll give it to you.”
Her eyes widen slightly before she takes a deep breath. “Let’s go fast.”
“That’s easy. Just sit down first, okay?”
Kenzie rotates halfway before pausing. “No, actually…”
She pops up from her seat, running her hand along the gunwales until she’s standing beside me. Her chin tilts up defiantly, even though there’s a tremble in her fingertips as she rests them on the helm. The sea breeze pushes a strand of hair across her cheek, but Kenzie doesn’t brush it away. Instead, her green eyes focus on me with an intensity that sends shockwaves to my toes.
“I want to drive.”
Her rapid pulse flickers in her throat, and she’s vibrating with anxious energy, but her words are clear.
So brave.
So brave and so breathtakingly beautiful.
“I made a list last night,” Kenzie tells me, biting her lip. “Before the cheese debacle.”
“You did?” It’s a struggle not to sound winded.
“Of things that I want to try but are completely out of my comfort zone. Like being on a boat.” Kenzie pulls back her shoulders. “Likedrivinga boat. Is…is that okay?”
“Sure.” I swallow the golf ball lodged in my throat. No need to tell Kenzie she could ask for my left kidney and I’d happily give it to her. “I’ll need to be here to help, though. You don’t have a boating license.”
She nods before placing one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the throttle. While I’m checking to make sure the kayaker is nowhere near us, Kenzie punches it.
“Whoa.”
Her body slams into mine as the boat jolts forward.
