Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“I can’t wait,” I reply sarcastically as we walk up the ramp. Cooper presses the button, and I’m about to walk out when my father stops me.
“You stay here so you're safe.” Everyone laughs at him. “Give me a hug.” I hug him, and he kisses my head. “Love you, baby girl.”
“Leave her alone.” My mother pushes him. “Call us if you need something.”
“Do you have the Ring cam on your boat?” my father asks, and they all laugh at him. Franny comes back to give me a hug.
“I miss you,” she says softly. “Will you come visit soon?”
“You come visit me,” I urge. “Big man isn’t playing.”
“We can rent a boat,” Wilson says to her. “If you want, I’ll look into it when we get home.”
“You know what that means,” Franny states, walking to him. “We’re getting a boat.”
I shake my head and wave at them as they drive off. I won’t deny that I miss them the minute they leave. I won’t deny that getting on the boat, I look over to the chair my dad was sitting in and even miss him. I walk back into the boat, grabbing my laptop and heading out to sit in the same chair my father sat in.
Opening the laptop, I check my emails before loading my Word document and starting to write. I turn on some music as I fall deep into the story. I don’t even know how long I’ve been writing when I look over and see Xavier coming back. He is upstairs on the top bridge. The back of his boat is fully open, and I take a second to look inside it. It’s very pretty. Beatrice sits on her bed, looking out and enjoying the view. I get up, looking at him. He sure took off fast after my family was here. He probably thought I was going to have a huge party.
I stand on the back deck of my boat and put my hand over my eyes to shield myself from the sun. He is coming in back first. He sits on the top with his sunglasses on as he slowly backs in. He looks right and left. I feel like I should do something. I get off my boat and go onto the dock. “Do you need help?” I shout at him, and he just laughs at me, which pisses me off.
“Can you catch ropes?” he shouts back at me.
“Only if you throw them directly at me.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Do you think you can do that?” I ask him, and he laughs again, but this time, I smile at the sound. It’s the first time I’ve really heard him laugh, and it sounds good on him. I walk down toward the side of his dock, where he ties his boat up. He looks down in front of him. “What are you looking at?”
“I have four cameras in the back,” he tells me, and I Iook up, seeing said cameras. “I’m making sure I don’t smash into your boat.”
“Yeah, if you could not do that, I would appreciate that very much,” I joke with him as he puts the boat in park. He walks down the stairs, coming over.
“Ready?” he asks me, and I want to flip him the bird. He picks up the black rope and tosses it to me. I catch it, smiling over at him like, “take that,” and he tries not to smile but fails. “You need to tie that one to that cleat.” He motions to the cleat in the front. I nod at him, and he walks into the boat, sitting in the captain’s chair inside. I wait for him to back up the boat more. When he finally gets it backed, I squat down and tie the boat exactly how he taught me.
I get up, and he comes out. “Do you have to tie one more?” I ask him, and he tosses me the other rope, which I catch again. I pull it tight before making three loops. Once it’s tied, I get up and dust off my hands. “I did it,” I say more to myself than to him. I put my hands on my hips and look at my handiwork, feeling especially proud of myself. “Take that,” I huff as he jumps on the dock and smirks at me before he hooks up his electricity and water. “You’re welcome,” I call to him as I walk past him, and I hear him laugh again. I want to ignore how I get goose bumps. Instead, I blame it on the nonexistent wind.
“Where are you going?” he asks me, standing up, and I turn around to look at him. He’s in shorts and a white shirt. I can’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses.