Sex is safe || Love is not
Emmy Rhodes is tired of relationships. She spends her days drinking coffee, doing yoga, and sleeping around. It's been nine long years since high school graduation. Almost a decade since she's seen Brooks.
Meet Jay Brooks...
I can't help but roll my eyes at him. His hands are still on my waist under water, keeping my front pressed against his.
"You know," Brooks says, eyes flashing. "The boat looks awfully empty over there."
I turn my head to the boat that's 10 feet behind us. It's a dark silhouette against the sunset sky, bobbing up and down, back and forth.
"We should change that," I say, before I can stop myself. I'm already getting excited. I can feel him getting excited too.
Brooks throws his head back to laugh at me and drops me from his waist. I follow him to the back of the boat –to the ladder in the water. It's so deep I can't stand anymore. The boat is almost parallel to the beach now.
Brooks helps me up around the engine and over the back of the boat. As soon as we stand up Brooks has his arms around me again, pulling me along with him to the front of the boat. He sits on the same cushion from earlier and positions me on top of him.
"Brooks, this is so obvious," I whine.
"Who cares. No one is looking." Brooks says, beginning to untie my top.
"Brooks," I groan.
He sighs but moves me off his lap and onto the seat next to him. Brooks lies down on the floor in the space between the front bucket seats. His back is flat against the floor, but his knees are bent up. I climb onto his lap and lean back against his legs. His fingers are back to undoing the strings on my bikini top. It falls to the side and Brooks's hands stay on my waist.
"Hell of a view." Brooks smirks.
"You're welcome." I lean in to kiss him, my hands flat against his bare chest.
I lay flat against him, still paranoid we can somehow be seen from the sandbar even though I know it's impossible. My hands push against the side of the boat above his head to press myself onto him. Ya know, sometimes a great make out sesh is better than the rest.
We lay there for maybe twenty minutes. My head is against his chest and the boat is rocking us both like we're overgrown babies sharing the same crib. It smells like salt and like wet cushions. I can still taste seltzer lime on my lips. I can still taste Brooks on my lips.
I realize Brooks is right. Who cares? No one is looking. Even if they were, what are they gonna do? They're judging us anyway already.
"Let's get back in the water," I say finally. My eyes dart to the beach where I still see everyone standing by the grill or else sprawled across blankets.
"Relax. No one even noticed we were gone." Brooks rolls his eyes, jumping into the water after me. It's even deeper now. My feet didn't even touch the bottom when I jumped.
"I am relaxed," I shrug.
"Not very zen if you ask me." Brooks jumps in behind me.
"Go zen yourself." I smack the water so it sprinkles Brooks's face.
It feels warm to be back in the water again. I didn't realize how cool the air had gotten. Weird how water feels warmer once you were out and then get back in.
Then again, lots of things are better when you go back for seconds.
The boat ride back at dusk gives me the feels. The salty spray of the ocean raining over the sides of the boats. I can feel it on my skin. I can feel in on Brooks's arms as they're wrapped around me. It's almost cold now. I pull my striped sweater up to my lips. #nauticalAF
It hurts a little in this moment. Looking at the last few weeks and my old friends and our new memories. I realize I'm already losing them. And I'm not ready to.
I just keep thinking how summer is almost over, how it's fading away. How I'm not leaving here with everything I came with.
I better add Dashboard Confessional's Stolen to my soundtrack.
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Hi guys! It's always an adventure carefully cultivating the songs that encapsulate the emotions/vibes of a specific moment. Truly I relate to Emmy. Songs seem to always be playing in my head!! When I'm happy and excited or sad and depressed, my mood likes to subconsciously pick a song. Music is transformative. And creating the in-story mix tape for One More Time has also been transformative lol. It's a MOOD. Also, I happen to obsess daily over every single song on this list (for varying, emotionally dependent reasons).
The mix tape for One More Time is named...
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