{Kisses In The Rain}
"Pope, we're not stealing the drone. We're simply borrowing it for a few hours." I assure him as he bites his nails anxiously. "Humans are the only animals that can't tell fantasy from reality," Pope tells us looking out the window of the van as John B drives us to the salvage yard. "Did you come up with that?" My brother asks. "Albert Bernstein came up with it, but it applies to this whole treasure-hunting thing," Pope answers. "Oh." He mutters. "So, which is it? Fantasy or reality?" Pope asks us.
"Why are you so weird, Pope?" JJ asks as he rolls a blunt beside him. "Don't be so rude, JJ. Pope's just asking us a question." I argue defending Pope and JJ looks at me for a split second before going back to rolling his blunt.
"It's fantasy, but possible reality." Kie shrugs. "Reality." John B says. "Virtual reality." JJ and I say in unison glancing at each other, I blush as I see him look away and try to hide his smile. Why has he been hiding and ignoring me all day? Pope grabs JJ's blunt just as he's about to light it. "Keep the signal clear," Pope says before flicking the blunt out the window.JJ throws his hands in the air with annoyance.
"What's your plan?" I asked my brother and Kie. "You and Kie are gonna distract the guard while the boys and I sneak in and get the drone." John B explains pulling the van to a stop. Kie and I hop out of the car and walk around to the other side. "Hey, don't worry you got this." John B assures us and we chuckle. "It's not us that we're worried about," I say pointing at the back of the van to where Pope and JJ are arguing about something before walking over to Kie's car and hopping inside it.
I adjust my shirt to show more cleavage as we hop out of her car in the yard. "Here," I say ruffling her hair. "Ready?" I ask and she nods twirling the keys around her finger. We walk up to the front gate. "Hello? Excuse me?" Kie calls out waving her hand to get the guard's attention. "Can I help you?" The man asks us coming out of his office to the gate. "Hi! Um, I have a flat tire. I was wondering if maybe you could help my friend and me?" I ask him. "Yeah, yeah. One second."He says with a grin walking back to his office. "Too easy," Kie says with a smirk and I nod in agreement.
A moment later he comes out with an air tank in his hand, he presses a button on his key chain to open the gate. Kie leads him to the flat tire. "Probably just been sitting in the yard for too long." The guard says as I give the guys the signal to go. "Yeah, probably." I agree. "Yeah, I got this." He assures us. "Thank you," I say, smiling.
All of a sudden a dog starts barking from inside the salvage yard. I glance at Kie quickly. "Do you hear that?" The guard asks us. "Hear what?" I ask him. "Oh, Tebows got something." He says standing up and looking inside the yard. "It's probably just a squirrel," Kie suggests. "Or a rat," I add on and he nods. "Nothing to worry about." I shrug and he nods in agreement kneeling back down to fix the tire.
I sigh in relief as he believes me. I noticed the tire was nearly aired up, so I motioned for Kie to walk around to the other side of the car and take out her hair clip. "Come on, come on," I whisper tapping my finger off my arm repeatedly. "Where'd your friend go?" The guard asks me. "I, uh.." I stutter unable to stop him from going round to the other side. "What are you doing?" He asks Kie. "Uh, this one seemed low too?" Kie answers nervously. He looks at the both of us before racing back inside the salvage yard.
"Fuck!" I curse rubbing my hands through my hair worriedly as Kie and I hop into the car. Pope and John B scramble into the car. "Where's JJ?" I ask worriedly. "Where the hell is he?" I asked louder when they didn't answer me first. "We split up." John B answers trying to catch his breath. "He'll be fine." Pope shrugs and I look out the window at the salvage yard as Kie starts to drive away. I didn't want to just abandon JJ there. We're his family and family don't leave each other behind. I hope he's not going to be mad at me, he's already been ignoring me all day.
Once we arrived at the Chateau, I immediately hopped out and ran inside the house looking for JJ, when he was nowhere to be found, I went back outside to the others. "I'm taking the boat and going to go look for him," I say grabbing the boat keys in the van. " Okay, be careful. We'll be at the Wreck." Kie says and I nod at her before running to the boat starting up the engine and driving away to find him.
After two hours of searching with no sign of him, it was starting to get dark so I decided to take a break and go to the wreck and see if he went there after the others. I dropped the boat back at home and walked the whole way to the Wreck. I could hear my brother and friends laughing as I entered. "Hey, Jackie," Pope says as he picks at his fries beside JJ who was taking a hit from his blunt, while my brother and Kie were dancing. "What took you so long?" JJ asks me finally speaking to me.
"It's pitch dark outside, something could have happened to you." He says trying to hide his worry. "We need to talk!" I say and his eyes widen at the realisation of what was about to happen. "Can we go outside?" I ask and he lets out a sigh. "But it's raining." He groans and I roll my eyes. "It won't kill us," I say opening the door and walking outside to the deck, JJ follows behind me. I was leaning my back against the fence as he approached me with his hands in his pocket and his head looking at the ground.
"What's up?" He asks and I scoff. "Seriously? You haven't talked to me all day and you just say what's up?" I cross my arms annoyedly and he lets out a nervous chuckle. "I-I just didn't know what to say to you." He replies and I sigh. "You kissed me first, JJ. And god I haven't stopped thinking about it at all. It's complicated and confusing, I get it just please don't ignore me." I say softly and he nods stepping closer to me.
"I didn't talk to you because I'm scared that I'm going to repeat what I did a few nights ago." He announces sheepishly placing his hand under my chin. "Why?" I ask and he raises his eyebrows in confusion. "What?" He asks. "Why are you so scared to kiss me again?" I ask crossing my arms and looking him straight in the eye. "Because if I kiss you again...I might be falling for you, Jackie Routledge. And I don't deserve someone like you to call my own. My home situation is fucked and my life is a complete mess." He says. "I guess we both have the same lives then," I say and he lets out a sigh. "And you already said this pogue on Pogue macking rule, if we go against it, it could ruin all of our friendships."
He takes a deep breath and I scoff. "I was stupid! I don't care about that stupid rule my brother made up when we were eleven, JJ." I blurt out and he looks at me as a smile appears across his face. "So, is it okay if I kiss you right now?" He says with a devilish smirk stepping closer to me. "I don't see a problem with that." I step on my tippy toes as our lips are just inches apart. "Oh, Fuck this!" He says before crashing his lips onto mine.
And here I was, kissing JJ Maybank once again. This felt like a dream and if I wake up then I will truly be crushed because there is nothing else I want in this entire world than to be here with JJ. I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'm falling for JJ Maybank, and I couldn't be happier.
***
"What's this?" JJ asks about to press something but Pope quickly slaps his hand away and I file from beside JJ as he has his arm wrapped around my waist. "Don't touch that!" Pope warns him. "I'm trying to work out this thing," Pope explains. JJ interlocks his fingers with mine turns around and winks at me. I couldn't help but smile at the moment.
Ever since I talked to him last night and we kissed, we've been good. He walked me home and on the way home we talked about this thing between us. We decided to keep it as a fling since this is still new to us and we decided to keep it a secret from the others for the time being since we don't know what we are yet.
"God bless geeks, Pope. Truly, man." JJ says to Pope tapping him on the shoulder. "What would we do without you to control the drones?" I add and Pope smiles at me. "It's not a drone. It's an ROV." Pope explains turning around to face us and JJ and I quickly let go of each other's hand. "Shut up. Shut up. It's too early for that." JJ shakes his head as he leans on the wood looking out into the water, my brother and Kie resurfaces above the water.
"Hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim." John B explains and Pope sighs. "It's bullshit. Why do we have to do that?" JJ says annoyed. "Well, there is maritime salvage law. You can't just scoop to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up." Pope explains walking over to JJ. "I know. I know. It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro." JJ sighs.
"As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp." John B insists. "How do you know that?" Kie asks him as they swim around. "Because my dad said it, like, a million times." My brother shrugs. "This tether is, like, really long," Pope states. "In the wrong Esther, it could get pushed around," Pope informs. "Then we'll go at dead calm." John B says. "So now, we just gotta wait around for the right weather," Pope tells us as we hear rumbling thunder from the distance. "And today is not that day." Pope sighs.
"Wanna come back to the Chateau with John B and I?" I ask the group. "I can't, Dad needs help at the wreck," Kie says grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her body. "I promised Dad I would study for a while, so I can't," Pope says and I nod. "Okay, we'll see you tomorrow." I wave them goodbye as they walk away. "What about you, bro?" My brother asks JJ as he places his arm on his shoulder. "Got nowhere else to be." JJ winks at me as my brother grabs his bag. "Okay, come on then, the weather is getting bad." John B says walking over to the van, JJ and I follow behind him.
Once we got home, John b went straight for a shower so JJ and I decided to go lay down in my room. "I can't wait for tomorrow," I say excitedly playing with my father's watch. "I'm ready to be filthy rich," JJ says beside me with a smirk. I look at JJ and a smile appears on my face, he notices my staring and looks at me. "What?" He asks and I chuckle. "Nothing, just enjoying the view." I tease him and he smirks.
After a moment, JJ places his hand on my thigh and comes closer to me. Butterflies started to erupt in my stomach as I felt his breath on my neck. He gets on top of me and starts trailing kisses down my neck. "JJ.." I whisper. "Hmm." He says continuing to place kisses on the crook of my neck. "John B is across the hall.." I sigh. "I can hear the shower running."JJ answers before smashing his lips against mine, I wrap my arms around his neck as I let myself melt into his embrace. "God, you're so beautiful." He breathes out heavily, his hair flopping in front of his face.
I was about to speak until we heard a knock on my bedroom door. "Jackie? Why do you have your door locked?" My brother asks from the other side. "I-I'm getting changed," I reply shoving JJ off of me. "Uh, okay. Is it okay if I have your towels? Mine are dirty." He asks. "Sure, just give me a minute," I say.
"Go out the window now," I whisper to JJ and he looks at me seriously. "Why?" He asks and I roll my eyes. "If I open the door and he sees you in here half naked, what do you think will happen?" I say sarcastically and he sighs. "Fine, I'll hop out the window and pretend I was coming up from the dock." He says and I smile. "Thank you," I say before placing a kiss on his lips, we kiss for a minute until I pull away.
"Go, now!" I chuckle and he grabs his top and hops out the window. I quickly throw on one of John B's shirts and open my bedroom door. "Here you go," I say handing my brother the towels. "Have you seen JJ? He's not in the living room." My brother asks and I sigh. "I think he went down to the dock for a bit," I answer and he nods. "Okay. Well, I'm going for a quick shower, is it okay if you and JJ go help Pope with deliveries?" He asks and I nod. "Of course," I say to him before closing the door. "Phew," I whisper placing my back against the door and letting out a sigh of relief. That was a close one.
***
Once I got dressed I went outside to tell JJ but it looked like he already left for Popes. "Great, now I have to walk." I groan making my way out of the driveway. After the short walk to Heyward's dock, I can hear him giving the boys instructions. "Hey," I say appearing around the corner. "Thank you for helping on such short notice," Heyward says to me. "Least I could. I was just chilling at home." I say looking over at JJ who smiles back at me. I grab a few bags and hop onto the boat with them.
"Aw, JJ, thank you. Sons of bitches." Heyward teases him putting bags into the boy's outstretched hands, he offers a fake smile in return. "That's all, you better get going before the weather gets worse," Heyward says and I salute him goodbye as Pope starts the engine and drives away from the dock. "Doesn't even look like the storm hit here," Pope says. "That's because they got generators, bro. Get used to it. And then they say the juice will be out all summer at the cut.'" JJ states twirling his knife between his fingers. "You're gonna hurt yourself, JJ," I argue and he laughs. "Aw, you worried about me, Jackalope?" He teases giving me a wink.
"Are you guys together?" Pope asks out of the ordinary and JJ and Is eyes widen in shock. "What? No!" We quickly answer in unison. "Hm, okay," Pope says not believing us. "We're not," JJ says. "But we're taking it slow since it's all new to us," JJ adds and I look at him shocked. "So you have feelings for each other?" Pope asks and we both nod smiling at each other. "I knew it all along, I knew you two liked each other," Pope exclaims as JJ and I burst out laughing.
"Are you guys going to tell John B?'" Pope asks and I sigh. "We still don't know, Pope. You weren't even meant to find out that we're having a fling." I shrug and he nods. "Seriously, JJ? You agreed to be in a fling with the girl you've liked for the last two years." Pope says sternly and JJ's eyes widen in shock. "You've liked me for two years?" I ask shocked and he takes a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah, it was supposed to stay between Pope and me until he opened his mouth." JJ rolls his eyes and I smile walking closer to him and pulling him in for a kiss and Pope fakes a gag. "Okay, okay, stop," Pope says disgustingly as JJ and I giggle.
"To be honest, I think you guys should just date already. Two years is a long time to have a crush on somebody, it's love, bro." Pope says before putting his focus back on driving the boat. JJ and I look at each other as we replay the words Pope just said 'Love' It's a very strong word, with a lot of meaning to it. Do I love JJ? Of course. I've been in love with him for three years. 'Soon.' JJ whispers. "What?" I ask and he shrugs. "Nothing." He mutters continuing to mess with his knife.
I grabbed some of the delivery bags and hopped off the boat once we arrived at the country club. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" I ask JJ and he shakes his head. "No, I'll stay here and keep an eye on the boat," JJ answers as I place a kiss on his lips before following after Pope. "You know, JJ doesn't just like you," Pope speaks up and I clear my throat. "He's in love with you, Jackie. Always has been, he just never told you or acted on it because of John B. After all, you're his best friend's sister." He informs me and I let out a sigh. "I know, I guess that's why he hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet. I know it's still new but god Pope, I love him so much. I've known him my entire life and want nothing more than to be with him." I say with a smile. 'Then be with him.' Pope shrugs and I take a deep breath. "You're right," I say as we walk through the golf course.
To be Continued...